ALL POSTS

In the 1880s, Southern California agriculture was in a state of crisis. The wheat which had been long the basis of its prosperity was...

1919 was a year of promise born of misery.  Between the ravages of influenza and the indiscriminate trench carnage of the First World...

In March 1971, a computer science whiz with an unlikely background was given six months to complete a seemingly impossible project for...

The last decade of Countess Melitta von Stauffenberg's life was ringed by impossible decisions, choices that you and I will never...

On October 4, 1957, the United States received the greatest single blow to its prestige since the burning of the White House in 1814 with...

A movie star. An avant-garde composer. A radio-controlled torpedo. Wi-Fi. One of the unfortunate truths about our web of modern...

It is August 25, 1940, and the Panamanian ship Bonita, sailing alone in war-torn waters with its cargo of clay bound for the United...

In the year 1933, the Long Beach Earthquake bore down on Southern California with the fury of revelation. At 6.4, it was not the largest...

One of the great things about writing this column is the fact that, from time to time, I get to talk with remarkable people about other...