Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry
The inventors' battle over the delivery of electricity was an epic power play
October 11, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
In Search of Queen Victoria’s Voice
The British monarch was present when a solicitor demonstrated one of the earliest audio recording devices. But did she really say "tomatoes"?
October 06, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Anger and Anarchy on Wall Street
In the early 20th century, resentment at the concentration of wealth took a violent turn
October 04, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
Dahomey’s Women Warriors
For the better part of 200 years, thousands of female soldiers fought and died to expand the borders of their West African kingdom. Even their conquerors, the French, acknowledged their "prodigious bravery."
September 23, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Score One for Roosevelt
"Football is on trial," President Theodore Roosevelt declared in 1905. So he launched the effort that saved the game
September 20, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Pablo Fanque’s Fair
The showman whom John Lennon immortalized in song was a real performer—a master horseman and Britain's first black circus owner
September 08, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
The Life and Crimes of “Old Mother” Mandelbaum
She had the eyes of a sparrow, the neck of a bear and enough business acumen to build an empire as the "Queen of Fences."
September 06, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Inside the Great Pyramid
No structure in the world is more mysterious than the Great Pyramid. But who first broke into its well-guarded interior, and when? And what did they find there?
September 01, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Burr, Ogden and Dayton: The Original Jersey Boys
Known as much for their troubles as their successes, these childhood friends left their mark on early American history
August 12, 2011 |
By David O. Stewart
How to Trademark a Fruit
To protect the fruits of their labor and thwart "plant thieves," early American growers enlisted artists
August 2011 |
By Daniel J. Kevles
David O’Keefe: The King of Hard Currency
The Irish American immigrant made a fortune by supplying the giant stone coins prized by Yap islanders
July 28, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?
Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke
June 07, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
How Charles Dickens Saw London
Sketches by Boz, the volume of newspaper columns that became Dickens’ first book, invokes a colorful view of 19th-century England
June 06, 2011 |
By Rebecca Dalzell
Documenting the Death of an Assassin
In 1865, a single photograph was taken during the autopsy of John Wilkes
Booth. Where is it now?
May 06, 2011 |
By Ashley Luthern
Gauguin's Bid for Glory
Of all the images created by the artist Paul Gauguin, none was more striking than the one he crafted for himself
March 2011 |
By Ann Morrison
A Murder in Salem
In 1830, a brutal crime in Massachusetts riveted the nation—and inspired the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne
November 2010 |
By E.J. Wagner
A Seminole Warrior Cloaked in Defiance
A pair of woven, beaded garters reflects the spirit of Seminole warrior Osceola
October 2010 |
By Owen Edwards
How Annie Oakley, "Princess of the West," Preserved Her Ladylike Reputation
Born in 1860, the famed female sharpshooter skillfully cultivated an image of a daredevil performer with proper Victorian morals
August 12, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
The Grand Women Artists of the Hudson River School
Unknown and forgotten to history, these painters of America's great landscapes are finally getting their due in a new exhibition
July 21, 2010 |
By Judith H. Dobrzynski
A Rare Pony Express Artifact
A letter that took two years to reach its destination evokes the hazards of the Pony Express
May 2010 |
By Owen Edwards
