Explore history articles, remarkable lives, and the stories behind old photographs. Browse the latest posts from Bringing History To Life below.
-

Edmund I: England’s Second King, His Family and Violent Death
Meet Edmund I, England’s second king: his struggle to reunite the kingdom, wives and sons, laws, and violent death at Pucklechurch in 946.
-

Æthelstan: The First King of England and the Making of a Kingdom
Discover how Æthelstan united England in 927, defended his kingdom at Brunanburh, and built on the legacy of Alfred the Great.
-

Martin Luther King Jr.: His Early Life, Achievements, and Death
Martin Luther King Jr. helped change the United States by making racial injustice impossible for the nation to ignore. A Baptist minister, organizer, and advocate…
-

Abraham Lincoln: From His Early Life to His Death
Abraham Lincoln’s life began in a Kentucky log cabin and ended in a Washington boarding house after an assassin’s attack. Between those two places, he…
-

Napoleon Bonaparte: His Life, Wives, Children, and Legacy
Napoleon Bonaparte rose from a Corsican family to become Emperor of the French. His victories redrew the map of Europe, while his government reshaped French…
-

Nikola Tesla: His Life, Inventions, and Extraordinary Legacy
Nikola Tesla helped shape the electrical world we live in. His work on alternating-current motors and power systems made him one of the most influential…
-

Almanzo Wilder: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Husband
Almanzo Wilder is often introduced as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband. Yet his own life stretched from a farm in northern New York to a homestead…
-

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Her Life, Marriage, and Children
Long before Laura Ingalls Wilder became a familiar name on bookshelves, she was a daughter, teacher, farmer, wife, and mother. Her life crossed a remarkable…
-

Discover 7 Stories Behind Vintage Mugshots
7 Faces. 7 Crimes. 7 Stories From the Past. These seven haunting mugshots come from the Inmate Photograph Collection on PICRYL, capturing the faces of…
-

Unknown Swedish Girl. c.1890–1900.
Unknown Little Girl from Sweden, c.1890–1900: A Forgotten Child in Folk Dress Brought Back to Life Some old photographs stop you immediately. Not because they…
-

Mary Hale? A Historical Portrait Reimagined
Source image: the sepia portrait used as the starting point for this project. What is known about this portrait? This portrait has been published here…
-

Dr. Hermann Rorschach and the Inkblot
It’s 1910. The world of psychiatry is being utterly remade by the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and the pioneering work of Carl Jung and…
