TimeGoggles

During World War II, Americans were encouraged to grow home vegetable gardens, often called Victory Gardens. Why were Victory Gardens important in WWII? These gardens served several purposes. Alleviating rationing: Relieved dietary strain caused by WWII food rationing. Conserving military supplies: Freed up commercially grown and canned food for the armed forces. Simplifying logistics: Reduced overall stress on the U.S. transportation network.

Obituaries are an invaluable resource for learning about our ancestors. But what if your ancestor’s obituary is just a few lines long or they only received a short death notice? Every obituary opens the door to new avenues of research—even the ones you might think are too brief to be useful. Here are 6 clues that might be hidden in your ancestors’ obituaries and death notices.

What fashion accessory is completely forgotten in the United States today, but was once the absolute crown jewel (no pun intended) of a woman’s wardrobe? The hat pin! Part fashion statement, part structural engineering marvel, and part secret weapon, these stunning accessories dominated women’s styles for decades. So how did a tiny piece of metal designed to hold down a hat become controversial enough to prompt protests and legislation? What Exactly Was a Hat Pin?

The Bayeux tapestry and a medieval illustration of a woman weaving. BL Royal 20 C V, f. 30v, illuminated manuscript/Wiki Commons/Canva For the first time in nearly 1,000 years, the Bayeux tapestry is returning to Britain. The 70-metre embroidery will be displayed at the British Museum from September. The tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the battle of Hastings. In comic-strip form, it tells the story of Harold II and William the Conquerer.

The history of immigration policy in Australia is full of yes-no contradictions: fear jostling with hope, exclusion with openness. Australia has been pulled in different directions by the strength of its British ties and the demands of its Asia-Pacific geography. The British and their descendants, never meaningfully reconciling with the original sin of having invaded a continent, then constantly added people to it, most of them in their own image.

How are you celebrating America’s 250th birthday this year? While we celebrate the Semiquincentennial, let’s hop back in time. A century ago, the nation was flocking to Philadelphia for the Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition. What did a massive 1926 birthday bash look like? We dug into our archives to find out. All Roads Lead to Philadelphia (Most of Them Paved!) Nothing puts the last century into perspective quite like a 1926 road map.

Time to dust off the gingham: Netflix is about to release a new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved frontier stories. The series will revisit Little House on the Prairie (1935), the best-known of her books. For nearly a century, Wilder’s fictionalised accounts of her experiences on the American frontier in the 1870s and 1880s have been a staple of American culture. Her iconic children’s books – eight volumes originally published from 1932 to 1943 – quickly found an eager global audience.

Amar/Pexels Even after decades of history wars, Australians still have a keen appetite for Australian history. According to recent research by UNSW, 83% of Australians believe history is relevant to society today – but only 57% feel we know much about it. Despite a welcome rise in history education through podcasts and social media, books are still among the best vehicles for it.

A recreation of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. meunierd/Shutterstock A supposedly unsinkable ship, an iceberg and a catastrophe that circulates through popular culture – the Titanic disaster is one of the most retold events in modern history. But familiarity comes at a cost. Repeated retellings tend to simplify what happened and reduce the real people involved to a basic story. Retellings of the Titanic disaster often focus only on the sinking itself and forget what happened afterwards.

The agricultural economy was the backbone of wealth in ancient Greece. Food brought people together, whether in smaller groups at a wine-drinking symposium, or the entire community in a sacrificial feast of epic proportions. In The Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic poem, Odysseus’s son joins one of these early feasts – a community barbecue of 100 cattle. Researchers have long recognised the economic, political and social importance of food in ancient Greece.