When the autopsy was performed on the diver in 1900, they found bubbles in his brain and heart. There were so many bubbles, in fact, that when examiners lifted the heart, it gurgled with froth. The cause of death was decompression sickness. And while doctors knew the cause of ...read more

In 1857, two rival police forces were operating at the same time in one major U.S. city—it did not end well. The unusual situation in New York City was the outcome of a corrupt mayor and opposing political parties heading the state and city governments and would eventually erupt ...read more

On December 29, 1929, just after 2:00 a.m., the Coast Guard patrol boat C.G. 290 lay in wait by a small group of islands in Naragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The islands provided cover for rumrunners who regularly dashed their shipments of illegal liquor to the mainland during the ...read more

From the surface, the water was dark green—the Royal Navy diver peering down from the little boat could see no more than a few feet. Slipping into the sea, he adjusted the air valves on his heavy diving helmet and allowed the weights affixed to his body to drag him down to the ...read more