How the American Empire Destroyed the Kingdom of Hawaii
Before the 50th state was the 50th state, it was its own kingdom.
View ArticleCould the City of Salmon Have Become the Manhattan of the West?
Rudyard Kipling once described its residents as living "on salmon and great and increasing expectations."
View ArticleIndependence Day: Turning Down for What?
The silver lining? Everyone likes stuff that goes boom. The cloud? Remembering why it went boom.
View ArticleWhy These Mexican Writers Are Ditching Spanish for Indigenous Languages
The most cutting-edge trend in Mexican literature is to write in pre-Columbian lexicon.
View ArticleHow the Latin Alphabet Ended Up in Vietnam
This is why Vietnamese is (much) easier for Westerners to read than Chinese.
View ArticleThe Colonial Betrayal That Haunts Colombian Peace
When it comes to peace deals between rebels and the Colombian government, the past is prelude.
View ArticleAustralia Faces a War With Its British History
A campaign to change the day on which the land down under celebrates its nationhood is gaining more momentum than ever.
View ArticleRugby's Changing Face: From the Privileged to the Downtrodden
The Best New Trends of 2017: Players from war-ravaged nations are emerging flag-bearers of a traditionally elite sport.
View ArticleNamibia’s Strange Cold War Export to East Germany
Lucia Engombe was one of 430 Namibian refugee children shipped off to school in East Germany.
View ArticleHow to Make Europe Great Again: Drain the Mediterranean?!
In interwar Germany, architect Herman Sörgel's idea to connect Africa and Europe was a bold, utopian - and colonialist - vision of the future.
View ArticleThe Forgotten African War of Independence
Fifty years ago, Nigeria defeated breakaway Biafra in battle, but the region's dreams of independence remain strong.
View ArticleNdebele Wall Painting: Much More Than Meets the Eye
How to keep your traditions alive when you've been plucked from your ancestral land?
View ArticleThe First European to Reach Timbuktu … And Live to Talk About It
Where other European explorers had failed and sometimes died, an obsessed Frenchman succeeded - by going native.
View ArticleSinging a Song of Slavery in Morocco
Hafida Hdoubane comes from a long line of slaves, up to and including her father, and a surprising turn: This pleases her to no end.
View ArticleSuicide or Servitude? Here's When They Chose Suicide in Bali
When the Dutch invaded southern Bali, the conquered kingdom's response was weird and tragic - a ritual slaughter.
View ArticleWhen James Brown Conquered Zambia
The American singer became an irresistible icon in the southern African nation after he performed there in 1970.
View ArticleThe Mysterious Plane Crash That Shook Apartheid-Era Southern Africa
Three decades after a plane crash killed Mozambique's President Samora Machel, unanswered questions linger.
View ArticleHow the Soviet Union Launched North Korea's Dynasty
Meet Little Rocket Man's formidable grandpa, who transformed himself from Soviet puppet to communist dynasty founder.
View ArticleThis Freed American Slave Founded an African Capital
A former slave and Black Loyalist, Thomas Peters helped establish a colony of freedom in West Africa.
View ArticleThis Colonial Enclave Spawned India’s Jazz Age
In Goa, Western musical influences turned this former Portuguese outpost into an unlikely but passionate hotbed of jazz.
View ArticleThe Artist as Alchemist — Turning Coins Into Precious Art
Visual artist Yaw Owusu is questioning Ghana's economic policies by using the pesewa coin as his medium.
View ArticleMeet the Couple Who Built a German Castle in Namibia
This sandstone schloss is a testament to the love of an adventurous German officer and his wealthy American bride.
View ArticleWe Should Re-enact Great Sporting Battles, Not Wars
It's time to place Civil War re-enactments into the dustbin of history and replace them with something better.
View ArticleDoes New Zealand Have a Humility Problem?
New Zealanders' aversion to overt achievement is endearing. But is their humility doing more harm than good?
View ArticleWhy Nigerian-Americans Strive So Hard at School
Education is the bedrock of success for one of America's most urbane communities - Nigerian-Americans.
View ArticleBucket List: Boating Through Lily Pads the Size of a Man
A drive out of Asunción rewards you with a trip through a marvel of nature that has recently reappeared.
View ArticleDanai Gurira Recalls When Zimbabwe Was the Real-Life Wakanda
The Black Panther star has broken big, and she is determined to help her homeland do the same.
View ArticleThe African Chieftain Tour That Saved Botswana
Three Botswanan leaders thwarted ruthless imperialist Cecil Rhodes with an unheard-of tactic - a goodwill PR tour of Britain.
View ArticleWho Was Behind Africa’s First Coup?
The first military coup in newly independent Africa occurred in Togo. The shadow of that insurrection still hangs over the country.
View ArticleA Tiny Country With Surprising Religious Diversity
You may have never heard of Suriname, but we could all learn a lot from its tradition of religious tolerance.
View ArticleA Soldier in Suriname Accidentally Wrote an Anti-Slavery Memoir
Dispatched to the Dutch colony in the late 1700s, a military man kept a meticulous diary that swayed the abolitionist debate.
View ArticleSmuggling Backlash Leads to Iraq's Stolen Treasures Returning Home
Global strategies are shaping the way museums, collectors and locals preserve history.
View ArticleMiss Lou Liberated Jamaica From the Queen’s English
Jamaican poet, actor and folklorist Louise Bennett-Coverley overturned a colonial legacy and fostered cultural pride.
View ArticleCharles de Gaulle's Victory Began in This Central African Nation
Chad was the first French colony to break from Vichy France and support the resistance leader.
View ArticleThe Italian Noble Who Conquered the Congo With Compassion
If more colonists had shared Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's philosophy, Africa would be a very different place.
View ArticleWhy You Should Visit This 'Evil' Brazzaville Museum
This gleaming marble spectacle is a monument to the country's history and heroism, but don't expect locals to love it.
View ArticleHave You Heard of Columbus’ Cursed Colony?
La Isabela, Columbus' first settlement in the Americas, was supposed to bring riches and glory. Instead there was only death and calamity.
View ArticleHow an Ethiopian Army Taught Invading Italians a Lesson
A battle in 1896 between Ethiopian forces and Italian troops turned the narrative of colonialism on its head.
View ArticleThe Book That Shook France's African Colonial Empire
An insider's account, Batouala was a searing indictment of French excesses in its central African colonies.
View ArticleWhat Gandhi’s Wife Taught Him About Nonviolent Resistance
Mahatma Gandhi revolutionized the tactics of nonviolent protest, and one of his first lessons in its power came from his own home.
View ArticleWhy Malaysia Is Rewriting History
For six decades, a single party's rule denied leftists, Hindus, Buddhists and parts of Malaysia space in the country's textbooks. Not anymore.
View ArticleMeet Cuba's Machete-Wielding Freedom Fighter
Carlota was an enslaved woman who helped organize a rebellion in 1843 that served as a precursor to Castro's socialist revolution.
View ArticleHe Is Racing Against Time to Save the Philippines' Ancient Script
From lecturing to launching a magazine written in the ancient Baybayin script, artist Kristian Kabuay is determined to save his native tongue from extinction.
View ArticleThe Cattle Massacre That Haunts South Africa
The "great cattle killing" of 1856 remains one of the most controversial - and devastating - episodes in South African history.
View ArticleWas This Real Monster the Inspiration Behind 'Heart of Darkness'?
King Leopold of Belgium couldn't have wrought such havoc in the Congo Free State without the efforts of sadists like Léon Fiévez.
View ArticleThe Governor With a Beautiful House … but Ugly Tactics
Willem Adriaan van der Stel was officially described as "a scourge unto the inhabitants" of South Africa.
View ArticleThe 201-Year-Old Battle Whose Memory Divides India
In 1818, "untouchables" joined forces with British colonizers. Their victory has become an assertion of pride for India's marginalized Dalit community.
View ArticleShe's Lifting the Curtain on France's Dark Colonial Past ... on Stage
Caroline Guiela Nguyen's groundbreaking plays will make you weep ... if you speak French.
View ArticleSingapore Celebrates Colonialism to Justify Modern Shortcomings
Why is this city-state commemorating the 200th anniversary of British rule? Because many of its institutions hark back to that time.
View ArticleIn the Name of the Father, the Son and Simon Kimbangu
Kimbangu turned European religious evangelism upside down.
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