May 1, 2026
The Penny-Farthing Pioneer: How Thomas Stevens Bicycled Around the World
Imagine attempting to circumnavigate the globe on a bicycle today. Even with carbon-fiber frames, twenty-four gears, shock absorbers, and GPS navigati...
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April 29, 2026
The Utopian Dreamer Who Built a Submarine to Save the Working Class
When we think of 19th-century submarine history, our minds usually drift toward the tragic, claustrophobic voyage of the H.L. Hunley during the Americ...
April 27, 2026
The Anatomy Murders: How Burke and Hare Turned Grave-Robbing into a Deadly Enterprise
Edinburgh in the 1820s was the undisputed medical capital of the world. Aspiring surgeons flocked to the Scottish city in droves to learn from the bri...
April 25, 2026
The Prime Minister and the Frustrated Merchant: The Forgotten Assassination of Spencer Perceval
When we think of assassinated leaders of the 19th century, our minds naturally drift across the Atlantic to the tragic fates of Abraham Lincoln or Jam...
April 23, 2026
The Triumph and the Tragedy: The Deadly Race to Conquer the Matterhorn
In the mid-19th century, a peculiar madness gripped the wealthy gentlemen of Victorian England: Alpinism. Driven by a mixture of scientific curiosity,...
April 21, 2026
The Secret Subway of 1870: How Alfred Ely Beach Built a Pneumatic Tube Under New York City
Imagine New York City in the years immediately following the American Civil War. Broadway was an absolute nightmare. The main arteries of Manhattan we...
April 19, 2026
The Leviathan That Broke Its Creator: The Cursed Triumph of the SS Great Eastern
The 19th century was an era defined by men who believed that iron, steam, and sheer force of will could conquer the natural world. Among these titans ...
April 17, 2026
Ships of the Desert: The Bizarre and Forgotten History of the U.S. Camel Corps
When you picture the American Wild West in the mid-19th century, certain images immediately come to mind: dusty cowboys, galloping horses, rugged stag...