The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 sent volcanic dust and gases circling the Earth, creating spectacular sunsets captured by artists.
William Ashcroft via Houghton Library/Harvard University
The Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop mobilized ship captains to track the extraordinary sunsets appearing around the world after Krakatau erupted in 1883.
The expansion of railways meant more people could travel around the country for seaside getaways.
Gordon Samson/Alamy
Expanding railways and changes in labour practices meant that the Victorians had time for a proper holiday and many took to the British coast.
In England, children were seen as a way to replenish the military and sustain the economy.
Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Go back to 17th- and 18th-century England and France and you’ll see the same sort of handwringing over birthrates that we’re seeing today.
Poster showing ‘The Leader of the Luddites’ (1812)
Wikimedia Commons
Why a workers’ rebellion in 19th-century England is relevant in the age of data extraction, gig labour and management by algorithm.
History is better taught to young, impressionable minds from an early age.
Hannibal Hanschke/picture alliance via Getty Images
Nigeria should stop showing contempt for history as a subject, profession or topic of discussion.
XIV Crows (からす) by Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi, 1972.
Courtesy the Maruki Gallery
Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi were witness to the direct aftermath of the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. The art they created is striking.
Mark Brenner
As COVID restrictions ease, Ian McKellen’s take on Hamlet reminds us of how theatres dealt with similar situations during the bard’s time.
The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo banned all athletes who took part in a counter-competition a year earlier called the Games of the New Emerging Forces, which were dubbed the left-wing Olympics
(AP Photo)
The Olympics claim not to be political, but in the 1960s a counter movement organized by left-leaning countries put politics front and centre.
Temple of Edfu temple, Egypt.
Shutterstock
History isn’t just learning facts. Students learn about the past by researching information and synthesising it to form an evidence-based argument. This skill is useful for a range of careers.
The Little Ice Age brought some bitter extremes.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
Globally, the temperature changed by half a degree Celsius, but it dramatically altered the likelihood of extreme local weather.
Eunice Foote described the greenhouse gas effects of carbon dioxide in 1856.
Carlyn Iverson/NOAA Climate.gov
The results of Foote’s simple experiments were confirmed through hundreds of tests by scientists in the US and Europe. It happened more than a century ago.
A man hangs a protest banner where the Egerton Ryerson statue used to sit at Ryerson University. The statue was toppled in June by those protesting the discovery of graves at Indian Residential Schools.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The suburban-built environment whitewashes the violence and theft on which Canada is built.
Emmy Noether made significant contributions to theoretical mathematics.
Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen/Wikimedia Commons
More than a century after publishing major papers in theoretical mathematics, German-born Emmy Noether continues to challenge and inspire mathematicians with her story and mathematical legacy.
St Swithin is associated with a prediction of 40 days of summer rain.
Chronicle/Alamy
If it rains on St Swithin’s day it is believed that it will rain for the rest of summer.
The Fête de la Fédération at Champ de Mars on July 14, 1790. Woodcut by Helman, from a picture by C. Monet, Painter of the King.
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The French celebrate Quatorze Juillet, not Bastille Day. In fact, the English-language name hides much of the surprisingly complex history of the day.
Sharks’ teeth carry clues about the oceans they swam in.
Christina Spence Morgan
These giant predators are helping solve the mystery of Earth’s cooling shift some 50 million years ago.
Until the late 19th century, patenting medicines was considered by some as controversial and even unethical.
S. Vannini/De Agostini Editorial via Getty Images
The pharmaceutical industry overall has been deeply opposed to waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents, but a historian of the industry explains that drug companies once opposed patents altogether.
Zooarchaeological data recording.
The presence of pig bones in a refuse dump from Islamic Iberia can tell you a lot about who was doing the eating back then.
Graffiti on the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol.
Alamy/JMF news
Activists are taking a creative approach to complex debates despite intransigence from Westminster.
Rock paintings from the main gallery at Djulirri in Namunidjbuk clan estate, showing traditional Aboriginal motifs as well as European boats, airplanes, and more.
Photo by Sally K May.
Pictures of boats and ships in rock art at the northwestern tip of Australia show the European incursions from the 1800s — but also the much earlier and lesser known sea trade with southeast Asia.