l2910 On a March night in 1975, millions of Americans watched a small wooden doll with oversized teeth terrorize a woman in her apartment, and a new kind of horror entered the national psyche. The actress being hunted by that knife-wielding puppet was Karen Black, a twice-winning Golden Globe recipient and Oscar nominee. Her life story, … Read more
In the 1950s, a wave of panic swept through American homes, but it was not triggered by communism, nuclear war, or new technology. It was triggered by a guitar. Rock and roll ignited a cultural firestorm that saw records banned, dances restricted, and Elvis Presley treated as a serious threat to civilization itself. To understand … Read more
In December 1863, Emily Todd Helm arrived at the White House as a widow in mourning. She had just refused to take a loyalty oath to the United States, the country whose army had killed her husband, a Confederate general, weeks earlier at the Battle of Chickamauga. She was also the half-sister of First Lady … Read more
On June 25, 1876, the temperature in the Little Bighorn Valley climbed past 90 degrees by early afternoon. The 210 men of the United States 7th Cavalry who rode in that day, under a general who had never seriously considered the possibility that he would not ride out, were all dead within the hour. The … Read more
Theodore W. Golden, a former soldier of the Seventh Cavalry, carried a rare distinction. He was among the last men to see General George Armstrong Custer alive. In 1904, Golden recorded his memories in a letter, one of the most valuable first-hand accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Golden wrote that although many … Read more
The murder of abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois, in November 1837 sent shockwaves through the growing anti-slavery movement. Lovejoy had already seen his printing press destroyed by mobs multiple times after he moved from St. Louis to the southern Illinois town. When town leaders ordered him to stop publishing the anti-slavery Alton … Read more
On September 2, 1945, before a vast crowd in Hanoi, a thin, bearded man stepped forward to proclaim the birth of a new nation. He opened his speech with words every American in the audience recognized instantly: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are … Read more
Am Weihnachtstag überreichte mir meine Tochter ihr Geschenk mit einem süßen Lächeln. Die 400. 000 Dollar Schulden ihres Mannes. Papa, du musst nur vor Neujahr unterschreiben. Es ist für die Familie. Ich lächelte, unterschrieb und gab ihnen dann mein Geschenk. Sie öffnete die Schachtel und schrie so laut, dass sie beinahe umgekippt wäre. Ihr werdet … Read more
A quiet August night in El Paso. Inside the Acme saloon, an oil lamp flickered over the bar. A man in a black coat leaned against the counter, shaking dice, a faint smile on his face. He was 42 years old. He had spent 17 of those years behind the walls of Huntsville State Prison. … Read more
Debbie Reynolds, one of the last great stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, died on December 28th, 2016, one day after the death of her daughter, actress and writer Carrie Fisher. The two deaths, coming within 30 hours of each other, brought a sudden and public end to one of America’s most scrutinized celebrity families. Fisher, … Read more