Crystal Ponti
Crystal Ponti

Crystal Ponti

Crystal Ponti is a freelance writer from New England with a deep passion for exploring the intersection of history and folklore. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, A&E Real Crime, Washington Post, USA Today, and BBC, among others. Find her @HistoriumU, where she also co-hosts the monthly #FolkloreThursday event.

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Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Halloween

Gettysburg: Ghost Stories From the Civil War Battlefield

For more than a century, people visiting Gettysburg have claimed to hear phantom footsteps, ghostly drumbeats and echoes of musket fire.

19th Century

Victorian-Era ‘Vinegar’ Valentines Could Be Mean and Hostile

Rather than expressing love and affection, these cards were designed to offend.

Henry VIII's Wives
European History

Who Were the Six Wives of Henry VIII?

The monarch’s chaotic love life led to an unstable succession, foreign policy changes and a break with Rome.

Slavery in Jamestown
Slavery

America’s History of Slavery Began Long Before Jamestown

The arrival of the first captives to the Jamestown Colony, in 1619, is often seen as the beginning of slavery in America—but enslaved Africans arrived in North America as early as the 1500s.

New Madrid Earthquake
19th Century

How a Trio of Hellish Earthquakes Prompted America’s First Disaster Relief Act

When the New Madrid earthquakes rattled the Midwest in 1811 and 1812, William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, convinced the government to step in.

Jamestown
Colonial America

10 Things You May Not Know About the Jamestown Colony

Explore surprising facts about America’s first permanent English settlement.

The History of Toilet Paper
Ancient Rome

All the Ways We’ve Wiped: The History of Toilet Paper and What Came Before

Among tools people used in the past were moss, sponge on a stick, ceramic pieces and bamboo 'spatulas.'

A milk bottling plant, circa 1950.
Food

9 of the Worst Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in America

From contaminated raw milk to tainted meat, outbreaks have spread rapidly through the country's food supply chain, with deadly consequences.

Colonial America

When New Englanders Blamed Vampires for Tuberculosis Deaths

As families lost one loved one after another in the 19th century, some believed the undead were preying upon them.

Victorian Christmas Cards
19th Century

Some of the Earliest Christmas Cards Were Morbid and Creepy

Santa kidnapping children and murderous mice were par for the course in the Victorian-era Christmas card tradition.