https://hearthinteractive.com/library/ Primary sources in the original and in English. New sources as they are added. en Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-ohthere-voyagehttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-ohthere-voyageThu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTThe Story of EnglishOhthere’s and Wulfstan’s voyages, from the Old English Orosius, in Henry Sweet’s An Anglo-Saxon Reader (Oxford, 1894) · later ninth century, in King Alfred’s reign · Ohthere said that no one lived north of him. When the Permians told him stories about their land, he added that he did not know how much of it was true, because he had not seen it himself. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-analects-learninghttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-analects-learningThu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKitchen, Farm and FableConfucius and his followers, Analects (Lunyu), in the Chinese text of James Legge, The Chinese Classics, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1893) · about 400 BCE (sayings of Confucius, who died in 479 BCE, collected after his death) · A student asks Confucius whether there is one word a person can follow all through life. Confucius gives one, shu, “consideration,” and spells it out: what you yourself do not want, do not do to others. The student is Zigong, a follower of Confucius, and the exchange is chapter 15.23 of the Analects. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-xenophon-householdhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-xenophon-householdThu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKitchen, Farm and FableXenophon, Oeconomicus (Household Management), chapters 7–9 (about 360 BCE), in the edition of E. C. Marchant (Oxford, 1900) · about 360 BCE; the exact year is not known · In Xenophon’s dialogue Socrates tells Critobulus of a conversation with Ischomachus, who described how he taught his wife to run the house. He showed her the rooms of the house and where each thing belonged: the best bedding and vessels in the inner room, the grain in the dry rooms, the wine in the cool ones. Shoes set in a row, he says, look fine, and so do cooking pots laid out in order. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ls-tolstoy-azbukahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ls-tolstoy-azbukaThu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTLiving ScriptsLeo Tolstoy, Azbuka, book 1 (St. Petersburg, 1872), Part Two · Written 1871–72; published November 1872 · A thirsty ant climbs down to a stream and is nearly washed away. A dove drops a twig into the water, and the ant climbs onto it. Nine pieces like this one, none longer than a short paragraph, come from the second part of the first book of Leo Tolstoy's reading primer. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-chronicle-annalshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-chronicle-annalsWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTThe Story of EnglishThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, entries for 802–1154, in the edition of John Earle (Oxford, 1865) · entries for 802–1154; the Peterborough copy written about 1121–1155 · In 1131, a monk at Peterborough wrote, a cattle plague swept England. In a village that had worked ten or twelve plows, not one team was left. Then the hens died, and meat, cheese and butter ran short. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-forme-of-curyhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-forme-of-curyWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTThe Story of EnglishThe master cooks of King Richard II, The Forme of Cury (about 1390), in the edition of Samuel Pegge (London, 1780) · about 1390, as Pegge dated the roll · “Take persel, sawge, garlec, chibolles, oynouns, leek, borage, myntes …”: the roll’s salad calls for fourteen green things, torn small by hand and dressed with oil, vinegar and salt. Samuel Pegge, who printed the roll in 1780, thought that far too many. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-tusser-monthshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/eng-tusser-monthsWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKeeping TimeThe Story of EnglishThomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry (edition of 1580), in the reprint edited by W. Payne and S. J. Herrtage (London, 1878) · 1580 edition; first printed, as a hundred points, in 1557 · “Blowe horne for sleapers,” Tusser tells the farmer at harvest, “and chéere vp thy reapers.” Each month of his farming year comes with a list of jobs like this one, packed into short rhyming lines easy to remember while working. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-apicius-recipeshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-apicius-recipesWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKitchen, Farm and FableApicius, De re coquinaria, books 1, 4, 5 and 7, in the edition of C. Giarratano and F. Vollmer (Leipzig, 1922) · Compiled about 300–500 from older recipes; the surviving manuscripts were copied in the 800s · To make a sweet, take dates, pull out the stones, stuff them with nuts or pepper, touch them with salt, fry them in honey, and serve. That is the whole recipe. Most of the recipes in this book are as short, written as quick orders to a cook who already knew how much to use and how long to cook it. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-cato-farmhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ev-cato-farmWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKitchen, Farm and FableCato the Elder, On Farming (mid-second century BCE), in the edition of Georg Goetz after Heinrich Keil (Leipzig, 1922) · mid-second century BCE, late in Cato’s life · A good master, Cato says, sells his old oxen, his worn-out tools, and his old and sick slaves along with the spare wine and wool. Later in the book he gives a recipe for a cheesecake baked under a clay lid and spread with honey. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-censorinus-yearhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-censorinus-yearWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryKeeping TimeCensorinus, On the Birthday 20–22 (238 CE), in the edition of Friedrich Hultsch (Leipzig, 1867) · 238 CE · In the calendar of Alba, Censorinus reports, March had 36 days and September only 16. He wrote in 238 CE, and by his own count that year was the 991st since the founding of Rome. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-macrobius-monthshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-macrobius-monthsWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryKeeping TimeMacrobius, Saturnalia 1.12–14 (early fifth century CE), in the edition of Franz Eyssenhardt (Leipzig, 1893) · early fifth century CE; the dialogue is set in the 380s · Whereas the emperor Caesar Augustus, in the month of Sextilis, entered on his first consulship and brought three triumphs into the city: so begins the decree of the Roman senate that renamed the month after him. Macrobius copies out its words. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-pepys-dayshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/kt-pepys-daysWed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTKeeping TimeSamuel Pepys, from his diary (London, 1660–1669), in the edition of Henry B. Wheatley (London, 1893–99) · January 1660 to June 1669, written day by day (modern calendar) · On September 25, 1660, after a morning at the office talking about war and peace, Samuel Pepys sent for “a cup of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drank before.” Six years later, on September 2, his maid woke him at three in the morning to look at a fire in the City. He thought it far enough off and went back to bed. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-benedict-guestshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-benedict-guestsTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InDraft · Benedict of Nursia, Rule for Monks, chapter 53 (written about 530–547), in the edition of Eduard Wölfflin (1895) · written about 530–547 · When guests reached the monastery, the abbot poured water over their hands, and he and every one of the monks knelt to wash their feet. Then they sang a verse from the Psalms. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-brillat-savarin-restaurantshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-brillat-savarin-restaurantsTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InInnovation in HistoryJean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste, Meditation 28 (first published December 1825), in the Flammarion edition of 1879 · published December 1825 (looking back to about 1770) · In a Paris restaurant of the 1820s, a married couple sit under the hat and shawl they have hung on the wall, with nothing left to say to each other. A few tables away, two lovers choose their dinner with great care. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-eliot-tremont-househttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-eliot-tremont-houseTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InInnovation in HistoryWilliam Havard Eliot, A Description of Tremont House, with Architectural Illustrations (Boston, 1830) · 1830, on the hotel opened in October 1829 · In the office of the Tremont House, a row of boxes held a bell for every guest room. When a bell rang, a small label hung on it shook, so the office could see which room was calling. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-fiennes-bathhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-fiennes-bathTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InDraft · Celia Fiennes, on the baths at Bath, from the journal of her travels written up about 1702 (first printed 1888) · an undated visit before 1702, perhaps on one of her early journeys; written up about 1702; first printed 1888 · A lady stepping out of the bath let her wet canvas gown fall into the water as she climbed the steps. At the same moment, her maid dropped a flannel gown over her head. Then two men carried her home in a curtained chair, still wrapped up, to sweat in bed. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-horace-brundisiumhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-horace-brundisiumTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InDraft · Horace, Satires, book 1, satire 5 (the journey to Brundisium, probably 37 BCE), in the school edition of Arthur Palmer (Macmillan, 1905 printing) · journey probably in the spring of 37 BCE; written soon after · The boatman was supposed to tow the barge through the marshes all night. Instead he turned his mule out to graze, tied it to a stone, and lay down and snored. At dawn the passengers found they had not moved. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-polo-post-stationshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-polo-post-stationsTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InInnovation in HistoryMarco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa, The Description of the World (1298), chapter 98, from the Franco-Italian text printed by the Société de Géographie (Paris, 1824) · dictated in 1298; about what Polo saw in China between about 1275 and 1291 · A runner wore a belt hung all around with bells. He ran three miles at full speed, and the next runner, hearing him coming, took what he carried and ran on. In this way, Marco Polo says, the Great Khan got news from ten days away in a single day and night. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-thackeray-p-and-ohttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-thackeray-p-and-oTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InInnovation in HistoryWilliam Makepeace Thackeray (“Mr. M. A. Titmarsh”), Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, 1846, on his P&O voyage of 1844 · voyage of 1844; preface and book published 1846 · Over claret at a farewell dinner, a London writer was offered a free berth on a steamship tour of the Mediterranean. He had a day and a half to get ready. He cancelled his engagements, bought eighteen shirts, and sailed from Southampton. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-twain-quaker-cityhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-twain-quaker-cityTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InDraft · Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1869), on the printed programme for the 1867 Quaker City excursion · programme dated February 1, 1867; book published 1869 · The fare was $1,250 a head, ten percent down, and every applicant had to be approved by a committee. Five dollars a day in gold was thought enough for spending on shore. A doctor would be on board, and ports with contagious sickness would be skipped. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-zola-bonheurhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ci-zola-bonheurTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTChecking InInnovation in HistoryÉmile Zola, Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies’ Delight), a novel, 1883; from the Paris printing of 1895 · published 1883 (written 1882; the story is set in October 1864) · On the morning of a great sale, a Paris department store hung its entrance hall with carpets from the Ottoman Empire, Persia, the Caucasus and India. Over the ceiling went carpets from Smyrna; in one corner lay a heap of cheap rugs, from fifteen francs. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-eisenhower-nasa-acthttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-eisenhower-nasa-actTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryReaching SpaceDwight D. Eisenhower, statement on signing the National Aeronautics and Space Act, July 29, 1958 · July 29, 1958 · Eisenhower’s statement on the law that created NASA runs to five short paragraphs. The longest of them is about a single clause on cooperation with other countries. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-hale-brick-moonhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-hale-brick-moonTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryReaching SpaceEdward Everett Hale, “The Brick Moon,” part III, The Atlantic Monthly, December 1869 · December 1869 (the third part of a serial that ran October–December 1869) · Thirty-seven people line up on the edge of a tiny world and jump together, high and low, to spell out a message in Morse code. Far away on the earth, a man at a telescope writes it down. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-kennedy-rice-1962https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-kennedy-rice-1962Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryReaching SpaceJohn F. Kennedy, address at Rice University, Houston, September 12, 1962, from the Public Papers of the Presidents (1963) · September 12, 1962 · On the morning of September 12, 1962, about 40,000 people sat in the open at Rice Stadium in Houston. Many were schoolchildren and new Rice students. The day was hot, and partway through the speech Kennedy joked about it from the platform. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-kepler-somniumhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-kepler-somniumTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryReaching SpaceJohannes Kepler, Somnium, published by his son Ludwig Kepler (Sagan and Frankfurt, 1634) · Written in Prague about 1609; notes added 1620–30; published 1634 · A boy from Iceland is handed over to a sea captain in place of a bag of herbs he has spoiled, and years later he hears a spirit describe a trip to the Moon. That is the story Johannes Kepler tells in his Dream (Somnium). https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-tsiolkovsky-vne-zemlihttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/rs-tsiolkovsky-vne-zemliTue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTInnovation in HistoryReaching SpaceKonstantin Tsiolkovsky, Beyond the Earth (Kaluga, 1920), chapters 21, 31, and 32 · Written January–April 1917; printed in part in Priroda i liudi, 1918, and in full at Kaluga, 1920 · Twenty people circle Earth in a rocket. When their stored food and oxygen start to run low, they do not turn for home. They grow a garden instead, first behind the rocket’s windows and then in a glass tube 500 meters long that floats beside it. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-acuna-amazonashttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-acuna-amazonasWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Cristóbal de Acuña, New Discovery of the Great River of the Amazons (Madrid, 1641), as reprinted in Madrid in 1891 · printed 1641 (journey of February to December 1639) · When the great river flooded its islands each year, the people dug deep pits, buried their manioc roots in them, and covered them well. When the water went down, they dug the roots up again, still good to eat. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-best-frobisherhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-best-frobisherWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasGeorge Best, A True Discourse of the Late Voyages of Discovery (London, 1578), on the second voyage, July–August 1577 · events of August 1–6, 1577; printed 1578 · After the fight, an English surgeon put salves on a wounded Inuit child's arm. The child's mother pulled them off and healed the wound herself by licking it. George Best, who tells the story, compares her to a dog. A few pages later he describes the grief of her people with something close to respect. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-biard-relationhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-biard-relationWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Pierre Biard, Relation de la Nouvelle France (Lyon, 1616), chapter 6, on why the Mi'kmaq were so few · printed 1616 (on what Biard saw and heard in Acadia, 1611–1613) · Some of the Mi'kmaq at Port-Royal held small amounts of realgar and mercury sublimate, two strong poisons. They said they had bought them from French surgeons. A Jesuit priest saw the poisons and wrote it down. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-bradford-plimothhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-bradford-plimothWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasWilliam Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, on the winter and spring of 1620–1621 (written in the 1630s–1640s) · events of the winter and spring of 1620–1621; written about 1630–1650 · In the worst weeks of the first winter, only six or seven of the English at Plymouth were well enough to fetch wood, cook, and wash for the rest. That spring, a man who had been kidnapped from this very shore to be sold in Spain, and who had come home by way of London and Newfoundland, became their interpreter and showed them how to plant corn. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-brebeuf-relation-1636https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-brebeuf-relation-1636Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Jean de Brébeuf, Relation of the Hurons for 1636 (Paris, 1637), on the Feast of the Dead at Ossossané, spring 1636 · events of spring 1636 (the Monday after Pentecost); written 1636, printed 1637 · A woman untied the bundle that held her father’s bones. She combed his hair and handled his bones one by one. Beside him she laid his bundle of council sticks. Then she put bracelets of shell beads on the bones of her small children and wept over them. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cabeza-de-vacahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cabeza-de-vacaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Account (Zamora, 1542), chapter 12, on the Isle of Misfortune, November 1528 · printed 1542 (events of November 1528) · A wave rolled the Spaniards’ boat over just offshore. Three men drowned under it, and the rest came ashore with nothing, not even their clothes, in the cold of November. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-caminha-letterhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-caminha-letterWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasPero Vaz de Caminha, letter to King Manuel I of Portugal, Porto Seguro, May 1, 1500, as first printed by Manuel Aires de Casal (1817) · written April 26 to May 1, 1500 (events of April 23–24, 1500) · One of the two young men brought aboard looked hard at the gold collar around the Portuguese captain's neck, pointed toward the land, and then pointed back at the collar. The Portuguese decided he meant there was gold in the country. They also decided, as the writer admits, that this was what they wanted to hear. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cartier-brief-recithttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cartier-brief-recitWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasJacques Cartier’s second voyage, Brief récit (Paris, 1545), on the winter of 1535–1536 at Stadacona · events of December 1535 to April 1536; printed 1545 · Two women of Stadacona went out with the French captain and came back with nine or ten branches. They showed the sailors how to grind the bark and leaves, boil them in water, drink the water, and lay the pulp on swollen legs. Within days the French had stripped a whole tree. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-castaneda-cibolahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-castaneda-cibolaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasPedro de Castañeda de Nájera, Account of the Journey to Cíbola (written in the 1560s), part 2, chapter 7: the plains of the bison · written in the 1560s, more than twenty years after the events; surviving copy dated 1596 (events of 1541) · On the plains, the land was so flat and round that wherever a man stood, the sky closed around him at a crossbow shot. The people who lived there followed the bison herds with tents and trains of dogs, and the dogs howled when their loads slipped. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-champlain-voyageshttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-champlain-voyagesWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasSamuel de Champlain, Les voyages (Paris, 1613), on the fight on Lake Champlain, July 1609 · events of late July 1609; printed 1613 · Champlain had loaded four balls into his arquebus. When he fired, two of the three enemy chiefs fell, and a third man was hit and died later. The chiefs had worn armor that stopped arrows, but not lead. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-chanca-letterhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-chanca-letterWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Diego Álvarez Chanca, letter to the city council of Seville on Columbus’s second voyage (the stay on Guadeloupe, November 1493) · written on Hispaniola, probably early 1494 (events of November 1493) · Ashore on Guadeloupe, the Spaniards walked through empty houses and found human bones, and skulls hung up to hold things. Women who had been taken captive on other islands came to the ships and told them whose houses these were. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cieza-cronicahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cieza-cronicaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Pedro de Cieza de León, Chronicle of Peru, part 1 (Seville, 1553), chapter 44: the storehouses and palaces of Tumebamba · printed at Seville, 1553 (Cieza passed through Tumebamba in the late 1540s) · Some storehouses held lances, others darts, others sandals; some held fine cloth, others coarse cloth, others food of every kind. Every ten or twenty leagues along the Inca roads there was a royal lodging, and the storehouses were refilled at the proper times so that an army on the march would lack nothing. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cortes-second-letterhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-cortes-second-letterWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasHernán Cortés, second letter to Emperor Charles V, October 30, 1520 (the market of Tenochtitlan) · dated October 30, 1520; printed at Seville, 1522 (describes the city as Cortés saw it in 1519–1520) · Rabbits, deer and small dogs raised for eating; honey from bees and from maize stalks; painters' colors, deerskins and glazed pottery: Hernán Cortés lists them one after another, as if he could not stop. Then he notes that every kind of goods had its own street, and that judges sat in the square to settle disputes and punish cheats. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-elvas-relacamhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-elvas-relacamWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · A Gentleman of Elvas, True Relation of the Hardships … in the Discovery of the Province of Florida (Évora, 1557), as reprinted by the Royal Academy of Sciences, Lisbon (1844) · printed 1557 (events of late April and May 1540) · The ruler of Cofitachequi crossed the river to meet the Spaniards in a canoe with an awning over the stern, seated on two cushions. She took a long string of pearls from her own neck and put it around the governor's. Within days the Spaniards were digging up her people's graves for more. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-ercilla-araucanahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-ercilla-araucanaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Alonso de Ercilla, La Araucana, part 1, canto 1 (Madrid, 1569), as printed at Madrid in 1828 · printed 1569 (about the wars of the 1550s) · Ercilla opens his poem by saying it will not sing of ladies and love, but of the Spaniards who forced a yoke on Arauco. A few stanzas later he says the people of Arauco had never been ruled by any king or conquered by any foreign power. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-eriks-sagahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-eriks-sagaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · The Saga of Erik the Red (written in the 1200s), edited by Gustav Storm (1891), chapters 10–11 · events of about 1005–1010; written in the later 1200s; the oldest copy about 1310 · The strangers cut the red cloth into strips no wider than a finger and tied them around their heads. For each strip they still paid a whole pelt, or more. Then a bull ran bellowing out of the woods, and the trading ended. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-freyle-carnerohttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-freyle-carneroWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Juan Rodríguez Freyle, Conquest and Discovery of the New Kingdom of Granada (El Carnero), 1636, chapter 2: the ceremony at Guatavita · written in 1636 (describes a Muisca rite of before 1537, as told to the writer decades later) · The heir was stripped naked, coated with sticky earth, and dusted with powdered gold until he shone. Then he stood on a raft of reeds, a heap of gold and emeralds at his feet, and was poled out to the middle of the lake while the people on the shore sounded horns and shouted. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-greenlanders-sagahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-greenlanders-sagaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · The Saga of the Greenlanders, from Flateyjarbók (copied 1387), edited by Gustav Storm (1891), chapter 7 · events of about 1000–1010; written down in the 1300s; copied in 1387 · When the people of Vinland first came to trade, they wanted swords and spears above all. Karlsefni forbade his men to sell any. Instead he had the women carry out milk, and the visitors would buy nothing else. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-harriot-briefe-reporthttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-harriot-briefe-reportWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasThomas Harriot, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (London, 1588; Frankfurt, 1590), on the colony's year at Roanoke, 1585–1586 · events of 1585–1586; first printed London, dated February 1588 (February 1589 in our calendar); reprinted Frankfurt 1590 · In town after town, people began to die within days of the English leaving. In some towns about twenty died, in one a hundred and twenty. Thomas Harriot noticed that none of the English died or fell seriously ill, and he recorded what the survivors made of it. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-henday-journalhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-henday-journalWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Anthony Henday, journal of his journey inland from York Fort, October 13–16, 1754 · October 13–16, 1754 (journal kept 1754–1755; this copy made later at York Fort) · The leader received his visitor seated on a white buffalo skin, with twenty elders around him. Pipes went around the lodge in silence before anyone spoke. Only then did the Englishman's guide explain why he had come. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-landa-relacionhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-landa-relacionWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDiego de Landa, Account of the Things of Yucatán (mid-1560s), on trade and farming, and on the Maya books · written in the mid-1560s (describes Maya life before and after the Spanish conquest, as Landa knew it from 1549) · Neighbors gathered in teams of twenty to plant each family's field in turn, and did not stop until every field was sown. A farmer carried a small bag of seed on his back, poked a hole in the ground with a pointed stick, and dropped in five or six grains of maize. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-laperouse-lituyahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-laperouse-lituyaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Jean-François de La Pérouse, Voyage around the World, vol. 2 (Paris, 1797), chapter 7, edited by L.-A. Milet-Mureau · written 1786, printed 1797 (events of July 1786) · The people of the bay wanted iron above everything: they would take a few glass beads to seal a bargain, and pewter plates for a while, but their salmon soon cost the French nails and tools, not scraps of old barrel hoops. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-las-casas-brevisimahttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-las-casas-brevisimaWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasBartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (written 1542, printed Seville, 1552), the opening · written 1542, printed 1552 (events from 1493) · On Hispaniola, Las Casas writes, the Spaniards had seen more than three million people. When he wrote, he says, fewer than two hundred of them were left. https://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-le-page-du-pratzhttps://hearthinteractive.com/library/sources/ea-le-page-du-pratzWed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTEarly AmericasDraft · Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana, vol. 3 (Paris, 1758), chapter 3 · printed 1758 (events of spring 1725) · When the Tattooed Serpent died, his brother the Great Sun sat crouched with his face pressed into his fists and signaled to his wife, who threw a bowl of water on the fire. Across the Natchez villages, people understood at once what that meant.