World History
A Brief History of Christmas Trees
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Article
As the subject of numerous carols, a featured attraction for both cavernous department stores and cozy mom-and-pop businesses, and an object of purchase for some 35 million to 50 million American consumers every year, Christmas trees are undoubtedly a focal point of annual Yuletide celebrations. Older than the carols in which they’re celebrated but not nearly as old as the pagan origins of the holiday they support, Christmas trees have been a familiar, comforting sight since childhood for countless people dating back many generations. But these evergreen conifers didn’t simply emerge as part of holiday ...Read More
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World HistoryFact9Humans ate popcorn at least 6,700 years ago.
Corn, or maize, is among the world’s oldest domestic crops, first cultivated from a wild grass called teosinte around 9,000 years ago in what’s now southern Mexico. A few thousand…
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World HistoryArticle38The Top 25 History Facts of 2025
From the downright shocking to the utterly bizarre, some facts about history are particularly fascinating. Did you know the U.S. had a president before George Washington, or that Americans used…
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World HistoryArticle85This Ancient Civilization Was More Advanced Than Rome
Few history buffs need to be reminded of the accomplishments of the Roman Empire, which contributed lasting innovations in construction, publishing, law, and many other fields. Far lesser known and…
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World HistoryFact3Russian stores ran out of vodka celebrating the end of World War II.
“Vodka is our enemy,” an old Russian proverb begins, “so we’ll utterly consume it.” That was never truer than at the end of World War II, when the country celebrated…
