Boston Molasses Disaster – 1919

10 years ago

The Purity Distilling Company was an alcohol manufacturer based in the North End area of Boston, Massachusetts. A key ingredient of…

Monongah Mining Disaster – 1907

10 years ago

West Virginia and mining go together like coal and dust, which means the impoverished state has seen more than its…

Battle of Lepanto – 1571

10 years ago

In the 16th century the expansionist ambition of the Turkish Ottoman Empire was a major threat to the interests of…

Battle of Salamis – 480BC

10 years ago

When the ancient Persian Empire was at its height the Athenians were constantly fomenting trouble in the eastern Mediterranean. The…

The Edsel – 1958

10 years ago

Even though nobody knows better how to put a positive spin on failure, not even auto manufacturers can blag their…

Charles Ponzi’s Securities Exchange Company – 1920

10 years ago

More affable scoundrel than kingpin of crime, Charles Ponzi sits astride criminal history as the man who gave his name…

The Mississippi Bubble – 1717-1721

10 years ago

Early 18th-century France was in the economic doldrums. The government was drowning in debt and the Regent, the Duke d’Orleans,…

Tulip Bulb Mania – 1634-1637

10 years ago

In his authoritative work on the subject of human folly Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Victorian journalist…

U.S. Prohibition – 1933

10 years ago

By the time the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified more than half the states of America were…

The Dreyfus Affair – 1894-1906

10 years ago

For over a decade the Dreyfus Affair dominated French political and cultural life. It began with the rigged court martial…