Freeing Birdman of Alcatraz
Neither the Bureau of Prisons nor the Production Code Administration could stop the production of a movie about murderer and ornithologist Robert Stroud.
A Mughal Mosque in Kenya
Built for Punjabi migrants brought to Africa by the British and modeled on Mughal architecture, the Jamia Masjid in Nairobi serves Kenya’s Muslim minority.
A Flood of Tourism in Johnstown
Days after a failed dam led to the drowning deaths of more than 2,200 people, the Pennsylvania industrial town was flooded again—with tourists.
The Flour War
In eighteenth-century France, the scarcity and price of flour was the base ingredient for what would become one of history’s bloodiest revolutions.
Why Interstellar Objects Like ʻOumuamua and Borisov May Hold Clues to Exoplanets
The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.
Two William McKinley Autopsies
The 1901 assassination of US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo revealed the abysmal state of race relations in America.
Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers
When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
Bridging The Gap of War: Einstein’s Eclipse
Astronomer Arthur S. Eddington argued that astronomy should be above politics, even when politics leads to world war.
Reviving Chinese Festivals
The government of China has been working to revitalize traditional celebrations that were suppressed after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.
Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc
Despite being famous for his witty analyses of the American South, Twain was proudest of the historical fiction he wrote about France’s legendary martyr.