Blog Biz

On the afternoon of August 23, 1972, Rosemary Loomis pressed a dime into her daughter’s hand and told her to call if she was going to be late. Not a weapon. Not a warning. Just enough for a phone call. Twenty-year-old Jodi Loomis took the dime, climbed onto her white ten-speed bicycle, and rode away … Read more

In February 1957, Buckingham Palace broke its own iron rule. An institution that met every scandal with silence issued a public denial: it was quite untrue that there was any rift between the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The words went out to every newspaper in the world. Behind the statement stood a marriage … Read more

King Leonidas I of Sparta came from a bloodline so tangled that his own birth was something of a miracle. For years, his father, King Anaxandridas, and his first wife failed to produce a child, and the ephors, the powerful council of officials who helped rule Sparta, grew anxious. They ordered the king to set … Read more

On the morning of 9 February 2002, a woman sat at a hospital bedside in London and watched her mother die. The world knew that mother as Princess Margaret, the glamorous and troubled younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Almost nobody knew the daughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, and that was exactly how she had … Read more

In the spring of 1912, John Pierpont Morgan made a last-minute decision that seemed to cheat death. The legendary financier had booked one of the most luxurious suites aboard the RMS Titanic, complete with a private promenade deck, intending to sail on the maiden voyage of the largest, most celebrated ship ever built. He changed … Read more

In 1879, Anna Haining Bates went into labor standing nearly eight feet tall. When her water broke, she lost six gallons of fluid. Her doctor soon came to a chilling realization: the baby was so large that forceps were useless. They wrapped a bandage around its neck and pulled. What emerged was a boy weighing … Read more

In early 1944, the Japanese stronghold of Truk Lagoon erupted in flames as waves of American carrier aircraft turned what had once been the Imperial Navy’s most feared anchorage into a burning scrapyard. For two years, Allied planners had regarded Truk as untouchable. Inside its vast reef ring, battleships, cruisers, submarines, and hundreds of support … Read more

Arrivai con il pick-up sul vialetto di ghiaia e spensi il motore. Attraverso il parabrezza vidi ciò che non avrei mai voluto vedere: un furgone U-Haul parcheggiato davanti al mio cottage. Quel cottage che Martha e io avevamo costruito trentadue anni prima sulla riva del Lago Windermere. Le mani erano ancora sul volante. Rimasi fermo … Read more

„Máš na výběr. Buď mi dům tiše přepíšeš na jméno, nebo tě odsud nechám vyhodit na ulici,“ řekl Michael, můj jediný syn, a díval se na mě těma chladnýma očima, které jsem už nepoznávala. Já jsem tiše zvedla telefon a vytočila číslo. Když se na druhém konci ozval hlas, Michael okamžitě zbledl a zůstal beze … Read more

Mi chiamo Elena Conti, ho ventidue anni e quattro ore fa ho sposato l’uomo dei miei sogni. Un matrimonio dovrebbe essere il giorno più felice, quello a cui ripensi quando la vita si fa dura. Il mio lo è stato, finché mia sorella maggiore non ha deciso di confessare un furto commesso quattro anni prima … Read more