The Rough Riders are probably the first thing we think of when we hear the name Teddy Roosevelt -- after we're reminded he was the cowboy one, not the wheelchair one. Then we think of trust-busting and bushy mustaches, and did I remember to get milk? Today I am going...

We all first learned about the Magna Carta in middle school (ok, fine, high school. Ok, fine, earlier today on todayinhistory.com.) The name comes from the Latin Magna, meaning great, and Carta, meaning cart, because like a great cart, it pulled the people forward and gave them lots of rights....

As the 30th anniversary of that fateful day approaches, I would like to look back and defend myself. I hope to offer explanations that shed new light on my story, and maybe shed light on the medal that will be given back to me when everyone realizes...

Harry Houdini was born on this day in 1874, and he went on to become a famous magician and escapologist. In the 1920s, he became interested in exposing frauds, specifically those relating to claims of supernatural powers -- but apparently not the frauds of magic or escapology. Anyway, these are...

On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call. He said, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you." (On Wikipedia, they have him saying "I want to see you," which reminds me of how in the movie Troy, they made Patroclus Achilles's cousin, when we...

SCENES FROM MOVIES I WOULD MAKE ABOUT THINGS THAT HAPPENED THROUGHOUT HISTORY ON FEBRUARY 24TH.

1803: Marbury V Madison decided.

Setting: Interior, a courtroom in olden times.

Chief Justice John Marshall: William Marbury, we have decided to deny your petition. Though you made an excellent case, your argument was...

On Feb. 4, 1789, George Washington and John Adams were elected the President and Vice President, respectively, of the United States. Adams famously described his position as "the most insignificant office," but this may have been due less to the job itself, and more to what it was like working...

Is it any wonder that scientists are fascinated by Element 114, Ununquadium? This Superheavy element's creation had been years in the making. As one scientist pointed out, "people have been dreaming of superheavy elements since the 1960s." Fine, but I thought we'd all been dreaming about showing up...

January 22nd is the birthday of the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop. He was a Puritan. Those are the ones who thought everyone was a witch. Pilgrims invented Thanksgiving. In 1630 he gave a famous sermon to the colonists on their way to the New World called "Model of...

January 14th is the birthday of Benedict Arnold, the American Revolutionary general and traitor. When the newly formed United States of America was handing out jobs, he'd hoped this dual experience would put him alongside the Surgeon General and Attorney General as the Traitor General. No one liked this idea.

A new study reports that women "who live with a mate put on more pounds than those who live without one." It's a disturbing discovery. But Sophie, are there ways to prevent this disaster? Of course there are--it's the whole point of this article. Now get out of my...

December 26th is the birthday of Frederick II, who lived from 1194 to 1250 and was at various points the Holy Roman Emperor, a German King, King of Sicily, and King of Jerusalem, because when you're Holy Roman Emperor you can just do that.

He has been called one of...

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen's angry narrator, best known for her rants in pieces "God Tells Me Things," "What I Learned Running the Marathon," and a lot of other things Sophie Pollitt-Cohen didn't even think were fit to be written for free, died this week. She was crushed to death...

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen's angry narrator, best known for her rants in pieces "God Tells Me Things," "What I learned Running The Marathon," and a lot of other things Sophie Pollitt-Cohen didn't even think were fit to be written for free, died this week. She was crushed to death...

What I learned Running The New York City Marathon: Things To Avoid

Dogs that might bite you. It's hard to run if your leg is gushing blood all over the place and hurting you. Also, the blood makes the ground slippery, and other runners will get mad at you, no...

Sometimes God tells me things.

Like the other day, I'd been watching Greek on Hulu for about an unknown number of hours when Safari quit for no reason. Or so it seemed. The real reason was that God was telling me to get out of bed because it is officially...

In an extraordinary bid to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican said Tuesday that it would make it easier for Anglicans uncomfortable with their church's acceptance of female priests and openly gay bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining many of their traditions. --The New York...

In a plot line inspired by Robert Frost's poem "Road Not Taken," fictional character Archie Andrews has already proposed to Veronica and will propose to Betty next month. I wonder what it would be like if other comics were inspired by poems... (Imagine dreamy music...

Dear Diary,

This summer, I was reading my book on the steps in Union Square when one of the chess teachers came up and made me smell his cup of "tea." I'm pretty sure it was just gin.

Dear Diary,

One winter I was in the playground with...