Late 19th Century
Henry Morton Stanley's Unbreakable Will
The explorer of Dr. Livingstone-fame provides a classic character study of how willpower works
December 2011 |
By Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney
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
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
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
Mark Twain in Love
A chance encounter on a New Orleans dock in 1858 haunted the writer for the rest of his life
May 2010 |
By Ron Powers
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
Victorian Womanhood, in All Its Guises
Frances Benjamin Johnston's self-portraits show a woman was never content playing just one role
May 2010 |
By Victoria Olsen
Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard
What happened to Officer John Parker, the man who chose the wrong night to leave his post at Ford's Theater?
April 08, 2010 |
By Paul Martin
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 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
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
Van Gogh's Night Visions
For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us
January 2009 |
By Paul Trachtman
Botticelli Comes Ashore
With the purchase of Botticelli’s Death of Lucretia, Isabella Stewart Gardner took American collecting in a new direction
August 12, 2008 |
By Cynthia Saltzman
John Muir's Yosemite
The father of the conservation movement found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness
July 2008 |
By Tony Perrottet
