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Politics
Albert Fall, American Politician and Criminal
Albert Bacon Fall was born in 1861 to a poor family in Kentucky. His early schooling was patchy at best, and non-existent at worst, as he was forced to work in the local cotton processing factory to support his family. This damaged his…
Aaron Burr, Vice President, killer and traitor
Only one Vice President of the USA ever killed a man while in office. Only one ex-Vice President of the USA was ever tried for treason. Aaron Burr was so divisive a figure that after his vice presidency was ended the rules were changed…
Sidney Reilly, the Ace of Spies
“The most famous secret agent in history” is somewhat of a contradiction in terms. If someone is famous, they’re hardly that secret. Sidney Reilly avoids this contradiction by being impossible to pin down. His real name, his place of birth…
In the Beginning
In the beginning of every year we witness the same phenomenon. Sometimes something worth talking about happens. Here’s a lowdown.
“Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health, without any sense of my…
Colonel Francis Charteris, gambler and rake
The “class system” in British society grew out of the feudal system that Britain never officially abandoned (unlike most other European countries afflicted with that particular social disease). The transition was largely gradual - the…
General Lee Christmas, train driver turned mercenary
Lee Christmas was born on a plantation in Louisiana in 1863. His first job was as a pilot on the local tugboats, but by the time he was 16 he was working on the railroad in Mississippi. For the next twelve years he works on railroads across…
Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard
History is rarely as clear-cut as it appears on the surface. Everybody knows that the druids were the educated priestly classes of the Celts, for example, but our sole source for that knowledge is the writings of non-Celts looking in from…
Hiram Maxim, Engineer of Death
There is a myth about the tortured scientist, crying out in pain as he sees the inventions he created for peace used to wage war. There are stories of scientists who believed that the inventions they created had made war so terrible that it…
Marie-Josephte Corriveau
One important lesson for any historian is this: beware of imposing our values on the past. While we should naturally avoid taking on archaic moral attitudes ourselves, we must always remember that the cultures of the past judged things…
Jonathan Wild, the Thief Taker General
There’s a story in The Newgate Calendar about Jonathan Wild. A merchant came to him with one of his porters and told him of how the man had been set upon by a gang of thieves. At the time, London had no professional police force but…