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Ellen Wexler

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Typewriter

The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?

The invention’s true origin story has long been the subject of debate.

by Jimmy Stamp, Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on February 25, 2025

A photograph of TJ Hicks running in the 1904 Olympics with his two coaches holding him upright.

How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time

Athletes drank poison, dodged traffic, stole peaches and even hitchhiked during the 24.85-mile race in St. Louis.

by Ellen Wexler, Karen Abbott via Smithsonian on June 27, 2024

Regina King as Shirley Chisholm in "Shirley," a new film.

The True History Behind Netflix's 'Shirley' Movie

A new film dramatizes Shirley Chisholm's history-making bid to become the first Black woman president in 1972.

by Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on March 22, 2024

An illustration of Anthony Comstock, published in Puck magazine in 1906.

The 150-Year-Old Comstock Act Could Transform the Abortion Debate

Once considered a relic of moral panics past, the 1873 law criminalized sending "obscene, lewd or lascivious" materials through the mail.

by Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on June 15, 2023

19th century mug shots in a book

A Brief History of the Mug Shot

Police have been using the snapshots in criminal investigations since the advent of commercial photography

by Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on April 3, 2023

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