This Week In History News, Feb. 21 – 27

Published February 26, 2021

Police conspiracy behind Malcolm X's death revealed, hidden message in "The Scream" uncovered, new theory about dinosaurs' demise published.

New York Cop Confesses To Helping The NYPD And The FBI Conspire To Murder Malcolm X

Malcolm X Lying Wounded

Getty ImagesPolice officers transport a mortally wounded Malcolm X out of Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom just after he was shot there on February 21, 1965.

While speaking at Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot dead by three assassins from the Nation of Islam. But now, newly-uncovered evidence says that a far-reaching conspiracy involving the NYPD and the FBI allowed the murder to happen.

Former NYPD officer Raymond Wood confessed in a recently-surfaced letter that his superiors forced him to set up Malcolm X’s bodyguards to be arrested just before the planned murder so that they wouldn’t be there to save him.

Learn more about these historic revelations here.

“The Scream” Has A Hidden Message In It And Experts Just Figured Out Who Wrote It

Scream Edvard Munch

Edvard MunchThe message had baffled experts ever since it was first found in 1904.

Curators have finally identified the author of a mysterious message inscribed into Edvard Munch’s iconic painting “The Scream.” Turns out, it was Munch himself.

The note, faintly scrawled in the top left corner of the painting in old-fashioned Norwegian, reads: “Could only have been painted by a madman!”

Learn more here.

Dinosaurs Were Killed By A Comet From A Deep Space Cloud Of Icy Debris, Harvard Study Says

Dinosaurs And Asteroid Illustration

PixabayDinosaurs were wiped out by a celestial body that collided with Earth 66 million years ago.

It’s conventional wisdom among scientists that dinosaurs had roamed the Earth for 165 million years when an asteroid collided with Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, leading to their extinction.

But scientists have long debated where that asteroid originated, and now, a Harvard-based team has suggested that the asteroid was actually a deep-space comet that Jupiter flung into Earth.

Read on here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
Established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together a dedicated staff of digital publishing veterans and subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science. From the lesser-known byways of human history to the uncharted corners of the world, we seek out stories that bring our past, present, and future to life. Privately-owned since its founding, All That's Interesting maintains a commitment to unbiased reporting while taking great care in fact-checking and research to ensure that we meet the highest standards of accuracy.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.