Mile Markers

Most of us were taught in middle school that the Wright Brothers flew the first plane in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But some people say someone else deserves the credit: a German immigrant named Gustave Whitehead. He allegedly flew his flying machine in Fairfield, Connecticut two years before the Wright Brothers

MIT debuted the first widely-played video game in 1962. It was a battle between two little spaceships that shot lasers at each other while dodging a vortex. For such a simple premise, the game has had a surprisingly long legacy, with multiple copycats, including the first game from the company that would become Atari.

The first widely-played video game wasn’t Pong, Donkey Kong or Space Invaders. It wasn’t made by Nintendo or Atari. Imagine a bunch of young MIT nerds in the early 60s, given free rein over the latest computer technology. The result was Spacewar!

Over two centuries ago, hundreds of people reported seeing a sea serpent in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Those reports became one of the most well-documented sea serpent sightings in history.

Pirates were welcome in Newport, Rhode Island in the 1600s. They were celebrated, in fact, because they brought wealth to the city. That all changed when one of the most terrifying pirates in history started robbing ships right at Newport’s doorstep.

Newport, Rhode Island became famous as a pirate haven in the late 1600s, known as the golden age of piracy. Pirates brought their stolen booty back to the city — and some used it to become respected civic leaders and business owners.

There was one place in colonial America where pirates were welcomed with open arms — for a while. That place was Newport, Rhode Island. The city became an unlikely pirate haven thanks to English taxes and politicians who were more than happy to look the other way regarding legality.

The legendary Captain Kidd went from a socialite to a pirate hunter to a pirate in the late 1690s. Then, after a global manhunt and rumors of buried treasure, he became a celebrity. He was shipped to London for a trial that rivaled any modern media circus.

Captain William Kidd is one of history’s most notorious pirates — and his legend is deeply tied to rumors of buried treasure up and down the Atlantic coast. But Captain Kidd insisted he was not a pirate. In this series, we'll try to unravel Kidd’s complicated legacy.

A lighthouse keeper in Newport, Rhode Island, became nationally famous in the late 1800s for rescuing sailors. Her name was Ida Lewis — and she drew the attention of a sitting president and the early suffragette movement.