Van Gogh and the decision that changed art history
Source: BBC
Vincent Van Gogh turned his failure as a rural preacher into the art that makes him revered as an innovator today.
Historic Figures
Two Perspectives: Description of the people in hiding
Source: Miep Gies
Read this interesting account of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex from the perspective of Miep Gies and compare it to Anne Frank’s account.
In the 1800s, a freed slave built bridges across the South
Source: Atlanta Magazine
Horace King, a freed slave in early 1900’s was known for his sophisticated bridge-building technique. With the man who freed him, John Goodwin, he built covered bridges across what became the Confederate States of America.
Robert Frost Biography
Source: Biography
An acclaimed American poet, Robert Frost didn’t have any of his work published until after he was 40 years old. He went on to receive much recognition and many awards, including four Pulitzer Prizes.
Invention of the Telegraph
Source: Library of Congress
Read about the successes and setbacks Samuel F. B. Morse encountered while inventing the telegraph.
Alexander Gardner: The mysteries of the Civil War’s photographic giant
Source: The Washington Post
Chances are, if you’ve seen a Civil War-era photograph, it was credited to photographer Mathew Brady. However, that photo was most likely actually taken by Alexander Gardner, who went on to document the American West.
Josephine Baker—A French and American Hero
Source: Articles on History
Rising from poverty in St. Louis to become an entertainment superstar in her adopted home of Paris, Josephine Baker could easily have enjoyed a life of leisurely wealth. Instead, she aided the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of World War II and later spoke out for American civil rights.
Pol Pot’s Shadow
Source: PBS Frontline
In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge, led by the dictator Pol Pot, took over the southeast Asian nation of Cambodia. The regime uprooted and destroyed countless lives, killing nearly two million of its own people. Cambodians today have yet to come to terms with the horrors of that time.
Shakespeare Inspired Robben Island Inmates, Including Mandela
Source: Voice of America
Publishers have been cranking out editions of Shakespeare’s works for hundreds of years. So what makes an ordinary 1970 edition, pasted with pictures and marked with handwritten notes, so special?
Anne Frank’s diary is now free to download despite copyright dispute
Source: The Verge
On January 1, 70 years after her death, Anne Frank’s diary (in the Dutch language) was available free to download, read, and distribute.