Jane Leavy tells the story of Ruth as the first baseball superstar — but also of his roles as movie star, vaudeville performer, barnstormer, pitchman for every conceivable product, and columnist.
Women who had relationships with occupying German soldiers faced official retaliation after the war. "For many, this was just a teenage love," Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.
A new analysis of what were initially thought to be microbial fossils in Greenland suggests they might instead just be mineral structures created when ancient tectonic forces squeezed stone.
Retail giant Sears has filed for bankruptcy. Historian Louis Hyman of Cornell reflects with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly on the impact the Sears catalog had for African-Americans during the Jim Crow era.
Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Their raised-fist salute outraged many viewers — and still resonates today.
The fungus, which has no cure, is destroying harvests in Latin America. In the 1800s, it devastated Sri Lanka's powerhouse coffee industry. And scientists say it's only a question of time.
David W. Blight's opus manages to be both a celebration of a remarkable life and a sober reminder of the many ways in which our terrible times are shaped by those Douglass lived through.
Certain aspects of China today are without historical precedent, but some lessons do arise from Japan's and America's own imperial pasts, write historians Alexis Dudden and Jeffrey Wasserstrom.
In 1692, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft and hanged, and now someone could own his house. The listing says it was built in 1638. The exterior is a deep-grey color with a bright red door.