accidents

When Cities Put Up Monuments to Traffic Deaths

by Peter Norton

Rising pedestrian and cyclist deaths in American communities are a call to question the primacy of the automobile and stop accepting roadway carnage. 

Deconstructing the Meaning and Politics of "Accidents"

A new book argues that the use of the word "accident" normalizes injury and death caused by failures of regulation and unequal distribution of vulnerability in society. 

The Accident that Almost Decapitated the US Government

by Stan Haynes

John Tyler intended to show off the firepower of the USS Princeton to boost his abysmal popularity and scare foreign goverments into letting him annex Texas. He nearly got more than he bargained for in one of the biggest close calls of presidential history. 

UMaine history prof. loses leg in freak accident

BANGOR, Maine — A University of Maine history professor’s left leg has been amputated after what police called a “freak accident” in Passadumkeag over the weekend, according to the chairman of the university’s history department.Professor Nathan Godfried, who specializes in 20th-century American history, was riding his bike along Route 2 Sunday afternoon when a blade from a lawnmower being towed on a trailer struck Godfried’s leg, according to Richard Judd, chairman of UMaine’s history department.Judd said he has been told that Godfried’s left leg has been amputated since the crash. An Eastern Maine Medical Center spokesperson said Monday that Godfried is listed in fair condition.“Nathan’s not up for visitors yet today, so we’re hoping to go see him tomorrow,” Judd said....