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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 Unknown Story of "The Black Cyclone," the Cycling Champion Who Broke the Color Barrier
Major Taylor had to brave more than the competition to become one of the most acclaimed cyclists of the world
September 12, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
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
That Time a German Prince Built an Artificial Volcano
When a 18th century German prince visited Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, he insisted on building a replica of it on his estate back home. 200 years later, a chemistry professor brings it back to life
August 30, 2012 |
By Andrew Curry
The Neverending Hunt for Utopia
Through centuries of human suffering, one vision has sustained: a belief in a terrestrial arcadia that offered justice and plenty to any explorer capable of finding it
August 28, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
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
Going Nuclear Over the Pacific
A half-century ago, a U.S. military test lit up the skies and upped the ante with the Soviets.
August 15, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The 1904 Olympic Marathon May Have Been the Strangest Ever
In 1904, St. Louis hosted the Olympic Games as part of the World's Fair—and produced a spectacle that incorporated all the mischief of the midway
August 07, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
"The Flying Housewife" of the 1948 London Games
Voted female athlete of the 20th century, Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals while pregnant with her third child
July 31, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed
The Transcontinental Railroad connected East and West—and accelerated the destruction of what had been in the center of North America
July 17, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Daughters of Wealth, Sisters in Revolt
The Gore-Booth sisters, Constance and Eva, forsook their places amid Ireland's Protestant gentry to fight for the rights of the disenfranchised and the poor
July 10, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon
John D. Rockefeller Sr. epitomized Gilded Age capitalism. Ida Tarbell was one of the few willing to hold him accountable.
July 05, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Quite Likely the Worst Job Ever
The remarkable work of a pioneering British journalist provides us with a window into the lives of the men who made their living from combing for treasures in London's sewers
June 29, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance
Her claim of being "the Heiress to $15,000" was just one of the many falsehoods that carried Cassie Chadwick from city to city and bounced check to bounced check
June 27, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
The Loneliest Shop in the World
The Mulka Store served only a handful of customers a week. Yet its remarkable owners ensured it remained fully stocked, with everything from medieval armor to dueling pistols
June 25, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The “Latin Lover” and His Enemies
Rudolph Valentino fought a long battle against innuendo about his masculinity right up until he died. But now he seems to have won
June 13, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Ax Murderer Who Got Away
One hundred years ago this week, a family of six were murdered by ax in the little town of Villisca, Iowa. Might those killings be linked to as many as nine other multiple ax murders that occurred across the North-West and Midwest in 1911-12?
June 08, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
Fritz Haber’s Experiments in Life and Death
The German chemist helped feed the world. Then he developed the first chemical weapons used in battle
June 06, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
