Crime
How the Ford Motor Company Won a Battle and Lost Ground
Corporate violence against union organizers might have gone unrecorded—if it not for an enterprising news photographer
April 30, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Curses! Archduke Franz Ferdinand and His Astounding Death Car
Was the man whose assassination began World War I riding in a car destined to bring death to a series of owners?
April 22, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
When New York City Tamed the Feared Gunslinger Bat Masterson
The lawman had a reputation to protect—but that reputation shifted after he moved East
April 03, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
The Vengeance of Ivarr the Boneless
Did he, and other Vikings, really use a brutal method of ritual execution called the "blood eagle"?
March 18, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
The Most Audacious Australian Prison Break of 1876
An American whaling ship brought together an oddball crew with a dangerous mission: freeing six Irishmen from a jail in western Australia
March 12, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine
In 1820, one of Britain's most notorious criminals hatched a plan to rescue the emperor from exile on the Atlantic isle of St Helena -- but did he ever try it?
March 08, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
The Dead Woman Who Brought Down the Mayor
Vivian Gordon was a reputed prostitute and blackmailer—but her murder led to the downfall of New York Mayor Jimmy Walker
February 25, 2013 |
By Rachel Shteir
Reckless Breeding of the Unfit: Earnest Hooton, Eugenics and the Human Body of the Year 2000
A future America, populated by horse-faced, spindly giants with big feet
February 12, 2013 |
By Matt Novak
The Candor and Lies of Nazi Officer Albert Speer
The minister of armaments was happy to tell his captors about the war machine he had built. But it was a different story when he was asked about the Holocaust
January 08, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
The Children Who Went Up In Smoke
A tragic Christmas mystery remains unsolved more than 60 years after the disappearance of five young siblings
December 25, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
The Day Henry Clay Refused to Compromise
The Great Pacificator was adept at getting congressmen to reach agreements over slavery. But he was less accommodating when one of his own slaves sued him
December 06, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Fight that Wouldn’t Stay Fixed
How an apparent misunderstanding led to a brawl that turned into a donnybrook that became a legend
November 15, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Geronimo’s Appeal to Theodore Roosevelt
Held captive far longer than his surrender agreement called for, the Apache warrior made his case directly to the president
November 09, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
A New Great Depression and Ladies on the Moon: 1970s Middle School Kids Look to the Year 2000
The ideal future according to a ten-year-old: shorter school days, lower taxes, and lots and lots of robots
October 12, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine
Mao Zedong encouraged critics of his government—and then betrayed them just when their advice might have prevented a calamity
September 26, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Copper King’s Precipitous Fall
Augustus Heinze dominated the copper fields of Montana, but his family's scheming on Wall Street set off the Panic of 1907.
September 20, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Blazing Career and Mysterious Death of “The Swedish Meteor”
Can modern science determine who shot this 18th century Swedish king?
September 17, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The Ugliest, Most Contentious Presidential Election Ever
Throughout the 1876 campaign, Tilden’s opposition had called him everything from a briber to a thief to a drunken syphilitic
September 07, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
“Murder Wasn’t Very Pretty”: The Rise and Fall of D.C. Stephenson
The Grand Dragon of the Klan and prominent Indiana politician had a vicious streak that had horrifying consequences
August 30, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
The Smoothest Con Man That Ever Lived
"Count" Victor Lustig once sold the Eiffel Tower to an unsuspecting scrap-metal dealer. Then he started thinking really big
August 22, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
