In the autumn of 1889, a 29-year-old feature writer for the Knoxville Sentinel rode into the hills above the Oconaluftee River. His editors wanted a piece on the old Cherokee who had remained in the mountains after removal. Most of those people did not want to be written about. A Tohe Long Walker was different. … Read more
In the autumn of 1897, a hunter named Catawba Ledford was hired to guide a timber survey through the high country of the Smoky Mountains. Ledford, 34 years old, was born to a Cherokee mother on the Qualla Boundary and a Scotch-Irish father. He was known for his skill in the woods, able to move … Read more
John F. Kennedy Jr. grew up as the son of a slain president, forever linked to an iconic image of his childhood. His entire life became a struggle between living up to an inherited legacy and building an identity entirely his own. CONTENT: John F. Kennedy Jr. was just three years old when he stepped … Read more
The night before “Brian’s Song” aired on ABC on November 29, 1971, Joy Piccolo sat alone in her Chicago home with her three daughters, all under eight years old. She knew that the next evening, roughly 55 million Americans would watch a dramatized version of her husband’s death — a film she had never been … Read more
Władysław Mazurkiewicz was born in Kraków on January 30, 1911, at a time when Poland’s territory was divided among Germany, Russia, and Austro-Hungary. His mother died when he was just three years old, and he was raised by his father and extended family. Though not wealthy, his father, a painter, ensured he received a good … Read more
The fortune of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the richest American of his era, was worth roughly $100 million when he died in 1877, a sum often compared to several billion in today’s money. Within about 50 years, nearly all of it was gone, not stolen or lost in a single market crash, but spent down quietly and … Read more
The most explosive scandal of London’s Regency era began with whispers that would follow two people for the rest of their lives. In the spring of 1816, one of Europe’s most celebrated poets was forced to flee England under a cloud of disgrace. While Lord Byron escaped the storm, the woman at the center of … Read more
In May 1864, the Army of the Potomac did something it had never done before under any previous commander: after a catastrophic battle, it did not retreat. Following the horrors of the Battle of the Wilderness, where thick smoke hung over thousands of burned and fallen soldiers, roughly 20,000 exhausted Union troops reached a crossroads … Read more
On September 23, 1952, more than 58 million Americans watched a young California senator defend himself on live television against allegations of financial impropriety. Richard Nixon’s political career hung in the balance, and he had brought his wife to the broadcast studio. She sat in an armchair just outside camera range. He spoke about their … Read more
In the spring of 1971, a film crew waited in Central Park for one of America’s most celebrated actors. The star never showed up. When a producer finally went looking for a pay phone to call the studio and halt production, he found something strange: the wires in the phone booths at that end of … Read more