YOUR LIFESTYLE MAGZINE
In the third century AD, the Roman Empire was in crisis. Emperors were murdered one after another, armies fought each other, plague spread, and enemies attacked from every side. Historians call this period the Crisis of the Third Century. In the chaos, one woman saw an opportunity, and she took it. The Queen of Palmyra…
For nearly two centuries, fear of witchcraft swept across Scotland. Between the late 1500s and early 1700s, thousands of people, most of them women, were accused of making pacts with the Devil, casting spells and harming their neighbors. Many were tortured until they confessed. Hundreds were executed, usually by being strangled and then burned at…
Ancient Rome is often remembered for its grand buildings, powerful armies and great laws. But beneath the marble and glory was a society built on slavery. Hundreds of thousands of enslaved people worked in Roman homes, fields, mines and workshops. They cooked, cleaned, nursed children, kept accounts, and served their masters day and night. In…
In 1862, in the middle of the Civil War, the United States government made one of the most remarkable offers in its history. Under the Homestead Act, any adult citizen, or anyone who intended to become one, could claim 160 acres of public land in the West for almost nothing. The deal was simple, but…
At the turn of the twentieth century, falling in love was a serious business. Courtship followed strict rules, and young people were watched closely by parents, aunts and chaperones. A young woman could not be seen alone with a man who was not a relative or her fiancé. Even holding hands in public could start…
In the 1860s, the Pacific Northwest was a land of forests, rivers and opportunity. Thousands of men had come west to cut timber, work in mills, fish and build new towns. One thing was missing: women. In the little frontier town of Seattle, men vastly outnumbered women. Some estimates put the ratio at around nine…
The American Plan: The Secret Program That Locked Up Thousands of Innocent Women In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Millions of young men were drafted and sent to training camps across the country. Military leaders had a fear that had nothing to do with German soldiers: venereal disease. Officials worried that sexually…
George Wray tied a halter around his wife’s waist and headed to the nearest market. He wasn’t there to buy anything—he was there to sell his wife. Onlookers shouted as he auctioned her off to the highest bidder, William Harwood. After Harwood turned over a single shilling to Wray, he put his arm around his…
The hideous experiments carried out by Nazi Josef Mengele on seven trusting brothers and sisters. As powerful beams of light revealed the new arrivals at Auschwitz, the SS guards could scarcely believe their eyes. One by one, seven tiny people were lifted off the train. Five were women — each no taller than a girl…