Danny Kaye: What You Didn't Know About This Iconic Funny Man
Movies | January 18, 2022
American actor, singer, and comedian Danny Kaye (1913–1987), circa 1960. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) Danny Kaye preferred to be called an entert...
New Atlantis: How Ernest Hemingway's Eccentric Little Brother Built His Own Nation
1960s | January 16, 2022
Leicester Hemingway points out the location of the “Republic of New Atlantis” to his wife Doris, and their two children, Anne, 7, and Hi...
5 Facts About Sidney Poitier
People | January 14, 2022
Sidney Poitier admires the Oscar he has just received in Santa Monica, California, on April 13, 1964. He won Best Performance by an Actor for his role in the 1963 film Lilies of the Field. (...
Madoc, The Welsh Prince Who (Maybe) Beat Columbus To The New World
Medieval History | January 12, 2022
Mobile Bay, where Madoc was said to have landed. (H.H. Lloyd & Co./Wikimedia Commons) The legend of Christopher Columbus as the first European explore...
Unsinkable Sam: The Lucky Cat Who Used Three Of His Nine Lives To Survive Shipwrecks
World War II | January 10, 2022
A view of the German battleship Bismarck firing on a merchant ship in the north Atlantic. The Bismarck was sunk after attack by the Br...
The Life Of Fyodor Dostoevsky
1800s | January 8, 2022
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821–1881), novelist and writer. Oil painting by Vasily Perov (1833–1882), 1872. (Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Fyodor Do...
The History Of Grandfather Clocks
Historical Facts | January 6, 2022
Historical grandfather clocks in the Harz Clock Museum. (Stephan Schulz/picture alliance via Getty Images) The grandfather clock is a timepiece that goes overboard in the stately eleg...
Crazy Fad Diets Of The Past
Weird History | January 4, 2022
Girls in 1965 testing the electric vibro-massaging machines which aid slimming. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images) Western beauty standards demand slimmer figures than come n...
Vermont's Captain Thunderbolt: A Mysterious Schoolteacher With A Secret Past
1800s | January 2, 2022
A masked highwayman on horseback robs a pedestrian. Date: 18th century. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) In the early 1820s, a well-dressed gen...
Phillis Wheatley, America's First Published Black Poet
Literature | December 31, 2021
Phillis Wheatley, African-American author and poet. Engraved by Scipio Moorhead, 1773. (VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images) Phillis Wheatley lived a remarkable li...
History Of New Year's: Why Is It January 1?
Ancient History | December 29, 2021
A view of fireworks by the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball during 2021 New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square on December 31, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/...
Wondrous Facts About It's A Wonderful Life
1940s | December 25, 2021
Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Karolyn Grimes in It's A Wonderful Life. (National Telefilm Associates/Wikimedia Commons) It Wasn't Destined To Be A Christmas ClassicIt is har...
History Of The Fingerprint
1800s | December 23, 2021
A fingerprint scanner is integrated into the printed circuit. (Surasak Suwanmake/Getty Images) It may seem like a product of modern technology and science, but fingerprinting got its start i...
Red Emma, The Most Dangerous Woman In America, Is Deported By J. Edgar Hoover
1910s | December 21, 2021
Emma Goldman, the Lithuanian-born anarcho-communist known for her anarchist writings and speeches, feminist, mugshot c. 1901. (APIC/Getty Ima...
1843: "A Christmas Carol" Is Published
1800s | December 19, 2021
A Scene from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images) On December 19, 1843, Charles Dickens published his classic holiday sto...
A Christmas Story: The Red Ryder BB Gun
1940s | December 17, 2021
Peter Billingsley sits on Santa's lap in a scene from the film 'A Christmas Story,' 1983. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images) Although the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story...
Interesting Facts About Charles Darwin
People | December 15, 2021
Circa 1880: British scientist Charles Darwin who founded the principles of evolutionary theory after an expedition to the Galapagos Islands. Original Artist: By Elliott & Fry. (Hul...
5 Fun Facts About Mark Twain
People | December 13, 2021
1870: American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (1835 - 1910). (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images) That Wasn't Really His NameBorn in Missouri on November 30, 1835...
Joe DiMaggio Retires From Baseball
1950s | December 11, 2021
Joe DiMaggio in his first year as center fielder for the New York Yankees on October 6, 1936. (Bettmann/Getty Images) Joseph Paul DiMaggio, also known as the Yankee Clipper, was one ...
The Bizarre Christmas Marketing Stunt That Made Tinker Toys A Hit
1910s | December 9, 2021
Photo of Tinker Toys. (Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys were popular because they allowed children t...
Who Was Harvey Milk?
1970s | December 7, 2021
Harvey Milk. (Bettmann/Getty Images) On November 8, 1977, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California after winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supe...
Walt Disney: Facts, Stories, And Trivia About The King Of Cartoons
People | December 5, 2021
Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue inside of the Magic Kingdom theme park (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) Walter Elias Disney, bet...
Curious George's Incredible Escape From The Nazis
World War II | December 3, 2021
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Curious George, the spunky monkey of the eponymous series of children's books, is a beloved character with a knack for wiggling his way ou...
Five Facts About John Wilkes Booth, American Assassin
1800s | December 1, 2021
John Wilkes Booth, assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) He Wasn't SouthernYou might imagine that the assassination...
Catherine The Great: Biography, Stories, And Trivia About The Great
People | November 29, 2021
Portrait of Empress Catherine II (1729-1796), 1780s. Found in the collection of State Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Artist: Rokotov, Fyodor Stepanovich. (...
1924: In New York City, The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Is Held
1920s | November 27, 2021
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924. (RV1864/Flickr) On November 27, 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade came marching down the st...
Maya Angelou: Life, Biography, And Stories About The Literary Titan
Literature | November 25, 2021
Maya Angelou circa 1970. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928, Maya Angelou was...
November 21, 1902: The First Night Football Game
1900s | November 23, 2021
The Philadelphia Athletics of the 1902 National Football League. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) Before the National Football League formed in 1920, American footbal...
Enoch Brown School Massacre Of 1764
American Indians | November 21, 2021
Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe and leader of a federation of Native Americans against the settlers, smokes the peace pipe at a meeting with a British major and his troops. (MPI/Ge...
1959: Ford Motor Company Announced It Was Halting Production Of The Unpopular Edsel
1950s | November 19, 2021
The 1956 Ford Edsel is displayed at The Museum of Failure in Los Angeles. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) In 1957, the Ford Motor C...
