December 2014 brought a long-awaited moment for Albert Einstein fans when a trove of his personal papers, letters, diaries and postcards became available online via the Digital Einstein Papers project. The approximately 5,000 documents offered some insights into his mindset, but the one that stood ...
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Biography (75 unread)
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21:06 Albert Einstein Once Wrote Marie Curie a Letter Advising Her to Ignore the Critics
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19:56
Roald Dahl Wrote 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' During the 'Most Difficult Years of His Life'
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19:41
Henry Hill and the Real-Life GoodFellas: The True Story Behind the Movie
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22:30
The Five Crime Families of New York City: Inside the Rise and Fall of the Mafia
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19:01
Inside Amy Winehouse's Downward Spiral and Tragic Death
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16:00
Angela Lansbury Risked Her Career to Star in ‘Murder She Wrote’
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16:00
Angela Lansbury Risked Her Career to Star in ‘Murder She Wrote’
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16:00
Angela Lansbury Risked Her Career to Star in ‘Murder She Wrote’
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20:04
Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon: The Intense Highs and Extreme Lows That Plagued Their 12 Year Romance
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20:04
Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon: The Intense Highs and Extreme Lows That Plagued Their 12 Year Romance
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20:04
Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon: The Intense Highs and Extreme Lows That Plagued Their 12 Year Romance
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20:47
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: The True Story of His Tragic Death
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20:47
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: The True Story of His Tragic Death
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20:47
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: The True Story of His Tragic Death
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18:47
Jesse James: The Death of the Wild West Outlaw
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21:28
Milli Vanilli's Lip-Sync Scandal: Inside One of Music's Biggest Hoaxes
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18:14
Why Rock Hudson and Linda Evans' Seemingly Innocent Kiss on 'Dynasty' Made Headlines
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23:29
10 Italian Americans Who Changed History
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23:10
Inside Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal’s Rollercoaster Relationship
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21:50
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Uncharacteristically Joined Forces During America's First Tabloid Murder Trial
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23:26
Why Rock Hudson’s Decision to Come Out Marked a Turning Point of the Aids Epidemic
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17:42
How Freddie Mercury Inadvertently Gave the Sex Pistols Their Big Break
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21:54
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's Deadly Rivalry
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15:53
Inside Michelle McNamara's Obsessive Hunt for the Golden State Killer
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17:04
Freddie Mercury Once Snuck Princess Diana Into a Gay Club — Without Getting Caught
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23:14
12 Presidential Nicknames and Their Unusual Origins
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17:33
Inside Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor's Notorious Love Triangle
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22:35
Wilson Phillips: The Inspiration Behind Their Hit "Hold On"
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16:35
The Marx Brothers: Inside the Comedians' Early Life and Travels
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17:47
Paul McCartney Came up With the Melody to One of the Beatles' Biggest Hits in His Sleep
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17:47
Paul McCartney Came up With the Melody to One of the Beatles' Biggest Hits in His Sleep
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17:47
Paul McCartney Came up With the Melody to One of the Beatles' Biggest Hits in His Sleep
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18:47
Chuck Wepner: Meet the Heavyweight Boxer Who Inspired 'Rocky'
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18:47
Chuck Wepner: Meet the Heavyweight Boxer Who Inspired 'Rocky'
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18:47
Chuck Wepner: Meet the Heavyweight Boxer Who Inspired 'Rocky'
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20:20
Why Michael J. Fox Waited Seven Years to Reveal His Parkinson’s Diagnosis
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23:39
Bruce Lee: The Mystery Surrounding the Martial Artist's Death
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22:05
Aerosmith, Run-DMC and the Story Behind Their Genre-Bending Hit "Walk This Way"
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19:48
Robin Williams: The Unexpected Role that Jumpstarted His Career
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20:43
How Stevie Nicks’ Obsession With Tom Petty Turned Into a 40-Year Friendship
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21:29
How Pearl Jam Helped Define the Grunge Music Movement
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23:43
The Mystery Surrounding Grace Kelly's Death
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0:25
Inside Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio's Roller Coaster Romance
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23:50
Larry Kramer Captured His Seemingly Hopeless Fight for HIV/AIDS Victims in 'The Normal Heart'
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23:03
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III Were Introduced for a Magazine Article — and Then Fell in Love
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22:09
Who is Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" About?
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21:41
Liv Tyler Didn't Know Steven Tyler Was Her Dad Until She Was 11
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21:38
Why 'Wonder Woman's' Lynda Carter Left Hollywood For Washington D.C.
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22:36
Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” Was Inspired by This Former First Daughter
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21:37
Why Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy Kept Their Relationship a Secret
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23:11
How Guns N' Roses Got Together to Form the Iconic Hard Rock Band
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21:07
How the Dalai Lama Took the Throne at Age 4
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22:40
The Troubled Marriage of Catherine the Great and Peter III
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20:21
Algonquin Round Table: How the Group of Writers Became a Symbol of the Roaring Twenties
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21:26
How Chevy Chase Helped Create ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ "Weekend Update"
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15:00
The 27 Club: Kurt Cobain and Other Musicians Who Died at Age 27
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Eric Clapton: The Unthinkable Tragedy That Inspired "Tears in Heaven"
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15:00
George Takei and Pat Morita’s Harrowing Childhood Experiences in Japanese American Internment Camps
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18:54
10 Famous Comedians Who Were Rejected by 'Saturday Night Live'
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23:01
Why Bob Dole Was Often Seen Clutching a Pen
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23:20
Inside Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner's Tumultuous Relationship
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18:56
10 Iconic Wild West Figures
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22:42
How Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn Inspired the Characters Sam and Diane From 'Cheers'
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21:35
Keith Richards Wrote One of the Rolling Stone’s Biggest Hits In His Sleep
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18:54
How Jane Goodall Became One of America's Most Notable Scientists — Without a College Degree
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22:53
Matthew Perry's Addiction Struggle: He Doesn't Remember Three Years of 'Friends'
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21:14
How Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird Led the Dream Team to Olympic Gold
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23:04
The Mamas & the Papas: Inside the Band’s Love Quadrangle, Drug Problems and Hit Songs
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22:46
Why TLC Never Replaced Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes After Her Untimely Death
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18:56
How Childhood Friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Formed the Rolling Stones
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19:51
How Ellen DeGeneres' Historic Coming-Out Episode Changed Television
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The Many Ups and Downs of the Beach Boys
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23:19
The Surprising Reason Lisa Kudrow’s Character on ‘Friends’ Was an Identical Twin
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23:47
How Dr. Seuss' 1970 Trip to Kenya Inspired 'The Lorax'
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22:30
Why Julia Roberts Lost Her Role in ‘Pretty Woman’ — and Then Got It Back
» Biography
The thrill of the Golden Ticket, the wonderment of a chocolate factory and the whimsy of the Oompa-Loompas: The sugary sweet world imagined in Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has made it one of the most beloved tales in children’s literature. With at least 20 million copies ...
It’s rare that a real-world event is more dramatic and hard to believe than what transpires in the Oscar-winning movie it inspires, but you can absolutely make the case that it applies to the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, which serves as a climactic moment in Martin Scorsese’s classic film GoodFellas, ...
In 1931, following decades of turf warfare, Brooklyn bootlegger Salvatore Maranzano established the leaders of New York City's five largest Italian American criminal organizations and declared himself capo di tutti capi — the "boss of all bosses." Maranzano was soon killed off — the other bosses ...
When Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, she had not released a new album in five years, since she put out her landmark, multi-Grammy-winning classic Back in Black in 2006. That Winehouse was just 27 years old when she died underscored her sheer natural brilliance, the ...
While still in its nascence in the early 1980s, the producers of Murder, She Wrote had one actress in mind they believed would be perfect to personify the series main character, the gentle writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher: British-born star of stage and screen Angela Lansbury. But ...
Describing the relationship and marriage of Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon as on-again, off-again, on-again, would be a massive understatement. Across 12 years, the pair dated, split, became engaged to another, dated again and then decided rather than split they should wed. After the marriage ...
In 1978, Gianni Versace had a vision for a new fashion line and opened his first boutique in Milan. By 1997, he had 130 high-end boutiques around the world — and was a global fashion titan worth $807 million. Known for his colorfully vibrant designs, he transcended the fashion world with his ...
Jesse James was no hero, despite what the dime novels depicted, nor did he have a charitable Robin Hood complex as some may have suggested. James, along with his older brother, Frank, were out to get rich by breaking all the rules. The brothers were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War and, ...
Milli Vanilli was experiencing unheard of meteoric fame. Their debut hit “Girl You Know It’s True” was on the Billboard Hot 100 for 26 weeks, peaking at No. 2, in April 1989, so joining the inaugural Club MTV Tour alongside Paula Abdul and Tone Loc seemed to be the next logical step to catapult ...
It was a chaste kiss, even by primetime television standards of the day, but it generated headlines around the world. When guest star Rock Hudson, the square-jawed leading man of yesteryear, locked lips with series star Linda Evans on a February 1985 episode of the soap/drama Dynasty, he was ...
Since their large-scale influx from the homeland in the late 19th century, Italian Americans have rendered their distinct pattern on the cultural fabric with their food, fashions, expressions and mores. Many have gone on to prominence in sports, academia and public service, overcoming perceptions ...
Ryan O’Neal stood there with his ear on the phone, conflicted. He had recently reconnected with an old friend Lee Majors when he was in Toronto visiting his daughter Tatum O’Neal on the set of her movie. They had hit it off and O’Neal started visiting Majors’ home, getting reacquainted with his pal ...
In 1800, four years before they fatefully met on a dueling ground in Weehawken, New Jersey, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr temporarily put aside their fierce rivalry to join forces in a high-profile murder trial in New York City. READ MORE: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's Deadly Rivalry ...
Rock Hudson was one of the last stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era, but he was forced to keep his private life a secret, concealing his sexuality to protect his leading man image. But after decades of secrecy, Hudson’s revelation that he had AIDS shortly before his death in 1985 proved to be a ...
By late 1976, Queen and the Sex Pistols were occupying opposing corners of the music spectrum. Set to introduce their fifth studio album, A Day at the Races, the world-famous members of Queen had recently performed before 150,000 fans at London's Hyde Park and released a single infused with their ...
Thanks, in part, to the blockbuster success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton, the lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr have sparked the interest of millions around the world. Their legendary rivalry was born in the bruising world of early American politics and ended on ...
For years, the Golden State Killer had been a cold case long abandoned by California police, but journalist Michelle McNamara, along with a few fellow sleuths and internet friends, turned the heat back on an investigation that would eventually become a national news story. McNamara’s long chase ...
As written in history books, for centuries the most powerful members of the Royal Family tend to come off as stuffy and conservative. That began to change in 1981 when 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles and brought youthful energy and a new spirit to the staid monarchy. Diana was ...
The nicknames given to America’s commanders in chief have been as varied as the people themselves. Some have showcased military victories and qualities of leadership to propel candidates onto the national stage, while others have revealed the darker side of American politics itself. Here’s the ...
It was a love triangle straight out of a Hollywood farce: A famous singer divorces his equally famous movie actress wife, leaving her and their two young children in order to immediately marry one of her erstwhile best friends, who also happens to be a globally famous movie star. Yet the events ...
Before Wilson Phillips' first No. 1 single, "Hold On," reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1990, founding member Chynna Phillips had to hit rock bottom. The singer, who formed the group with Carnie and Wendy Wilson in 1986, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction throughout ...
Remembered as kings of the vaudeville stage and early motion picture comedies, it's fitting that the Marx Brothers found their origins in a performance setting. Their father, Simon, was a tailor from Alsace-Lorraine who despised using tape measures and derived his greatest enjoyment from games of ...
The Beatles’ classic ballad “Yesterday” has a dreamy and gentle melody, with lyrics that feel plucked out of a man’s deepest subconscious. So it’s only fitting that rock legend Paul McCartney came up with the earliest stages of the song in his sleep, then let them pour out of his soul on the piano ...
On the night of March 24, 1975, a struggling actor and screenwriter named Sylvester Stallone checked into a Los Angeles theater to watch a closed-circuit broadcast of the great Muhammad Ali whipping some big, lumbering lug of a boxer from Bayonne, New Jersey, named Chuck Wepner. Or so he thought. ...
Like many kids, Michael J. Fox had his eyes on a career as a rockstar. “I grew up admiring rockstars like Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page,” he told The New York Times Magazine. “That’s what I thought being famous was. But I wasn’t a rockstar.” Many might argue that the Canadian actor is a rockstar — ...
Bruce Lee poured himself into everything he did. When he discovered martial arts, he committed to a fitness regime 100 percent, avoiding drinking and smoking, plus taking vitamin supplements — and even drinking raw hamburger meat to build the perfect tone. When he found acting and wasn’t finding ...
In the early months of 1986, songs like Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For,” Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” and Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” dominated the Billboard charts. The hype over Aerosmith — who had six platinum hits in the 1970s — had cooled down. While hip-hop ...
Robin Williams brought joy to countless people over the course of his career. However, before he had audiences laughing at films like Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire, or touched hearts with performances in Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting, he had his breakthrough role with a guest appearance on ...
While the four decades-long friendship between Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks grew into one of mutual love and respect for one another, it started as a one-way obsession. Nicks had just joined Fleetwood Mac when she started hearing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ music on the radio and became ...
Pearl Jam, the band that would come to define a region and an era found its earliest pieces when Montana-born bassist Jeff Ament and Seattle guitarist Stone Gossard joined fellow guitarist Steve Turner, drummer Alex Vincent and frontman Mark Arm in 1984 to launch Green River, a band named after a ...
She was the epitome of Hollywood glamour and transformed that into real-world flair when she married royalty, but ultimately Grace Kelly — who became Princess Grace of Monaco — was only human. When her car tumbled off the cliff of a winding road in Monaco on September 13, 1982, even her ethereal ...
American greats Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s short-lived union and lengthier relationship captured the hearts and attention of a nation. When they met, Monroe was becoming the siren of Hollywood movies, and “Yankee Clipper” DiMaggio had already been labeled the greatest baseball player of all ...
As the first sign of the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 1980s, Larry Kramer started ringing the alarm — loudly and with fury. But he was often met with inaction, which drove him to get even louder and more furious. It was that passion — and aggression — with which the playwright ...
Long before Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle, there was another lavish fairytale wedding between a European royal and an American actress… when Prince Rainier III of Monaco married Grace Kelly in 1956. Both were seemingly at the top of their worlds before they met: He had stepped up to assume the ...
It’s ironic that Carly Simon’s biggest hit “You’re So Vain” was on an album titled No Secrets. After all, the inspiration for the song has been one of the biggest secrets in popular music history — and even today, the mystery has only been partially revealed. The staggering success of the song has ...
Liv Tyler was 11 years old in August 1988 when she looked up at a poster of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler on her bedroom wall and came to a realization that would rock her entire existence. "My mom has a diary entry or something where I wrote, 'I think Steven is my father,'" she explained in ...
In the role of television’s Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter had the strength, resilience and intelligence to fight crime and put the troubles of the world to rest. As an in-demand actress and singer in the 1980s, Carter used those same qualities to make the real-life decision to turn her ...
Good times never seem so good (so good, so good, so good) as when Neil Diamond’s 1969 hit “Sweet Caroline” is being sung by a huge crowd. The carefree singable track debuted in May 1969, becoming the ultimate summer hit, spending 14 weeks on the charts, peaking at No. 4 on the Hot 100. Since then, ...
A love relationship as complicated as it was devoted, the bond between screen greats Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy stretched across three decades and nine films including Woman of the Year and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. But their offscreen union would remain publicly unacknowledged ...
In many ways, the rise of Guns N' Roses into one of the world's biggest bands in the late 1980s represents the quintessential Hollywood success story, a culmination of ambitions realized by five boys who left behind past lives and old names to reinvent themselves as rock royalty. Adler introduced ...
Lhamo Thondup was just a 2-year-old boy, one of seven children living on a farm in a small Tibetan village, when a search party declared him the 14th Dalai Lama. Before the discovery, he was considered an ordinary boy who spent time collecting eggs in the family’s chicken coop with his mother, ...
Catherine the Great was the longest-serving female ruler in Russian history. But before this Prussian-born princess could reign, she had to overcome a loveless marriage to an unstable heir that resulted in a power struggle that turned deadly. Peter III was the grandson of two emperorsThe ...
For more than a decade a group of writers, critics and entertainers gathered each day at New York City’s Algonquin Hotel, earning themselves the nickname the "Algonquin Round Table." The “10-year lunch” epitomized the glamour and excitement of the Roaring Twenties. Fueled by alcohol, witty ...
In a time before “fake news” became a term we all debated, Saturday Night Live’s "Weekend Update" segment proudly opened with the words, “And now the fake news” in the mid-90s. Since the weekend sketch comedy show's October 11, 1975 premiere, the current events satire has been the only ongoing ...
The 27 Club is predominantly made up of musicians who would rise to become the voice of their generation and pioneers in their genre — from blues to rock to grunge. Some died from unknown circumstances, others by taking their own life, while a substantial number fell victim to the excesses of drugs ...
“Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?” asks the lyrics to "Tears in Heaven," the emotionally wrought hit song by guitar idol Eric Clapton. Released in 1991 it charted in the top 10 in more than 20 countries and won Grammys for Song of ...
At a time when Asian Americans were hardly seen on screen, Pat Morita and George Takei broke new ground — seizing roles where they were able to play against stereotypes in the 1960s and '70s. Morita portrayed Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on the sitcom Happy Days from 1975 to 1983 before his Academy ...
Live from New York, it’s dozens of famous comedians who were rejected from Saturday Night Live — but still went on to become household names in entertainment. The sketch comedy show, which has been on the air since 1975, has launched the careers of some of the funniest performers of the last four ...
Just like hosting town hall meetings and kissing babies, shaking hands is a must for politicians on the campaign trail. But that last part was tricky for Bob Dole. The veteran lawmaker who spent eight years serving Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives and 27 years in the Senate, suffered ...
It was a love match anchored in the history of old Hollywood. A child star turned teen idol, Natalie Wood had grown up on film screens in front of millions of Americans, and at age 18 had made the transition to serious adult actress. Robert Wagner, a 26-year-old square-jawed aspiring contract ...
The 1860s and the 1890s gave birth to the period known as the Wild West and laid a foundation to its ensuing mythology. It was an era of cowboys, Indians, pioneers, outlaws and gunslingers brought together by the purposes of expansion, defense, greed and reinvention. Explore some of the legends of ...
Everybody knows the names Sam and Diane. Predating iconic TV couples such as Ross and Rachel or Jim and Pam, the Cheers characters quickly became the topic of water-cooler conversations when the sitcom premiered in September 1989. Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) was a snooty grad student turned ...
One of the most iconic rock songs of all time may never have existed if it weren’t for the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards’ uncanny ability to write songs in his sleep. The Stones' 1965 hit “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” features one of the most famous intros in music history, but ...
When Jane Goodall first arrived at Gombe Stream Game Reserve in what’s now Tanzania in 1960, little was known about the world of chimpanzees. But the 26-year-old secretary would go on to make groundbreaking discoveries through her immersive, unorthodox observations, even as her findings were ...
As much as Matthew Perry wanted to be a successful actor, he also craved the fame that came along with it. “There was steam coming out of my ears, I wanted to be famous so badly,” the actor admitted to the New York Times in 2002. “You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best ...
Following decades of dominance, by the late 1980s, it was clear that the American men's basketball program could no longer roll out a team of amateur players and expect to beat professionals from other countries simply because of the USA letters on their jerseys. The point was driven home by a ...
Folk-rockers the Mamas & the Papas — made up of John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot — provided the musical backdrop to the late 1960s with hit songs like "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday." Yet the groovy era didn't save the group from behind-the-scenes ...
In the 1990s, TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas created hits like "Waterfalls," "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty," won four Grammy Awards and sold more than 20 million albums. Their level of success places them alongside groups like the Supremes, the Dixie ...
The story of the Rolling Stones begins with an encounter between its foundational pieces, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, at a train station in Dartford, England, in October 1961. This wasn't the pair's initial introduction, as the two grew up in Dartford and attended grammar school together, but ...
When Ellen Morgan, the character Ellen DeGeneres played on her sitcom Ellen, came out as gay on the show's April 30, 1997, episode, it sent shockwaves through the television industry. Up to that point, only a handful of gay characters had been seen on television, and none of these were series ...
The Beach Boys began their careers with sunny paeans about California life that led to multiple No. 1 hits, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and years of successful tours. However, the band has also faced harsh realities such as Brian Wilson's mental illness, the early deaths of Dennis ...
Long before Lisa Kudrow wove her way into the 1990s pop culture fabric as the flighty but lovable Phoebe Buffay on the sitcom Friends, she was already cracking audiences up with a recurring role in another comedy on the same network, Mad About You. After making her debut on the show starring ...
More than a decade after he'd dreamt up iconic characters like a hat-wearing cat and a grumpy Grinch who stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss introduced the world to the Lorax. "Describe him...That's hard. I don't know if I can," wrote Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel) in his 1971 children’s book. "He was shortish, ...
Casting anyone other than Julia Roberts to star in Pretty Woman could have been a big mistake. Big. Huge. The actress snagged the role of down-on-her-luck prostitute Vivian Ward, and then just three days later lost the job that would eventually earn her the title of "America's Sweetheart." That's ...