There are so many connections here it’s kinda frightening… There’s a lot of ancient tradition involving scary lights at harvest time. Pre-Christian Europeans celebrated Samhaim, the autumn festival of the Dead, with bonfires and torches and other late-night illuminations. Samhaim was later displaced by All Saint’s Day, but the fascination…

On a grim morning such as this, perhaps folks in England can take heart that today is also an anniversary. 217 years ago, England was engaged in an existential war with Napoleon. On October 21, 1805, a combined fleet of French and Spanish ships sailed out of Cadiz, headed for…

We Americans hold these truths to be self evident: that government of the people, by the people, and for the people is the best form of government. And, by extension, the more the people participate, the greater the result. And nobody loves democracy like Americans, right? Let’s check that out.…

Trigger Warning: Colorful Chocolate Ahead! This story starts back in 1996, when M&M’s was looking for a jolt to their candy franchise. They came up with the bright idea of adding a new hue to the mix, and the even brighter idea of letting the public decide which color that…