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The Curious Rise and Fall of Dickens World: Kent’s Victorian Theme Park Experiment
When it opened its doors in May 2007, Dickens World promised visitors the chance to step directly into the fog-shrouded, gaslit streets...


The Forgotten Treehouses of Paris: Rediscovering Les Guinguettes de Robinson
There was once a time when Parisians traded the grand boulevards and zinc-topped cafés of the capital for something rather more...


The Intimate Male Portraits from Herbert Mitchell’s Collection
In 2008, the Metropolitan Museum of Art received an extraordinary bequest from Columbia University librarian Herbert Mitchell, a lifelong...


How Did The Beatles Change The Music Industry?
When The Beatles burst onto the global stage in the early 1960s, they didn’t simply ride the wave of pop culture—they redirected its...


Dancer, Film-Star, Spy And Activist, Josephine Baker Was Someone That Lived A Full Life
Known to many as the dancer who took Paris by storm in the 1920s, Josephine Baker’s story is one of dazzling reinvention and fearless...


That Time When David Bowie and Iggy Pop Were Caught In a Marijuana Drug Bust
If you’ve ever fallen down an internet rabbit hole of famous mugshots, you’ll know the one, David Bowie in a crisp shirt, sharp...


The Chilling Case of Diane Downs: The Mother Who Shot Her Children to Win Back a Lover
"My mom." That’s all eight-year-old Christie Downs needed to say. After surviving a stroke and slowly regaining her ability to speak, this soft-spoken reply to investigators shattered the alibi of her mother, Diane Downs — and confirmed what many already suspected. On 19 May 1983, in a quiet corner of Oregon just outside Springfield, Diane Downs pulled her car over on Old Mohawk Road and did the unthinkable: she shot her three young children — Christie (8), Cheryl Lynn (7), a


The Bath School Disaster: America’s Deadliest School Massacre
“Criminals are made, not born.” That was the message painted on a charred wooden sign left behind on the fence of Andrew Kehoe’s farm in...


Fela Kuti: The Revolutionary Force Behind Afrobeat and Musical Resistance
Few figures loom as defiantly or as colourfully in the history of music as Fela Anikulapo Kuti. His name evokes not just a sound, but a...


Seeing Through the Blur: Aldous Huxley’s Vision, Psychedelics, and the Art of Perception
When you think of Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World , The Doors of Perception , and one of the most articulate advocates for...


The 1937 Delahaye Roadster: A Rolling Sculpture of French Elegance
In the golden era of French coachbuilding, when cars were as much objets d’art as they were machines, one creation stood above the rest...


The Hidden Wound: The Tragic Story of Vertus Hardiman and a Medical Betrayal
In 1927, five-year-old Vertus Hardiman took part in what was described as a harmless medical treatment. Decades later, he revealed a secret he had hidden beneath his hat for nearly 80 years — a radiation wound from a government experiment that left him scarred for life. His story exposes one of the darkest chapters in American medical history.


John Bonham’s Drumming Genius: And His 13 Minute Live Solo During Moby Dick
Discover the unmatched skill of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham through his iconic Moby Dick solo. Explore his bass triplets, barehanded solos, and lasting influence.


The Killing of Derrick Robie: Eric Smith and the Juvenile Crime That Shook America
In 1993, 13-year-old Eric Smith lured 4-year-old Derrick Robie into a wooded area, committing a shocking crime that stunned America. This case raised difficult questions about juvenile justice and childhood violence.


Zorita: The Snake-Charming Star of American Burlesque
Zorita was more than a performer. She was an emblem of the rebellious, sensuous, and often subversive energy that defined American...


Through Paul Strand’s Lens: Capturing the Soul of Mexico in 1932
In 1932, Paul Strand arrived in Mexico at a pivotal moment in the country’s modern history. He did not come as a casual tourist or...


The Chilling Case of Tamara Samsonova: Russia’s Granny Ripper
In the quiet suburbs of St Petersburg, the image of a shawl-wrapped babushka rarely raises suspicion. Yet behind the door of one...


From British Courtrooms to the Edge of the World: Life on the Convict Transport Ships and the Birth of Australia
It’s hard to truly grasp what it must have felt like to stand on the deck of a wooden convict transport ship in May 1787, looking back at...


Daryl Davis and the Power of Conversation: How One Musician Helped 200 Klansmen Walk Away from Hate
Most people know Daryl Davis as a talented blues pianist who has played with legends like Chuck Berry and B B King. But off stage, Davis...


Left for Dead on Everest The Astonishing Survival of Beck Weathers
In 1996, climber Beck Weathers was left for dead during the Everest disaster, only to stagger back to camp against all odds. Discover his incredible survival, the tragedy around him, and how his story became legend.


Alex Bartsch’s Vinyl Sleeve Photography Project Captures London’s Musical Past
This series reunites vintage album covers with the locations where their original photos were taken. Photographed by Alex Bartsch , the...


Velma Barfield: America’s First Woman Executed by Lethal Injection
In 1969, a North Carolina home went up in flames. Inside, Thomas Burke, husband to Velma Barfield, was found dead. At first, no one...


Operation Paperclip: America’s Harvest of Nazi Science
In the sweltering summer of 1945, as the embers of World War II cooled and the ruins of Europe still smouldered, a quiet convoy wound its...
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