History

In the autumn of 1964, in a courthouse in White Plains, New York, Happy Rockefeller stood in a hallway before a closed door. Behind that door, a judge sat alone with her four children, the oldest thirteen and the youngest four, to decide whether they would live with her again. She herself had given up … Read more

On an afternoon in February 1943, in a packed courtroom in Surrey, a pathologist reached into a simple cardboard box, lifted out the skull of a young woman, and held it up for twelve jurors to see for themselves how she had died. No English court had ever witnessed anything quite like it. It was … Read more

In the autumn of 1937, less than a year after abdicating the British throne, the former King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson traveled to Nazi Germany. They toured factories, inspected workers’ housing, and met with senior figures in the regime. Photographs from the visit showed Edward behaving with a warmth toward the Nazi … Read more

When the motorcade finally reached Parkland Memorial Hospital, Paul Landis did what any agent protecting the first lady would do. He scanned the chaos for Jacqueline Kennedy, made sure she was safe, and then his eyes fell on the back seat of the presidential limousine. There, wedged against the upholstery where the president had been … Read more

When police officers forced open the door of 739 Fifth Avenue in March 1931, the stench hit them before anything else did. Decomposition, rot, mildew, human waste. They tied handkerchiefs over their faces and moved carefully through the front hall. Newspapers were piled floor to ceiling. The walls were stained with water damage. The floor … Read more

On the evening of January 15th, 1893, a carriage stood two blocks from the Astor mansion on Fifth Avenue, its wheels silent, its occupants hidden behind glass. Inside sat William and Katherine Burden, dressed for a ball they had not been invited to attend. Through the windows they could see light pouring from every window … Read more

The first letter arrived on a Tuesday morning. It was waiting for her at the apartment, slipped under the door, no postmark, hand delivered. It contained three sentences. I know about Mr. Dennis. I know about Tuesdays and Thursdays. $5,000 will ensure I forget everything. The signature was a single initial: C. Mary’s hands shook … Read more

By one-thirty in the morning of April 15th, 1912, the bow of the Titanic had settled visibly into the freezing sea, and the stern had begun its slow, ominous lift. On the A-deck promenade, the crew was lowering lifeboats under the strict mandate of women and children first. John Jacob Astor IV escorted his nineteen-year-old … Read more

In May 1754, a 22-year-old militia officer from Virginia stood in a rain-soaked forest clearing in western Pennsylvania and watched a Native American chief split open the skull of a wounded French officer with a tomahawk. The young man’s name was George Washington. The violence he witnessed that morning, and the decisions he made in … Read more