The Man Who Made Prohibition Happen After Being Stabbed In The Leg By A Drunk Person

May 22, 2021

Agents pour liquor into sewer following raid during height of Prohibition, 1921. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via...

Rodney Dangerfield And How He Pretty Much Invented Stand-Up Comedy As We Know It

May 16, 2021

Comedian and film star Rodney Dangerfield poses during a 1987 Beverly Hills, California, photo portrait session to promote his return to L...

David Attenborough: A Voice You Know, And A Man You Don't (His Life Story)

May 12, 2021

TV presenter David Attenborough walking to work on a snowy morning the day after his appointment as controller of BBC2, March 4, 1965. (Ron Burt...

Ivan The Terrible (And Why He Wasn't That Terrible)

April 22, 2021

The Czar Ivan the Terrible, 1590, (1903). Artist Hans Wengel. (Print Collector/Getty Images) As one of Russia's most notorious rulers, Ivan the Terrible has long bee...

Dizzy Gillespie: Trumpet Player, Jazz Legend, And Jimmy Carter's Friend

April 8, 2021

American jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie performing at the Meridien Hotel in Paris, France. (Thierry Orban/Sygma via Getty Images) For more than ha...

P.T. Barnum: Circus Magnate And Entertainer Extraordinaire, Truth & Myths

April 7, 2021

Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnum (July 5, 1810–April 7, 1891). (Harvard Library/Wikimedia Commons) Called "The Greatest Showman on Earth," P.T. Ba...

Jonas Salk: Inventor Of The Polio Vaccine (Life, Bio, & Stories)

March 28, 2021

Poliomyelitis, A.K.A. polio, is a viral infection which damages neurons, specifically motor neurons, weakening the infected's muscles and sometimes res...

Guccio Gucci: Founder Of Gucci And Its Complicated History

March 26, 2021

Guccio Gucci c. 1940. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) His name is now synonymous with style, luxury, and haute couture, but what do you know about Guccio G...

Gilbert Paul Jordan: The 'Boozing Barber' Who Targeted Alcoholic First Nation Women

March 12, 2021

Kingsway Avenue, where Jordan's barber shop was located. (Flying Penguin/Wikimedia Commons) From the Grim Sleeper to Jeffrey Dahmer, ...

John Steinbeck: Famous Author Biography, About, Facts, & Stuff You Didn't Know

February 27, 2021

Author John Steinbeck. (Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images) If you went to high school in the United States, you...

W.E.B. Du Bois: American Sociologist, Black Leader, And Civil Rights Activist

February 23, 2021

Formal photograph of W. E. B. Du Bois, with beard and mustache, around 50 years old. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) You may not kn...

George Washington: Biography, About, Facts, & Things You Didn't Know

February 22, 2021

George Washington (1732–1799), first president of the United States, 1789–97, in an engraved portrait after 1792 painting by John Trumbull. (Stock Mo...

Nina Simone: Jazz Singer's Biography & Things You Didn't Know

February 21, 2021

Courageous and complicated, Nina Simone remains an artist whose work begs to be pored over and inspected. She may be famous for her performance of "I Love...

Ansel Adams: Artist Biography, Facts, Trivia, & More About This Legendary Photographer

February 20, 2021

Photographer Ansel Adams stands on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. He adjusts the settings on his camera. (Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/...

Galileo Galilei: Biography, Facts, & Things You Don't Know Yet

February 15, 2021

Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) using a telescope, circa 1620. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Much like Madonna and Cher, Gal...

Jesse James: Biography, Facts, & Things You Didn't Know About The Wild West Legend

February 13, 2021

American outlaw Jesse James, circa 1870. (MPI/Getty Images) Between 1866 and 1879, Jesse James terrorized the people and wallets of A...

Marilyn Monroe's Love Life: Divorces And Dates With Joe Dimaggio, Arthur Miller, Kennedys, And More

February 8, 2021

1954: A wistful Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson or Norma Jean Baker, 1926–1962). (Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Image...