Jesse Greenspan
Jesse Greenspan is a Bay Area-based freelance journalist who writes about history and the environment.
Latest from this author
In 1934, wind gusts of 231 miles per hour roared over the top of Mount Washington, rattling the weathermen who managed to record it.
These discoveries tie biblical stories to the history of the ancient world.
The 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism was pulled from a shipwreck and shocked researchers with its sophisticated astronomical and timekeeping capabilities.
Though far from the main fighting, California made an outsized contribution to the Union victory, mostly in the form of gold and troops.
For millennia, ancient Egyptian doctors were trailblazers—and evidence detected on skulls suggests its doctors may have even attempted to treat cancer.
From a 19th-century president who killed a man in a duel, to a 20th-century leader who once worked as a lifeguard, learn surprising facts about each U.S. president.
The 1978 Camp David Accords secured a lasting peace between two longtime enemies in the Middle East.
Hitler’s failed 1923 coup and his short term in prison ended up helping the future dictator reset and find his path to power.
Tens of millions of Americans have served in the armed forces since the country’s founding. Read quotes by and about U.S. servicemembers.
How eight countries got bogged down in the Vietnam War's Cold War proxy battle.
Genetic analysis of the composer's hair reveals a likely cause of death.
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was made worse when Soviet authorities initially denied the event and then acted slowly to contain it.
For centuries—and especially since World War II—countries have attempted to define the rules of war and determine punishment for violators.
In 1896, Ethiopia fended off an invading Italian army and secured its independence.
Organized warfare appears to have started in the Neolithic Age and then ramped up during the Bronze Age.
The Mariana Trench remained undiscovered until a crew from the HMS Challenger unsuspectingly lowered a weighted rope into its immense depths.
The seafaring Scandinavian warriors suffered from painful cavities and tooth abscesses. Still, their dental health was in some ways better than ours.
For high-status Vikings, a ship burial offered an extravagant path to the afterlife.
Ukraine has long endured battles, with Russia’s 2022 invasion only the latest in a series of wars, rebellions, raids and pogroms to take place there.
The United States’ invasion of Canada 200 years ago went awry from the start.
Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all deepened U.S. involvement in the decades-long conflict.
Sugar barons and businessmen ousted Hawaii’s longstanding monarchy, setting the stage for US annexation.
An overheard conversation between three Choctaw Indian soldiers serving in World War I led to a code strategy that confounded enemy forces.
Billie Jean King’s straight-set victory over self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs reverberated far beyond the world of tennis.
How Hershel 'Woody' Williams used his flamethrowing prowess to become an American hero.
Explore eight illuminating facts about the first Roman emperor.
President John F. Kennedy was just one of a handful of people hit in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Explore seven fascinating facts about this bloody prelude to World War II.
Though it only aired once, the so-called “Daisy” ad played on fears of nuclear war in the race between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater.
President John F. Kennedy thrilled a huge West Berlin crowd by declaring, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'
On the 450th anniversary of its founding, get the facts on the oldest U.S. city.
The 1839 mutiny, led by an African rice farmer known as Cinqué, galvanized the abolitionist movement.
Explore some fascinating facts about the first woman elected to Congress in the U.S.
President Lincoln was not the only high-ranking government official that John Wilkes Booth slated for assassination.
Active volcanoes abound in Hawaii, Alaska and the western United States, including several that have erupted in recent times.
These eight abolitionists helped enslaved people escape to freedom.
With a few clicks of the mouse, it’s now possible to view thousands of the civil rights icon’s papers and photographs.
Take a look back at the landmark school desegregation ruling.
On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8’s astronauts captivated the world with a live broadcast from lunar orbit.
America’s earliest founding document survived war, fire, mistreatment, insects and the ravages of time prior to landing at its current home in the National Archives.
Discover how the Stars and Stripes came into existence.
Get the facts on the actor who epitomized coolness and youthful angst.
Explore some illuminating facts about the so-called Queen of Crime.
From his challenging childhood to his stolen coffin, the silent film star's story was anything but ordinary.
Check out seven surprising facts about the prolific and influential artist.
Check out six sinister themes in his work you likely wouldn’t find in a modern-day children’s story.
Explore eight surprising facts about the Man of Steel.
The Dust Bowl’s worst storm blotted out the sun and terrified the Great Plains’ already struggling population.
CT scan images suggest that as one assailant slit Ramses III’s throat, another severed his right big toe.
These pioneering writers authored some of the earliest works of history.
Inked-up mummies reveal that, far from a modern phenomenon, humans have been getting tattoos for thousands of years.
From the Maya to Greenland’s Vikings, check out six civilizations that seemingly disappeared without a trace.
Despite the best efforts of amateur and professional archeologists, the ancient world has retained many of its secrets.
Find out what happened to the key players in the siege of the Branch Davidian cult compound on February 28, 1993.
From the Dust Bowl to the BP oil spill, explore some of the most notorious environmental disasters of the last century.
More U.S. civilians died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland than in any other terrorist attack except 9/11.
Get the facts on the civil rights activist and Black nationalist.
During the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition seemed here to stay. Then the economy collapsed, and the “noble experiment” crumbled along with it.
Check out eight facts about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated in China.
Check out some facts about the raucous annual affair.
World War II veteran Richard Overton enjoyed his whiskey and cigars until the end.
The annual Mexican holiday marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla.
Get the facts on the last Whig president.
Get the facts on America’s longest-serving president.
The presidential Cabinet has come a long way since Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson used to duke it out during the Washington administration.
Explore some surprising facts about the iconic span.
Take a closer look at the world’s first communist head of state.
From ancient Egypt and Maya to the Dust Bowl, take a look back at some of history’s most devastating droughts.
The legacy of America's 39th president extends far beyond his four years in the White House.
Get the facts on the only Dutch colony in mainland North America, which included present-day New York City.
The Polynesians were expert sailors—and research suggests they landed in the Americas centuries before Columbus.
Even as millions of Nazi troops massed on his border, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin remained convinced that Adolf Hitler wouldn’t betray him.
During the Civil War, the fall of Atlanta proved to be a blow from which the Confederacy never recovered.
Fed up with Hitler, though only partially for moral reasons, high-level German resisters nearly succeeded in assassinating him in July 1944.
Explore nine things you may not know about “Il Duce” and his 21 years in power.
On the 70th anniversary of his death get the facts on the famed “Desert Fox.”
Get the facts on the epic World War I struggle.
These athletes didn’t let a disability deter them from going for gold.
Get the story behind the ill-fated British ocean liner.
Check our seven things you may not know about the International Red Cross.
Many consider it history’s most celebrated cavalry charge. And one of history's biggest military blunders.
Cold War America scored a major PR coup when the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin defected to the United States.
Though silent in public, President Dwight D. Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to discredit Senator Joseph McCarthy and his red-baiting tactics.
A former president, a current president, a future president and a Socialist Party candidate all sought the White House 100 years ago.
As Mexico celebrates Revolution Day (Día de la Revolución) today, get the facts on one of history’s most convoluted conflicts.
Get the facts on this perpetually overshadowed Cold War clash.
One real and one phantom firefight led the United States to engage more directly in the Vietnam War.
Four centuries after Pocahontas’ death, unlearn everything you thought you knew about this Native American icon.
Get the facts on the legendary Shawnee war chief, who took part in the worst defeat ever inflicted by Native Americans on U.S. forces.
On Bastille Day, look back at the jailbreak that kick-started the French Revolution.
On the anniversary of his death, get the facts on the so-called Sun King.
Find out how the Spanish explorer's name became inextricably linked with the Fountain of Youth.
Look back at the deadliest earthquake ever to strike the United States.
From elaborate disguises to communicating in code to fighting back, enslaved people found multiple paths to freedom.
As the War of 1812 neared its conclusion, British forces torched the White House, the Capitol and nearly every other public building in Washington.
In 1962, Marilyn Monroe serenaded President Kennedy with a sultry version of "Happy Birthday."
Get the facts on Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece.
World War II pilots were shot down at an alarming rate—including Bush.
From state-sponsored privateers to outright outlaws, these pirates made their reputations as fearsome raiders.