features by bill newcott

Secrets of the Smithsonian

I got to root around in The Smithsonian's secret storerooms. Here's what I found.

National Geographic November 2021

Nukes Over North Carolina

Secrets of the Smithsonian

One night in January 1961, the U.S. accidentally dropped two atomic bombs on North Carolina. One of them is still buried under a cotton field. I went to find it.

National Geographic January 2021

Horse Country

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Horse Country

There's more sand than bluegrass in Coastal Delaware, but horse breeders and trainers love it just the same.

Delaware Beach Life Winter 2021

Up the Creek

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Horse Country

An afternoon tubing North Carolina's French Broad River becomes a cross between "Gilligan's Island" and "Deliverance."

The Charlotte Observer October 2019

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

I crossed the country visiting haunted houses—and their happy human owners.

National Geographic October 2021

Tracking the First F-5 Tornado

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

The scale for measuring tornado strength had only been in existencefor a few months when a monster F-5—the strongest kind of twister—tore through Lubbock, Texas in 1970. I sought out survivors' stories.

National Geographic May 2021

Armageddon's Front Door

I trekked to a nuclear crater to see where the Atomic Age first began

National Geographic, July 2020

The Third Bomb

Armageddon's Front Door

There was a third nuclear bomb ready, just in case Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not result in a Japanese surrender. I found it sitting in the corner of a small New Mexico museum.

August 2020

Getting Lost

Armageddon's Front Door

The Most Dangerous Games

A day of deliberate wrong turns makes everything right.

Delaware Beach Life, April 2020

The Most Dangerous Games

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

The Most Dangerous Games

You haven't lived until you're a kid frolicking in the mist of a DDT spray truck. On the other hand, you're lucky if you lived at all.

Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild 2018

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

Joe Gutheinz is on a quest to recover the missing or stolen lunar samples collected by America’s space program.

The Saturday Evening Post, May 2019

Sails of the Centuries

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

Boat builders ride a 600-year tide of history.

Delaware Beach Life, Nov. 2019

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

History may fade, but not the memories of these men who endured one of the Twentieth Century's great battles.

NationalGeographic.com December 2019

Woodstock: 3 Days Plus 50 Years

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

The music and spirit of the greatest rock festival of all time still echo through the hills of Upstate New York.

NationalGeographic.com July 2019

Let Us Spray

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

Descendants of the Barnstormers, modern-day crop dusters defy gravity to put food on everyone's table.

Delaware Beach Life Magazine October 2019

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

On a suburban New Jersey driveway, history was made in the 1960s.

The Saturday Evening Post March-April 2019

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

Don't Read It Alone!

Catalina When It's Cool

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

Coast 1,000 feet downhill — then have the quaint town of Avalon all to yourself on California's island paradise.

Alaska Beyond Magazine November 2019

The Mystery of Miracles

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

The Mystery of Miracles

Are miracles for real? Well, they're definitely something--and I travel the country getting the lowdown from both detached experts and passionate believers.

AARP the Magazine April 2011

All The Lonely People

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

The Mystery of Miracles

Talk about tough interview assignments; try finding lonely people...and then getting them to open up about their affliction.

AARP The Magazine

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

Mad About Madrid (New Mexico)

They took away our records...now stubborn vinyl lovers like me are taking them back.

AARP the Magazine Jan/Feb 2010

Mad About Madrid (New Mexico)

You don't have to be a little crazy to live in the nowhere world of Madrid, New Mexico. But even the locals agree: It helps

AARP Bulletin

Fast Times In Rapid City

Mad About Madrid (New Mexico)

Fast Times In Rapid City

From the concrete dinosaurs to Mount Rushmore to the nation's oldest Passion Play, there's no way to take it easy in Rapid City

AARP The Magazine

Believing Las Vegas

Mad About Madrid (New Mexico)

Fast Times In Rapid City

Like a cruise ship on a sea of sand, Vegas keeps plowing ahead

National Geographic Magazine, December 1996

America's First Highway

The Living Tower of London

George Washington envisioned it; Thomas Jefferson signed off on it--today motorists still travel the route from Cumberland, MD to Visalia, IL

National Geographic Magazine, March 1998

The Living Tower of London

It's not just London's most popular tourist spot--it's a palace, prison, and home to a squad of Beefeaters and their families

National Geographic Magazine, October 1993

The Perfect Cruise

The Living Tower of London

I Was An Easter Bunny For The Chamber Of Commerce

Don't like "Pirate Night" or passenger Karaoke? Savvy cruise lovers know how to steer clear of seaborne disasters like that

I Was An Easter Bunny For The Chamber Of Commerce

The author hops to it without paws.

The Huntington Park Daily Signal, March 24, 1978

The Day Elvis Died

I Was An Easter Bunny For The Chamber Of Commerce

The Day Elvis Died

"Write something about Elvis," my editor said when the news came over the wires that The King was dead. So I did.

The Huntington Park Daily Signal, August 23, 1977

features by bill newcott

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Nukes Over North Carolina

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Horse Country

Secrets of the Smithsonian

Horse Country

Up the Creek

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Horse Country

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Tracking the First F-5 Tornado

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Even a Haunted House Can Be a Home

Armageddon's Front Door

Armageddon's Front Door

Armageddon's Front Door

The Third Bomb

Armageddon's Front Door

Armageddon's Front Door

Getting Lost

Armageddon's Front Door

The Most Dangerous Games

The Most Dangerous Games

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

The Most Dangerous Games

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

Sails of the Centuries

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

The Moon Rock Hunter Is Coming For You

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Woodstock: 3 Days Plus 50 Years

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Let Us Spray

Last Watch: Battle of the Bulge Veterans Remember

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

Wiffle Ball Glory: A Hero Remembers

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

Catalina When It's Cool

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

The World's 100 Scariest Places (Book Excerpt)

The Paradox of Prayer

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

Visions of Life After Death

The Silent Cry Of The Caregiver

Visions of Life After Death

The Age of Comets

Where Robots Watch Movies

Visions of Life After Death

Where Robots Watch Movies

Where Robots Watch Movies

Where Robots Watch Movies

Living With Cancer

Where Robots Watch Movies

Where Robots Watch Movies

The Mystery of Miracles

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

The Mystery of Miracles

All The Lonely People

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

The Mystery of Miracles

Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back