On April 30, 1945, Berlin was no longer the capital of an empire. It was a city being crushed from above and below, and in every street in between. Soviet artillery shook the ground. Tank shells tore through ruined streets. And beneath the city, inside the leader's bunker, Adolf Hitler listened as the world he … Read more
On the evening of January 30, 1933, in Berlin, just hours after Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, his supporters marched through the Brandenburg Gate carrying torches. Within six months, every rival political party had been banned or dissolved, and Germany had become a one-party dictatorship. The Nazis promised not only a new political … Read more
Hollywood has spent more than a century turning the Old West into a place of sunset duels and heroic last stands. The real stories are far less cinematic. Many of the most famous gunslingers, lawmen, and outlaws of the frontier did not die with their boots on. They died broke, sick, alone, or shot in … Read more
Billy the Kid is remembered as the most famous outlaw of the Old West: 21 years old, 21 kills, a heroic death. That is what the movies taught generations of viewers. The problem is that much of it is not true. The kill count was inflated by a ghostwriter. The heroic death was an ambush … Read more
Five British explorers froze to death inside a Burberry tent in 1912, just 12 and a half miles from a supply depot that held food and fuel. When a search party found their bodies eight months later, the fabric was intact. The tent had done exactly what it was designed to do; the men inside … Read more
On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to secure its southern flank before launching Operation Barbarossa, the planned invasion of the Soviet Union. Within just 11 days, the Yugoslav army collapsed and the country was divided among the Axis powers and their allies. In Serbia, one of the most important parts … Read more
In 1881, the New York Sun published an article about Bat Masterson under a startling headline: "A Mild-Eyed Man Who Killed 26 Persons." For the Wild West, that was an enormous number, and almost unheard of for a man of the law. There was a good reason the figure was unheard of. It was not … Read more
In 1944, Europe remained under Nazi occupation. After more than four years of war, Nazi Germany had suffered devastating losses but still controlled vast territories beyond its own borders. Because its forces had to defend front lines, watch over occupied lands, and fight resistance movements, the regime needed more soldiers. It relied increasingly on manpower … Read more
In 1944, Europe remained under Nazi occupation. After more than four years of war, Nazi Germany had suffered devastating losses but still controlled vast territories beyond its own borders. Because its forces had to defend front lines, watch over occupied lands, and fight resistance movements, the regime needed more soldiers. It relied increasingly on manpower … Read more
Pat Garrett reportedly admitted that the thing he feared most was having his life defined by a single moment: the killing of William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid. He said he dreaded meeting new people because they always greeted him with some version of, "Hey, you're Pat Garrett, the guy that shot … Read more