“It’s sad that her name has become a joke”

Plus: A royal engagement and Michael Jackson |

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. SUBSCRIBE to TIME Magazine November 30, 2017 By Lily Rothman This week—prompted by the controversy over President Trump's referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" at an event honoring Native American veterans—we were reminded of a paradox that comes with historical fame. Pocahontas is one of the only Native American women whose name is known by most Americans today. But while that might mean that more people think they know her story, it also means that it's easy to lose sight of the specifics of that story. As one historian told TIME's Olivia B. Waxman, "it's sad that her name has become a joke" in particular because of how "difficult and frightening" her life was. You can click here to learn more about the real woman behind the famous name. Here's more of the history that made news this week: HISTORY ON TIME.COM 'We Need a Day.' Meet the Man Behind World AIDS Day Jim Bunn, a journalist who helped create World AIDS Day, spoke to TIME about what it was like to cover the epidemic from the beginning Why a Forgotten KKK Raid on a Gay Club in Miami Still Matters Stonewall didn't happen in a vacuum. Past moments of resistance created a foundation for its unfurling and future examples would follow The Last Time a British Royal Married an American The reaction wasn't exactly the glee that's greeting Prince Harry's engagement The Campaign That Changed How Americans Give to Charity Modern campaigns like Giving Tuesday carry on an American tradition that dates back more than a century Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise Thriller was released 35 years ago FROM THE TIME VAULT Today in 1959: Pro Football “As thousands of new fans are happily discovering, pro football is a game of precise and powerful virtuosity —incredible catches, runners who break away from swarms of opponents just when they seem stopped, crunching tackles and jet-powered blocks. No experienced pro fan ever leaves a game in its last five minutes when his team is only two touchdowns behind—any club can, and may, explode in those five minutes and win. Pro football is a game in which every carefully selected, battle-tried man seems larger than life, not only in skill and speed, but in sheer brute strength.” (Nov. 30, 1959) Read the full story This Week in 1976: Robert Rauschenberg “In art, as in most other matters, the '70s have not yet been named. Historians looking back on American art in the '60s see movements and orthodoxies—Pop art, minimal art, conceptual art, Op art, color-field painting, doctrines about flatness and framing edge, proscriptions, mandates. The categories rattle briskly like punch cards in their slots. Art in the '70s is more polymorphous, less ambitious, harder to sort out. The present creed proclaims belief in the Either, the Or and the Holy Both.” (Nov. 29, 1976) Read the full story December 1 Is World AIDS Day “By early this year, most Americans had become aware of AIDS, conscious of a trickle of news about a disease that was threatening homosexuals and drug addicts. AIDS, the experts said, was spreading rapidly. The number of cases was increasing geometrically, doubling every ten months, and the threat to heterosexuals appeared to be growing. But it was the shocking news two weeks ago of Actor Rock Hudson's illness that finally catapulted AIDS out of the closet, transforming it overnight from someone else's problem, a ‘gay plague,’ to a cause of international alarm." (Aug. 12, 1985) Read the full story HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB Medical Pioneer In this installation of Lady Science at The New Inquiry, Jennifer Young tells the story of Dr. Hannah Meyer Stone, an unsung leader of the early movement for birth control in the U.S. Meowter Space At Atlas Obscura, Cara Giaimo explains why the first and only cat to go to space is getting a new round of attention more than 50 years after her voyage. Voices From the Past The Paris Review has recently launched a new podcast, which includes archival audio footage and readings of selections from the publication’s past. Radium Radio In a Marketplace story by David Brancaccio and Katie Long, hear about the legacy of the workers whose exposure to radioactive glow-in-the-dark paint in the 1910s changed workplace safety laws. Professional Perspective This week marked the 75th anniversary of Boston’s infamous Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, which killed nearly 500 people. For a fascinating look at the lessons of that tragedy, check out the coverage in Fire Engineering magazine. To Unsubscribe Unsubscribe here if you do not want to receive this newsletter. Update Email Click here to update your email address. Privacy Policy Please read our Privacy Policy. TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 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