Lists and Stories

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  Vikings Helped Cats Conquer the World While Vikings don’t exactly have a reputation for being cuddly, their travel companions do. Hoping to shed some light on the early history of cats, in 2016 researchers reported the results of a study in which they sequenced the DNA of 209 felines, the remains of which had been found at various...
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  Vile or Visionary?: 11 Art Controversies of the Last Four Centuries Some artists just can’t help but court controversy. Over the last four centuries, many artists have pushed the boundaries of tradition with radical painting techniques, shocking content, or, in some cases, the use of offensive materials. Many of the most innovative artists—the ones who’ve made the...
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  ¡Viva México! On September 16, 1810, a Roman Catholic priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell of the parish church in Dolores, Mexico, and called on the people assembled outside to revolt against the Spanish colonial government. Although Hidalgo’s efforts were not immediately successful, the fervent...
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  Votes for Women From the founding of the United States until the late 19th century, women were almost entirely excluded from voting or participating in the country’s politics. Women’s suffrage groups gained steam during the 1800s, working separately and together to gather support for a federal amendment that would...
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  Voting in the U.S.A. While voting would seem fundamental in a democracy, voting rights in the U.S. have long been contentious. The Constitution makes no stipulations concerning who can vote. Instead, it is left to the states to decide, and they have often tried—with varying degrees of success—to limit voting. States...
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  Walt Disney’s First Cartoon Critter Was Not Mickey Mouse The entertainment empire built by Walt Disney is sometimes called the “House of Mouse” in acknowledgment of the leading role played by Disney’s most famous creation, Mickey Mouse. Mickey’s round mouse ears, either in silhouette or adorning a hat, have become one of the most recognizable corporate...
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  Was Abraham Lincoln a Wrestler? Before he wrestled with the future of American democracy as the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln earned a reputation as a stud “catch-as-catch-can” frontier grappler. Imagine the 6-foot-4-inch Lincoln (a giant in his day) as the ultimate WWE good guy: “Put your hands together...
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  Was Bloody Mary a Real Person? Mary Tudor was the daughter of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife, the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon. Mary’s early life was chaotic, as her father’s frequent remarriages threatened both her claim to the throne and her very survival. Henry’s pursuit of a male heir led to his split...
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  Was Dracula a Real Person? Bram Stoker’s Dracula is popularly associated with Vlad the Impaler, and some scholars do believe that the literary bloodsucker is derived in part from the historical Walachian prince. If Stoker did indeed base the archetypal vampire on Vlad, what led him to do so? Among the other possible...
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  Was Jesse Owens Snubbed by Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympics? By early 1933 Adolf Hitler had effectively become the dictator of Germany. All non-Nazi parties, organizations, and labor unions had ceased to exist. The reciprocal ideologies of pan-Germanic expansionism and antisemitism had taken root. Members of “non-Aryan” (non-white and Jewish) races were...
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  Was Johnny Appleseed a Real Person? American folklore is populated with larger-than-life heroes. But for those of us who have been out of school a long time, it can be difficult to remember which ones are fictional concoctions and which are real historical figures who have over time come to be credited with fanciful deeds. Paul...
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  Was Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican or a Democrat? Political parties are always looking for endorsements from community leaders and other influencers. Having support from prominent figures can make or break a candidate or party. It’s no surprise that sometimes political groups will also try to claim affiliation with historical figures of note. One...
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  Was Napoleon Short? At the beginning of the 19th century, Charles IV, king of Spain, commissioned the preeminent artist Jacques-Louis David to commemorate Napoleon’s successful campaign against Austria at the Battle of Marengo with a painting. David’s finished work, Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801), portrays the...
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  Was Santa Claus a Real Person? For many children living in the United States, especially those who have behaved well all year, the most exciting part of Christmas is the discovery of wrapped packages tucked under the Christmas tree and sweets hidden in stockings hung by the fireplace. Kids are often told that the gifts were left...
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  Was the Big Bang Actually an Explosion? The big-bang theory was first proposed by Georges Lemaître in 1927 sans its contemporary name, which was coined in the 1950s. The common name has allowed for the beginnings of our universe to be too often depicted as a massive explosion similar to that of an epic supernova. But was our universe...
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  Was there a feud between William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway? In April 1947 William Faulkner was invited to visit the University of Mississippi. While conducting a question-and-answer session in a creative writing class, Faulkner was asked to name “the five most important contemporary writers.” He listed (in order) American novelists Thomas Wolfe, John Dos...
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  Watch Your Step: 6 Things You Can Fall Into This world is not made for the weak—neither in society nor in the physical world. There you are, making your way across the face of the earth day after day, trusting that, at the very least, the ground under your feet is solid. But is it? As it turns out, you’ve really got to keep your eyes open...
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  Water Explained in 5 Questions In the series Explained in 5 Questions, experts take on big topics and help you understand them better. list, water, importance, threats, climate change, water purification, drinking water, future, Explained in 5 QuestionsWater is an inorganic chemical compound abundantly found on Earth. Each water...
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  Water Fluoridation: Just the Facts All there is to know about one of the most effective public health programs of the last century. Companion, fluoridation, fluoride, water treatment, government, public health, public health programs, dental health, fluorosis, water, drinking water, community water...
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  Water Scarcity Facts and Statistics Water scarcity results from insufficient available freshwater resources to meet the human and environmental demands of a given area. Spotlight, water, drought, global warming, climate change, population growth, conservation, water shortage Types of water scarcity include economic and physical or...