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History & Folklore

Tambora and the American Frontier
In the final essay in our series "The Year Without a Summer," we'll examine how Tambora's eruption motivated westward expansion of the United States.
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Nicole Miras
How a Volcano Gave Us the Bicycle
From the invention of the "running machine," to the birth of meteorology, let's examine a few bright spots that appeared after Tambora's tragic…
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Nicole Miras
Frankenstein, Yunnan, and the Opium Trade
The Year Without a Summer inspired authors from England to Southwestern China. But horrific famines would also compel farmers to turn to a lucrative…
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Nicole Miras
The Year Without a Summer
Mount Tambora's 1815 eruption was the largest volcanic event in recorded history, with broad implications for the global climate, agriculture, the arts…
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Nicole Miras
4
The Alchemist Who Broke China's Porcelain Monopoly
Johann Friedrich Böttger made the terrible mistake of promising a king that he could turn base metals into gold. When life hands you lemons, make…
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Nicole Miras
Ottomans, Venetians, and the Riches of Cultural Exchange
Sometimes friends, sometimes foes, always open for business.
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Nicole Miras
2
The Forever Wars and "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Lessons from the greatest anti-war novel ever written.
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Nicole Miras
14
Marie Antoinette's Pink Diamond at Auction, the Restoration of an Early Portrait, and a Very Scandalous Dress
France's ill-fated queen in the headlines this week.
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Nicole Miras
4
This Hat Killed 200 Million Birds Every Year
During the Victorian period, the lust for rare plumage reached staggering heights.
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Nicole Miras
2
The Dress that Started a Revolution
Before there was the 1920s flapper, there was the Delphos gown.
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Nicole Miras
3
The Fight Against Zombie Culture: the New Feudalism, Revisited
Why the humanities matter now more than ever
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Nicole Miras
4
So, Where Do the Fairies Actually Come From?
At the end of our series, we address the question that has pestered folklorists for generations.
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Nicole Miras
3
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