Years
People, events and movements related to the 15th through 21st centuries
“Mrs. Sherlock Holmes” Takes on the NYPD
When an 18-year-old girl went missing, the police seemed content to let the case grow cold. But Grace Humiston, a soft-spoken private investigator, wouldn't let it lie
August 23, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Building the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
For those working behind the scenes on the King memorial, its meaning runs deep
August 19, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
One Man Against Tyranny
A lone German carpenter displays astounding determination, skill and ingenuity—and comes within 8 minutes of assassinating Adolf Hitler at the outset of World War II. So why is Georg Elser's name so nearly forgotten?
August 18, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady
His contributions to mathematics and electrical engineering made him one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable men of his time.
August 16, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
The Body on Somerton Beach
Name: unknown. Cause of death: unknown. Occupation: unknown. Possessions: a scrap of paper with two words in Persian, torn from a rare first edition book. Welcome to the world's most perplexing cold case.
August 12, 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
If There’s a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Renowned for their ruthlessness, these two female pirates challenged the sailors’ adage that a woman’s presence on shipboard invites bad luck
August 09, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Ken Kesey’s Pranksters Take to the Big Screen
It took an Oscar-winning director to make sense of the drug-addled footage shot by the author and his Merry Pranksters
August 05, 2011 |
By Daniel Eagan
The Last of the Cornish Packmen
An encounter on a lonely road in the furthest reaches of the English West Country sheds light on the dying days of a once-ubiquitous profession
August 04, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Minter’s Ring: The Story of One World War II POW
When excavators in Inchon, Korea discovered a U.S. naval officer's ring, they had no knowledge of the pain and suffering associated with its former owner, Minter Dial
August 02, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
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
William Eggleston's Big Wheels
This enigmatic 1970 portrait of a tricycle took photography down a whole new road
August 2011 |
By Mark Feeney
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
The Mystery of Murray Hall
Hall realized his death would set off a national political scandal, inspiring the genuine wonder that he had never been what he seemed
July 21, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
When Three British Boys Traveled to Medieval England (Or Did They?)
A 1957 "time traveler" recalls "a feeling of unfriendliness and unseen watchers which sent shivers up one’s back"
July 21, 2011 |
By Mike Dash
Levon Helm’s Rocking Rambles
The '60s rock great died today. Last July, our writer visited Helm for one of his famous Saturday night music throwdowns
July 19, 2011 |
By Anne Miller
America’s First Great Global Warming Debate
Thomas Jefferson and Noah Webster argue over conventional wisdom that lasted thousands of years
July 15, 2011 |
By Joshua Kendall
Everything You Didn’t Know About Clarence Darrow
A newly released book brings new insight into the trial attorney made famous by the Scopes monkey trial
June 11, 2011 |
By T.A. Frail
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
