History

Every March, something strange happens to America. Rivers turn green. Grocery stores run out of corned beef. Plastic shamrocks appear on the lapels of people whose families have been in Tennessee since before the Civil War. And somewhere in all of it, tens of millions of Americans stand up and claim the same identity: Irish. … Read more

In 1920, the United States added a second exception to its Constitution. For the first time in American history, the founding charter reached past the government and into the private lives of its citizens and said: You cannot buy a drink. As one historian put it, suddenly there were two things the Constitution forbade citizens … Read more

The drill sergeant stood at the front of the room at Fort Benning, 1952, and looked across a formation of terrified recruits. He gave them exactly twelve minutes to eat. No talking. No seconds. Clean your tray, or go hungry until dinner. When the whistle blew, the men moved down the line and looked down … Read more

On September 8, 1935, Huey Long was shot in the Louisiana State Capitol. He died two days later, leaving behind a shattered political movement and three children who would spend the rest of their lives defining themselves against the most powerful and controversial name in Louisiana history. Neither of them would simply continue what their … Read more

In a Parisian studio, a young Australian woman opened her mouth and sang a single song. The formidable voice teacher, Mathilde Marchesi, heard enough. She rushed to the door and called for her husband: “Salvatori, Salvatori, at last I have found a star! ” For Helen Porter Mitchell, the girl from Melbourne who had crossed … Read more

All of King Henry VIII’s six wives were buried as queens, yet the centuries that followed treated their remains very differently. Some rested undisturbed for nearly five hundred years. Others were exhumed, examined, and even desecrated. The story of what happened to their bodies reveals as much about the changing centuries as it does about … Read more

The systematic looting of art and cultural treasures by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 stands as one of the largest organized thefts in human history. The Nazi regime stripped hundreds of artworks, manuscripts, religious objects, and cultural treasures from museums, private collections, churches, and Jewish families across Europe. Adolf Hitler was personally and deeply … Read more

In October 1986, the rules that had governed the City of London for centuries were swept aside in a single day. Foreign banks were allowed to compete, the old barriers between brokers and jobbers were abolished, and human trading floors gave way to computerised dealing. The event became known as the Big Bang, and within … Read more

In a warehouse outside Orlando, a bear in overalls named Billy Bob sings to an empty room. There is no audience, no birthday party, no restaurant around him, only concrete, a few retired animatronic animals, and the man who built him, running the show for a camera. The bear’s mouth moves in perfect sync with … Read more