Plague doctors, or at least images of plague doctors, are having a bit of a cultural moment again, roughly 300 years after their actual heyday. They’ve become popular motifs for stickers, pins, masks, ...

In the 17th century, people believed these outfits could purify poisonous air. They were wrong. During the 17th-century European plague, physicians wore beaked masks, leather gloves, and long coats in ...

The Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, ravaged Europe for centuries, claiming millions of lives. Believing the plague spread through miasma, or bad air, doctors wore elaborate costumes ...

You’ve seen them before: mysterious figures, clad from head to toe in oiled leather, wearing goggles and beaked masks. The plague doctor costume looks like a cross between a steampunk crow and the ...