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The pioneering yet often overlooked career of Jeannette Rankin, the first women ever in the U.S. Congress. Most Americans can easily name the first president (George Washington), the first man on the moon (Neil Armstrong), and the first guy to talk on the phone (Alexander Graham Bell, who kind of ruined the moment by saying, “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you.”). But there’s one first that doesn’t get much attention: The first woman to serve in the United States Congress....

John Wilkes Booth died in agonizing fashion at the hands of Union soldiers in Port Royal, Virginia, two weeks after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. For 12 days, Americans across the country hungered for John Wilkes Booth’s death. The actor had shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln — pinning a bitter end to the final days of the Civil War — before escaping into the woods outside Washington, D....

Exorcisms are on the rise. Not confined to the fictional realities of horror films, the Pope has confirmed that there are exorcists who work for the Catholic Church, and Reverend Bob Larson has turned his daughter into a reality TV star with perfect hair and impeccable cross-wielding skills. Brother Hermes Cifuentes practices his exorcisms in La Cumbre, Valle, Colombia. He follows the Rite of Exorcism that was handed down to him by his father, whom he also credits with giving him the strength to face demons....

Scientists think it could be a rare seven-armed octopus — a species normally found in the Atlantic Ocean or in the South Pacific. Ron Newberry/Whidbey Camano Land TrustPhotographs of a mysterious “red glob” that washed ashore on a beach in Washington have bewildered scientists. Every once in a while, a mysterious “thing” from the sea will wash up on the beach and cause a sensation on social media. The latest to spark an online biology quiz among scientists was a mysterious “red glob” that appeared on the shores of Washington state....

A boy stands at a funeral ceremony held for Palestinian Abu Jamei, who died after an Israeli aircraft hit his house in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 21, 2014. Image Source: Ezz Al-Zanoun/Getty Images “You can’t have occupation and human rights.” That’s what public intellectual and essayist Christopher Hitchens had to say about Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, one of the most contentious components of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict came to a head once again last summer, when Israel launched a seven-week military campaign in the Gaza Strip region of Palestine that resulted in about 2,200 deaths (1,500 of them civilian)....

The sword was pulled from the attic decades ago, but a recent ceremonial cleaning revealed it was a priceless heirloom from the 12th century. TwitterThe kohoki blade pulled from the attic of the Kasuga Taisha shrine. If you’ve ever thought that your attic was just full of old junk, you may want to think again. A rusty blade pulled from an attic decades ago was just revealed to be one of the oldest Japanese samurai swords in existence....

Renia Spiegel had just turned 18 when the Nazis found her in hiding and murdered her. But her 700-page diary survived. Bellak Family ArchiveRenia Spiegel ended nearly every journal entry of hers by proclaiming that God and her mother would save her. Renia Spiegel had barely reached adulthood when the Nazis murdered her in 1942 after finding her hiding in an attic. The Polish Jewish teenager had kept a diary since she was 14, filling hundreds of pages....

“The only good thing about it is it keeps Dillinger’s name in the news.” FBIThe reason behind John Dillinger’s exhumation remains a mystery, just like the man himself. Some live on in infamy even from beyond the grave, and John Dillinger is one of them. Now, 85 years after his headline-making death, Dillinger’s body will be exhumed from his grave in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis — for a History Channel documentary....

From the first photo ever taken to the first photo ever uploaded to the internet, these are the groundbreaking firsts that define the history of photography. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: The Five Most Iconic Images In The History Of Photography Inside The Haunting History Of Spirit Photography 15 Groundbreaking History News Stories From 2020...

Sometimes, the most delicious meals are made with almost no budget and very few ingredients, as this history of Italian food shows. Hard times can give way to some pretty creative — and tasty — thinking. Case in point? The majority of your favorite Italian foods. The delicious simplicity of many Italian dishes stems from lack of money, and historical periods when Italians simply had to make the most of whatever ingredients they had....

Turns out the “War on Christmas” has been going on for centuries. Kena Betancur/Getty ImagesPeople dressed as Jesus and Santa run through the streets of New York during the annual Santacon bar crawl. Though the War in Afghanistan is the longest in our country’s history, there’s one American “battle” that’s been even more drawn-out. And it’s happening right here at home. It’s the never-ending War on Christmas, and it’s back for 2016....

The toxic chemical wreaked havoc on the people of Vietnam during the Vietnam War and had debilitating side effects that many continue to feel today. (Left): Wikimedia Commons, (Right): Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images(Left): Three planes fly over Vietnam releasing Agent Orange circa 1961-1971., (Right): Le Van O., a 14-year-old boy who was born without eyes because of the effects of Agent Orange. For the 40 years following the end of the Vietnam War the U....

Wilmer McLean moved his family 100 miles south after the first battle of the Civil War broke out in his yard — but through a strange twist of fate, Robert E. Lee would surrender to Ulysses S. Grant in McLean’s new parlor. Library of CongressWilmer McLean and his family on the front porch of their house in Appomattox. 1865 Wilmer McLean holds a strange spot in American history. In an odd twist of fate, the Civil War began in his backyard and ended in his parlor....

The traces found on these cups represent some of the earliest evidence of beer ever found. Sirwan Regional ProjectBeer drinking cups being excavated at Khani Masi. Scientists have long known that beer played an important role in ancient Mesopotamia, widely known as the cradle of human civilization, but they struggled to find concrete evidence of the beverage — until now. Archaeologists discovered a new excavation technique that allowed them to detect trace amounts of beer residue on 2,500-year-old ceramic cups....

The Motor City has officially run out of gas. And as evidenced by these photos, it was not just industry that abandoned Detroit; it was its livelihood. As of July 18, 2013, the Motor City officially ran out of gas. Filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, Detroit’s debts–a whopping $18 to $20 billion–represent the largest municipal filing for bankruptcy in United States history. And as its solvency has gone down the drain, so too has its population....

Because doctors once totally misunderstood these lethal diseases, they used to treat them in some truly horrifying ways. New revelations about how HIV/AIDS first arrived in the United States recently debunked the long-held belief that a single man — identified in academic literature as Patient Zero — stood at the epicenter of the 1980s epidemic. Some 30 years later, it turns out that the man called Patient Zero was never such: The label on his file was not the number zero but the letter “O,” signaling that the person was from “Outside California,” the state where researchers thought the crisis originated....

The returned remains marks the first time a significant archaeological artifact has been repatriated to the Andean country. Juan Karita/AP PhotoThe Incan mummy was returned to Bolivia by the Michigan State University Museum after some 129 years. Finally, the mummy returns. After 129 years, the extremely well-preserved mummy remains of an Incan girl dating back to the late 15th century have been returned to Bolivia. Over the last century, the mummy was kept at the Michigan State University Museum....

Though the fossils suggest that animal life started 300 million years earlier than previously thought, not everyone is convinced. Elizabeth Turner/Laurentian UniversityA close-up of the fossil’s texture. In the 1990s, geologist Elizabeth Turner flew to Canada’s isolated Mackenzie Mountains to take samples for her Ph.D. One of the samples struck her as odd, but she put it aside for later. Now, Turner believes that that sample might be evidence that animal life began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought....

Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood was beloved among Seattle’s alternative rock scene — then died of an overdose at age 24 just before his band’s debut album came out. Andrew Wood/FacebookEarly grunge performer Andrew Wood. The 1990s grunge scene in Seattle is a little slice of music history that we’re probably all aware of, regardless of age. So many young talents erupted during this time that it’s difficult to keep track of all the artists that made their debut....

“Do what you have to do to keep me alive.” Greg ManteufelGreg Manteufel A seemingly harmless lick from a dog nearly turned deadly for a Wisconsin man. When he fell ill in late June, Greg Manteufel originally thought that his fever and vomiting were merely caused by the flu. However, his symptoms soon worsened drastically to the point that his fever was through the roof and he was delirious. It was then that his wife, Dawn, rushed him to the hospital....