Animal trials
Animal trials were court cases in 13th- to 18th-century Europe in which pigs, rats and caterpillars were tried with a defense lawyer, witnesses and a verdict.
How Animals Were Put on TrialEvery term in one plain sentence. How it works is in the 2-minute article behind it.
A
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade lasted about three and a half centuries: some 12.5 million people were put on ships, and about 10.7 million reached the Americas.
Why the Slave Trade Lasted for CenturiesAttachment theory
Attachment theory holds that a child's bond with a consistent adult is as much a need as food.
How war gave rise to attachment theoryB
Black Death
The Black Death was the plague epidemic of 1347-1351 that killed roughly a third to half of Europe's population.
How the Plague Reshaped EuropeBystander effect
The bystander effect is the tendency of each witness to be less likely to intervene the more people are present, as responsibility is spread among all.
Why crime witnesses stayed silentD
Decolonization
Decolonization is the process by which colonies gained independence, through negotiations, armed struggle or the sudden departure of a colonial power.
How Colonies Became IndependentDivide and rule
Divide and rule is a way of governing in which a small administration relies on one group so that others' discontent is aimed at neighbors, not rulers.
How Divide and Rule WorksE
Enemy image
An enemy image is a set of techniques that turns a group of people into a single malicious being so that ordinary rules stop applying to them.
What Is an Enemy ImageF
False confession
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime the person did not commit, often made after a long interrogation.
Who Sought Recognition for Old CrimesI
Illusory truth effect
The illusory truth effect is the tendency to rate a statement as more true after hearing it again, because familiarity feels like evidence.
Why Repeated Lies Sound TrueIndex of Prohibited Books
The Index of Prohibited Books was the Catholic Church's list of works the faithful could not read without permission, kept from the mid-16th century until 1966.
Where the Index of Prohibited Books Came FromInquisition
The Inquisition was a church tribunal that judged baptized people for their beliefs, from heresy to careless remarks, bigamy and fortune-telling.
What the Inquisition Tried People ForM
Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum was a late 15th-century guide to identifying and condemning witches, spread by the printing press without official church approval.
What Is the Malleus MaleficarumMiasma theory
Miasma theory was the centuries-old belief that diseases came from foul air produced by decay and filth.
What Is Miasma Theory?N
New Christians
New Christians were baptized Jews and Muslims in Spain and their descendants, formally Christians but treated as a separate, suspect category.
Who Were the New Christians?O
Overton window
The Overton window is the range of ideas that can be discussed publicly at a given time; it shifts gradually through repetition rather than debate.
Why Propaganda Makes the Unthinkable Seem NormalP
Plague doctor
A plague doctor was a physician in a beaked mask stuffed with herbs, worn in the belief that a strong scent protected against plague spread by foul air.
Why doctors wore beaked masksPublic execution
A public execution was an execution staged before a crowd, meant not only as punishment but as a message from authority to everyone watching.
Why executions were publicQ
Quarantine
Quarantine is the isolation of arriving people and goods for a set period; the word comes from forty, the number of days ships waited at anchor.
Why Quarantine Was Invented in VeniceS
Spanish flu
The Spanish flu was a flu epidemic whose fall wave, unusually for flu, killed a disproportionate number of young and healthy people.
What stopped the Spanish fluSurvivor's guilt
Survivor's guilt is the heavy sense of guilt felt by someone who survived when others died, even though they know it has no logic.
What Is Survivor's GuiltT
Trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal was a test of the accused by water, red-hot iron or fire, whose outcome was believed to reveal the will of a higher power.
What Is Trial by OrdealTriangular trade
The triangular trade was a route on which ships carried goods from Europe to Africa, people to the Americas, and sugar and cotton back to Europe.
What Is the Triangular TradeW
Witch hunts
The witch hunts were persecutions for witchcraft that peaked at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries and killed several tens of thousands of people.
How Many Witches Were Really Executed