Tag: history
Word of the Week: A brief history of Coachella — the festival and the place
By Rachel Treisman Each April, tens of thousands of people flock to the heart of the Coachella Valley to camp, dance and let loose at the music festival by that same name. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival features hundreds of performers on some half a dozen stages, spread out across two consecutive three-day…
This Women’s History Month, readers tell NPR about the women who changed their lives
Suzanne Nuyen In 1982, the U.S. celebrated its first Women’s History Week. Four years later, Congress passed a law designating March as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of proclamations to celebrate the achievements women have made in U.S. history. This month, NPR’s Up First newsletter celebrates the women who have…
A Pentagon press secretary has history of pushing antisemitic, extremist theories
Tom Dreisbach Members of Congress and Jewish civil rights organizations are criticizing the new deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense, Kingsley Wilson, for a series of online posts and past political commentary she made before joining the Trump administration. Over the last several years, Wilson posted and commented prolifically on podcasts in her…
Europe’s leaders to hold emergency talks ‘at turning point in history’
EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday for a special council on defence, as France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned that the continent was at a “turning point of history”. As well as rearmament, leaders are expected to discuss how the body can further support Kyiv in the face of US President Donald Trump’s announcement on…
John Simpson: 2025 could be year for the history books as Trump shreds global norms
Just occasionally, there are years when the world goes through some fundamental, convulsive change. 1968, with the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Paris riots and the anti-Vietnam War protests in America, was one of them. 1989, the year of the Tiananmen massacre, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the implosion of the Soviet empire,…
Mathematical Symbols’ Wild History Explained
The Wild and Contentious History of Mathematical Symbols A mathematician has uncovered the stories behind the symbols used in math By Max Springer edited by Clara Moskowitz War in Europe is a staple topic in the study of history, but there’s one major conflict most history books won’t teach you—the battle of the equals sign,…
Trump’s anti-trans effort is an agenda cornerstone with echoes in history
Odette Yousef Hours after an army helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided near Reagan National Airport last week, killing all on board both craft, social media erupted with the claim that the pilot manning the Black Hawk was a transgender service member. But it wasn’t true. Jo Ellis, a transgender, Black Hawk pilot with…
Wall Street Journal editorial calls Trump tariffs ‘dumbest trade war in history’
Some US business leaders have reacted neutrally, while JP Morgan CEO says tariff threats can be used effectively US business leaders are offering a mixed reaction to steep trade tariffs that Donald Trump’s administration has imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, as the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal called it “the dumbest trade…
Survivors of Auschwitz deliver warning from history as memories die out
Their numbers are dwindling but the voices of the Auschwitz survivors remain powerful. “We were stripped of all humanity,” said Leon Weintraub, 99, the oldest of four who spoke beside the notorious Death Gate at the Birkenau extermination camp. World leaders and European royalty rubbed shoulders with 56 survivors of Hitler’s genocide of European Jews…
How Fernanda Torres, Karla Sofía Gascón and More Are Making History
The 2025 Academy Awards nominees include Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón and I’m Still Here’s Fernanda Torres as history-making nominees. Find out how. The 2025 Academy Awards are set to be a historic night. Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott announced the nominations across 23 categories on live stream Jan. 23, and some names are making…
Wild, Weird and Controversial Moments in OnlyFans History
When it comes to OnlyFans, the controversy was baked in upon arrival—if only because adult entertainment automatically invites scrutiny, no matter who’s making it or where. And the idea of people signing up, creating their own content (plenty of it sexually explicit but some not) and charging other users to watch that content, thereby setting…
Venn Diagrams’ History and Popularity Outside of Math Explained
Opinion The Curious History of Venn Diagrams By Jack Murtagh edited by Jeanna Bryner In his book The Mathematical Universe, mathematician William Dunham wrote of John Venn’s namesake legacy, the Venn diagram, “No one in the long history of mathematics ever became better known for less.” While Venn diagrams may not have solved any long-standing…
Inside Kristin Cavallari’s Eventful Dating History
Kristin Cavallari, who shares three kids with ex-husband Jay Cutler, said she’s dating again after breaking up with Mark Estes. Brush up on her robust romantic history leading up to her latest suitor. Kristin Cavallari knows that, if you’re looking for the right fit, you’ve got to try it on first. And, if it’s uncomfortable,…
LA fires burn area twice the size of Manhattan – worst the city has seen in recent history
California has seen deadly blazes over the years – Camp fire decimated Paradise town in 2018 and Tubbs fire burned 36,810 acres in 2017 The destruction caused by the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles is the worst the city has seen in recent history. The wildfires, which began on 7 January, have torched the US’s second…
LA wildfires among costliest in US history
The Los Angeles wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in US history, with losses already expected to exceed more than $50bn (£40bn). In a preliminary estimate, private forecaster Accuweather said it expected losses of between $52bn and $57bn as the blazes rip through an area that is home to some of the…
As Trump rewrites history, victims of the Jan. 6 riot say they feel ‘betrayed’
Tom Dreisbach For the millions of Americans who watch the presidential inauguration every four years, the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol is a familiar site. The incoming president walks through that tunnel and on to the inaugural platform, before taking the oath of office. On Jan. 6, 2021, it was a crime…
Referee makes history as first openly gay official
A referee has spoken of his pride at becoming the first openly gay referee to officiate a PDC World Darts Championship final. Huw Ware, from Cardiff, took charge of the second half of the match as Luke Littler demolished Michael Van Gerwen to become the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner. Huw hopes his success…
New bone test could rewrite British history, say scientists
From the end of the Roman occupation through the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions – a new way of testing DNA in ancient bones could force a rethink of key moments in Britain’s early history, say researchers. Scientists could already track big alterations in DNA that occur over thousands or millions of years, helping us learn,…
Debut at 18, still playing at 40 – James makes more history
LeBron James is a four-time NBA champion LeBron James became the first person in NBA history to play as a teenager and past the age of 40 as the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers. James, who made his NBA debut as an 18-year-old in 2003, turned 40 on 30 December. He scored…