“Beauty is pain” is a familiar phrase, and one that has been taken quite literally at many points in history. People have swallowed toxins such as arsenic and restricted their bodies with corsets, all in the name of status, style, and desirability. Here are five of the most extreme examples of dangerous beauty trends from decades past. Radium Products In the early 20th century, radium was briefly treated like a miracle ingredient. Following its 1898 discovery, radium’s mysterious, faint luminescence made it seem almost magical; as early as 1904, products such as the topical product Ec-Zine and even drinkable radium water were being advertised as a cure-all for everything from eczema to pimples to blood poison.  By the 1930s, beauty brands had leaned in, too. The French company Tho-Radia — so named for the elements thorium and radium — sold face creams and …Read More

For Anna Jarvis, Mother’s Day was never about cards or brunch reservations. Her original vision of the day was a quiet one, built around honoring her late mother.

The typical kitchen in 1930s America didn’t have high-tech appliances or convenience foods, but it was filled with ingenuity. During the Great Depression, when money was scarce and waste wasn’t an option, homemakers became experts at stretching every dollar — and every ingredient — as far as it could possibly go.  Even as the economy began to recover in the early 1940s, frugality remained essential, reinforced by wartime rationing and shortages. Meals had to be filling, affordable, and built from whatever was on hand, which often wasn’t much. For many families, these habits didn’t disappear when times improved — they were passed down to the next generation. You might remember a parent or grandparent saving bacon grease in a tin or creating a meal from the previous day’s leftovers. These were hard-earned skills shaped by necessity. And many of these kitchen tricks feel …Read More

During the American Revolution, 13 British colonies in North America fought for independence from English rule in what became one of the most defining conflicts in history. Certain moments from the Revolutionary War — which spanned from 1775 to 1783 — have certainly been etched into popular memory. But it was a long, complex conflict, and for every renowned tale such as the Boston Tea Party or Washington crossing the Delaware, there are lesser-known events that don’t always make it into textbooks. Here are some of the most fascinating but often overlooked events that unfolded during America’s fight for independence. A Woman Disguised Herself as a Man To Fight Women weren’t permitted to serve in the military during the Revolutionary War, but they were nonetheless instrumental throughout the conflict — whether they were sewing uniforms, tending to the wounded, or even acting as spies. …Read More

Nashville earned the nickname “the Athens of the South” due to its commitment to culture and higher education.

Before the logging industry wiped out millions of wooded acres across the United States, the trees in old-growth forests were hundreds of feet tall, with gnarled bases and trunks that could measure more than 20 feet across. To fell the trees, loggers would build platforms 10 to 12 feet off the ground where the tree’s shape was smoother. So when settlers moved into the cleared forestland, they had a lot of giant stumps to contend with. Some stumps were removed, sometimes using perilous methods such as fire or dynamite. But others, particularly the larger ones, were repurposed. The bases of these massive trees had soft wood interiors and sometimes even hollow areas, so it was relatively easy to carve out the center of a stump and turn it into a building, such as a barn, post office, or even the occasional home. The …Read More