People
Rube Goldberg: The Man And His Zany Machines
August 3, 2019
We know all about Rube Goldberg machines—those crazy, overly complicated contraptions designed to perform one simple task—but how much do we know about Rube Goldberg, the ...
Pineapples Aren’t Native To Hawaii: The Story Of James ...
August 1, 2019
Despite all evidence to the contrary, pineapples are not a native fruit of Hawaii. However, the rich Hawaiian soil and the balmy climate make it an ideal l...
The Sad Life Of Leona Gage, Miss USA 1957
July 31, 2019
When beautiful young Leona Gage was crowned Miss USA in 1957, it seemed as though she was living a charmed life. She told pageant officials that she was a 21-year-old model f...
Who Was Gavrilo Princip?
July 26, 2019
Gavrilo Princip was one of the most significant people of the 20th century. You might not know his name, but you definitely know what he did, or at least felt the impact of it. By assassinati...
Orville Redenbacher: What You Didn’t Know About The Pop...
July 10, 2019
You might remember the popcorn commercials on TV in the 1970s through 1990s that featured a bow-tie wearing old man with a funny name. That was Orville Red...
W.C. Fields: A Wit For The Ages
July 7, 2019
Actor W.C. Fields in a scene from the movie The Old Fashioned Way Directed by: William Beaudine USA 1934. Source: (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) One of Vaudevil...
Her Invention Saves Lives Every Day But You Don’t Know ...
July 6, 2019
Stephanie Kwolek. Remember that name. She is the award-winning inventor and chemist that developed Kevlar, a material used in hundreds of applications, mos...
James Smithson: Who Was the Guy Who Gave Us the Smithso...
July 3, 2019
A view of the Smithsonian Institution building in a field of daisies in Washington DC, circa 1860s. Source: (Photo by Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Image...
Plot Twist: The Most Famous Fictional Pirate Was Real
July 1, 2019
When Robert Louis Stevenson published his swashbuckling novel, Treasure Island, in 1883, his descriptions of Long John Silver set the bar for all literary and fil...
Becoming Tinkerbell
June 30, 2019
A cosplay fan dresses like Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. Source: (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) One of Disney’s most beloved characters—and one that had stood the test of time—is the adorable, sp...
Lotta Crabtree, The Nation’s Darling
June 26, 2019
Portrait of Lotta Crabtree Smoking a Cigar. Source: (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) Long before the title of America’s Sweetheart was bestowed on Mary ...
Carrie Finnell: The Bad Girl Of Burlesque
June 23, 2019
From the 1870s through the 1940s, Burlesque shows were a popular form of entertainment. Staged in nightclubs, theatres, and cabarets across the country, these variety shows f...
W. C. Handy and the Birth of the Blues
June 21, 2019
Portrait of jazz and blues pioneer W.C. Handy (1873 - 1958), blowing on his trumpet, mid twentieth century. Source: (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images) African American composer a...
Hunting Down an Assassin: The Manhunt for MLK’s Killer
June 16, 2019
American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968) speaks at Quinn Chapel on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, 1960s. Source: (Photo by Robe...
Famous Hollywood Lavender Marriages
June 9, 2019
During the early days of Hollywood, a gay actor or actress had to keep their sexual preferences hidden for fear of ruining their careers. To give the appearance of being straight—a...
Why Right Is Right And Left Is Wrong: Historical Myths ...
June 8, 2019
A left-handed child writes on the French National Lefties Day on August 23, 2015. Source: (Photo credit DIARMID COURREGES/AFP/Getty Images) If you are one of ...
Conquering Everest: What You Didn’t Know About Sir Edmu...
June 6, 2019
In case you haven’t seen the news recently, let’s catch you up on the news for Nepal. This climbing season, more climbers than ever before are attempting t...
Abigail Fillmore, the Under-Rated First Lady
June 5, 2019
When it comes to First Ladies of the United States, some presidents’ wives stand out from the crowd for their style, grace, and advocacy work. And some former first ladies...
Who Was Your Favorite TV Maid or Butler?
June 3, 2019
A surprising number of TV sitcom families are able to afford live-in maids or butlers to help with housework and raising the kids. Of course, these characters are more than ju...
9+ Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Babe Ruth
May 30, 2019
American baseball player George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948) known as Babe Ruth. Source: (MPI/Getty Images) He is George Herman Ruth, Jr., but you probably know him be...
Remember When Prince Changed His Name?
May 28, 2019
Prince performs onstage at The Hollywood Palladium on March 8, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Source: (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for NPG Records 2013) It is hard to believ...
The Story Behind 'The Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County...
May 22, 2019
A young boy encourages his frog to perform a long jump. AFP PHOTO Source: (Photo credit STR/AFP/Getty Images) American author Samuel Clemens, better known by ...
The Brothers Grimm: History Of More Than Just Fairytale...
May 20, 2019
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Source: (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) We all know the Brothers Grimm from their collections of fairytales, ...
Judy Blume: The Young Adult Author That Got You Through...
May 16, 2019
If you were an adolescent or teen in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s, you probably owe thanks to American author, Judy Blume, for helping you navigate the treacher...
What You Didn’t Know About Lady Bird Johnson: LBJ's Fir...
May 14, 2019
Lady Bird Johnson standing in the Blue Room of the White House, on a Savonnerie carpet, wearing a red evening gown. Source: (Photo by Horst P. Horst/Conde Nas...
Hitting the Rails: Hobo Life
May 12, 2019
When the Great Depression hit, jobs dried up and families lost their houses and farms. In desperation, many hard-working, able-bodied men left home in search of any work they could get. T...
The Horse Who Would Be Senator: Caligula and His Unconv...
May 8, 2019
In ancient Rome, the politicians were known for some of their wacky behavior, but Caligula has them all beat. The fourth emperor of Rome, engaged in deviant ...
What’s a Whirling Dervish?
May 3, 2019
You’ve undoubtedly heard the term ‘whirling dervish’ before, but you may not be aware of the important cultural and spiritual tradition of these frenzied, spinning Turkish dancers. For ou...
What You Didn’t Know About The Wright Brothers
May 2, 2019
You’ve heard the history lessons that tell us that, in 1903, brothers Wilber and Orville Wright became the first humans to fly when they lifted off from a sand dune in...
Peggy Sue, The Original Rock Groupie Chick
May 1, 2019
In the 1960s and 1970s, the idea of a rock groupie chick, a pretty young girl who hung out with the band, partied with them and dated one or more of the musicians, was well-...
Who Was Cotton Mather? Brilliant Scientist, Misguided M...
April 28, 2019
Circa 1710, Cotton Mather (1663-1728). American Congregational clergyman. Source: (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images). In Puritan New England in the 1690s, ...
Ma Ferguson, A Puppet Governor
April 22, 2019
The history books list Miriam Amanda Ferguson, or Ma as she was known, as the first female governor of Texas and one of the first women to hold the position of governor in the United St...
William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson: How a Couple of ...
April 15, 2019
The year was 1901. A new form of transportation was America’s newest obsession…the bicycle. The one-man, pedal-powered bikes were all the rage. Turn-of-the-c...
The Real Nellie Oleson, Laura’s Prairie Frenemy
April 11, 2019
Alison Arngrim played Nellie Oleson in the TV series Little House on the Prairie. Source: (NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images) If you were a fan of the Little House series o...
Diana of the Dunes: A Lake Michigan Ghost Story With A ...
April 9, 2019
Actress Angie Dickinson swimming outdoors in 1961, perhaps channeling her inner Diana of the Dunes. Source: (photo by Pierluigi/Mandadori Portfolio via Getty Im...
Hans Christian Andersen And International Children’s Bo...
April 5, 2019
Not only does April 2nd of this year mark the 214th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen but it is also International Children’s Book Day. Andersen was an a...
Who Invented The Pinball Machine?
April 4, 2019
Participants of the German Table Football Championship play at pinball machines in the Tango terminal at Helmut Schmidt Airport. Source: (Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Gett...
John Brown: Religious Zealot, Abolitionist Hero, or Ter...
April 1, 2019
History has labeled John Brown a madman and a radical. Even before his infamous raid oh Harper’s Ferry in 1859, Brown had a reputation for using violence to ...
Things You May Not Know About Women Rulers In History
March 24, 2019
Queens of the Nile Exhibition At Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Source: (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) For centuries women have been in leadership roles as...
Historical Figures Who Suffered From Diseases or Disord...
March 23, 2019
There are numerous diseases and disorders that average people suffer from every day with no respecter of persons. These diseases can come upon anyone at any ...
Perkin Warbeck, the Great Pretender
March 20, 2019
A great mystery in English royalty is the fate of the “two princes in the Tower.” Edward and Richard, ages 12 and 10, were both too young to take over the English throne when their...
“I Shall Return”: General MacArthur’s Promise
March 19, 2019
Gen. Douglas MacArthur (C) and Gen. Richard Sutherland (L) and Col. Lloyd Lehrbas wading ashore during Amer. landing at Lingayen Gulf. Source: (Photo by Carl Mydans/Th...
The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
March 15, 2019
Stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, arguably the greatest tragedienne of her day, in a scene from an unnamed theatre production. Original Publication: People Disc - HW0437 Source: (Photo by Hulton ...
Stephen Decatur And The Barbary Pirates
March 13, 2019
Painting by Rembrandt Peale depicts a portrait of US Naval Officer Stephen Decatur (1779-1820), 1817. Source: (Photo by The New York Historical Society/Getty Images) An exceptio...
History of the Life and Loves of Ernest Hemingway
March 9, 2019
The writings of Ernest Hemingway are well known throughout the literary world, but how much is known about him as a person? A lot of authors use their own lives or t...
Confederate Spy Belle Boyd, The Siren Of Shenandoah
March 8, 2019
She was called the Siren of the Shenandoah, the Cleopatra of Secession, and the La Belle Rebelle. Isabella “Belle” Boyd was one of the most famous Confederate spies...
Glenn Miller’s Disappearance, Accident or Cover Up?
February 26, 2019
Glenn Miller, with trombone. Source: (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns) On December 15, 1944, American orchestra leader, Glenn Miller, famous for hits like “Chattanoo...
Thanks to These Ladies, Women Have the Right to Vote
February 25, 2019
On May 3, 1916, Suffragettes carry a banner announcing that 'Women have full suffrage in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho' at the Women of all Nations Parade in New ...
The History of the Amish and Their Unique Way of Life
February 24, 2019
The Amish people and their way of life may seem to be a bit too strict, particularly with modern society today; but the history and culture of the Amish is really...
Ben Franklin and His Kite Experiment, The Real Story
February 22, 2019
A Currier & Ives lithograph of Benjamin Franklin and his son William using a kite and key during a storm to prove that lightning was electricity, June 1752. Source: (...
“Happy Birthday To You”: The Celebratory Song With the ...
February 21, 2019
Finally, in 2015, more than 90 years after it was first published, the song everyone sings before blowing out their birthday candles, the ditty “Happy Bi...
Lorne Greene and the Fate of a Horse
February 19, 2019
Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright on Buck in a scene from TV’s “Bonanza” Source: (Photo by: Fred Sabine/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) TV’s Bonanza was one of the longest runni...
Presidential Hobbies: How Some U.S. Presidents Used The...
February 18, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton plays a saxophone while some of his supporters sing and dance. Source: (Photo by Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Get...
Breaking the Record for Longest Lasting Marriages
February 16, 2019
Is marriage still applicable to modern society or is it a dying institution? According to some, it is still a thriving partnership. Although rare today, there are sti...
History’s Most Memorable Kisses
February 14, 2019
A kiss can be many things…romantic, loving, forbidden, scandalous, and shocking. In the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride, the narrator notes that “Since the invention of the kiss there...
The True Story of the Essex, the Inspiration for "Moby ...
February 13, 2019
Gregory Peck in a scene from the 1956 movie “Moby Dick'' Source: (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) In 1851, Herman Melville published hi...
Edwin Land’s Daughter Wanted a Selfie, So He Invented P...
February 11, 2019
Portrait of American scientist, inventor, and businessman Edwin Land (1909 - 1991), president and co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation as he demonstrates hi...
Faith Over Baseball: Where Sandy Koufax Wasn’t On Yom K...
February 7, 2019
The LA Dodgers were having a great season in 1965…so great, in fact, that they made it to the World Series against the Minnesota Twins. Much of the team’s ...
The Hobbit: How A Bored Professor Created A Fantasy Cla...
February 6, 2019
British writer John Ronald Reul Tolkien (1892-1973), sitting in his study at Merton College, Oxford, where he is a Fellow. Source: (Haywood Magee/Picture Post/G...
Tigger Invented the Artificial Heart???
February 4, 2019
Paul Winchell, a comedian, voice-over actor, and puppeteer is probably best remembered for supplying the voice to Tigger in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons. In fact, Winchell won ...
Mikhail Baryshnikov Choreographed The Perfect Defection...
February 2, 2019
The famed Bolshoi Ballet was one of the Cold War tools used by the Soviet Union to show off to the world just how cultured, sophisticated, and brilliant the ...
Teddy Roosevelt Bull Moosed His Way Through An Assassin...
January 31, 2019
Theodore Roosevelt was waving his hat to the crowd just like this when an assassin shot him. Source: (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) Theodore Roosevelt, t...
Babe Didrikson, The Greatest Female Athlete
January 30, 2019
Before Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Kerri Walsh-Jennings, and Ronda Rousey, there was Babe Didrikson. Arguably the greatest female athlete of al...
The President And The Mole People
January 17, 2019
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) American diplomat and Sixth President of the United States of America 1825-1829. c1848. Source: (Universal History Archive/Getty Images) No doubt U.S. pr...
The Origin of Sherlock Holmes
January 13, 2019
Sherlock Holmes LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 08: A reproduction of a copy of the book 'A Study in Scarlet' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 8th December 1986. Source: (Photo by Georges De Ke...
Day-O: The Story of “The Banana Boat Song”
January 8, 2019
American actor and singer Harry Belafonte poses next to the ocean circa 1957. Source: (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) Harry Belafonte, one of the most well-known J...
The Story Behind the Miranda Rights
January 5, 2019
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney and to have an attorney presen...
How a Scholarly Farm Boy Attempted to Take Down the Bri...
December 31, 2018
Painting depicting the unsuccessful attempt by USS Turtle to attach a 'torpedo' to the bottom of HMS Eagle. Governor's Harbor, New York, USA. 7 September 1776. ...
Alexander Gardner, Civil War Fake News
December 28, 2018
Meadow strewn with Confederate dead, photographed by Alexander Gardner two days after fighting had ceased during bloodiest battle of Civil War. Source: (Photo by Alexander Gardner/...
Who Was the Inspiration For Uncle Sam?
December 27, 2018
A participant dressed as Uncle Sam attends in Albany, New York. Source: (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Uncle Sam…he is a symbol of America and everyone’s most patriotic un...
The Story Behind “The Gipper” Speech, the Greatest Pep ...
December 26, 2018
“Win One For the Gipper”. If you’re a fan of college football, you know that this was the one impassionate plea that rallied the Fighting Irish of the Un...
The Groundbreaking Althea Gibson
December 17, 2018
Althea Gibson at Wimbledon (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) Although she doesn’t get the recognition that Jackie Robinson did, 1950s athlete Althea Gibson was as...
Thomas Nast Gave Us Santa Claus
December 13, 2018
Ask anyone today to describe Santa Claus and you will pretty much get the same answers…red suit, full white beard, big belly. But our image of the jolly old elf used to be really incon...
The Vile Vortices Of Ivan T. Sanderson
December 9, 2018
Ten of the twelve vortices/image from pinterest In 1972, Ivan T. Sanderson, a Scottish biologist who founded the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained, published an art...
Why History Should Remember the Name, David Rittenhouse
December 4, 2018
American astronomer David Rittenhouse (circa 1775). (Photo by MPI/Getty Images) A contemporary of the Founding Fathers of the United States, David Rittenhouse was...
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Famous Daughter, Rose Wilder Lan...
December 3, 2018
Baby Rose...Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, Michelle Steffin as Rose Wilder, Dean Butler as Almanzo James Wilder (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo B...
McCarthyism: The Witch Trials of the Twentieth Century
December 2, 2018
Throughout history, there have been times when mass hysteria has led to the wrongful punishment of the accused, with little to no evidence. It usually starts wit...
What You Didn’t Know About Dolley Madison
November 30, 2018
Dolley Madison, wife of US president James Madison rescues a portrait of George Washington from the White House before the British troops set fire to the building during the W...
Celebrities Who Died In Skiing Accidents
November 28, 2018
Silhouetted skier in action. Gary M. Prior/ALLSPORT/GettyImages Making the most of winter fun, the rich and famous often enjoy skiing. And, why not? It’s great exercise and an e...
The Mysterious Disappearance of Aaron Burr’s Daughter, ...
November 24, 2018
People today may only know her name from the song, “Dear Theodosia,” in the hit musical, Hamilton, but during her time, Theodosia Burr Alston was a socialit...
