“May the Great Worm gnaw your vitals, and may your bones rot joint by little joint!” Here’s a wild story about General George Patton, hard-driving hero (and cancelled-in-his-own-time villain) of …..
Bob Dole — Congressman, Senate majority leader, and three-time presidential candidate — was also once a muscular young man. Bob Dole died this morning at age 98 after a lifetime …..
Here’s Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife playing their song “Sweet Christmas.” It’s one of their two big holiday songs, the other being the more-famous “Space Christmas.” Are you in the …..
Earlier we were speaking of the polio diagnosis of President Franklin Roosevelt. Now let’s chat a bit about the stamina of his wife, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. For years, Eleanor …..
You learn something new every day, and today we learned how future president Franklin D. Roosevelt got polio at age 39. Or how he probably got it: from the Boy …..
Will anyone ever be taller than Robert Wadlow? The small-town boy from Illinois was a whopping 8’11” tall — that’s right: eight feet, eleven inches — when he died in …..
Queen Elizabeth II has one less item on her plate: Barbados has become an independent republic. Musical star Rihanna and royal representative Prince Charles were on hand as Barbados cut …..
Here’s a fascinating little story about hotsy-totsy 20th-century artist Lucian Freud and a portrait he said he didn’t paint. In 1997, a Swiss art collector bought what he thought was …..
You might have assumed that the ill-fated ship the Edmund Fitzgerald was named for an old-timey sea captain or an Irish bartender or some other sailing-adjacent fellow. Not so! As …..
Here’s a wonderful interview with rocker Dave Grohl, courtesy of New York magazine. Grohl just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time. This …..
Looking back from a distance of 60 years, Hoagy Carmichael‘s 1961 appearance on The Flintstones was a strange affair. One might think this was a desperation gag near the end of …..
The encomiums for Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts were broad and heartfelt after his death last month. Words like limber, subtle, stoic and impeccable were tossed about in obituaries and …..
Our new biography of tennis star Emma Raducanu is now live. We almost said “tennis prodigy,” but that term no longer applies when you’re the reigning U.S. Open champion. Her …..
Actor and seven-time Emmy winner Ed Asner has died. His family confirmed the news in a message on Asner’s Twitter account: We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch …..
Charlie Watts, rock-steady drummer for the Rolling Stones since 1963, has died at a London hospital. The band’s official Twitter feed shared the news earlier today: pic.twitter.com/wi6333F6QF — The Rolling …..
100 years after the birth of John Glenn, a historian looks at how he inspired girls to want to go to space – but in line with the sexism of the early space program, he offered little encouragement
Bo in 2009. (Official White House photo by Chuck Kennedy) Bo the Dog has died, sad to say. The former First Dog passed away at age 12 after a bout …..
For Mother’s Day, an appreciation of Mary Ball Washington, the strong-willed mother of George Washington. Male historians have tended to take his complaints about her at face value.
This infamous Orson Welles too-drunk-to-work video has been having a moment lately, 40 years after it was filmed. Now we’re happy to report on a surprising new twist. The story in …..
Megan Thee Stallion just won three Grammys at the 2021 Grammy Awards. They included best rap song and best rap performances for “Savage,” her remixed hit with Béyonce, plus best new …..