• History

    The "Kidnapping Club" That Terrorized African Americans in 19th Century New York

    A gang of unscrupulous racists, with the support of prominent city figures, attacked New York City's Black community in the 1830s, and inspired novel forms of resistance.

    October 20, 2020  By Jonathan Daniel Wells
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    The Infamous Deeds and Postmortem Travels of William Corder

    After his execution for murder, William Corder's body was given to the dissectors, and his skin used to bind a book about his trial: just the start of the corpse's long afterlife.

    October 20, 2020  By Megan Rosenbloom
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    How The 1969 Murders of a Labor Leader and His Family Changed Coal Country Forever

    When reformer Joseph Yablonski decided to challenge union boss Tony Boyle in an election, Boyle soon decided to rid himself of his rival—permanently.

    October 16, 2020  By Mark A. Bradley
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    On Rotwelsch, the Central European Language of Beggars, Travelers and Thieves

    From Lutherans to Nazis, linguistic authorities have long sought to understand and control Rotwelsch (and long cast aspersions at its many Yiddish loan words).

    October 13, 2020  By Martin Puchner
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    The Civil War Hoax That Almost Took Down The Union

    In 1864, newspapers printed a message from the President threatening a new draft. Lincoln didn't write it. So who did?

    October 6, 2020  By Elizabeth Mitchell
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    Two Assassinations (and One Attempt) That Changed The Course of the Russian Revolution

    After the murder of a Chekist and an attempt on his own life, Lenin turned towards more draconian measures to consolidate power and contain international intrigue.

    October 2, 2020  By Jonathan Schneer
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    19th Century Reading Habits Come To Light Via Delightful Comments Scrawled in the Margins of a Crime Novel

    The peculiar marginalia of Lt. Gen. Coote Synge-Hutchinson

    September 14, 2020  By Curtis Evans
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    The Black Dahlia: The Long, Strange History of Los Angeles' Coldest Cold Case

    Larry Harnisch has spent 24 years researching the Dahlia case and dispelling myths. Has he finally found an answer of his own?

    September 10, 2020  By Miles Corwin
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    The CIA's Dark History of Employing Former Nazis in Postwar Europe

    The young agency looked for German expertise in battling communism. In one Prussian aristocrat, it found the rotten core of Nazi extremism—and put him to work for the US.

    September 3, 2020  By Scott Anderson
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    How Dashiell Hammett's Contintental Op Became a Depression-Era Icon

    After an era of gentleman detectives, Hammett brought the world a detective grounded in (and ground down by) hard-edged reality.

    August 4, 2020  By Susanna Lee
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