Did you know that thirteen of the first fifteen United States presidents owned slaves?   This stat is quite well-known among historians, ...

I belong to an alumni association which is more social club than academic,  and was reminded recently of our penchant for creating what...

Just on principle,  I pretty much like ALL living history experiences.   When done well,   21st century participants can feel part of...

Have you ever wondered why Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus in December, especially since scientists determined long ago (based on...

I have history envy.   I doubt that it’s a very widespread malady, though possibly infectious.   Therefore, in the public interest I have...

Two hundred years after the first Pilgrims, Dutch East Indian employees and English Cavaliers arrived on these shores (and began the...

I consider my own education to be woefully incomplete and with the days dwindling down – as the song goes – is taking on a sense of...

When I was in junior high, my history teacher planted a trick question in a pop quiz that made a lasting impression on me. He asked us to...

History teachers and trivia buffs are fond of posing trick questions to their respective audiences. So here goes: I was leafing through a...

My grandfather was an original subscriber to American Heritage Magazine, the classy hardbound history magazine written and edited by some...

Italy did not colonize North America, notwithstanding Christopher Columbus (an Italian who was actually working for Spain when he...

What is it about water that is so alluring to the human psyche? Views of a river, estuary, ocean, canal, inter-coastal waterway, bayou,...

The custom of paying New Year’s calls originated in New York, or as it was then styled, New Amsterdam, where the Dutch held open house on...