Falling between the heyday of the Western Roman Empire and the onset of the Renaissance, the Middle Ages have an unflattering reputation as something of a backward epoch of human civilization. Wars raged across Europe, serfs toiled in backbreaking service to feudal lords, and diseases wiped out villages with little hope of preventing the next outbreak. While the negative connotations may not be entirely fair, few would dispute that medieval citizens lived in more primitive conditions than the...| History Facts
Middle names are a strange concept. They often lie silent and unused, only to emerge when we fill out official forms and documents, providing an extra piece of proof as to who we are, despite our near-total disregard for the name in our daily lives. In the U.S., a majority of people have a middle name, but only around 4% of people are referred to by it. And, according to a poll by The Atlantic, only about 22% of Americans think they know the middle names of at least half of their friends or a...| History Facts
The American workforce has transformed dramatically since the 1950s, a decade marked by economic prosperity, suburban expansion, and rapid industrialization. It’s likely that folks at the time couldn’t have imagined how much the U.S. job market would change over the next few decades — or how quickly innovation would make once-common jobs almost obsolete. Careers such as switchboard operator and typist may have seemed stable and essential in the mid-20th century, but time, technology, ...| History Facts
