Years
People, events and movements related to the 15th through 21st centuries
Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons
Why was Goody Garlick, accused of witchcraft in 1658, spared the fate that would befall the women of Massachusetts decades later
October 26, 2012 |
By John Hanc
A Halloween Massacre at the White House
In the fall of 1975 President Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts and a car accident. Then his life got really complicated
October 25, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Sophie Blanchard – The High Flying Frenchwoman Who Revealed the Thrill and Danger of Ballooning
Blanchard was said to be afraid of riding in a carriage, but she became one of the great promoters of human flight
October 18, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Traumatic Birth of the Modern (and Vicious) Political Campaign
When Upton Sinclair ran for governor of California in 1934, new media were marshaled to beat him
October 11, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?
The true story behind the myth of Mrs. O'Leary and her cow and how the scapegoating ruined one woman's good name and spawned a folk song that would last for decades
October 04, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine
Mao Zedong encouraged critics of his government—and then betrayed them just when their advice might have prevented a calamity
September 26, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
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
How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad
A schoolgirl and a former traveling Bible salesman helped turn deodorants and antiperspirants from niche toiletries into an $18 billion industry
August 03, 2012 |
By Sarah Everts
"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
Document Deep Dive: A Peek at the Last Time London Hosted the Olympics
Records at the National Archives in London show how organizers cobbled together the 1948 "Austerity" Games
July 31, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
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
