This post is in partnership with History Today. The article below was originally published at HistoryToday.com. Note: Usually, History Today posts appear on TIME.com with American spellings. For this ...

Log-in to bookmark & organize content - it's free! Author Gabe Henry discussed why he thinks that spelling in the English language is "absurd." He spoke at the Planet Word Museum in Washington, D.C.

Tear in eye your dress you’ll tear. So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer, Pray, console your loving poet, Make my coat look new, dear, sew it? Just compare heart, beard and heard, Dies and diet, lord and ...

British author Essinger (Jacquard's Web: How a Hand Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age) provides an enlightening and enjoyable excursion into "the magical nature" of writing through the ...

For many Americans, spelling bees are a part of growing up in the United States. The challenge is obvious. From the moment kids begin to learn to read, there are clear differences between how words ...

Take a look at the following English words: butcher, squirrel, mortgage, and choir. Does something seem off about them? At one point in time, the words move and love rhymed. So did blood, good, and ...