The Great British Tea Heist
Botanist Robert Fortune traveled to China and stole trade secrets of the tea industry, discovering a fraud in the process
March 09, 2010 |
By Sarah Rose
Abraham Lincoln, True Crime Writer
While practicing law in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln defended a man in a highly unusual case and later recounted the mystery as a short story
February 10, 2010 |
By Laura Helmuth
The Changing Definition of African-American
How the great influx of people from Africa and the Caribbean since 1965 is challenging what it means to be African-American
February 2010 |
By Ira Berlin
Renoir's Controversial Second Act
Late in life, the French impressionist's career took an unexpected turn. A new exhibition showcases his radical move toward tradition
February 2010 |
By Richard Covington
Sherlock Holmes' London
As the detective stalks movie theaters, our reporter tracks down the favorite haunts of Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous sleuth
January 2010 |
By Joshua Hammer
Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient
An accident with a tamping iron made Phineas Gage history's most famous brain-injury survivor
January 2010 |
By Steve Twomey
Man-Eaters of Tsavo
They are perhaps the world’s most notorious wild lions. Their ancestors were vilified more than 100 years ago as the man-eaters of Tsavo
January 2010 |
By Paul Raffaele
The Rescue of Henry Clay
A long-lost painting of the Senate's Great Compromiser finds a fitting new home in the halls of the U.S. Capitol
November 2009 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be
The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for decades
November 2009 |
By Robert M. Poole
Historical Laughter
Those who don't have power tend to make fun of those who do. But what happens when the power shifts?
November 2009 |
By Lance Morrow
The Ghost Wineries of Napa Valley
In the peaks and valleys of California’s wine country, vinters remember the region’s rich history and rebuild for the future
October 27, 2009 |
By Matt Kettmann
Meriwether Lewis' Mysterious Death
Two hundred years later, debate continues over whether the famous explorer committed suicide or was murdered
October 09, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
John Brown's Day of Reckoning
The abolitionist's bloody raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry 150 years ago set the stage for the Civil War
October 2009 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
John Brown's Famous Photograph
An 1840s image captures an extremist's fervor
September 21, 2009 |
By Owen Edwards
Top 10 Nation-Building Real Estate Deals
Luck and hard bargaining contributed to the growth of the United States. But with expansion came consequences
September 07, 2009 |
By T.A. Frail
Forget Edgar Allan Poe? Nevermore!
Cities up and down the East Coast claim author Edgar Allan Poe as their own and and celebrate his 200th birthday
June 11, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Ka’iulani: Hawaii’s Island Rose
In a brief life filled with loss, Princess Ka’iulani established her legacy
May 08, 2009 |
By Janet Hulstrand
Finding Feisty Fungi in Antarctica
In a place where no one believed they existed–-treeless Antartica–wood fungi are feasting on polar exploration relics
May 2009 |
By Emily Stone
How Lincoln and Darwin Shaped the Modern World
Born on the same day, Lincoln and Darwin would forever influence how people think about the modern world
February 2009 |
By Adam Gopnik
What Darwin Didn't Know
Today's scientists marvel that the 19th-century naturalist's grand vision of evolution is still the key to life
February 2009 |
By Thomas Hayden
