This Week In History, June 11 – 17

Published June 16, 2017

Alabama Is The Only State Still Celebrating The Confederacy With Jefferson Davis Day

Jefferson Davis Day Alabama

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesProtesters hold flags across the street from the Jefferson Davis monument in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Happy belated Jefferson Davis Day, Alabamans!

Congratulations on being the one remaining state still celebrating the president of the Confederacy, 209 years after his birth.

Despite Davis having been born in Kentucky, represented Mississippi in Congress, led the Confederacy from Virginia, and died in Louisiana — it’s Alabama that continues to honor his legacy with a day of summer barbecues and sun-bathing.

The official description of the holiday, which makes no mention of slavery, promotes it as “a yearly tradition across the South featuring picnics, parades, and celebration.”

Read on here.

Aztec Temple Containing Severed Necks Of 32 Children Unearthed In Mexico

Aztec Temple Mexico City Steps

ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty ImagesView of the archaeological site of the ancient Aztec temple of Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl and ritual Ball Game recently discovered in downtown Mexico City on June 7, 2017.

The temple was dedicated to Ehécatl, the Aztec wind god.

Sitting in the heart of Mexico City, the 118-foot-long building and 30-foot-wide ball court are thought to have been in use from about 1481 to 1519.

Excavations of the site — located just behind a colonial-era church — began in 2009. They revealed a piece of what was a huge, circular structure built during the reign of Aztec Emperor Ahuizotl, Montezuma’s predecessor.

See more here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.