It took millennia to find out. ‘In the High and Far off Times, the Elephant … had no trunk,’ wrote Rudyard Kipling. ‘He had just a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot, that he could wriggle about from side to side.’ But there …

The Plague of Athens depicted in Plague in an Ancient City, Michiel Sweerts, c. 1652–1654 Twenty-four hundred fifty years ago the ancient Greek city-state of Athens—Western civilization’s first democracy and one of the political systems our founding fathers studied—came under great stress. In 430 BCE, in …

Life — and Death — in the Stone Age The Stone Age may not have been “The Flintstones,” but there were definitely caveman qualities to it. There were absolutely no modern conveniences — like electricity, written words, modern medicine, or the internet, to take just …

Your guess is as good as anyone’s. (Image: © Peter Adams) Stonehenge is perhaps the most famous of all the henges, vast circular monuments constructed from wood or stone that litter the British countryside. The prehistoric monument was most likely erected in what is now …

In colonial America, some settlers imported Christmas traditions from Europe, while others rejected the holiday due to its pagan roots. While most Americans today probably can’t imagine the Christmas season without Santa Claus, Christmas trees, hanging stockings, and giving gifts, most of those traditions didn’t …

Freemason secrets allegedly lurk behind everything from the planning of our nation’s capital to murder. Members of the enigmatic Masonic brotherhood include prominent politicians, Founding Fathers, and titans of business. In modern times, Masons are known for donating millions to charity. But who are the …

A 1905 decision provided a powerful and controversial precedent for the flexing of a government authority. In 1901 a deadly smallpox epidemic tore through the Northeast, prompting the Boston and Cambridge boards of health to order the vaccination of all residents. But some refused to …

The archaeological artifacts come from as far away as South America. Authorities in Israel have recovered a trove of stolen archaeological artifacts from sites in ancient Israel, and across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, and even South America. The finds range from gold coins …