1920s
William Desmond Taylor, A True Hollywood Murder Mystery
August 29, 2022
Portrait of William Desmond Taylor, murdered director. (Bettmann/Getty Images) William Desmond TaylorWilliam Deane-Tanner was born to a wealthy family in Carlow,...
Scarface: The Life of Al Capone
August 15, 2022
Infamous gangster Al Capone smokes a cigar on the train carrying him to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta where he will start serving an eleven-year sentence. (Bettmann/Getty Images) ...
Fun Facts About The Roaring '20s
August 10, 2022
January 22, 1926: Female flappers kicking, dancing, and having fun while musicians perform during a Charleston dance contest at the Parody Club. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) The 2020s...
Why Does Red Mean “Stop” and Green Mean “Go”? The History of Stoplights
April 22, 2022
Traffic light showing red, green, and yellow colors along with street lamp post. (Ellen van Bodegom/Getty Images) Everyone, even small ch...
The Banana Massacre
March 23, 2022
Bananas may seem as wholesome as plants come, but behind that happy yellow peel lies a sinister history full of corruption, oppression, and death. Bananas are originally from Eastern Asia but made...
Fritzi Ritz: The Wild Comic Strip Flapper Who Morphed Into Nancy's Sensible Aunt
February 23, 2022
First published Fritzi Ritz comic strip. (Larry Whittington/Wikimedia Commons) It's always difficult to imagine the adult figures of our...
The Real-Life Murderesses Who Inspired The Musical "Chicago"
February 5, 2022
Beulah Annan. (Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images) The Oscar-winning smash 2002 hit film about two fame-hun...
1932: Radio City Music Hall Opens
December 27, 2021
inside shot of opening of the new Radio City Music Hall. (Bettmann/Getty Images) The renowned Radio City Music Hall, which opened on December 27, 1932, is unlike any other building in...
1924: In New York City, The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Is Held
November 27, 2021
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924. (RV1864/Flickr) On November 27, 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade came marching down the st...
The Team Of Researchers At The University Of Toronto Who Discovered Insulin
September 20, 2021
Fifty units of 'lletin' (Insulin Lilly) manufactured by Eli Lilly & Company, Indianapolis, USA in 1923. (SSPL/Getty Images) Diabetes is a dea...
The Unbelievable Comeback Story Of Elizabeth Robinson Schwartz, Olympic Heroine And Accident Victim
September 8, 2021
Betty Robinson, A.K.A. Elizabeth Schwartz, in the 100-meter race at the 1928 Olympic games. (Library of Congress/Corbis...
St. Francis Dam Disaster
July 25, 2021
A group of people and their car stand dwarfed by the shattered remains of the St. Francis Dam. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) In 1926, the St. Francis Dam began providing water to the growing...
Charles Lindbergh’s Nazi Connection
July 13, 2021
Charles Lindbergh had a complicated public reputation. As the first pilot to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, he was a national hero. As the father of a kidnapped and murde...
The First Federal Prison For Women Was Opened In 1928, West Virginia (And How It Went)
May 8, 2021
Nestled in the rolling hills of Alderson, West Virginia, sits the very first federal prison for women in the United States, the F...
Steamboat Willie: Facts, Stories, & Trivia About Mickey Mouse's First Cartoon Ever
November 19, 2020
Steamboat Willie is commonly known as one the first cartoon ever made (and distributed) with sound (even though the Fleischer brother...
The Pineapple Primary: An Election Violence Threat That Required 500 Federal Marshals
November 8, 2020
Chicago has a long history of corrupt politics and organized crime, and tensions between two groups vying for control of the city ...
Ocoee Massacre Of 1920: When One Black Man Voting Sparked Over 30 Murders
November 5, 2020
Incidents of Election Day violence have occurred for generations, but one of the most gruesome and demoralizing acts of it was the Ocoee massa...