On August 27, 1979, the sea off Mullaghmore, Ireland, was calm. Lord Louis Mountbatten, 79, took his boat Shadow V out from the harbor as he had done every summer for three decades. A radio-controlled bomb hidden below the deck detonated moments later. Mountbatten was pulled from the water barely alive and died before reaching … Read more
In the winter of 1676, Mary Rowlandson was living among her Wampanoag captors in western Massachusetts. She had been taken from her home in Lancaster on February 10, and her captivity had already lasted more than two months. Her youngest daughter had died in her arms from a gunshot wound suffered during the attack. Her … Read more
On the 11th of December 1936, a former king sat before a microphone at Windsor and told the largest radio audience the world had ever gathered that he could not carry his burden without the woman he loved. It was called the grandest sacrifice of the century. A throne and an empire given up for … Read more
Alice Keppel spent 12 years as the mistress of King Edward VII. She was, by many accounts, the most powerful woman in England who held no official title. Ministers sought her ear. Hostesses competed for her presence. The king himself could not be at ease for long without her. When the king died in May … Read more
In the summer of 1900, a baby girl was born into one of Britain’s grandest aristocratic families. That child would grow up to become Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, one of the most beloved figures in modern British history. But the circumstances of her birth remain one of the strangest unresolved puzzles of the modern … Read more
June Wilkinson, once billed as one of the most recognizable glamour models in America, built a career that spanned decades, yet she never achieved the same level of film stardom as her famous contemporaries Jane Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Her physical measurements and striking figure often placed her in their company, but her place … Read more
212 000 människor såg den videon natten den lades upp. Jag vill berätta vem de var, för siffran i sig betyder ingenting. Nästan femhundra av dem var män på familjens lönelista som tittade på spruckna telefoner i lastbilar och säkra hus över norra Chihuahua, och de jublade. En av dem var en överstes adjutant i … Read more
Zelfs nu ik het podium op liep, kon ik het niet geloven. Na vier jaar van late nachten en weggegooide weekenden stond ik er dan eindelijk: Femke van den Berg, zesendertig jaar oud, master in de rechten met onderscheiding. Het had het mooiste moment van mijn leven moeten zijn. In plaats daarvan staarden drie lege … Read more
Junior Samples, the beloved Hee Haw comedian known for his used car salesman skits and the famous BR549 phone number, died of a massive heart attack at his home in Georgia on November 13, 1983. He was 57 years old. The man who became one of America’s most recognizable television faces over 14 seasons never … Read more
The humid Pennsylvania air hung thick with the promise of bloodshed on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, as a desperate plea from one of the Confederacy’s most fearless generals was dismissed with cold, unwavering finality. The fate of the Army of Northern Virginia, and indeed the entire Confederate cause, teetered on a knife’s edge … Read more