Here I am, in another city and again writing about Christopher Columbus. In some parts of the world, this makes sense. He is buried, after all, split between Seville (from which he embarked on his famous 1492 voyage) and Santo Domingo (click here to read all about that). His life took him to several other…
In the 1930s, the great age of American railways was coming to an end, as with the end of World War Two, automobile dominance would become ascendant, never to look back. While most major American cities already had their monumental rail stations constructed by this point, a couple stragglers made it in under the wire,…
Simon Meiners is a man on a mission. As the Communications and Research Specialist at Louisville’s Frazier Museum, he is tasked with sifting through the history of Kentucky and sharing it with the public. After the first five minutes speaking with him, it is clear that this mission is more than just a profession for…
Editor’s note: I have never been to Poland. But as a Jew, I feel a connection to a place where so many of my people lived - and died. As an aside, if after reading this powerful piece by Sam Spector you want to immerse even more in the events of the Warsaw Ghetto, Mila…
I hate to do this, but I have to begin this article with a disclaimer. While this piece will focus on what can still be seen of ancient Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire from modern Mexico City, one must keep in mind that while the empire was destroyed as a political entity by Hernan Cortes…
When they were married in 1929, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera seemed like opposites. He was 43, tall, and overweight. She was 22, slim, and already dealing with many of the health issues that would plague her entire life. He was a huge artistic success, famous both in and out of Mexico, wealthy and looking…
When those who would become the Aztecs discovered this city in the 1200s, it was already ancient. And it was already mostly empty, having been abandoned for reasons unknown more than 400 years prior. But at its zenith, Teotihuacan was perhaps the most influential civilization in Meso-America, its culture spreading as far as the mighty…
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. I’ll admit a few things here. Boise, Idaho has never been on my travel radar. I doubt I’d have been able to point to where the city was on a map of Idaho before coming. And prior to this trip to visit friends who…
If you poll Americans who don’t live there about the state of Idaho, chances are the answers will be comically simplistic. “Potatoes, right?” Some who recall their fifth grade educations could tell you that the capital was Boise. But beyond that? I’m guessing you wouldn’t get much. I pride myself in my knowledge of history,…
As the saying goes, “Before God was God and boulders were boulders, Basques were already Basques.” The Basque people, from an area along the border between France and Spain, have been around a long time, with a language that predates basically anything else in Europe. So it is a bit weird to find a large…