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Greg Daugherty

Greg Daugherty, a longtime magazine editor and frequent contributor to HISTORY.com, has also written on historical topics for Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and other outlets.

Latest from this author

Conclave Election of New Pope 2013

Tradition dictates that cardinals' votes be burned for secrecy.

April 29, 1975: A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the rooftop of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy.

The dramatic rooftop photo was long mistakenly misidentified.

Blue-and-white orb of the earth in the vast blackness of space hanging over the crater-pocked surface of the moon

NASA astronaut Bill Anders snapped the awe-inspiring view.

Two Pilots Saw a UFO. Why Did the Air Force Destroy the Report?

Some believed the July 1948 sighting revealed the presence of secret Soviet spy craft in American airspace.

He was a decorated, if at times reckless, fighter pilot who conducted nearly two dozen bombing runs in Vietnam before being shot down, captured and tortured.

Aeronautics expert. Historian. Scientist. Economist. Henry Woodhouse passed himself off as all these and more. In reality, he was a con artist—and a convicted killer.

FLIR1 - Official footage of Tic-Tac UAP from the U.S. government for public release

Fighter pilots and radar operators from the USS Nimitz describe their terrifying—and still inexplicable—2004 encounter.

The 46,328 tons RMS Titanic of the White Star Line which sank at 2:20 AM Monday morning April 15 1912 after hitting iceberg in North Atlantic...UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1800: The 46,328 tons RMS Titanic of the White Star Line which sank at 2:20 AM Monday morning April 15 1912 after hitting iceberg in North Atlantic (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

For at least the first hour after the iceberg collision, the ship's crew downplayed the danger. Many passengers remained optimistic.

Thomas Jefferson. (Credit: VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

Jefferson spent $7,500 ($200,000 in current dollars) on wine in his first presidential term alone.

Engraving of the Roman emperor Commodus (161-192), a brutal ruler who precipated the decline of 84 years of prosperity and stability in the empire.

By some historians' measure, he was the cruelest and most demented of the bunch.

Al Capone in Alcatraz: How Public Enemy No. 1 Spent His Time in the Famous Prison

Public Enemy #1 was transferred to the now-infamous island prison a few weeks after it opened.

Patriots forced onto horrific British prison ships were presented with two options: turn traitor or die.

The self-styled 'King of the Osage Hills' masterminded a heinous spate of killings targeting oil-rich Indians.

Prohibition proved no match for the deadly virus—at least for a while.

General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing

Some people even thought both parties should nominate him in the 1920 presidential race.

Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium

Patients—including presidents, business titans and movie stars—flocked to his Battle Creek Sanitarium, where treatments included 15-quart enemas and electrical currents to the eyeballs.

Group of telephone operators, c. 1915

As their numbers grew, women operators became a powerful force—for workers' rights and even serving overseas in WWI.

George Adamski UFO photo

He claimed to have conversed with Venusians using hand gestures and mental telepathy.

Dr. J. Allen Hynek

When the U.S. government tapped the academic to help investigate UFOs, he was initially a skeptic. But not for long.

The airship Hindenburg burning after it crashed on May 6, 1937 in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Theories ranged from negligence to sabotage to an 'act of God.'

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

The ascendance of plastics and television forever changed the industry.

Seated portrait of John Wilkes Booth with his hand under his chin

By most accounts, the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln's assassin ended in a Virginia tobacco barn.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1905. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The 26th president found that simplifying the language was anything but simple.

Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon during a campaign appearance in Denver, Colorado, September 25, 1968. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Aides reportedly counseled the GOP candidate against appearing on the goofy, left-leaning comedy show. But Nixon went ahead with his "sock it to me" moment.

A crowd of smiling graduates in black capes standing outside a university building, throwing their caps in the air.

Some commencement ceremony traditions, like the cap and gown, have medieval origins; others developed more recently.

Animatronic pirate figures with realistic looking heads and robotic bodies lean over to be seen by visitors to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride

From Technicolor to Animatronics to Droids in Training, Disney artists and engineers have continually broken new creative ground.

Stamps have often invited debate—usually for reasons the post office never anticipated.

Hand-colored advertisement from the 1910s showing four children in pajamas holding giant toothbrushes leaning over a giant tube of toothpaste. Caption says: "Armed to the teeth."

The dental hygiene tools available to our ancestors have evolved—but still bear a striking resemblance to what's used today.

The Real-Life Exploits of Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch

Did the famed band and train robbers bury any of their loot?

How an Anti-Obscenity Crusader Policed America's Mail for Decades

The act is named after Anthony Comstock, a devout Protestant-turned postal inspector who sought to bar the mailing of 'obscene, lewd or lascivious' materials.

Teddy Roosevelt

Author and legal expert Dan Abrams talks to HISTORY about his new book Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy.

After millions perished, people turned to séances, Ouija boards and more to help communicate with their dearly departed.

What Was the Titanic’s Captain Doing While the Ship Sank?

Edward Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mystery—with no shortage of conflicting accounts.

Detail, 'Interview between Francois I and Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' Painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek, 1845

The grappling allegedly took place at the Field of Cloth of Gold, a royal sporting tournament designed to cement relations between England and France.

Inside the 1912 Titanic Investigations

A stunned world demanded answers. So did two relentless lawyers in the U.S. and Great Britain: Senator William Alden Smith and Lord Mersey.

Lost Treasure

First came the diamond-filled golden Buddha and the box of gold bars. Then came the torture.

Some in the powerful medieval order were greased up and roasted until they 'admitted' to perversions like sodomy, cat worshipping and navel kissing.

The Quiet Accomplishments of Ulysses S. Grant’s Presidency

The Civil War hero left the White House under a cloud, but he also made substantial contributions—like passing the 15th Amendment.

Pope Boniface

They held the pontiff hostage for three harrowing days. He never recovered.

1889 Flu Pandemic

Modern transportation helped make it the first global outbreak.

Suicide? Murder? P.R. stunt? Marie Empress's 1919 disappearance from an ocean liner remains a total enigma.