The Boston Common Christmas tree has been a gift from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia for 48 years. Per the Boston Globe, the gift is thanks for the assistance Boston offered to Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
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It was even more common to blame animals for the spread of the disease, and 14th century Europeans became completely fixated on the wrong animal. Instead of trying to eradicate the disease-filled vermin that were ravaging the cities, some decided black cats were to blame for all their problems.
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Women in ancient China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) up until the early 20th century, bound their feet as a means to attract better marriage prospects. This made their feet incredibly small, but it also meant their feet become gnarled, broken, and painful.
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Between 1929 and 1939, the entire industrialized world was caught in the grip of the biggest financial crisis in history -- the Great Depression. While the Great Depression was horrible for those who lived through it, the U.S. would look very different today if it hadn't happened.
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The Japanese temple at Sanjūsangen-dō is home to 1,001 statues of the Kannon Bodhisattva, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. But this shrine holds more than just an impressive statuary; it's home to an important rite of passage.
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While it might seem pretty straightforward that after the end of WWII, the Nazi party needed to pay the price for their crimes, it didn't exactly work that way. Many fled Europe in the aftermath of the war and ended up in South America. How they got there is both bizarre and terrifying.
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The world of the Neanderthals was a near-endless winter and there were many ways to die, as the unluckiest Neanderthal in history once found out. Some deaths, and this still holds true today, are simply the result of an unfortunate circumstance. This was the unluckiest Neanderthal in history.
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When Wisconsin University researchers examined a Stone-Age butchery site in Tanzania, they found that the site's animal remains indicated that those animals had been specifically targeted and killed by human hunters. Hunting is apparently far older than we realized.
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Neanderthals existed from roughly 400,000 years ago until 40,000 years ago. Though they lived in the Stone Age, they didn't have rocks for brains. Here's what life was like for our Stone Age relatives.
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Gum is generally a one and done piece of entertainment. So it's surprising that a 5,700 year-old form of 'chewing gum' remembers its owner well enough that scientists were able to recreate her entire genome, and also see what she had just eaten. You deserve an explanation.
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Mar-a-Lago is President Donald Trump's primary residence, a resort club for the extremely wealthy, and an estate with more history than you might expect.
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Long before the word "branding" was used to describe the click-boosting tactics of Instacelebs, it was used by cowherds to keep track of field-roaming cattle (a funny comparison, to be sure). And we mean "long before," as in pre-written language scrawled on cave walls thousands of years ago.
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Frau Perchta's role in Christmas, though, has changed over the years. It turns out that she tends to be most active between Christmas and the Epiphany, so people believed she's more of a holiday thing. Frau Perchta preyed on lazy people year-'round before becoming a general threat against children.
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Julius Caesar is the most famous Roman who ever lived, but he tends to be more famous for some things than others. Caesar is remembered as a general and a politician, but not as a priest, a title that Caesar held multiple times. Let's look inside Julius Caesar's connection to priesthood.
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We know they brought gifts, but most people aren't too familiar with the characters beyond that. When you hear the visitors mentioned in Christmas carols -- for instance, "We Three Kings," posted on YouTube -- they're often described as being, well, kings who follow a star from far off lands.
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The tradition had very humble beginnings. Pre-20th century presidential administrations didn't officially observe Christmas. The president and his family traditionally decorated "modestly with greens and privately celebrated the Yuletide with family and friends."
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Christmas is still celebrated by soldiers during times of war. That doesn't stop the conflict that's going on, and the stress of combat doesn't dissipate for the holidays. The celebrations that are typical to the military are nothing like they are stateside, but there's still some holiday cheer.
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The San Juan County Sheriff's Office shared a joke "Most Wanted" poster with nine alien faces and posted it to Facebook for a laugh, but it didn't seem like anyone had any idea who put the monolith there and no one reported any stolen property.
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The mystique of the Orient Express has been tantalizing travelers since 1883. Read on for an enjoyable trip along the history of this magnificent train.
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America's sixth president, John Quincy Adams, was known for his intellectual mind and passion for science and exploration. During his presidency, explorers were charting the western frontier like never before, and revolutionary scientific findings were being examined and documented.
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The earliest evidence of people skating on ice was 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists found evidence of ice skating around that time in areas surrounding Scandinavia and Russia. They believe the Finns made the earliest skates in order to move across frozen water and away from predators efficiently.
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Being a teenager is tough, from all the changes teens go through to the fact that adults have complained about them in every period of history. But at least the Renaissance era was an interesting time to annoy adults and become one yourself. This is how teens during the Renaissance really lived.
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If you've ever seen a nativity scene outside of a church during Christmas service, then you no doubt know what it looks like, but nativity scenes are actually much older than you may think. The first-ever nativity scene was put together by St. Francis of Assisi in 1233.
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We all know that Santa Claus has supernatural abilities, and the origin of Santa Claus' powers are explained by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum in his story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This is the surprising connection between Oz and Santa.
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In the final month of 1988, Armenia was struck by an earthquake that absolutely devastated the northern region of the country and displaced thousands of people.
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Whether it be at the dawn of the Roman empire in the B.C. era or the heights of the Cold War a few generations back, powerful states have attempted and failed many times to conquer land. The reasons vary on why these invasions may have failed. Here is a list of invasions that went horribly wrong.
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While modern Christmas traditions are nearly universal thanks to pop culture, they used to be very different. If you look back at the 19th and early 20th centuries, you'll see unexpected holiday celebrations. Here are some strange Christmas traditions that were considered normal 100 years ago.
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