James Fell

James Fell moved from newspaper fitness columns into popular-history writing. He spent a decade contributing to the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, and he holds a master’s degree in history. In 2020, Fell began a daily social-media column connecting calendar dates with episodes from the past. That project developed into On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down, which Bantam Books published in 2023. The book gathers date-based narratives on political, scientific, cultural, and social events, using an informal voice rather than a textbook arrangement. Its structure reflects the column’s original rhythm: one date, one episode, and enough context to explain why the event mattered.