On October first, 1910, Americans were shocked by an unimaginable act of violence, in the very heart of one of the nation’s largest cities. The 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing was a product of the times, and proof that political violence is not new to the United States.
In 1817 the Linnaean Society of New England published a thrilling report: they had investigated reports of a new sea creature, and after scrupulous examination they could declare that they had discovered not just a new species, but an entirely new genus native to the shores of the United States. They had identified and scientifically described, they claimed, a great sea monster.
On September 24, 1959 a strange all black aircraft with no markings made an emergency “wheels up” landing at a private landing strip in Japan. It was an embarrassing accident for the US Central Intelligence Agency, as the plane, a Lockheed U-2C, did not officially exist. 66 years later, details of the incident, and of the extraordinary aircraft that has had an extraordinarily long service life, are still secret.