One Of The Deadliest Hurricanes In U.S. History Hits Galveston, Texas

September 10, 2021

Hurricanes may be getting stronger and more frequent, but some of the worst storms happened more than a century ago. In fact, the 1900 Galveston h...

The Assassination Of President William McKinley Led To The Creation Of The Secret Service

September 2, 2021

A horrified crowd looks on as Leon Czolgosz shoots President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York...

History Of The Radio Flyer: The Little Red Wagon That Defined Childhood

August 5, 2021

Bulldog Wilbur is pulled in a Radio Flyer Red Wagon to the dog run at Madison Square Park by his owner, Krista McGruder. (Robert Sabo/NY Daily News...

1904: The Worst Olympics Ever

July 27, 2021

Not every Olympics is a hit, but the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri really won the gold when it came to the worst games ever. To be fair, the Olympics as we know them today we...

How The Polio Vaccine Was Developed (And All The Hiccups Along The Way)

April 30, 2021

Child vaccinated with Dr. Salk’s vaccine against polio in 1956. (Jean-Pierre Grisel/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images) Polio has plagued humans ...

How The New York City Subway Came To Be

April 14, 2021

The City Hall station of the I.R.T. Lexington Avenue Line, sometime between 1900 and 1904, part of the first underground line of the subway that opened on October 27, 1904. (Libra...

The History Of The Getaway Car And Where It Started

April 10, 2021

1912 Stanley steam car. (Stephen Foskett/Wikimedia Commons) Before the advent of the automobile, bank robbers, rustlers, and no-goodniks of all stripes fled the scen...

The First Barrel Ride Down Niagara Falls Happens In 1901

April 9, 2021

Annie Edson Taylor, first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive (cat in photo is likely the same cat that went over the falls in a test run). (L...

When A Shoemaker Convinced People To Kidnap A German Governor

March 10, 2021

German postage stamp commemorating Voigt released in 2006. (Carsten Wolff/Wikimedia Commons) There are people in the world who can convince anyone to do an...

Galveston Hurricane: The Deadliest Day In American History

December 14, 2020

Removing dead bodies to the barges for burial at sea. (NOAA Photo Library/Wikimedia Commons) September 8, 1900 became the deadliest day in American history wh...

1902 Mount Pelée Eruption: Volcano Kills 30,000 When Governor Decides Election Is More Important

November 9, 2020

In April of 1902 the Mount Pelee volcano on Martinique island erupted. (Carl Simon/United Archives/Universal Images Group...

Vladimir Lenin: Everything You Didn't Know About The Russian Revolutionary

October 21, 2020

Becoming Vladimir LeninVladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born to a middle-class, well-educated family in Simbirsk, Russia on April 22, 1870. His f...

Robert Johnson: The Most Important Bluesman Of All Time Who 'Sold His Soul To The Devil'

August 30, 2020

(Delta Haze Corporation/Wikimedia Commons) Robert Johnson is easily the most important blues artist of all time. The influence o...

Automats: Fast Food Before We Had Fast Food Restaurants

July 26, 2020

(Berenice Abbott/Wikimedia Commons) Say what you will about the fast food experience, but whatever it may lack in fresh ingredients and customer service, it more...

Nelson Mandela: Facts And Stories You Didn't Know About The Beloved Revolutionary

July 18, 2020

Nelson Mandela waves to the crowd after speaking at the Colonial Stadium for the World Reconciliation Day Concert, September 8, 2000 in M...

Disturbing Things People Did At Carnivals In The Early 20th Century

July 11, 2020

At the onset of the 20th century, traveling carnivals grew out of the World's Fair and became a beloved pastime for families seeking a fun night out...

San Francisco's 1904 Black Plague Scare (And How It Was Covered Up)

May 14, 2020

South tower of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons) The bubonic plague is one of the most catastrophic disea...