Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

The Y in History

Apr 29, 2023

In the 1990s, North Korea acquired access to Pakistani centrifuge technology and designs from scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had directed the militarization of Pakistan’s nuclear program. In exchange, Pakistan received North Korean missile technology. 

Through his job at URENCO, A.Q Khan methodically stole...


Apr 15, 2023

On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to a group of London merchants for exclusive overseas trading rights with the East Indies. The new English East India Company was a monopoly in the sense that no other British subjects could legally trade in that territory, but it faced stiff competition from...


Apr 1, 2023

In 1920, Charles Ponzi started the Ponzi scheme which promised a 50% return on investments after 90 days. After a few successful months, his luck ran out as new investments dried and Ponzi came under the radar of investigators. 

Victor Lustig conned two buyers and sold a national monument.

The two biggest corporate...