Years
People, events and movements related to the 15th through 21st centuries
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
One Hundred Years of the Indy 500
A century ago, the first Indianapolis 500 race started in high excitement and ended in a muddle
June 2011 |
By Charles Leerhsen
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
At Suffolk Downs, an Unintended Spectator
Photographer Henry Carfagna was in the perfect position to catch the moment when a horse race took a bizarre turn
May 2011 |
By Robert Temple
The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923
The powerful quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Yokohama and Tokyo traumatized a nation and unleashed historic consequences
May 2011 |
By Joshua Hammer
