Great Rivalries
The feuds that drove invention, politics, exploration, and war
Kennedy vs. Khrushchev: Thirteen Days of Nuclear Brinkmanship
The Kennedy vs. Khrushchev standoff over Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the world closer to nuclear war than any moment before or since, and both leaders knew it.
Cope vs. Marsh: The Bone Wars That Built American Paleontology
Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh went from friendly colleagues to bitter rivals, racing to name new dinosaurs and wrecking each other's reputations along the way.
Stalin vs. Trotsky: The Rivalry That Ended With an Ice Axe
After Lenin's death, Stalin and Trotsky fought for control of the Soviet Union. Stalin won total power; Trotsky was exiled, then killed in Mexico in 1940.
Newton vs. Leibniz: Who Really Invented Calculus
Two mathematicians, working an ocean apart, developed calculus independently within a decade of each other. Newton's own Royal Society then rigged the verdict.
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier: Boxing's Bitterest Trilogy
Ali vs Frazier was three fights and one shattered friendship: how Ali's cruelty toward Frazier turned a boxing rivalry into the sport's deepest wound.
Elizabeth I vs. Mary Queen of Scots: The Rival Queens Who Never Met
One throne, two queens, a rivalry fought entirely by letter: Elizabeth I vs Mary Queen of Scots, and how they destroyed each other without ever meeting.
Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr: The Duel That Ended a Founding Father
Two brilliant New York lawyers, one grudge over a decade in the making, and a pistol duel at Weehawken that killed a Founding Father and ruined a Vice President.
Michelangelo vs. Leonardo da Vinci: Florence's Bitter Rivalry
In 1504, Florence pitted Michelangelo vs. Leonardo da Vinci on facing walls in the same room. Neither finished. Here is how the rivalry played out, and who won.
Scott vs. Amundsen: The Race to the South Pole
In the Scott vs. Amundsen race to the South Pole, Amundsen's Norwegians won and came home in 1911. Scott's British party arrived a month late and never returned.
Tesla vs. Edison: The War of the Currents
In the Tesla vs. Edison War of the Currents, Edison's Pearl Street DC lit New York first, but Tesla's AC, bankrolled by George Westinghouse, won in the end.