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Jordan Friedman

Jordan Friedman is a freelance writer based in Chicago. He has contributed to Fortune magazine, USA TODAY, U.S. News & World Report, and National Geographic.

Stories from this author

A 1936 photo of the Timleck family, one of four winners of the Great Stork Derby

An Eccentric Tycoon Left a Fortune to the Winner of a Baby-Making Contest. The Great Stork Derby Divided Canadians During the Great Depression

In his will, Charles Vance Millar offered roughly 500,000 Canadian dollars to the mother who “has since my death given birth in Toronto to the greatest number of children”

Quintuplets Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie and Marie Dionne spent most of their childhoods in an Ontario compound known as Quintland.

The Dionne Quintuplets Captivated the World During the Great Depression. But Their Fame Came at a Cost

Nearly three million visitors flocked to Canada to see the five identical sisters—the first quintuplets to survive infancy. The siblings later said the publicity destroyed their childhoods

Thousands attended the afternoon circus show in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 6, 1944. A fire broke out around 2:40 p.m., killing at least 167 people.

How a Deadly Circus Fire on the ‘Day the Clowns Cried’ Traumatized a Community—and Led to Lasting Safety Reforms

On July 6, 1944, a blaze broke out at a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show in Hartford, Connecticut. At least 167 people died, and hundreds were injured

Clark Stanley’s snake oil was a marketing gimmick from the very start. 

How Snake Oil Became a Symbol of Fraud and Deception

The terms “snake oil” and “snake-oil salesperson” are part of the vernacular thanks to Clark Stanley, a quack doctor who marketed a product for joint pain in the late 19th century