Women's History
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
Edinburgh’s Mysterious Miniature Coffins
In 1836, three Scottish boys discovered a strange cache of miniature coffins concealed on a hillside above Edinburgh. Who put them there—and why?
April 15, 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 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 True-Life Horror that Inspired Moby-Dick
The whaler Essex was indeed sunk by a whale—and that's only the beginning
March 01, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Document Deep Dive: A Historic Moment in the Fight for Women’s Voting Rights
A cartoonist diagrammed the parade—5,000 suffragists strong—that defiantly marched in Washington 100 years ago
March 01, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
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
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women's rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady.
February 21, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Into the Cave of Chile’s Witches
Did members of a powerful society of warlocks actually murder their enemies and kidnap children?
February 19, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower
The inventor's vision of a global wireless-transmission tower proved to be his undoing
February 04, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Men Commit Scientific Fraud Much More Frequently Than Women
According to a new study, they're also much more likely to lie about their findings as they climb the academic ladder
January 23, 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth
Ida Wood, who lived for decades as a recluse in a New York City hotel, would have taken her secrets to the grave—if here sister hadn't gotten there first
January 23, 2013 |
By Karen Abbott
“The Grave Looked So Miserable”
James Idle was only 19 when he became one of the earliest casualties of the First World War. But his senseless death inspired a lifetime of devotion from a 9-year-old girl who watched his funeral
January 18, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
War and Peace of Mind for Ulysses S. Grant
With the help of his friend Mark Twain, Grant finished his memoirs—and saved his wife from an impoverished widowhood—just days before he died
January 16, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Space Exploration and the End of an Era: Notable Deaths in 2012
Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Roger Boisjoly and the shuttle program form this year's late greats of space exploration
December 28, 2012 |
By Mohi Kumar
White Gold: How Salt Made and Unmade the Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos had one of the world's first, and largest, salt industries—which led, indirectly, to their becoming the only tropical jurisdiction to have a pair of igloos on their flag.
December 14, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
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
Crockford’s Club: How a Fishmonger Built a Gambling Hall and Bankrupted the British Aristocracy
A working-class Londoner operated the most exclusive gambling club the world has ever seen
November 29, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
