Lost in History


Seated woman looking into a mirror by Crispijn the Passe the Elder. To her right is a jester; a devil ruffles her hair, and another devil is seated to her left, starting a fire. via Wikimedia Commons

Laughter as weapon, the subversive power of fools and jesters

Thira Mohamad
classical dance

Have you heard of Bharatnatyam, an endangered form of classical dance?

Haddiqua Siddiqui

Before Rumi there was Rabia Basri, the first female Muslim Saint

Safa Shoaib

Portrait of Fatima Al-Fihri

Fatima al-Fihri: Founder of the world’s first university

Rebecca Azad
Bessie Coleman stands on the wheel of a plane.

Meet Bessie Coleman: the Black woman who became a pilot before Amelia Earhart

Carol Wright
Andrea Camassei, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The real history of Valentine’s Day is pretty gory

Paulina Rowe

[Image description: A Black women in the 20th century getting dressed for a Harlem fashion show.] Via New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images

Black women were at the core of the Harlem Renaissance

Bashirat Oladele
A collation of images of Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan: the Muslim princess and British spy who fought against the Nazis

Rebecca Azad
A photo of Mileva Marić, with her husband, Albert Einstein.

Mileva Marić’s complicated history with Albert Einstein

Natalia Ahmed

[Image Description: Sophia Tolstoy (right) with Leo Tolstoy (left) in Crimea in 1902.] via NY Times

Leo Tolstoy’s legacy will forever remain indebted to his wife, Sofia Tolstoy

Safa Shoaib
Two photos: one photo of a group of warriors holding weapons, and another of the Dora Milaje, a group of women dressed in red, holding spears

N’Nonmiton: Meet the real Dora Milaje, the most feared women in history

Simi Segun
[Image description: Photograph of Sara Forbes Bonnetta] Via English Heritage

The true story of the African girl “gifted” to Queen Victoria

Bashirat Oladele