Christmas Don’ts

♪ You better watch out,You better not cry,Better not pout,I’m telling you why:History is coming to town. ♪ These days, it’s not hard to make Santa’s “nice list,” especially with a spy, er, elf always looking over your shoulder. But in centuries past, the holiday season could bring worse fates than coal in your stocking. Read More

Clip of the Week: June 12, 2024

This is what happens when Americans go abroad: Mr. W. W. Umberhauer, a Philadelphia banker, had to change a suit of clothes yesterday on account of the peculiar effect the pattern had on horses in the Strand [in London] and other thoroughfares. Mr. Umberhauer is a guest at the Hotel Cecil, and the suit is Read More

A Neigh in the Life

Ever since humans domesticated horses thousands of years ago, they’ve been our faithful companions, pulling our carriages, plowing our fields and kindly not throwing off small children placed on their backs for photo ops (thanks, Oreo!). However, it’s not all work and no horseplay. If the early 20th-century newspapers are to be believed, horses were Read More

Insights in Iceland

Another Wednesday, another post coming to you from a random corner of the world. You could be forgiven for thinking Second Glance History has turned into a travel blog.  I promise we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming of poison-detecting guinea pigs and singing dogs soon. But for today, join me in discovering how much more there Read More

Bram’s Buddy

Inspired by a recent weekend in Dublin, I’m digging deeper into the story of Bram Stoker. Get ready for vampires! Epic battles between good and evil! And copious amounts of garlic! Whoops, wrong book. Today, he’s renowned around the world as the author of the novel that spawned a thousand teenybopper vampire romances, but in Read More