At sixteen, John Stephenson convinced his father to let him become a coach maker. He wanted to design better, more efficient models that...

At first glance, mathematician Blaise Pascal and Ralph Kramden have little in common. But if it wasn’t for Blaise, Ralph wouldn’t have...

Nearly half a million people were crammed into lower Manhattan during the 1850s living in a three, sometimes four, floor world. The high...

It’s hard to imagine today, but two streams once intersected near Broadway that required bridges to cross. One was the Stone Bridge at...

The “offensive trades” – we’re not talking about lawyers, real estate moguls or bankers – we’re referring to smelly businesses. Gas...

Jennings’s patent brought him and his family wealth and worry. The competition was fierce. One rival who threatened Jennings’s business...

By the early 1820s, Thomas L. Jennings owned one of the largest and best tailoring houses in the city. He didn’t like seeing his fine...

In December 1842, an extraordinary event took place at the Armory Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. Word quickly spread that a German...

This Jennings wasn’t a Soviet spy or an English poet. She was a New York City schoolteacher, an early feminist, civil rights advocate,...

One hundred and sixteen years ago today, a love triangle murder scandalized Manhattan. Andrew Haswell Green known as the “Father of...

Not to go all Faulknerian but when it comes to topography the past is never past. Although mostly unseen, it lives on in the actions of...