Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Sheng Dan Kuai Le, ¡Feliz Navidad! Christmas celebrations take place around the world and can vary greatly from country to country with traditions that reflect differing cultural history and national customs. Test your knowledge and learn more about how this holiday is celebrated around the globe!
Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. Yet, the Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced "SAH-win"), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve, and later, Halloween. Here is a look at the origins of some of the classic Halloween traditions we know today.
During the 19th century, people read serialized novels the way we watch episodic TV. Momentum was built with each installment and readers tuned in each week (or month) to find out what happened after the last cliffhanger. This is part 1 of a 3-part series that spans the history of serialized fiction in periodicals.
On the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, we revisit the Library of Congress historic newspaper collection.
On Sept. 8, 2021, “Headlines and Heroes” published a blog post highlighting women’s fashion in the 20th century as shown in newspapers. Although we are proud to enhance discoverability of the Library’s Chronicling America newspaper collections, the blog post used content from the Fashion History Timeline from the Fashion Institute of Technology in an inappropriate manner. After …
Like the bicycle, the marathon, and the roller-skating crazes that came before it, the pickleball (sometimes “pickle-ball” in newspapers) craze is sweeping the nation. Though it has elements of ping-pong, tennis, and badminton, it is a unique sport of its own. According to USA Pickleball’s website, three neighbors “Congressman Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell …
Dueling newspaper editors! Spring frocks of 1899! Baseball's Opening Day (in 1921)! Discover them all by following our newly launched Twitter account @ChronAmLOC highlighting news and articles from the Chronicling America online historic newspaper collection.
On July 20, 2021, “Headlines and Heroes” published a blog post highlighting women’s fashion in the 20th century as shown in newspapers. Although we are proud to enhance discoverability of the Library’s Chronicling America newspaper collections, the blog post used content from the Fashion History Timeline from the Fashion Institute of Technology in an inappropriate manner. After …