Jesse Greenspan

Jesse Greenspan

Jesse Greenspan is a Bay Area-based freelance journalist who writes about history and the environment.

Latest from this author

Albie Pokrob fights minus-20-degree temperatures at Mount Washington Observatory in 1982.

In 1934, wind gusts of 231 miles per hour roared over the top of Mount Washington, rattling the weathermen who managed to record it.

The procession of the Sacred College of Cardinals file into the Sistine Chapel where they will be locked inside to begin the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul I.

The famously secretive papal conclave, with its ceremonies and traditions, is informed by hundreds of years of history.

Ancient Civilizations that Mysteriously Collapsed: Indus

From the Maya to Greenland’s Vikings, these six civilizations seemingly disappeared without a trace.

The 1978 Camp David Accords secured a lasting peace between two longtime enemies in the Middle East.

Beer Hall Putsch Commemoration German Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945), Hermann Goering and Werner von Blomberg lead a procession of Nazis to the Munich Burgerbrau Cellar, to commemorate the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Germany, 10th November 1937. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hitler’s failed 1923 coup and his short term in prison ended up helping the future dictator reset and find his path to power.

Veterans Day Quotes

Tens of millions of Americans have served in the armed forces since the country’s founding. Read quotes by and about U.S. servicemembers.

The Vietnam War

How eight countries got bogged down in the Vietnam War's Cold War proxy battle.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was made worse when Soviet authorities initially denied the event and then acted slowly to contain it.

A group of child survivors behind a barbed wire fence at the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in southern Poland, on the day of the camp’s liberation by the Red Army, 27th January 1945.

For centuries—and especially since World War II—countries have attempted to define the rules of war and determine punishment for violators.

'Iolani Palace, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sugar barons and businessmen ousted Hawaii’s longstanding monarchy, setting the stage for US annexation.

A Viking burial ship.

For high-status Vikings, a ship burial offered an extravagant path to the afterlife.

A wheat field in Mykolayiv, Ukraine.

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.

During the Battle of Fort Niagara, a pair of uniformed soldiers and two civilians (one a woman) load and fire a cannon during the War of 1812, Fort Niagara, New York, December 18, 1813.

The United States’ invasion of Canada 200 years ago went awry from the start.

Augustus Caesar

Explore eight illuminating facts about the first Roman emperor.

John and Jacqueline Kennedy ride through Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

President John F. Kennedy was just one of a handful of people hit in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963.

Navajo Code Talkers

An overheard conversation between three Choctaw Indian soldiers serving in World War I led to a code strategy that confounded enemy forces.

Tennis player Billie Jean King is shown in action during the "Battle of the Sexes" against Bobby Riggs, not pictured, in their winner-take-all $100,000 match in the Astrodome.

Billie Jean King’s straight-set victory over self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs reverberated far beyond the world of tennis.

President Lincoln was not the only high-ranking government official that John Wilkes Booth slated for assassination.

7 Things You May Not Know About the Spanish Civil War

Explore seven fascinating facts about this bloody prelude to World War II.

A screenshot from the 'Daisy' 1964 campaign ad by Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign team.

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.

John F. Kennedy delivers a speech to a massive crowd in Berlin, Germany, June 26, 1963. (Credit: PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

President John F. Kennedy thrilled a huge West Berlin crowd by declaring, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'

With a few clicks of the mouse, it’s now possible to view thousands of the civil rights icon’s papers and photographs.

The children involved in the landmark Civil Rights lawsuit Brown v. Board of Education, which challenged the legality of American public school segregation: Vicki Henderson, Donald Henderson, Linda Brown, James Emanuel, Nancy Todd, and Katherine Carper.

Take a look back at the landmark school desegregation ruling.

The 1839 mutiny, led by an African rice farmer known as Cinqué, galvanized the abolitionist movement.

James Dean poses for a Warner Bros publicity shot for his film 'Rebel Without A Cause' in 1955 in Los Angeles, California.

Get the facts on the actor who epitomized coolness and youthful angst.

British mystery author Agatha Christie autographing French editions of her books.

Explore some illuminating facts about the so-called Queen of Crime.

Kilauea volcano

Active volcanoes abound in Hawaii, Alaska and the western United States, including several that have erupted in recent times.

8 Key Contributors to the Underground Railroad; On to Liberty, 1867, Artist Theodor Kaufmann

These eight abolitionists helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8’s astronauts captivated the world with a live broadcast from lunar orbit.

How the Declaration of Independence Was Printed—and Protected

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.

Actor Charlie Chaplin looks though a movie camera on April 22, 1935. He is directing, as well as acting in, a comedy tentatively titled Production No. 5.

From his challenging childhood to his stolen coffin, the silent film star's story was anything but ordinary.

Pablo Picasso in his mansion "La Californie" in Cannes.

Check out seven surprising facts about the prolific and influential artist.

Color illustration from the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" depicting the character, Little Red Riding Hood, sitting on the grass and cowering as a wolf approaches her. Part of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" by the Brothers Grimm.

Check out six sinister themes in his work you likely wouldn’t find in a modern-day children’s story.

24-year-old American actor Christopher Reeve plays the comic-book hero as he mends a broken railway track in a scene from the film 'Superman'.

Explore eight surprising facts about the Man of Steel.

A dust storm approaches Stratford, Texas in April 1935.

The Dust Bowl’s worst storm blotted out the sun and terrified the Great Plains’ already struggling population.

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno testifies to a House subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington about the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. (Credit: DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images)

Find out what happened to the key players in the siege of the Branch Davidian cult compound on February 28, 1993.

A view of the Chernobyl Nuclear power after the explosion on April 26, 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

From the Dust Bowl to the BP oil spill, explore some of the most notorious environmental disasters of the last century.

Check out some facts about the raucous annual affair.

Richard Overton

World War II veteran Richard Overton enjoyed his whiskey and cigars until the end.

How Was the US Involved in WWII Before Pearl Harbor?

Get the facts on America’s longest-serving president.

Photograph of Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. Dated 1901.

Take a closer look at the world’s first communist head of state.

Jimmy Carter's Life in Photos

The legacy of America's 39th president extends far beyond his four years in the White House.

Family dinner for the celebration of the Chinese New Year on February, 1999 in Heihe, China.

Check out eight facts about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated in China.

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) circa 1940

Explore nine things you may not know about “Il Duce” and his 21 years in power.

A general view of the Olympic Rings in front of the Bolshoy Ice Dome prior to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

These athletes didn’t let a disability deter them from going for gold.

Even as millions of Nazi troops massed on his border, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin remained convinced that Adolf Hitler wouldn’t betray him.

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.

A former president, a current president, a future president and a Socialist Party candidate all sought the White House 100 years ago.

Battle of San Jacinto, 21 April 1836: Texas War of Independence (from Mexico) also called the Texas Revolution. Mexicans led by Santa Anna defeated in 12 minutes by Texian (US) forces under Sam Houston. Santa Anna captured and forced to sign Treaty of Velasco on 14 May which recognised the independence of Texas.

As Mexico celebrates Revolution Day (Día de la Revolución) today, get the facts on one of history’s most convoluted conflicts.

The Korean War

Get the facts on this perpetually overshadowed Cold War clash.

Four centuries after Pocahontas’ death, unlearn everything you thought you knew about this Native American icon.

Chief Tecumseh

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.

Louis XIV portrait

On the anniversary of his death, get the facts on the so-called Sun King.

Undated illustration of Juan Ponce de Leon being given water from the "Fountain of Youth."

Find out how the Spanish explorer's name became inextricably linked with the Fountain of Youth.

Ruins in the vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue.

Look back at the deadliest earthquake ever to strike the United States.

Burning of the White House, 1814

As the War of 1812 neared its conclusion, British forces torched the White House, the Capitol and nearly every other public building in Washington.

Marilyn Monroe appears in one of her most iconic portraits several years before singing at President Kennedy’s birthday gala.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe serenaded President Kennedy with a sultry version of "Happy Birthday."

upton sinclair, the jungle

Get the facts on Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece.

UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 29: Brooklyn students light a candle celebrating Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), one of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, during a celebration at the American Museum of Natural History. The celebration kicks off the Museum's 2005 Kwanzaa festival, which will take place Dec. 29-31. (Photo by Linda Rosier/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

The pan-African holiday is celebrated by millions around the world.

A map of the Louisiana Purchase.

A look behind the scenes of the historic real-estate deal.

(Original Caption) On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the greatest amphibious attack in history to punch holes in Hitler's "Atlantic Wall". Six Allied combat divisions successfully penetrated the German network of traps and fortification to open the continent for a massive invasion that was the beginning of the end of World War II. UPI news map shows how the D-Day attack was carried out against a 60-mile stretch of the Normandy coast. The Americans stormed the beaches with code names "Omaha" and "Utah", while the Canadians took "Juno" and the British handled "Sword" and "Gold" beaches. More than 200,000 troops took part in the Normandy landings, designed to cut off the vital port of Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula from the rest of Nazi-held France.

Get the facts on five D-Day beaches—code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword—that the Allies invaded.

Former President George H.W. Bush

A one-term president, Bush focused largely on foreign policy during his time in office.

How Tuskegee Airmen Fought Military Segregation With Nonviolent Action

Battling pernicious racial stereotypes about their fitness for combat, the Tuskegee Airmen more than proved their skill and valor in World War II.

1864 campaign poster featuring Abraham Lincoln and running mate Andrew Johnson

By winning re-election in 1864 against his former top general, Lincoln dashed any hopes of a negotiated peace with the Confederacy.

President Warren G. Harding

President Warren G. Harding died of apparent heart failure while in the midst of a cross-country tour.

Examination of Viking jaw and teeth.

The seafaring Scandinavian warriors suffered from painful cavities and tooth abscesses. Still, their dental health was in some ways better than ours.

The Third Infantry California Volunteers, Band poses for photo.

Though far from the main fighting, California made an outsized contribution to the Union victory, mostly in the form of gold and troops.

Mammoth in a winter landscape

Mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, lions and other gargantuan mammals all disappeared from North America at the end of the last Ice Age. Who, or what, was responsible?

Malcolm X

Get the facts on the civil rights activist and Black nationalist.

appalachian trail

Get the facts on America’s most famous long-distance footpath.

Marianas Trench

The Mariana Trench remained undiscovered until a crew from the HMS Challenger unsuspectingly lowered a weighted rope into its immense depths.

Pretty Woman wearing traditional costumes dress typical and folklore

The annual Mexican holiday marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla.

A 2024 A.I.-assisted study identified 303 previously unknown geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert.

Despite the best efforts of amateur and professional archeologists, the ancient world has retained many of its secrets.  

Ronald Reagan as a lifeguard.

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.

For millennia, ancient Egyptian doctors were trailblazers—and evidence detected on skulls suggests its doctors may have even attempted to treat cancer.

A model of the Cosmos gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism.

The 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism was pulled from a shipwreck and shocked researchers with its sophisticated capabilities.

ISRAEL-ARCHEOLOGY-RELIGION-DEAD-SEA-SCROLLS-INTERNET

These discoveries tie biblical stories to the history of the ancient world.

German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) composing the 'Missa Solemnis', February-April 1820. Oil painting by August Klober. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Genetic analysis of the composer's hair reveals a likely cause of death.

Emperor Negus Menelik II of Ethiopia at Battle of Adwa 1896 Ethiopia (Photo by Chris Hellier/Corbis via Getty Images)

In 1896, Ethiopia fended off an invading Italian army and secured its independence.

rock art from Libya

Organized warfare appears to have started in the Neolithic Age and then ramped up during the Bronze Age.

Vietnam War

Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all deepened U.S. involvement in the decades-long conflict.

Hershel 'Woody' Williams attends the WWII Pacific Theatre Exhibit opening at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, 2015. (Credit: Josh Brasted/Getty Images)

How Hershel 'Woody' Williams used his flamethrowing prowess to become an American hero.

st augustine, florida

On the 450th anniversary of its founding, get the facts on the oldest U.S. city.

stars and stripes, national flag of the united states, continental congress, 1777, the american revolution

Discover how the Stars and Stripes came into existence.

These pioneering writers authored some of the earliest works of history.

Some of the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 after it crashed onto the town of Lockerbie in Scotland, on 21st December 1988.

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.

Tattooing on the hand of a Chancay individual who lived 1,200 years ago.

Inked-up mummies reveal that, far from a modern phenomenon, humans have been getting tattoos for thousands of years.

During the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition seemed here to stay. Then the economy collapsed, and the “noble experiment” crumbled along with it.

The presidential Cabinet has come a long way since Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson used to duke it out during the Washington administration.

Open plain with cracked mud and clear sky

From ancient Egypt and Maya to the Dust Bowl, take a look back at some of history’s most devastating droughts.

Men and women stroll along the promenade deck of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Explore some surprising facts about the iconic span.

Polynesian canoes, circa 1768.

The Polynesians were expert sailors—and research suggests they landed in the Americas centuries before Columbus.

A map of New York, or New Amsterdam, in the Americas, 1672. Illustration by Gerard Jollain. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

Get the facts on the only Dutch colony in mainland North America, which included present-day New York City.

Erwin Rommel, Rommel's Gold

On the 70th anniversary of his death get the facts on the famed “Desert Fox.”

Group portrait of female American Red Cross workers with uniformed young boys (possibly boy scouts) with a Red Cross flag holding money, during a Red Cross parade, Birmingham, Alabama, May, 1918. US War Department photo.

Check our seven things you may not know about the International Red Cross.

The Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California.

Explore some surprising facts about this famed symbol of the U.S. movie industry.