It is often stated that only two things are certain in this world: death and taxes. One often-overlooked fact about the death-and-taxes phrase is that “taxes” is in plural form while “death” is in singular form. The reason is obvious, though. We die once but pay taxes over and over. Most of the time, we

It was already a war crime to use chemical weapons when World War I began. Every major country had signed a convention agreeing not to use them. But when the fighting began, the treaties meant nothing. Chemical warfare was an everyday horror of war. Men huddled in the trenches, watching for the creep of gas

Slavery is rightfully known as one of the worst evils ever perpetrated against men (and women) by their fellow men. Millions are spent every year on public education about the African slave trade that lasted from the late 16th century until the late 19th century. Although less known, the Arab slave trade in East Africa

It’s one of the most popular conspiracy theories, largely because a lot of the claims have at least partial facts to them. Some believe that events of the 20th century, in particular the two global conflicts that left millions upon millions slaughtered and changed the face and direction of the entire planet, were not only

The Great Depression was as hard as times come. Families around the world had to struggle to put food on their tables. In the US, one in four men was unemployed and those who kept their jobs saw their salaries cut in half. And it was just as bad in most parts of the world.

It’s easy to forget that many of the world’s nations only came into existence fairly recently. Think South Sudan and East Timor, for example. We also tend to forget than many once-prominent nations have ceased to exist entirely. Human history is a long narrative of the rise and fall of nations, empires, and the peoples

Some girls love bad boys. For every man who commits a massacre, there’s a whole crowd of women who go wild for him. More often than not, when serial killers and mass murderers make their way into prison, there’s a truckload of love letters waiting for them. We spend a lot of time trying to