History Dispatches

In 2010, a Nicaraguan dredging crew accidentally trespassed on a small island controlled by Costa Rica. Why? Because they were using Google Maps to navigate. Unfortunately, Costa Rica sent in the police, then Nicaragua sent in their military, and the whole thing turned into an international incident. This is the story of the Google Maps War.

Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20151222112623/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/150/18848.pdf

https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/the-first-google-maps-war/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Distintivo_avanzamento_merito_di_guerra_ufficiali_inferiori,_sottufficiali_e_truppa_(forze_armate_italiane).svg

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William Hoy - known as Dummy - was a celebrated major league baseball player in the early days of the game. He led the league in stolen bases, hit over .300, and was one of baseball’s finest centerfielders. The amazing thing about Dummy Hoy is that he was deaf.

Sources

Join the campaign to add Dummy Hoy to the Hall of Fame: https://www.signforhoy.com

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7610652/2026/09/20/deaf-mlb-dummy-hoy-hall-of-fame/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_Hoy

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/William-Hoy/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dummy_Hoy.jpg

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Once called the Jewel of Central Asia, the Aral Sea was the third largest lake in the world, and supported a unique ecosystem, and millions of people. But after irrigation projects in the 1960s began diverting water, the Aral Sea started to shrink. Today it is almost completely gone, replaced by desert, in one of the greatest ecological catastrophes of modern times.

Sources

https://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea

https://growtheflowutah.org/2025/08/27/overview-of-the-aral-sea-disaster/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ship_in_the_Aral_Sea,_Mo‘ynoq.jpg

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In 1991, two German tourists spotted something in the Alps at an elevation of more than 10,000. It was the remains of a human being. But not just any human - this was a man who had died a violent death more than 5,000 years ago. This is the story of Ötzi the Iceman.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi

https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/otzi-the-iceman/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ricostruzione_di_Ötzi_-_Particolare_del_volto.jpg

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In the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, in some of the most pristine and untouched wilderness in the world, lived Dorothy Molter, the last permanent resident of the region. She lived alone for decades, and was called the loneliest woman in America. Except she wasn't quite alone - considering she was visited by thousands of tourists every year to drink her world famous root beer.

Sources

https://www.rootbeerlady.com/dorothy/

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Molter#/media/File:DorothyMolterWelcome.jpg

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Margery Booth was a British opera singer who became popular in Germany in the 1930s - and was even a favorite of Adolf Hitler. She married a German man, and became a naturalized German citizen. In WWII, she continued her career as best as she could - but also, she became a spy for her native land. This is the story of the daring - and often overlooked - exploits of Margery Booth.

Sources

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a73538836/margery-booth-spy-hitler/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Booth

https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/margery-booth-the-operatic-spy

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margery_Booth.jpg

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What goes around comes around is often a saying to make someone feel better - but in the case of the Brazen Bull it was apt. The Brazen Bull was a legendary and cruel torture device from the ancient world. And its first victim was the man who created it.

Sources

https://www.livius.org/articles/person/phalaris/bull-of-phalaris/

https://www.livius.org/articles/person/phalaris/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre_Woeiriot,_The_Brazen_Bull_of_Phalarus,_NGA_54032.jpg

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Rikers Island - the New York City jail complex - was the home for nearly 40 years to a painting by surrealist master Salvador Dali. He donated the painting to Rikers in 1965, and it hung in the facility until 2003 - when it disappeared - and has never been found. This is the story of the Rikers Island Art Heist.

Sources

https://www.insideedition.com/how-a-salvador-dali-drawing-was-stolen-from-rikers-island-58539

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2004/jul/15/warden-sentenced-for-stealing-dali-painting-from-rikers-island-jail/

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22854081/rikers-island-stolen-salvador-dali-painting/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvador_Dali_NYWTS.jpg

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The deadliest day in on the Great Lakes was not a ferocious storm far out to sea. But rather a calm day in a Chicago harbor. That is when a passenger steamer listed and rolled into the lake, claiming 844 lives. This is the story of the SS Eastland Disaster.

Sources

https://eastlanddisaster.org/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Eastland_disaster#/media/File:Eastland_Postcard_-_View_of_Eastland_taken_from_south_side_of_river_shortly_after_accident.png

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In 1958, Richard Loving - a white man - married Mildred Jeter - a black woman. The newlyweds would be arrested a year later in Virginia - where mixed race marriages were illegal. Eight years and countless court cases later, the Supreme Court - on June 12, 1967 - would strike down that law. This is the story of Richard and Mildred Jeter - and Loving Day.

Sources

https://time.com/archive/6916188/loving-day/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_and_Richard_Loving

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mildred_and_Richard_Loving_1967_by_UPI.jpg

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