February 11, 2013

Good ’Til the Last Drop?

By Sarah Laskow

In 1911 Coca-Cola was put on trial by the U.S. government, not because it contained cocaine, but because of a far more addictive substance: caffeine.

January 28, 2013

The Botanical Origins of a Medieval Madness

By Laurent Merceron

Before LSD, medieval life was plagued with the “bad trip” of ergot poisoning, a fungus that caused men and women to hallucinate the devil and dance themselves to death.

December 24, 2012

The Eggnog Riot

By Michelle Legro

In 1826, an out-of-control dorm party at West Point determined the future course of our nation’s military—all because its participants were hopped up on the nog.

December 20, 2012

They Saw the Signs

By Angela Serratore

If interpretations of the Mayan calendar crying "apocalypse!" are to be believed, the end of the world is nigh. Take comfort, though, in four doomsday prophecies that came and went with a whimper.

November 28, 2012

Removing My Curse

By Robin Hemley

November 27, 2012

The Hollywood Canteen

By Anne Helen Petersen

The Canteen was Hollywood's forgotten contribution to the war effort, a place where the stars did the dishes while the soldiers, for one, fleeting night, lived the life of the stars.

November 19, 2012

What Do You Call an Irishman from Atlantic City?

By Brendan Carney Byrne

“Boardwalk Empire” and the rise and fall of the Irish-American mobster as politician.

November 13, 2012

First Ladies-in-Waiting

By Angela Serratore

Not all First Ladies are married to the president—the story of two presidential nieces who shaped Washington social politics for years to come.