Linda Rodriguez McRobbie; Updated by Ellen Wexler In the late 1800s, advertisements for a new paranormal product started appearing in papers: “Ouija, or, the Wonderful Talking Board,” boomed a Pittsburgh…
In the early ninth century, a Frankish courtier used a story of demonic possession to criticize the realm’s leaders for their “manifold sins.” Public domain via Wikimedia Commons In the…
When a little Maltese named Cherry died of old age in 1881 at home in London, the dog’s owners were at a loss for what to do with the remains.…
This story was originally published on Narratively, an award-winning storytelling platform that celebrates humanity through the most authentic, unexpected and extraordinary true narratives. To read more from Narratively and support…
By Joshua Hammer Photographs by Sarah Pabst The former Navy School of Mechanics, in Buenos Aires, sits on a leafy campus of whitewashed buildings and grassy plazas running alongside the…
Sculptures of Grýla, mother of the 13 Yule Lads, and Skyrgámur, a Yule Lad fond of Icelandic yogurt Andrii Gladii via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 In Icelandic folklore,…
The Iroquois Theater in 1903 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons It was Wednesday, December 30, 1903, and Chicago’s sparkling Iroquois Theater on Randolph Street in the Loop was packed for…
Meilan Solly Senior Associate Digital Editor, History In a year marked by political polarization, violent conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, and other crises, not all news stories presented…
Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain in southern England. garethwiscombe via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0 Around 5,000 years ago, prehistoric people in what is now southern England began…
By the time this crowd gathered on New Year’s Eve, 1938, the Times Square ball drop had been an annual rite for decades Bettman / Getty Images One Times Square,…
