In February 1929, two men were found shot dead inside a ground-floor guest bedroom of a mansion above Beverly Hills. One was Edward Doheny Jr., heir to an oil fortune, who had signed for the house…
The deed was recorded for ten dollars. Ten dollars paid by a son to his father for a house and the hillside it stood on. It had taken close to two years to build, and it had cost more than three million. That is not a rounded estimate. The construction accounts survive, and they record … Read more
In 1957, Harold von Braunhut sat in a cramped New York office surrounded by cardboard boxes of fake X-ray specs and invisible goldfish, searching for NaN
In 1957, Harold von Brown stood in a cramped New York office surrounded by the debris of cheap illusions: X-ray specs that showed nothing but a feather between lenses, invisible goldfish that were simply empty bowls, and crabs that crawled in circles until they died. At forty-one, he dressed in crisp suits, raced motorcycles, and … Read more
On July 31, 1999, two 17-year-old girls climbed into a black Mazda in Dothan, Alabama, heading to a birthday party. They never arrived. Lost and far off course, J.B. Beasley and Tracy Hawlett…
On the night of July 31, 1999, two seventeen-year-old girls pulled out of a convenience store parking lot in Ozark, Alabama, and vanished into the darkness. J. B. Beasley was about to celebrate her seventeenth birthday, and her best friend Tracy Hawlett was beside her in the black Mazda 929. They had gotten lost on … Read more
In 2012, a Chinese company most American ham radio operators had never heard of got FCC approval for a handheld radio that would soon sell for twenty NaN
In early 2020, as COVID-19 lockdowns swept across the United States, interest in amateur radio surged dramatically. Enrollment at Ham Radio Prep, one of the largest online licensing course providers, jumped by more than 700 percent in the second week of March alone compared to the same week the previous year. People stuck at home … Read more
In 1914, a photograph of seven surgeons on the steps of Massachusetts General Hospital was labeled as the team behind the first successful heart surgery. But when archivist Emily Parker compared…
The photograph archive of the Maryland Historical Society smelled of old paper and preservation chemicals. Thomas Rivera had spent fifteen years cataloging the history of photography in Baltimore, working through thousands of glass plates and faded prints that documented the city’s past. The Thornton Studio collection had arrived three weeks earlier: three boxes of carefully … Read more
In October 1971, forest ranger Elias Warren dragged a steel bear trap into the Pruitt Hollow Ranger Station, and inside it was something alive. Two deputies swore the creature wore a face they…
In the autumn of 1971, a forest ranger named Elias Warren walked out of the Ozark back country dragging a steel trap behind him through the mud. Inside that trap was something alive. Two sheriff’s deputies met him at the Pruitt Hollow Ranger Station just after dark, and for the rest of their lives both … Read more
In 1906, Jack Daniel arrived at his Lynchburg office before sunrise, fumbled with the combination on his company safe, and lost his temper. He kicked NaN
The man who put his name on the most famous whiskey in the world died because he could not open a safe. In the early morning hours of 1906, Jasper Jack Daniel arrived at his office in Lynchburg, Tennessee, before sunrise to finish paperwork. The company safe held the cash, ledgers, and deeds of his … Read more
In November 1957, a hardware store owner named Frank Worden drove through the frozen streets of Plainfield, Wisconsin, searching for his mother. BerniNaN
In the cold November night air of 1957, Frank Worden drove through the frozen streets of Plainfield, Wisconsin, looking for his mother. Bernice Worden had opened her hardware store that morning like any other Saturday, but by afternoon she was gone. The cash box sat open, blood stained the wooden floor, and a receipt book … Read more
On July 3rd, 1983, 27-year-old Teresa Peroni walked into the forest along Illinois River Road in Southern Oregon with her boyfriend, Marcus, after a day of fighting. Witnesses saw them leave the…
The bonfire crackled deep in the forest of Southern Oregon, and somewhere in the darkness beyond its glow, Teresa Peroni walked into the woods with her boyfriend. She never came back out. No crime scene was ever found. No confession was ever given. Only whispers. For more than four decades, Teresa’s family waited for answers … Read more
In 1736, New York City built a two-story brick almshouse on the commons with just six beds. Its purpose was not healing. It was containment—a place to put the poor, the orphaned, the elderly, and…
The iron gate on First Avenue has stood for nearly three centuries. Behind it rises a 25-story tower of glass and concrete, its windows lit at all hours, looking out over the black water of the East River. To the north and south, the city rushes past in its usual indifference. But here, in the … Read more