Jennifer Latson

Recent Articles

How One of History's Best April Fools’ Day Pranks Was Debunked

Don't believe everything you read

By Jennifer Latson

Decades After Selena's Death, Case Continues to Make News

March 31, 1995: The singer Selena is shot to death

By Jennifer Latson

What Experts Got Wrong About Viagra

March 27, 1998: Viagra is approved by the FDA

By Jennifer Latson

Why 'Dr. Death' Wanted to Be Charged with Murder

March 26, 1999: Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted of murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man

By Jennifer Latson

America’s Second-Worst Oil Spill Is Still Scarring the Shores of Alaska

March 24, 1989: The Exxon Valdez runs aground, leaking 11 million gallons of crude oil

By Jennifer Latson

How a Religious Sect Rooted in Yoga Became a Terrorist Group

March 20, 1995: Twelve people are killed and thousands sickened when members of a religious cult release nerve gas in the Tokyo subway

By Jennifer Latson

How and Why the Dalai Lama Left Tibet

March 17, 1959: The Dalai Lama flees Tibet for asylum in India

By Jennifer Latson

Why 'The Scarlet Letter' Was a Mixed Blessing for Its Author

March 16, 1850: 'The Scarlet Letter' is published

By Jennifer Latson

How FDR’s Radio Voice Solved a Banking Crisis

Mar. 12, 1933: FDR delivers the first of his 30 “fireside chats,” addressing America’s dire financial situation

By Jennifer Latson

What Made the Spanish Flu so Deadly?

Mar. 11, 1918: A soldier in Fort Riley, Kans., reports to the infirmary with what will become known as Spanish flu

By Jennifer Latson

The Barbie Doll's Not-for-Kids Origins

Mar. 9, 1959: The Barbie doll is first introduced by the Mattel toy company

By Jennifer Latson

One of America’s Most Famous Spies Didn’t Do Any Spying

March 6, 1951: The espionage trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins in New York

By Jennifer Latson

Famous Bermuda Triangle Disappearance May Have Been Botched Mutiny

March 4, 1918: The U.S.S. Cyclops is seen for the last time, headed north from Barbados through what’s known as the Bermuda Triangle

By Jennifer Latson

How 'King Kong' Gripped Audiences, Despite Ham-Handed Effects

March 2, 1933: King Kong opens in New York and quickly becomes a blockbuster

By Jennifer Latson

Why Napoleon Probably Should Have Just Stayed in Exile the First Time

Feb. 26, 1815: Napoleon escapes from Elba to begin his second conquest of France

By Jennifer Latson

How the First Black U.S. Senator Was Nearly Kept From His Seat

Feb. 25, 1870: Hiram Revels, a Mississippi Republican, is sworn in as the first black member of the U.S. Senate

By Jennifer Latson

The Vaccine Everyone Wanted

Feb. 23, 1954: The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine takes place, in Pittsburgh

By Jennifer Latson

Why 'The Feminine Mystique' Is Still Controversial

Feb. 19, 1963: Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is published

By Jennifer Latson

Why Pluto Matters: A Short History of a Small (Non-)Planet

Feb. 18, 1930: Pluto is first identified in photographs of the night sky

By Jennifer Latson

Did Deep Blue Beat Kasparov Because of a System Glitch?

Feb. 17, 1996: Chess champion Garry Kasparov beats the IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue,” winning a six-game chess match

By Jennifer Latson
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