A single detail in a family photograph from 1882, unnoticed for more than 140 years, has led researchers to the identity of an enslaved woman and the West African river valley from which she was taken, according to a genealogical investigation conducted at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The discovery, confirmed through mitochondrial DNA testing … Read more
On September 12, 1953, eight hundred guests from America's social elite gathered outside St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island, under a cool autumn sun. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the handsome 36-year-old senator from Massachusetts and rising Democratic star, was marrying 24-year-old Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. To the American public following the event through the lenses of … Read more
Few scenes in the Godfather Trilogy carry as much hidden weight as Michael Corleone's 1954 meeting with Moe Greene in Las Vegas. On the surface it is a tense business negotiation. Beneath it lies a turning point that shapes everything that follows. By 1954, Michael had returned from Sicily and spent several years being mentored … Read more
John David Battaglia Jr. was executed by the state of Texas on February 1, 2018, for the murders of his two young daughters. His final words, directed at his ex-wife watching from the witness room, were simply, “Well hello, Mary Jean. ” Nearly 16 years after a jury sentenced him to death, Battaglia received a … Read more
On October 7, 1914, outside the Church of the Holy Name in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a cold autumn breeze moved across the cobblestone streets as Boston's political aristocracy gathered for what the press called a "supreme Catholic power union." Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the radiant 24-year-old daughter of legendary Boston Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, walked … Read more
In the spring of 1945, a 22-year-old farm kid from rural Ohio stood post in the corner of a rain-soaked, bomb-damaged chateau in western Germany. His name was James Walker, and he was assigned to the headquarters staff of General George S. Patton's Third Army. He had driven a tractor before he ever drove a … Read more
Carmen spent 31 years believing she knew every part of her husband Miguel. She knew how he adjusted his glasses, how he hummed Paco de Lucía while cooking paella on Sundays, and how he always counted exactly 17 saffron threads and added them to the rice at precisely 5:30. She knew the warmth of his … Read more
Less than 24 hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, received a phone call in the Oval Office that raised the possibility of a conspiracy. The call came at 10:00 a.m. on November 23, 1963, from J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI and the … Read more
In September 1944, an American armored column ground to a halt in a narrow stone street in a liberated village near Reims, France. Mud-splattered tanks idled as tired soldiers sat on the fenders, wiping grease from their hands. Then a small figure emerged from the shadow of a ruined bakery, walking straight toward the command … Read more
The murder of Tommy DeSimone, famously depicted in Goodfellas, has been debated for decades. But many of the other killings shown in the film also deviate from what actually happened. Several characters based on real mob figures met very different ends in reality than they did on screen. Frankie Carbone, played by Frank Sivero, is … Read more