Stuff You Missed in History Class

The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished it, and what racist tension looked like at border states in the mid-1850s.

Research:

• “The Christiana Affair Again.” New York Times. Sept. 20, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/20/87821677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
• “Christiana Resis...

Pope Leo XIII sought to find a way forward for the Catholic church at a time when the world was rapidly changing and the church was often at odds with those changes.

Research:

• Aubert, Roger-François-Marie. "Leo XIII". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-XIII
• “ELECTION OF POPE LEO XIII.” New York Times. Feb. 21, 1878. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachi...

The Blue Ridge Parkway is the longest roadway in the U.S. that was planned as a single unit. Its origin is connected to government efforts to provide relief from the Great Depression, and conservation of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

Research:

• "Restoring Western North Carolina's Infrastructure: NCDOT Receives $250 Million in Federal Emergency Relief Funds." National Law Review, 21 Feb. 2025. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale...

Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park is a scenic road tied to the “See America First” movement of the early 20th century. The acquisition of land for the project was difficult, and displaced many families from their homes.

Research:

• Harrison, Sarah Georgia. “The Skyline Drive: A Western Park Road in the East.” From Parkways: Past, Present and Future. International Linear Parks Conference. Appalachi...

The Library of Congress has a lot of responsibilities. It’s massive in both physical scale and in scale of services. So how did it start, and how did it evolve to be the largest library in the world?

Research:

• Cole, John Y. “America’s Greatest Library: An Illustrated History of the Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, DC, in Association with D. Giles Limited, London. 2017.
• “Dr. C...

Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease are autoimmune diseases that share a lot of commonalities. This episode covers when and how they were first recognized and described. 

Research:

• Aceves-Avila, Francisco Javier et al. “The Antiquity of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Reappraisal.” The Journal of Rheumatology 2001; 28:4.
• Arnaud, Laurent et al. “The History of Lupus Throughout the Ages.” ...

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also called the Triple Nickles, were the first Black paratroopers in the U.S. military, and their story is connected to the desegregation of the military after World War II.

Research:

• 555th Parachute Infantry. “Malvin L. Brown.” http://triplenickle.com/malvinbrown.htm
• Aney, Warren. “Triple Nickles -- 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion.” Oregon Encyclopedia. https:...

Emperor Meiji of Japan’s reign began in 1867, and it marks a time of significant change in the country’s history. After the emperor and his consort died in the early 20th century, the Meiji Jingu shrine was built to memorialize them.

Research:

• Atsushi, Kawai. “Prefectures, Power, and Centralization: Japan’s Abolition of the Feudal Domains.” Nippon.com. Aug. 27, 2021. https://www.nippon.com/en/japa...

Sidi Mubarak Bombay was sort of a combined guide, translator and nurse, and often the supervisor of the African laborers on expeditions through eastern and equatorial Africa in the 19th century.

Research:

• "Sidi Mubarak Bombay Unsung African adventurer." BBC History Magazine, Aug. 2023, p. 56. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A756775082/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=0b775bc3. Accessed 14 ...