PN1501 Late on the night of December 28, 1881, roughly two months after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone city police chief Virgil Earp was seriously wounded outside the Oriental Saloon. Several hidden attackers reportedly fired from across the street. Virgil suffered severe wounds to his left arm and shoulder, and doctors later removed damaged … Read more
Before dawn on November 19, 1875, a dying man waded into the Rio Grande. The water was cold and rose past his waist. Behind him in the darkness, a few dozen young men followed the sound of his coughing across the river, out of Texas and into another country. The country on the far bank … Read more
When people picture the fastest gun in the Old West, names like Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, and Doc Holliday usually come to mind. But the historical record suggests the reality of frontier gunfighting was far different from the duels Hollywood made famous. Eyewitness accounts, contemporary newspapers, and surviving artifacts tell a more complex story … Read more
In April 1945, inside a hastily established American command post in the freezing woodland of Germany, a surreal scene unfolded. A high-ranking German officer, captured hours earlier as his defensive lines collapsed, stood before exhausted, mud-caked American GIs. He did not look like a defeated man. He wore an immaculate, tailor-made gray uniform. His leather … Read more
When Germany occupied European nations during World War II, the experience was usually brutal. Occupying forces removed local governments, installed their own leaders, and used agencies such as the Gestapo and the SD to terrorize the population. Citizens who did not fit Nazi racial or religious laws were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Many … Read more
German occupation during World War II was normally a brutal and degrading experience for the nations that fell under it. Occupying forces removed existing governments, installed their own leaders, and often elevated obscure right-wing nationalists over local populations. The Nazi security apparatus, including the Gestapo and the SD, terrorized occupied countries relentlessly. Large numbers of … Read more
When Germany occupied European nations during World War II, the experience was usually brutal. Occupying forces removed local governments, installed their own leaders, and terrorized populations through agencies such as the Gestapo and the SD. Citizens who did not fit Nazi racial or religious laws were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Many others were … Read more
German occupation of a defeated European nation in World War II was normally a brutal and humiliating experience. Occupying forces removed local governments, installed their own leaders, and often elevated obscure right-wing nationalists over their own people. The Nazi security apparatus, including the Gestapo and the SD, terrorized occupied populations relentlessly. Large numbers of citizens … Read more
In mid-January 1981, a three-page handwritten document was delivered by a back channel to the West German Federal Chancellery in Bonn. Its title immediately aroused concern in the halls of power: "Political Testament." It was signed by none other than Karl Dönitz, the deceased last Grand Admiral of Germany and Reich President. The contents were … Read more
A television documentary has stirred renewed interest in a well-hidden aspect of Adolf Hitler’s private life, buried beneath the rubble of his former Alpine retreat. What the Guardian has described as a dubious documentary concerning Hitler’s anatomy has prompted a separate look at a different and far less salacious secret: Hitler’s private bowling alley. The … Read more