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How a Sentimental Yiddish Song Became a Worldwide Hit—and a Nazi Target
Sophie Tucker was best known for her sexy songs—crowd-pleasers that showed off her curves, her sass, and her frank love of men and money. But when the singer took to the stage in 1925, something else was on her mind: her mother. That night, Tucker debuted a new song. Instead of ...read more
When Top Gun Pilots Tangled With a Baffling Tic-Tac-Shaped UFO
It began as a routine naval training exercise. But it would soon become one of the best-documented—and most baffling—UFO sightings of the 21st century. Witnesses included highly trained military personnel—among them several deeply experienced radar operators and fighter ...read more
One of the Last Navajo Code Talkers, Whose Native Tongue Stumped WWII Enemies, Has Died
Fleming Begaye Sr., a Navajo code talker who helped the Allies gain victory in the Pacific Theater in World War II, died on May 10, 2019 at the age of 97. He was one of the last remaining members of an elite group of Navajo people who used their language to help transmit ...read more
The 1840 U.S. Census Was Overly Interested in Americans' Mental Health
The 2020 census won’t ask you about how many people in your family are “idiots” or “insane,” but in 1840 that was a question census workers had to answer for every household. The Census Bureau added the question at a time when reformers were interested in creating institutions to ...read more
Teddy Roosevelt Got Sued for Libel. He Said He ‘Enjoyed’ the Trial
It was the trial of the century. Or so it seemed in April 1915, when ex-President Teddy Roosevelt and one-time New York Republican Party boss William Barnes squared off in a Syracuse, New York courtroom. Barnes was the plaintiff, Roosevelt the defendant. The charge was libel, ...read more
How Much Did the First-Ever Social Security Check Pay Out?
Little did Ida May Fuller know she would find a piece of history inside her mailbox when she opened it on a February day in 1940. When the 65-year-old retiree and lifelong Republican lifted the lid of the mailbox outside the front door of her Ludlow, Vermont, house, she found a ...read more
Statue of Liberty: The Making of an Icon
The Statue of Liberty, which towers 305 feet, six inches over New York Harbor, is one of the most instantly recognizable symbols of America. It has inspired countless souvenir replicas and been referenced in everything from posters for war bonds to the final scene of the 1968 ...read more
The 8-Year-Old Chinese-American Girl Who Helped Desegregate Schools—in 1885
Nearly 70 years before Topeka’s Linda Brown and others challenged restrictive school laws on behalf of African Americans, sparking the legal battle that resulted in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, 8-year-old Mamie Tape of San Francisco, and her ...read more
How George Washington's Iron-Willed Single Mom Taught Him Honor
Here are some of the ways Mary Ball Washington, George Washington’s mother, has been described by historians: Crude. Greedy. Illiterate. Self-centered. Slovenly. A Loyalist. An especially ruthless slave-owner. An impediment to her son’s success. Alternatively, she has been ...read more
Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How Some 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen
They toiled through back-breaking labor during both frigid winters and blazing summers. Hundreds died from explosions, landslides, accidents and disease. And even though they made major contributions to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, these 15,000 to 20,000 ...read more
Ancient Egypt's 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Discoveries
Ancient Egypt may be long gone, but archaeologists keep finding its treasures. For more than 3,000 years, one of history’s greatest civilizations flourished along the winding Nile River in northeast Africa. But after Egypt fell under first Greek, then Roman, and finally Muslim ...read more
How Venezuela Fell From the Richest Country in South America into Crisis
It wasn’t that long ago that Venezuela, which possesses the world’s largest crude oil reserves, was a relatively stable democracy with one of Latin America’s fastest-rising economies. It was a nation so awash in petroleum revenues that the socialist government of the late former ...read more
'Elephant Man’s’ Grave Discovered in Same Cemetery as Jack the Ripper's Victims
When Joseph Merrick died at age 27, his body didn’t go into the ground in one piece. Instead, the bones of the so-called “Elephant Man” were bleached and put on display at Queen Mary University of London’s medical school, and some of his flesh was saved for medical study. Yet for ...read more
The Juicy History of Humans Eating Meat
The mouth-watering smokiness of a rack of pork ribs. The juicy gluttony of a medium-rare bacon cheeseburger. The simple pleasure of a salami sandwich on rye. One thing is clear—humans love meat. But why do we eat so much more meat than our primate cousins and why are we wired to ...read more
In 1968, This Kentucky Derby Winner Lost its Crown for a Drug Most Horses Take Now
The Kentucky Derby’s winning horse has only lost its title once before in history—and it wasn’t a case of officials immediately disqualifying a horse that finished first, as with Maximum Security in the 2019 race. In this case, a horse named Dancer’s Image held the proverbial ...read more