Ansel Williamson, the trainer whose horse won the first Kentucky Derby, is depicted on the right in the 1864 painting “Ansel Williamson, Edward Brown, and the Undefeated Asteroid,” by Edward Troye.

They Were Born into Slavery. Then They Won the First Kentucky Derby.

As the 150th Kentucky Derby kicks off, the achievements of jockey Oliver Lewis and trainer Ansel Williamson at the first Derby have been largely forgotten.
A drawing of the 1833 Leonid meteor shower above a village.

The Massive Meteor Shower That Convinced People the World Was Ending

Wednesday night will bring a brilliant meteor shower, but the far bigger Leonid shower 190 years ago had people believing Judgment Day was at hand.

Tony Bennett Saw Racism and Horror in World War II. It Changed Him.

He marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., after he witnessed atrocities while liberating Nazi death camps.
Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe Had a Promising Military Career. Then He Blew it Up.

Netflix’s “The Pale Blue Eye” portrays Edgar Allan Poe as a young West Point cadet. Here’s the true story of his brief, failed military career.

When Julia Child Worked for a Spy Agency Fighting Sharks

Before Julia Child became a chef, she worked for the forerunner of the CIA in Washington, developing shark repellent during World War II.