Story of John Peter Zenger and the Freedom of the Press in America

In October of 1710, a thirteen-year-old German immigrant named John Peter Zenger apprenticed himself to printer William Bradford in New York. Although Zenger’s occupation as a printer would ultimately throw his life into turmoil, that turmoil would define what it meant to have freedom of the press. After an eight year apprenticeship, a failed attempt to set up shop in Chestertown, Maryland, and the death of his first wife, Zenger found himself back in New York. … [Read more...]

Christine de Pizan: The Original Feminist

Although most people have not heard of Christine de Pizan, she remains a very important historical figure, as Europe’s first professional writer. When a sudden tragedy took the lives of her father and husband, she became a widow and single mother, and out of necessity, self-supporting. Christine was soon drawn to writing. This marked the start of Christine de Pizan’s career as a professional writer, providing her with not only more than enough money to … [Read more...]

The Terrifying Tale of the Enfield Poltergeist

When most people think of haunted places, they think of palatial castles, churches, graveyards and ancient ruins but this terrifying true tale takes place in a rundown council house, in Enfield, London, England. The story of the notorious Enfield Poltergeist started in 1977 and would endure for a year before finally dying down. The Hodgson family were quite happy living in their modest council home. It was a home in which they had lived for the majority of their … [Read more...]

Niko Tinbergen: Biologist of the 20th Century

Niko Tinbergen was a Nobel Prize winner in physiology and medicine (1973), a zoologist who published what is considered the first handbook on ethology, a prisoner of the Nazi army in The Netherlands and later a lecturer of ethology at the Oxford University. Dr. Nikolass Tinbergen passed away on the 21st of December 1988 in Oxford, England. Nikolass or 'Niko', as he was popularly known, was born in The Hague in The Netherlands in 1907 as the third of the five children … [Read more...]

Khrushchev: Courageous Or A Failure

As Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev told his advisor, Anastas Mikoyan, on the 13th of October, 1964 (the day before a Communist Party-lead coup ousted him from power): “Now everything is different. The fear’s gone. That’s my contribution.” These words from the man himself show just how wide-ranging and deep his reforms of the 1950s and 1960s were – but many historians have insisted that Khrushchev should be remembered as a … [Read more...]