(Ocean Robbins) On December 21, 1931, New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, in an attempt to break the mafia’s stranglehold on the industry, made it a crime to sell, display, or possess baby artichokes. Marilyn Monroe, an unknown actress at the time, was crowned California’s “Artichoke Queen” in 1948. The 17th-century Italian painter Caravaggio pulled his sword on a waiter who refused to tell him if the artichokes on his plate had been cooked in oil or butter. In the 16th century, Catherine de Medici scandalized the court of her husband, the French king Henry II, by eating artichokes, since they were considered powerful aphrodisiacs and were forbidden to women.