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We’re living in the bizarre world that Flaubert envisioned

by Susanna Lee

Many might feel bewildered and demoralized. But fans of the 19th-century French novel have seen this before.

The Iran Plane Crash Could Be the Latest in a Long History of Accidental Shoot-Downs

Here’s what you need to know about some of the deadliest attacks on civilian aircraft.

Understand the news with this brief history of Iran

by Ali M Ansari

From the US assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani to the ongoing case of the jailed mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Iran has scarcely been out of the headlines in recent months. But how far back does the history of Iran stretch?

Trying to Get in Shape in 2020? Here's the History Behind the Common New Year's Resolution

While New Year’s resolutions in general are thought to date back to the ancient Babylonians, the New Year’s resolution to get in shape is part of a much more recent trend.

The Surprising History of McDonald’s and the Civil Rights Movement: Marcia Chatelain's Latest Book Reviewed

In “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America,” Marcia Chatelain has written a smart and capacious history suggesting that McDonald’s should summon all of those thoughts, and then some.

In 1980, a 34-year-old Donald Trump said the US should invade Iran in response to the hostage crisis

According to historians Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, as cited by Brookings, this was Trump's first known comment on US foreign policy. 

British National Archives to trial 12-document limit per day for visitors, as academics warn research could be affected

The National Archives claimed the move was designed to increase efficiency - but faced an immediate backlash from historians who complained their work could become untenable. 

How Methamphetamine Became a Key Part of Nazi Military Strategy

by Peter Andreas

As Norman Ohler shows in Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany, while other drugs were banned or discouraged, methamphetamine was touted as a miracle product when it appeared on the market in the late 1930s.

The Repugnant Plan Brewing for State Legislatures to Steal the Election Must be Stopped

by Edward B. Foley

A leading election law scholar warns that Trump allies may still try to steal the election. 

The disturbing history behind Trump’s threat to target Iranian cultural sites

The United States for decades helped shape what some believed to be a new consensus on the destruction of cultural heritage: that this form of war and destruction is not only a crime against another warring party but also a crime against humanity that endangers civilian lives and dignity.

Did Britain meddle in a US presidential election?

When US President George HW Bush craved "a smoking gun" in 1992 to politically kneecap his White House challenger Bill Clinton, the British government delved into its files for damaging information. 

Iran Air Flight 655: Iran’s president invokes 1988 tragedy many Americans have forgotten

On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani invoked history right back in response to Trump’s threat.

Josh Hawley Dodges Question During Fox News Grilling on Election Challenge

Senator Josh Hawley's demands that Congress intervene in the electoral vote certification depends on ignoring that A: Congress formed such a commission in 1877 after three states failed to certify their vote and B: the resulting compromise forfeited the politial and civil rights of Black Americans. 

The Senators Who Were Expelled After Refusing To Accept Lincoln’s Election

by Gillian Brockell

Not since the crisis of secession and the Civil War has the U.S. Senate expelled a member. 

Defenders of History Take Aim at Trump’s Threat to Strike Iran’s Cultural Sites

Military attacks against cultural sites are against international law, and the United States has condemned the Islamic State and Taliban for similar destruction.  

A genderless prophet drew hundreds of followers long before the age of nonbinary pronouns

While non-binary identities have grown in visibility in recent years, some historians point to characters like the Public Universal Friend as evidence that gender-nonconforming people have always been a part of American society, long before the language existed to recognize them.

Why fewer US students want to learn about UK these days

Once a bastion of English and History departments, the British studies discipline is waning as American students increasingly put career goals over their love of Charles Dickens, writes James Jeffrey.

Soleimani Assassination Marks 'Peak Hatred' In History Of U.S.-Iran Animosity

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about how tensions between the United States and Iran got to where they are.

Brian Urquhart, a Foundational Leader at the United Nations, Dies at 101

"In the mid-1950s, as the lone official in Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold’s inner circle with military experience, Mr. Urquhart helped invent the practice of U.N. peacekeeping through the establishment of the U.N. Emergency Force."

What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment’s ratification

by Tiffany Mitchell Patterson

Here are some suggestions for educators and others interested in learning more about that time period.