An American university professor who spent 25 years searching for her biological mother in Vietnam finally found her, only to discover that the woman had never stopped looking for her either. Annabel King was born on June 8, 2000, in Gia An district, Vietnam. A hospital worker registered her under the name Nguyen Thi Hien … Read more
John Franzese, known as Sonny, was a legendary figure in the American mafia. Born at the beginning of the 20th century and dying only at the start of the 21st, he became the oldest mobster in history. He kept ties with all the iconic members of La Cosa Nostra and became one of them himself. … Read more
At 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, the most protected man in the world became the most exposed. President John F. Kennedy's limousine was crawling through Dealey Plaza at just 11.2 miles per hour. The motorcycles that were supposed to surround his car trailed twenty feet behind. The agents who should have been on the … Read more
In May 1945, in a small town in Bavaria, southern Germany, the war in Europe had just ended. Germany had surrendered. General George S. Patton was driving through the recently occupied region, inspecting conditions and planning the occupation. His Jeep slowed and stopped. Something in the street caught his eye. Near a ruined building, six … Read more
On December 9, 1944, at 2:47 in the afternoon, Colonel Oscar Koch walked into George Patton's office at Third Army headquarters in Luxembourg with a folder in his hands. His face was pale. Patton looked up from his maps. Koch did not wait for permission to speak. "Sir, we have lost 15 panzer divisions." Patton … Read more
BAVARIA, Germany — A four-star American general once stood on a dusty country road in the final weeks of World War II, staring down the barrel of a rifle held by a fourteen-year-old boy in an oversized Hitler Youth uniform, and made a decision that would echo across more than two decades. The encounter, preserved … Read more
Former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante says the skills he learned inside the agency gave him what he calls an unfair advantage — and he argues those same skills can be taught to anyone. Bustamante, who served as a CIA intelligence officer alongside his wife, is the founder of the platform Everyday Spy. He returned for … Read more
At 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, Jean Hill stood 21 feet from President Kennedy's limousine, watching through the viewfinder of her friend's camera. She wore a bright red raincoat. Years later, people would call her the lady in red. As the presidential motorcade passed, Hill heard multiple shots. Her immediate reaction, captured on film, … Read more
In August 1944, in northern France, General George S. Patton stood at a forward observation point on a ridge above a valley. He had his binoculars, his maps, and his officers around him, conducting a standard forward assessment. Below, a company of the 4th Infantry Division was pinned down in an open field. A German … Read more
In the winter of 1944, in a forward holding area somewhere in France, a voice carried across a prisoner processing yard in accented but clear English. It asked whether the American general was the Olympian from Stockholm. General George S. Patton stopped walking. His aide stopped. The guards stopped. When Patton stopped, the air around … Read more