For nearly a century, the American Mafia’s code of silence held firm against every attempt by law enforcement to pierce it. That code, known as omertà, demanded absolute loyalty—before wives, before children, before a man’s own life. The penalty for breaking it was unlike anything else in American criminal justice. Informants rarely got a simple … Read more
Clark Gable was one of the most famous men in America when he died of a heart attack on November 16, 1960, at age 59. He had just finished filming his final movie, The Misfits, and was eagerly awaiting the birth of his first biological child with his fifth wife, Kay Williams. That child, John … Read more
Marlon Brando’s eldest son, Christian, entered a room carrying a gun, believing he was defending his pregnant half-sister Cheyenne. Moments later, her partner was dead. Five years after that shooting, Cheyenne took her own life, leaving a young son behind. Those two tragedies form the darkest chapter in the story of Brando’s family, but they … Read more
Joan Crawford died alone in her Manhattan apartment on the morning of May 10, 1977. She was 73 years old, and the cause was a heart attack. The maid who found her walked into an apartment that was spotless, with the furniture arranged and the curtains drawn. It was exactly the way Crawford wanted it. … Read more
In May 1955, a document arrived at the Newport probate court that staff would remember for the rest of their careers. It estimated the estate of a woman named Aline Tew at $20,113,000, the largest will ever filed in that court at the time. It ignited a small war among the living. Six of her … Read more
Joseph Bonanno died on May 11, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona. He was 97 years old. His heart stopped in his own bed, with no bullets, no shallow grave, and no FBI raid to mark the end. He was the founder of one of New York's five original crime families. He was the youngest boss in … Read more
Im Oktober 1943 liegt der Obergefreite Klaus Steiner südlich von Krementschuk in der Ukraine flach auf dem Boden. Zwischen zwei brennenden deutschen Panzern versucht er, nicht zu atmen. Links von ihm liegt die obere Hälfte seines Kommandanten. Rechts brennt das Wrack seines eigenen Panzers. Vierzig Minuten zuvor hatte Steiner eine Aufklärungspatrouille angeführt. Jetzt ist seine … Read more
A young Texas Ranger watched the beans carefully as each man drew one from the clay pot. Most men grabbed the first bean their fingers touched. He did not. William Alexander Anderson Wallace, known as Big Foot, was about to face a life-or-death lottery that would decide which prisoners lived and which would be executed. … Read more
Coffee was once considered the devil’s work by priests, banned by sultans who drowned repeat offenders in the Bosphorus, and guarded so fiercely by Yemeni traders that they boiled every exported bean to prevent anyone else from growing it. Yet today, more than two billion cups are consumed daily, and the industry generates over $400 … Read more
Am 25. Juli 1943 endete in Rom eine zwanzigjährige Diktatur in weniger als drei Stunden. Gegen 22 Uhr Ortszeit setzte der Großrat des Faschismus Benito Mussolini ab, ließ ihn verhaften und in einen Krankenwagen verfrachten, dessen Ziel der Gefangene selbst nicht kannte. Auf den Straßen Roms tanzten die Menschen. In Berlin wurde nicht getanzt. In … Read more