Michelle Humphries

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A History of Ancient Egypt’s Most Famous Sites

A History of Ancient Egypt’s Most Famous Sites

Africa may have given rise to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the...

Academy Award Winning Sisters: The Lives of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine

Academy Award Winning Sisters: The Lives of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine

Olivia de Havilland was one of the last living actresses who worked during the Golden Era of Hollywood, but also one of the most decorated, winning dozens of awards over the course of a 50 year career. Among those, she most notably won the Academy...

America’s Most Influential Jazz Artists

America’s Most Influential Jazz Artists

Louis Armstrong once claimed that “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans…It has given me something to live for.” This statement conjures an image which most anyone familiar with jazz...

America’s Weirdest Riots: The History and Legacy of the Most Unique American Riots

America’s Weirdest Riots: The History and Legacy of the Most Unique American Riots

Riots are an aspect of American history that do not show up much in history textbooks, except for famous disturbances like the Boston Tea Party or the infamous New York City draft riots of 1863. The reality is that the country has experienced...

Ancient and Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the World’s Most Persistent Conspiracy Theories

Ancient and Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the World’s Most Persistent Conspiracy Theories

Perhaps it should also not be surprising that the themes found in contemporary conspiracy theories are often echoed in ancient conspiracy theories. While some people still insist that Lyndon B. Johnson was in on John F. Kennedy’s assassination, it was...

Ancient Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about the Ancient World

Ancient Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about the Ancient World

For decades, parodies featuring ominous, mysterious cults have been a favorite gag in pop culture. These fraternal brothers are often depicted in some type of underground lair, dressed in extravagant ceremonial robes with their faces hidden in their...

Ancient Egyptian Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about Egypt in Antiquity

Ancient Egyptian Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about Egypt in Antiquity

Given how far back the Egyptian civilization goes, it’s no surprise that Egypt is still full of mystery, and the unknown continues to generate conspiracy theories that attempt to fill in the gaps. For example, generations have viewed Egypt’s pyramids...

Ancient Rome’s Provinces: The History of the Foreign Lands Ruled by the Roman Empire in Antiquity

Ancient Rome’s Provinces: The History of the Foreign Lands Ruled by the Roman Empire in Antiquity

It can be argued that Roman culture was, indeed, Graeco-Roman rather than Roman. It was the Greek language that served as the lingua franca in the Eastern Empire and much of the west including Italy. Many Greek intellectuals, including Galen, were...

Animals and the Greco-Roman World: The History of the Ways the Ancient Greeks and Romans Used Animals in Religion and Daily Life

Animals and the Greco-Roman World: The History of the Ways the Ancient Greeks and Romans Used Animals in Religion and Daily Life

There were approximately 1,500 Greek city-states (poleis) in the Classical era, and sacrifices featured in every one of them. As such, animals were constantly involved in the core elements of Greek society and cults, and this centrality could be found...

Animals in Antiquity: The Mythology and Roles of Different Animals in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome

Animals in Antiquity: The Mythology and Roles of Different Animals in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome

To the ancient Egyptians, the gods and goddesses were all around them and could be seen daily in nature. Nearly every animal found in ancient Egypt, both domestic and wild, were associated with a god or goddess, which can be seen in Egyptian art where...

Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley: The Lives and Legacies of Colonial America’s Most Prominent Poets

Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley: The Lives and Legacies of Colonial America’s Most Prominent Poets

Anne Bradstreet was born into an unusual family that, in the early years of the 17th century, believed in educating daughters as well as sons. She then moved to the American wilderness as a young bride and proceeded to produce children and poetry at...

Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster: The History of the Search for the World Famous Monsters

Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster: The History of the Search for the World Famous Monsters

People have always been fascinated with the hidden, the mysterious, and the unexplained. Every society has its tall tales and ghost stories, its odd legends, and heroes. Also, every society has its stories of strange beasts, dangerous or benign, that...

Billie Holiday and Etta James: The Lives and Legacies of the Famous Jazz Singers

Billie Holiday and Etta James: The Lives and Legacies of the Famous Jazz Singers

If Billie Holiday wanted to become a jazz singer, she chose the best of all eras in which to attempt it. A wave of great jazz and jazz/pop crossover artists swept over the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s, generating a golden age for the...

Bob Fosse & George Balanchine: The History of the Men Who Revolutionized American Choreography

Bob Fosse & George Balanchine: The History of the Men Who Revolutionized American Choreography

By the turn of the 20th century, American entertainment was still preoccupied with European-style operetta, as embodied in the works of cellist-composer Victor Herbert. Traditional dance forms moved from European stories to the American prairie in...

Burying the Dead in Ancient Egypt: The History of Egyptian Mummies, Tombs, and Other Burial Rituals

Burying the Dead in Ancient Egypt: The History of Egyptian Mummies, Tombs, and Other Burial Rituals

Given the abundance of funerary artifacts that have been found within the sands of Egypt, it sometimes seems as though the Egyptians were more concerned with the matters of the afterlife than they were with matters of the life they experienced from...

Cola di Rienzo and Garibaldi: The History of the Italian Nationalists Who Failed and Succeeded in Unifying Italy

Cola di Rienzo and Garibaldi: The History of the Italian Nationalists Who Failed and Succeeded in Unifying Italy

Cola di Rienzo was a man whose life and actions have reverberated down the centuries, as his charismatic, yet unsuccessful dictatorship has spawned legends and comparisons with movements of later ages. His attempt to bring the greatness of Roman...

Cryptography and the World Wars: The History of Codemaking and Codebreaking during Both Global Conflicts

Cryptography and the World Wars: The History of Codemaking and Codebreaking during Both Global Conflicts

World War I was the first major conflict in which new electronic means of transmitting and receiving messages became a major factor in political and military operations. The electric telegraph was developed in the first half of the 19th century, and...

Cryptography in World War I: The History of the Efforts to Make and Break Secret Codes during the Great War

Cryptography in World War I: The History of the Efforts to Make and Break Secret Codes during the Great War

World War I was the first major conflict in which new electronic means of transmitting and receiving messages became a major factor in political and military operations. The electric telegraph was developed in the first half of the 19th century, and...

Hamilcar and Hannibal: The History of the Carthaginian Generals Who Brought Rome to Its Knees

Hamilcar and Hannibal: The History of the Carthaginian Generals Who Brought Rome to Its Knees

One overlooked figure in the Punic Wars is Hamilcar Barca, who is now best remembered for being Hannibal’s father. However, before Hannibal marched out of Spain, it was Hamilcar who had positioned forces there, and he was already a significant...

History for Kids: Sacagawea and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

History for Kids: Sacagawea and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

*Perfect for ages 7-10In Charles River Editors’ History for Kids series, your children can learn about history’s most important people and events in an easy, entertaining, and educational way. Pictures help bring the story to life, and the concise but...

Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton: The Lives and Careers of Britain’s Most Famous Shakespearean Actors

Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton: The Lives and Careers of Britain’s Most Famous Shakespearean Actors

Of all the great actors of the 20th century, none personifies acting royalty more than Laurence Olivier, and some of this is simply due to the fact that he was actually knighted in 1947, along with a lengthy list of other honors that include being...

Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about the Middle Ages

Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the Most Popular Conspiracy Theories about the Middle Ages

Few eras are easier to let the imagination run wild than the Middle Ages, which have often been coined the Dark Ages based on a perceived lack of progress and information.[1] Indeed, we can say that it is not completely unfounded because we know less...

Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty

Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty

As the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned and Roman control of the area broke down. Little is known of this period of British history, but soon the Anglo-Saxons – who had been harassing the Saxon Shore...

Mysterious North America: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena across the United States, Mexico, and Canada

Mysterious North America: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena across the United States, Mexico, and Canada

At a time in antiquity when most of Europe was covered with forests and wandering tribes, Mexico had already developed complex civilizations, beginning with the Olmecs and followed by the Maya, a civilization with advanced knowledge of medicine,...

Presidential Assassinations: The History of the Killing of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy

Presidential Assassinations: The History of the Killing of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy

Until April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors of his time, and President Abraham Lincoln had even watched him perform. But his most significant performance at a theater did not take place on the stage. That night, Booth...