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The Madman of Chicago: The Life and Violent Times of Sam Giancana
It’s often said that Chicago built its empire on the backs of immigrants and the muscle of men willing to do what others wouldn’t dare....
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Lord of the Flies: The Classic That Almost Never Was
When Lord of the Flies first arrived on bookshop shelves on 17 September 1954, it did so with little fanfare and modest expectations....
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The Mysterious Death of God’s Banker: Roberto Calvi and the Scandal That Shook Italy and the Vatican
In the early summer of 1982, Roberto Calvi, chairman of Italy’s largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano, vanished from the intricate world...
699


The Attempted Murder Of Hustler Founder, Larry Flynt
In the 1970s, Lawrenceville, Georgia, was hardly the sort of place you’d expect to see splashed across national headlines. It sat about...
652


A Lens on the Battlefield: Roger Fenton’s Pioneering Photographs of the Crimean War
When we flick through war photography now, we half expect raw, sometimes shocking snapshots of the front lines, muddy trenches,...
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Why Babies In Medieval Paintings Look Like Middle-Aged Men
Strolling through any European art gallery that houses works from the Middle Ages to the early Renaissance, one cannot help but notice...
169


The Battle of Hayes Pond: How the Lumbee People Drove the Ku Klux Klan from Robeson County
On a cold January evening in 1958, an open cornfield near a quiet pond in Robeson County, North Carolina, became the unlikely stage for...
154


The Sculpted Skull: Understanding the Skull Elongation Tradition of the Mangbetu People
There is no singular standard of beauty. Throughout history and across continents, human beings have continually reimagined what it means...
1,733


Flirtation Cards: How the 19th Century Mastered Subtle Courtship
In an age long before swipes, likes and texted emojis, Victorian society found its own coded means for a glance across a ballroom to...
665


Rebecca Bradley — The Texas “Flapper Bandit” Who Held Up a Bank With Charm and an Empty Gun
On a crisp Saturday morning, 11 December 1926, the quiet farming community of Buda, Texas — some fifteen miles south of Austin —...
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The Day Big Tobacco Faced Congress and Denied Addiction: A Look Back at 14 April 1994
When seven of America’s most powerful corporate leaders raised their right hands before Congress on 14 April 1994, the world watched to...
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“Tell People That Homosexuals Are Not Cowards”: The Resistance and Sacrifice of Willem Arondéus
On a summer morning in July 1943, Willem Arondéus faced a Nazi firing squad in the dunes of Overveen. As he stood before his...
196


The Unsolved Mystery of the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders
In the quiet hours before dawn on 13 June 1977, the peaceful summer routine at Camp Scott in Mayes County, Oklahoma, was shattered by a...
2,636


Emma Willard and Her Beautiful Historical Time Maps
In the mid-19th century, at a time when the United States was rapidly expanding its borders and solidifying its national identity, a...
208


Spandau Prison: The Fortress of Forgotten Tyrants
In the Berlin district of Spandau, a red-brick compound once loomed behind layers of concrete walls, barbed wire, and armed watchtowers....
2,197


Frankie Yale: The Brooklyn Don Who Taught Capone the Game
On a warm Sunday afternoon in July 1928, the roar of engines and gunfire shattered the quiet streets of Brooklyn’s Borough Park. A sleek,...
385


The Men Who Built the Sky: The Untold Story of the Empire State Building’s Fearless Workers
When people think of the Empire State Building, they picture a towering, steel-framed icon slicing into the Manhattan skyline. But behind...
443


The Death of Nero: Rome’s Last Julio-Claudian Emperor Meets His End
In the early summer of 68 CE, the last direct descendant of Julius Caesar and Augustus lay trembling in a suburban villa outside Rome,...
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Metal in Soviet Russia: Monsters of Rock 1991
What if I told you that one of the largest human gatherings ever recorded for a concert—an estimated 1.5 million people—took place not in...
158


The Birmingham, Alabama Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Schoolgirls
On the morning of Sunday 15 September 1963, an anonymous phone call to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, delivered a...
463


The Storm, the Stars, and the Sea: John Lennon’s Sailing Journey to Bermuda
In the summer of 1980, John Lennon , former Beatle, cultural icon, and self-described househusband, undertook a journey that would...
1,782


The Acid Archive: Mark McCloud's Institute of Illegal Images
On 6 October 1966, a date acid enthusiasts half-jokingly refer to as 'The Day of the Beast,' California became the first US state to...
447


The Merchant of Death and the Weight of Legacy: Alfred Nobel’s Wake-Up Call
No one ever truly knows the consequences of their inventions—at least, not until it’s too late. But some warning signs are hard to...
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The Last Impression: 26 Death Masks (Some Well Known, Some Not)
In the quiet hours following death, long before photography could capture a likeness, artisans turned to wax and plaster to preserve the...
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