history

How An Ex-Cop Rigged The McDonald’s Monopoly Game — And Scammed The Company Out Of $24 Million

How Jerome Jacobson and his band of psychics, drug dealers, and strip-club owners perpetrated the daring McMillions scam over the course of 12 wild years.

By Natasha Ishak • Jan 23, 2020

How An Ex-Cop Rigged The McDonald’s Monopoly Game — And Scammed The Company Out Of $24 Million

How Jerome Jacobson and his band of psychics, drug dealers, and strip-club owners perpetrated the daring McMillions scam over the course of 12 wild years.

By Natasha Ishak • January 23, 2020

The Bizarre History Of Sex Toys, From Ancient Butt Plugs To Steam-Powered Vibrators

With the oldest-known dildo clocking in at 28,000 years, sex toys are older than civilization, religion, and marriage combined.

By Hannah McKennett • Jan 21, 2020

The Bizarre History Of Sex Toys, From Ancient Butt Plugs To Steam-Powered Vibrators

With the oldest-known dildo clocking in at 28,000 years, sex toys are older than civilization, religion, and marriage combined.

By Hannah McKennett • January 21, 2020

Robert E. Lee Day Celebrates A Confederate General — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Decades after he lost the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee got his own holiday in 1889. Some Southern states — especially Alabama and Mississippi — still honor it.

By Marco Margaritoff • Jan 19, 2020

Robert E. Lee Day Celebrates A Confederate General — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Decades after he lost the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee got his own holiday in 1889. Some Southern states — especially Alabama and Mississippi — still honor it.

By Marco Margaritoff • January 19, 2020

When Burning Whiskey Flooded Dublin’s Streets, 13 Died Drinking Booze Out Of Their Boots

On June 18, 1875, flaming liquor ran through Dublin's Liberties district after a liquor warehouse caught fire. Though the blaze nearly burned the city down, the only people who died were those that drank too much flaming booze.

By Marco Margaritoff • Jan 18, 2020

When Burning Whiskey Flooded Dublin’s Streets, 13 Died Drinking Booze Out Of Their Boots

On June 18, 1875, flaming liquor ran through Dublin's Liberties district after a liquor warehouse caught fire. Though the blaze nearly burned the city down, the only people who died were those that drank too much flaming booze.

By Marco Margaritoff • January 18, 2020

This Titanic Fire Theory Suggests It Wasn’t Just The Iceberg’s Fault

Rarely-seen photos reveal a 30-foot-long black streak on the hull of the Titanic — days before the doomed ship set sail in 1912.

By Sienna Vittoria Asselin • Jan 17, 2020

This Titanic Fire Theory Suggests It Wasn’t Just The Iceberg’s Fault

Rarely-seen photos reveal a 30-foot-long black streak on the hull of the Titanic — days before the doomed ship set sail in 1912.

By Sienna Vittoria Asselin • January 17, 2020

This Week In History News, Jan. 12 – 18

500-year-old leprosy victim's face reconstructed, Viking runestone's message deciphered, Amazon warrior women's tomb uncovered.

By All That's Interesting • Jan 17, 2020

News

This Week In History News, Jan. 12 – 18

500-year-old leprosy victim's face reconstructed, Viking runestone's message deciphered, Amazon warrior women's tomb uncovered.

By All That's Interesting • January 17, 2020

The True Story Behind The FBI’s Martin Luther King Tapes And The Disturbing ‘Suicide Letter’

In 1964, the FBI tried to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr. into ending his civil rights campaign with a letter that threatened to expose proof of his extramarital affairs — and apparently even encouraged him to kill himself.

By Marco Margaritoff • Jan 16, 2020

The True Story Behind The FBI’s Martin Luther King Tapes And The Disturbing ‘Suicide Letter’

In 1964, the FBI tried to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr. into ending his civil rights campaign with a letter that threatened to expose proof of his extramarital affairs — and apparently even encouraged him to kill himself.

By Marco Margaritoff • January 16, 2020

Tommaso Buscetta Was The First Sicilian Mobster To Break The Code Of Silence — And Lived To Tell The Tale

After losing two of his sons, a son-in-law, a brother, and a nephew to the Mafia, Tommaso Buscetta became the first Sicilian mobster to break the Cosa Nostra's deadly serious code of silence known as omertà.

By Marco Margaritoff • Jan 16, 2020

Tommaso Buscetta Was The First Sicilian Mobster To Break The Code Of Silence — And Lived To Tell The Tale

After losing two of his sons, a son-in-law, a brother, and a nephew to the Mafia, Tommaso Buscetta became the first Sicilian mobster to break the Cosa Nostra's deadly serious code of silence known as omertà.

By Marco Margaritoff • January 16, 2020

How French ‘Casket Girls’ Were Forced Into The New World To ‘Tame’ The Male Settlers

In the 1700s, there were too many men and not enough women in France's Louisiana territory. So King Louis XIV devised a "solution."

By Andrew Milne • Jan 14, 2020

How French ‘Casket Girls’ Were Forced Into The New World To ‘Tame’ The Male Settlers

In the 1700s, there were too many men and not enough women in France's Louisiana territory. So King Louis XIV devised a "solution."

By Andrew Milne • January 14, 2020

Franz Stigler, Charlie Brown, And A Friendship Born From The Horror Of War

When Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler had American bomber Charlie Brown's defenseless plane in his sights in 1943, he not only let him go but then escorted him out of danger. A half-century later, the two men became close friends.

By Joseph Williams • Jan 14, 2020

Franz Stigler, Charlie Brown, And A Friendship Born From The Horror Of War

When Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler had American bomber Charlie Brown's defenseless plane in his sights in 1943, he not only let him go but then escorted him out of danger. A half-century later, the two men became close friends.

By Joseph Williams • January 14, 2020

Meet Maryam Khatoon Molkara, The Trans Activist Who Helped Legalize Gender-Confirming Surgeries In Iran

Despite facing the conservative culture of 1980s Iran, Maryam Molkara helped convince the nation’s leader to make sex reassignment procedures legal — a legacy that remains to this day.

By Natasha Ishak • Jan 13, 2020

Meet Maryam Khatoon Molkara, The Trans Activist Who Helped Legalize Gender-Confirming Surgeries In Iran

Despite facing the conservative culture of 1980s Iran, Maryam Molkara helped convince the nation’s leader to make sex reassignment procedures legal — a legacy that remains to this day.

By Natasha Ishak • January 13, 2020

The Great Stork Derby: When A Millionaire Held A Baby-Making Race For His Fortune

When Charles Millar died childless in 1926, he bequeathed his fortune to whichever woman could bear the most children in a 10-year span. What followed was a baby boom the likes of which Canada had never seen.

By Sienna Vittoria Asselin • Jan 12, 2020

The Great Stork Derby: When A Millionaire Held A Baby-Making Race For His Fortune

When Charles Millar died childless in 1926, he bequeathed his fortune to whichever woman could bear the most children in a 10-year span. What followed was a baby boom the likes of which Canada had never seen.

By Sienna Vittoria Asselin • January 12, 2020