There are many common sights in cities that are shocking to rural visitors. One of the most jarring is the almost ubiquitous presence of city light pollution. Away from large cities, the dark nights and the ability to see even very faint stars is often taken for granted, just as within cities their absence is little-noted.

John Locke received a lot of heat and criticism for his tabula rasa, or, blank slate, theory of human cognitive development. Find out how he defended himself and his ideas to his detractors and cemented his place as a seminal philosopher of the mind.

Millions of Americans in the United States and abroad consider the Fourth of July as America’s Day of Independence and celebrate it as the most patriotic festival. Everything did not happen back then exactly as millions believe nowadays. Besides the myths, there are also many little known facts.