The religious holiday of Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as described in the Bible's New Testament. Although it is observed as the holiest day by both Christians and Orthodox Christians, it is a movable feast, and is recognized on different days by both sects ...read more

The ancient Greeks, who staged the first formal Olympic Games in 776 B.C., gave the world the idea of organized big-time sports events as entertainment for arenas full of spectators. More than that, they were the first culture in which people idolized their favorite athletic ...read more

The American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783 was not an isolated incident. Rather, the war was the first in a series of revolutions in Europe and the Americas that lasted into the mid-19th century. The revolutions in the Americas were largely about breaking free from European ...read more

Theodore Roosevelt is in many ways an unlikely feminist hero. Throughout his life and career, he embodied and celebrated a robust, distinctly masculine lifestyle: hunting on his ranch in North Dakota, charging up San Juan Hill with the “Rough Riders” in the Spanish-American War, ...read more

The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first armed conflict of the Cold War era, and historians agree that communist North Korea would not have invaded South Korea in 1950 without the approval of Joseph Stalin, the ruthless and autocratic leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953. ...read more

While Americans born in or with ancestral ties to Arab countries have made countless significant scientific, medical and engineering contributions, most have never made it into record books. From cryptography, to the artificial heart, to the iPod, here are a few examples of some ...read more

On March 6, 1457, King James II, who was the King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460, in an Act of Parliament banned citizens from playing football and golf. Scotsmen had allegedly been playing these games in the streets and churchyards, instead of practicing archery ...read more

When Wally Amos founded Famous Amos cookies in 1975, the brand became one of the most unlikely success stories in food history. And the rise and fall of Wally Amos became one of its most infamous cautionary tales. Here’s how a man who broke the color barrier in the talent ...read more

As the Soviet Union's primary secret intelligence agency during the Cold War, the KGB gained notoriety for its widespread global espionage. But the organization—and its communist-era predecessors—also played a key role inside the Soviet Union: quashing political dissent. ...read more

In ancient Rome, a city known for its spectacular and violent entertainment, there was one sport that was even more popular than gladiator fights. Chariot racing, staged at the massive Circus Maximus arena located between the Aventine and Palatine hills, gave spectators an ...read more

Before people typed addresses into Google maps, travelers charted their course by the sun and moon and other celestial bodies. When radios failed, and bad weather rolled in, the celestial navigational methods of Mary Tornich Janislawski helped save lives, especially during World ...read more

For nearly as long as there has been war, attempts have been made to govern its conduct. However, it took until the 20th century for the legal concept of a “war crime” to come into being. Thanks to an array of multilateral treaties, most notably the Geneva Conventions, military ...read more