Jennifer Latson

Recent Articles

How Ellis Island Changed Before It Closed

Nov. 12, 1954: Ellis Island shuts down

By Jennifer Latson

Refusing Quarantine: Why Typhoid Mary Did It

Nov. 11, 1938: Mary Mallon dies in isolation on a New York island after being blamed for giving 51 people typhoid fever

By Jennifer Latson

How Gandhi's Time in Jail Helped His Cause

Nov. 6, 1913: Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in South Africa while leading a march to oppose a racist policy

By Jennifer Latson

The Most Popular Game in History Almost Didn’t Pass 'Go'

Nov. 5, 1935: Parker Brothers begins marketing the game Monopoly

By Jennifer Latson

The Sad Story of Laika, the First Dog Launched Into Orbit

Nov. 3, 1957: The Soviet Union sends the first living creature into orbit

By Jennifer Latson

Who'd Want to Murder Harry Houdini?

Oct. 31, 1926: Harry Houdini dies from complications of a ruptured appendix

By Jennifer Latson

Why That 'Dingo's Got My Baby' Line Isn't Funny

Oct. 29, 1982: An Australian woman is convicted of murder after courts reject her claim that a dingo took her baby

By Jennifer Latson

Why Witches on TV Spell Trouble in Real Life

From Salem to Salem, witchcraft has been a fixture of American pop culture, both as cautionary tale and empowering escape

By Jennifer Latson

Riding the NYC Subway Used to Be Fun—Then It Became a 'Small Death'

Oct. 27, 1904: The New York City subway opens

By Jennifer Latson

Hero or Villain? Why Thousands Mourned a Bank Robber

Oct. 22, 1934: Bank robber “Pretty Boy” Floyd, a Robin Hood figure of the Depression era, is shot to death by FBI agents

By Jennifer Latson

How Edison Invented the Light Bulb — And Lots of Myths About Himself

Oct. 21, 1879: Thomas Edison invents a commercially viable electric light

By Jennifer Latson

Walt Disney, Ronald Reagan and the Fear of Hollywood Communism

Oct. 20, 1947: The House Un-American Activities Committee opens hearings into communist infiltration of the motion picture industry

By Jennifer Latson

Al Capone Once Spent $6,500 on Meat

Oct. 17, 1931: Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion and later sentenced to 11 years in prison

By Jennifer Latson

The Super Cute Story Behind Abraham Lincoln's Beard

Oct. 15, 1860: Grace Bedell, age 11, tells Abraham Lincoln to “let your whiskers grow”

By Jennifer Latson

It's Been 15 Years Since the JonBenet Ramsey Case

Oct. 13, 1999: The grand jury investigating JonBenet Ramsey’s 1996 murder is dismissed

By Jennifer Latson

There's a Nazi Buried on Mount Zion in Israel — For a Good Reason

Oct. 9, 1974: Oskar Schindler, the inspiration for 'Schindler's List,' dies

By Jennifer Latson

Martha Stewart's Prison Time Actually Helped Her Business

Oct. 8, 2004: Martha Stewart begins a five-month sentence for lying to federal investigators

By Jennifer Latson

Drunk Poetry Fans and the First Reading of 'Howl'

Oct. 7, 1955: Allen Ginsberg reads 'Howl' for the first time, at San Francisco’s Six Gallery

By Jennifer Latson

Why Peanuts Endures: “The Football is Always Pulled Away”

Oct. 2, 1950: The comic strip “Peanuts” is first published

By Jennifer Latson

What Price Fame: James Dean Was "Barely a Celebrity" Before He Died

Sept. 30, 1955: James Dean is killed in a California car crash

By Jennifer Latson
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