Lists and Stories

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  How Did Joseph McCarthy’s Anticommunist Rhetoric Impact the LGBTQ+ Community? On February 9, 1950, junior Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, that would thrust him into the national spotlight. This scathing tirade is perhaps best known for McCarthy’s claim that he had with him a list of 205 known communists who were presently...
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  How Did King George V Really Die? Just before midnight on January 20, 1936, King George V died at Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. His health had gradually declined over the previous few months because of a chronic lung issue that had first appeared in 1928. He managed a last meeting with his privy council and secretary before he...
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  How did Patrice Lumumba die? For decades, the question of how Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo, died—and the related questions of who killed him and why—were subject to much speculation. The short answer is that Lumumba was executed by a firing squad on January...
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  How did St. Francis Xavier shape Catholicism? Beyond the lasting cultural impact of having baptized tens of thousands of converts throughout Asia, St. Francis Xavier utilized several unique approaches in his ministry that would ultimately influence Roman Catholic missionary strategy for generations. He is credited with the idea that...
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  How Did the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day Start? Catherine de’ Medici might say that the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day was never intended to happen. After all, she was originally involved in a plan to kill only one person, not thousands. The start of the massacre can be traced to familial, and religious, origins. King Charles IX of France...
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  How Did the Rainbow Flag Become a Symbol of LGBTQ Pride? June has long been recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month, in honor of the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York City in June 1969. During Pride Month, it is not uncommon to see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed as a symbol for the LGBTQ rights movement. But how did that flag become a...
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  How Did the Sperm Whale Get Its Name? Sperm whales (Physeter catodon), or cachalots, are the largest of the toothed whales, with males up to 19 meters (62 feet) long—more than five times the length of a large elephant—and females up to 12 meters (39 feet) in length. They are easily recognized by their enormous square head and narrow...
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  How Did the Tradition of Christmas Trees Start? Christmas has numerous traditions, of which perhaps none is more popular than a decorated tree. Selecting a fresh tree from a lot, chopping one down on a farm, or unboxing and assembling an artificial tree is a special annual event for many. Then comes the decorating. From carefully curated themes...
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  How Did the World Learn About Emmett Till’s Murder? On August 31, 1955, the body of Emmett Till was found at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River in northern Mississippi. Beaten to a pulp and with his eye gouged out, his face was disfigured almost beyond recognition. His great-uncle Moses Wright may have only recognized him because the 14-year-old...
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  How Diverse Are HBCUs? When you think of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), there are likely many terms and phrases that come to mind to describe the important and, indeed, historic work being done in the United States by these institutions of higher education. But diverse may not be one of them. It...
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  How Do Antacids Work? Antacids containing substances such as sodium bicarbonate, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium carbonate fundamentally are bases. They work by counteracting or neutralizing gastric acids to relieve the discomfort caused by gastric acidity. These medications typically are taken when gastric acidity is...
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  How Do Birds Hear? Birds rely on their keen sense of hearing to detect prey and identify other birds on the basis of their songs. In fact, birds have better hearing resolution than humans, so they hear with much more detail. However, birds lack the external ear anatomy that humans rely on. So how do birds hear? Birds...
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  How Do Birth Control Pills Work? Birth control pills are among the most popular methods of preventing pregnancy. In the United States alone, between 2015 and 2017 about 13.9 percent of women used birth control pills, which are also called oral contraceptives. When used correctly, birth control pills are 99.7 percent effective in...
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  How Do Black Holes Really Work? Science fiction has often relied on the concept of black holes as a plot device, painting them as portals to other universes or as vehicles for time travel. But what happens when we take the fiction out of it? What’s really going on inside those terrifying faraway entities? In short, black holes...
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  How Do Chameleons Change Colour? Chameleons change colour by dispersing or concentrating pigment granules (melanophore cells) in the cells that contain them. In general, the animal appears lighter-coloured when pigment is concentrated and dark when pigment is dispersed throughout the cells. The chameleon’s colour state at any...
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  How Do Cockroaches Breathe? Like other insects, the cockroach does not have lungs. Instead, its respiratory system consists primarily of a network of tubes, called tracheae, that open at the surface of the thorax and abdomen through paired valvelike structures called spiracles. Muscles on or near the spiracles keep them...
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  How Do Countries Choose Their Capital Cities? London, England. Tokyo, Japan. Buenos Aires, Argentina. They all make our lists of places to visit, and they’re also national capitals—each city being the seat of its country’s government. But how are capital cities chosen, anyway? Location is often key. Many countries choose a geographically...
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  How Do Deserts Form? The standard many college textbooks use to define a desert is: an area receiving less than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year. But why do these areas get so little precipitation in the first place? Geographically speaking, most deserts are found on the western sides of continents or—in...
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  How Do Face Masks Control the Spread of Disease? Face masks have long been used in health care, often for the simple reason that they protect doctors and nurses from splashes of body fluids during procedures but also for the purpose of blocking the transmission of respiratory droplets. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, face masks have...
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  How Do Glowworms Glow? There are actually a number of different insects known as "glowworms," and they have a variety of mechanisms for their bioluminescence. The different species have bioluminescent organs that vary in size, structure, number, and location, a fact that suggests these insects independently evolved their...