Popular history
History articles, new research and books for a general audience. For history enthusiasts.
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The selected sources include World History Encyclopedia, History | smithsonianmag.com. Open each item at its original source for the complete article, episode or video. This is a selection of current coverage, not a complete archive.
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The Torsåker Witch Trials
October 15, 1674. The Torsåker Witch Trials begin in Sweden, leading to 71 innocent people being sentenced to death in a single day. This episode originally aired in 2024. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
When Dian Fossey was murdered
In 1985, American gorilla expert Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin at the research station she established in the mountains of Rwanda.
Alexander the Great’s empire crumbled into chaos after his death. How did it fall apart so quickly?
He survived battlefield wounds and conquered an empire stretching from the Mediterranean to India. So when Alexander the Great finally died, why was there no plan for succession?
“No votes, no golf!”: how the suffragettes made sport a political battlefield
In the early 20th century, sport came to be regarded as a male-only activity – by men, anyway. As Rachel Hewitt explains, the overlooked history of women’s participation in cricket, golf, wrestling, hockey and even mountaineering is intertwined with the emergence of the suffragist movement
Eponymous Foods: Full Bars
This installment of the eponymous foods series covers candy bars, including Snickers, Mars Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and some side mentions of other candies.
It was the one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – so why was it destroyed three times?
Older and much bigger than the Parthenon, this white marble monument in modern-day Turkey became the model for ancient Greek temples – but its history is far from peaceful
The rise of Alfred the Great
As the Viking Great Heathen Army refused to leave Anglo-Saxon England, the pressure mounted on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to respond, placing the future of the land in the hands of Alfred the Great.
The Sobibor Uprising
October 14, 1943. Jewish prisoners attempt a mass breakout from an extermination camp in German-occupied Poland. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
This Iron Age woman had her brain scooped out. Why?
Why would our Iron Age forebears smash craniums and sharpen bones? A forensic archaeological study suggests these were acts of respect
How do the outcomes of modern COIN operations actually compare to historical operations?
Occasionally I will see discussion online about how counter insurgency doctrine has advanced over time. Obviously the tools are completely different in the 2020s even compared to the 2000s not to mention the 1960s or earlier. But does modern doctrine and equipment really result in better outcomes against insurgents? Or is it a question of political will and resource dedication more so than the specific tactics and equipment? submitted by /u/Phantrum [link] [comments]
Were there any notable proposals, plans or attempts to employ military jet-skis?
Do note this is not a question of the feasibility of military jet-skis. The issues with jet-skis in a military setting are many and if they were effective then we'd be seeing their deployment as good ideas spread as quickly as bad ones. However as fans of military history, we all know that a bad idea has never stopped military theorists before.
Harry Harlow's monkey attachment studies
In the late 1950s, psychologist Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments on baby rhesus monkeys which would become some of the most controversial in modern science.
The Chilean Mining Accident
October 13, 2010. A mining accident in Copiapó, Chile ends as all 33 trapped miners arrive at the surface after a record 69 days underground. This episode originally aired in 2022. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
Daily Quiz: 15 October
View Riddle on the source website If you want to test your historical knowledge further, why not try our weekly crossword too?
Illustrated positions/diagrams for Defense of Duffer's Drift?
Basically what the title says, anyone have them or know where I can find them? The original book has a very high level map for each dream but the copies I can find are fairly blurry and indistinct, not that there is a ton of detail to begin with. I'm hoping that at some point in the last *century* since it's been written someone has actually taken the time to illustrate the various entrenchments and positions described in the text! submitted by /u/rmzgrimes [link] [comments]
The Lebel 1886 is a personal fascination of mine; what was the context of French military thinking at the time?
So it’s the first smokeless powder rifle, with a tube capacity of 10 rounds. What were French generals/logisticians expecting with this? Why did they adopt it and why was smokeless powder so important in their doing so? Also: It has a really complex and weird loading process. Did this affect their decisions in any way? submitted by /u/GloriousOctagon [link] [comments]
The Birth of Oktoberfest
October 12, 1810. Bavaria celebrates the wedding of its Crown Prince with a five-day festival of games, parades—and beer. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
Unguided rocket AA, what were they thinking?
I came across several anti-air rocket systems from WW2 recently. No, not guided by any means. Fliegerfaust (dude), unrotated projectile and the z-battery. Perhaps there was more too. I struggle to find more information on this, especially the fliegerfaust-system.... Did it actually work out in any way at all? submitted by /u/Thermawrench [link] [comments]
Honest question, what exactly is the role of a sniper?
(this is a follow-up to my previous question) The pop-culture depiction of a sniper (which is the one I primarily know of) is usually that of an uber-elite operator who hunts down and kills high-ranking enemy targets; outside of this exaggerated depiction, the role of a sniper becomes much more murkier and generally unknown to the public outside of "kill bad people from long range".
John B George published his memoir "Shots fired in anger" in 1947 about sniping Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal and then becoming an intelligence officer in the Merrill Marauders in Burma
I wanted to share this here because this is one of the few memoirs written by an American Army soldier that fought in the Pacific theater soon after the war. Also, he brought his own personal rifle to combat, a model 70 Winchester attached with an Alaskan rifle scope and even went on sniping trips in his free time. Later in 1982 he published an extended and revised edition of "shots fired in anger" about his time in the Merrill Marauders.
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