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The Story Behind
07.09.2024 · 14:08:48 ···
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ···
13.07.2023 · 03:34:49 ··· 5 ··· ··· 29 ···
07.09.2024 · 14:08:48 ···
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ···
13.07.2023 · 03:34:49 ··· 5 ··· ··· 29 ···
1:: That Time When Fake Mental Patients Fooled Psychiatrists
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 01.06.2019 · 14:00:03 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
2:: Radioactive Love Story Of Marie And Pierre Curie
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 30.05.2019 · 14:00:04 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
3:: The Story Behind The First Gay Pride Parade Ever
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 28.05.2019 · 14:00:07 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
4:: Who Was Mercedes Jellinek, The Woman Behind The Car
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 26.05.2019 · 18:07:05 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
5:: Who Is The Woman Mercury Called "The Love of His Life"
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 23.05.2019 · 14:00:01 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
6:: Before Alarm Clocks There Were KNOCKER UPPERS
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 21.05.2019 · 10:29:38 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
7:: A Girl Kidnapped And Tattooed By Native Americans
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 19.05.2019 · 08:33:39 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
8:: A Song of Ice And Fire Was Inspired By...TURTLES
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 16.05.2019 · 10:00:15 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
9:: The Brave Life And Tragic Death Of Harvey Milk
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 15.05.2019 · 10:42:07 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
10:: The Story Behind The Iconic Photo Of Nessie
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 14.05.2019 · 10:00:07 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
11:: The Sad Story Of America’s First Supermodel
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 13.05.2019 · 23:00:01 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· She’s considered America’s first supermodel. But she died alone after 65 years in an asylum.
Audrey Munson was born in Rochester, New York in 1891. She wanted to be an actress as a little girl. At 17, she moved to New York with her mother to pursue her dream.
One day, Audrey was window-shopping on Fifth Avenue. That’s when she was spotted by photographer Felix Benedict Herzog. He was so fascinated by her beauty he asked her to sit for him in his studio. Herzog also introduced her to the art world. Her first major job was posing for sculptor Isidore Konti. It was him who first suggested she pose naked. Though Audrey’s mum was hesitant, she was eventually convinced by Konti’s words. The collaboration resulted in a statuary Three Graces.
All of them were inspired by her. Shortly after that, Munson became a model in high demand. She posed for painters and illustrators as well, but most of her colleagues were carvers. Fountains, columns, and relief panels all over New York featured her image. Citizens started calling her Miss Manhattan.
In 1915, she participated in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Audrey modeled for three-fifths of the sculptures created for the fair. The event earned her the nickname Panama-Pacific Girl. That same year, she made her film debut in Inspiration. She played a sculptor’s model, becoming the first actress in America to appear nude in a film. Munson starred in a few more controversial pictures before returning to her primary job.
Being an advocate for women artists, she refused to stay in her male counterparts’ shadow. In 1921, she authored a series of articles about a model’s crucial role in the artistic process. She disclosed unequal pay and the difference in attitude towards actresses and posers.
Soon Audrey’s luck ran out. She got caught up in a string of scandals. She filed a suit against a producer when she received an invalid check for her role in a movie. In another incident, her landlord killed his wife claiming to have done it to marry Munson. Since then, she struggled to find work. She attempted suicide in 1922. Audrey finally ended up in St. Lawrence State Hospital for the Insane in 1931. She remained there for the next 65 years. She died in 1996 aged 104. Once known as American Venus, she was buried in an unmarked grave.
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12:: Who Was Ponzi & What Was His Scheme
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 13.05.2019 · 10:40:54 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
13:: The Truth About Josef Mengele, Nazi Angel Of Death
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 13.05.2019 · 00:00:00 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
14:: The Incredible Story Of A Crazy Brave Soldier
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 12.05.2019 · 12:00:02 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· One of the most decorated American soldiers...was a tiny young man named Audie Murphy.
He was born to a sharecropper family in Texas in 1924. His father left, and his mother died when he was 17. As one of twelve children, he dropped out of school early to support his siblings. He hunted for food and worked as a cotton picker. After Pearl Harbor in 1941, Audie wanted to serve his country. The Navy and the Marines turned him down due to his age and size. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall and he weighed just 112 pounds.
He enlisted in the Army the following year after his sister forged his affidavit. Murphy was sent to North Africa, and then to Italy and France. He first saw combat in Sicily and proved to be a great fighter.
Beginning as a private, he rose to the rank of second lieutenant. On January 26, 1945, his unit was near the French town of Holtzwihr. He had 19 soldiers left in his company when they were attacked by 250 German troops. Audie ordered his men to fall back while he stayed and called in an artillery strike. Their tank destroyers were in flames, but machine guns on them were operational. He climbed up the burning vehicle and opened fire against the Nazis. He held them off for an hour, single-handedly killing 50 enemy soldiers. He was exposed to gunners all along and his leg was wounded.
Murphy was promoted to first lieutenant and awarded Medal of Honor. It was just one of 37 decorations he received from the US, France, and Belgium. Upon return from the war, Audie appeared on the cover of Life magazine.
Young and good-looking, he was spotted by movie producers. He starred in more than 40 films over the next 20 years. In 1955, he played himself in To Hell and Back, an adaptation of his memoir.
Though he was a star, he was unable to rid himself of the horrors of war. Audie suffered from nightmares which led to insomnia and depression. He slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow and got addicted to sleeping pills. He spoke out about his problems to highlight the importance of special care for veterans. Murphy died tragically in a plane crash in 1971. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
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Music by Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/
15:: The Dark Side Of Frank Sinatra
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 11.05.2019 · 12:00:05 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
16:: The Story Behind Queen Elizabeth II’s Marriage
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 08.05.2019 · 12:00:06 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· The marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is the longest of any British sovereign. They are together more than 70 years already.
They knew each other from childhood. In fact, Elizabeth and Philip are cousins. They are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. They have met for the first time when she was 8 years old and he was 13.
Elizabeth fell in love with Philip 5 years later. It was their second meeting. Elizabeth visited the British naval academy and Philip was training there. He was her tour-guide. Philip was charming and confident. But the young man didn’t pay her any special attention as she was too young.
They’ve started corresponding but for Philip that was just friendship. Princess kept a photo of Philip by her bed. The courtship seriously started after WWII. Philip wasn’t the best match for the future Queen. He was the prince of Greece and Denmark. But his family was exiled from Greece and had no fortune or lands.
Nevertheless, they engaged when Elizabeth was 20. Her father King George VI asked to keep relationships in secret until Elizabeth’s 21 birthday. The king and his wife worried that their daughter was too young to marry. They also didn’t like Philip - he was called a bit rough. But the two never wavered and they married in November 1947. To marry Elizabeth Philip had to give up the royal titles of his birth.
The first years after the wedding were relatively normal for them. Prince Philip was stationed in Malta with the Royal Navy. Elizabeth lived the life of naval wife: she went shopping, sightseeing, and gossiped. King George VI died when Elizabeth was 25 years old. She was coronated in 1953 and Philip was the first to swear allegiance to the new queen. After a few years, she granted him the title of a Prince of the United Kingdom. He became a consort of the queen. Elizabeth and Philip have four children, 8 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.
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Music by Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/
17:: The Gossip Columnist Who Ruined Dozens Of Hollywood Careers
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 04.05.2019 · 16:28:08 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· During the Golden Age of Hollywood, gossip ruined careers. All thanks to Hedda Hopper.
Born Elda Furry in 1885 in Pennsylvania, she ran away at 18 to work on Broadway. She became a chorus girl there and married actor DeWolf Hopper. His previous spouses were, ironically, Ella, Ida, Edna, and Nella. To avoid confusion, Elda changed her name to Hedda after consulting a numerologist. In 1916, she began doing movies and got her big break in Virtuous Wives two years later. But it wasn’t her acting but rather her wardrobe that caught everyone’s attention. Actors provided their own costumes at the time, so she spent her $5,000 salary on clothes. She appeared in over 150 films and TV series, mostly playing society women. However, by the mid-1930s, her career has stalled.
Hedda was a single mother by then, and she was in a desperate search for income. Since she always seemed to know the best gossip, she tried her hand at journalism. In 1935, she debuted her gossip column working for $50 a week. Soon Hopper was making $250,000 per year. Her readership rose to 35 million people. Her pieces became a must-read, as her rival Louella Parsons’s once were.
Since 1939, she hosted her own radio show in addition to her columns. Hedda promoted her friends and crushed those who lied to her or worked with Parsons. A mere article of hers could destroy a celebrity’s career as well as save one.
Once she kept suggesting Ingrid Bergman should star in The Bells of St. Mary’s. When the actress got the part, Hopper was credited as the main factor for producers’ decision. She was the one who ruined her later by writing about her child with director Rossellini. Hedda also helped Joan Crawford to take down Bette Davis. She rang up over 600 Academy voters to tell them about Davis’s nasty behavior on set. Most of those stories were made up by Hopper and Crawford. As a result, Davis didn’t win an Oscar she was expected to get in 1963. Being a conservative and a Republican, Hopper demonized Communists and gays. Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted for years after she exposed him as a Communist. She loathed Charlie Chaplin for having affairs with younger girls. He was denied re-entry to the US when she cooperated with the FBI. Hopper referred to her Beverly Hills mansion as «the house that fear built».
Her unscrupulous columns got her many enemies in Hollywood. Joseph Cotten pulled the chair out from under Hopper at a dinner. Joan Bennett sent her a skunk on Valentine’s day. It came with a note: «I stink and so do you». Apart from her scandalous reports, she was famous for her extravagant style. She loved oversized and overdecorated hats and allegedly bought 150 of them per year. Her crazy headgear was even mocked in a Time cover once. The «gargoyle of gossip» worked tirelessly until the very end. She died of pneumonia in 1966. She was 80.
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18:: Who Really Were Marilyn Monroe's Lovers
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 02.05.2019 · 10:52:31 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Marilyn Monroe has been married three times. But the list of her supposed affairs was far longer.
Her first marriage was planned by her foster parents to keep her out of an orphanage. The future star was 16 at the time and was known as Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her husband, James Dougherty, soon joined the Navy, leaving his wife bored and lonely. They divorced four years later in 1946 when Norma chose to pursue a movie career.
In a year, she allegedly had a short affair with actor Charlie Chaplin Jr. She was also introduced to 20th Century Fox co-founder Joseph Schenck. Though he was 50 years older than her, she was rumored to be one of his girlfriends. In 1948, she met Milton Berle on the set of Ladies of the Chorus. They had a fling. Berle was called “Mr. Television” as he was the first TV superstar in America. Still, a star on the rise, Monroe dated Elia Kazan, one of the greatest Hollywood directors. Though he was married, he admitted that he “was not sorry about it”.
Around this time she met drama coach Natasha Lytess, who’d become her friend and teacher. The two were nearly inseparable for 7 years. Marilyn even moved in with Lytess once. Monroe’s purported female lovers included Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, and Marlene Dietrich.
In 1952, Monroe started seeing the renowned baseball star, Joe DiMaggio. They married in 1954 and divorced just nine months after the wedding. DiMaggio wasn’t used to being overshadowed by his spouse. He was jealous and abusive. Monroe claimed the skirt-blowing scene in the Seven-Year Itch was the last straw. They remained close friends for the rest of her life. When Marilyn died, DiMaggio sent roses to her grave every week for 20 years.
After the breakup, she had an affair with yet another celebrity, actor Marlon Brando. She also briefly dated photographer Milton H. Greene. They started their own production company in 1954. She then reconnected with playwright Arthur Miller. They married in 1956. She was “mad about him”, he was the only person she fully trusted. The couple tried to have children, but Monroe suffered two miscarriages. They drifted apart during the filming of The Misfits written by Miller. They divorced in 1961 shortly before the premiere.
Monroe went out with actor and singer Frank Sinatra for a few months after that. He gave her a white poodle. She named the dog Maf as a reference to Sinatra’s mob ties.
Probably her most scandalous relationship was with President John F. Kennedy. Rumor has it, they dated long before her infamous performance at his birthday in 1962. Monroe allegedly met the then Senator Kennedy as early as 1950. It is believed she was also involved with his brother Bobby. Many of her co-stars were considered her lovers. Tony Curtis, George Sanders, Yves Montand. While some of Marilyn’s affairs were confirmed, the others still remain a mystery.
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19:: Disneyland's Opening Day Was a Total Nightmare They Called "Black Sunday"
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 23.04.2019 · 08:30:53 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Disneyland was supposed to be the “Happiest Place on Earth”. But its opening turned it into a total disaster!
Walt Disney dreamed of a theme park with a real-life version of his films. It took him one year and one day to build the park. His dream cost $17 million. Disneyland opened its doors on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California. This day was an “invite only” and wasn’t meant for public visits. Tickets were mailed out to special guests, the press, and celebrities. But tickets were counterfeited and crowds of people flooded the park. There were two times as many people as was expected. Tickets cost only $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. One man set up a ladder outside of the fence and took $5 to sneak into the park. The freeway that led to the park was blocked by the traffic for 11 km. People were trapped in the cars for so long they were urinating in the parking lot. Disneyland was still under construction on an opening day. The workers were painting walls and planting trees. Weeds had yet to be removed from the riverbanks. Some rides were out of work because they were not finished. There were plenty of water fountains but they didn’t work. The reason was a plumbers’ strike right before the opening. There were not enough hours to finish both restrooms and water fountains. Restaurants were out of food and beverages within hours because of an unexpected crowd. The weather was so hot that fresh asphalt was melting. People had their shoes and heels stuck in the pavement. During the first weeks after opening a ride was permanently closed. It was discovered it could flip over if it was too top-heavy. 36 cars in Autopia crashed due to aggressive driving. Though they were designed to teach children the rules of the road. The Mark Twain Riverboat sank after carrying about 500 people on an opening day. Some attractions were closed for a few hours due to a gas leak. Flames from the leak almost engulfed Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The live broadcast of the Disneyland opening also faced some difficulties. Faulty miscues, on-air flubs, hot mics were part of the shooting. The opening day was called Black Sunday but still, it was a memorable day.
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20:: Philippe Petit's Crazy High-Wire Walk Between The Twin Towers
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 22.04.2019 · 07:23:26 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· The Frenchman Philippe Petit performed all his life. His biggest passion was high-wire walks. And he became famous for walking. Philippe Petit’s passion for performances started from magic tricks at the age of 6. Later, he started to perform on the streets of Paris juggling and doing tricks. And he first tried to walk on the wire there. He had been practicing only for a year when he learned about the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center in New York City was about 1,368 feet (415 meters) above the ground. And Philippe had a burning desire to walk on the wire between them. He spent the next 6 years preparing for this walk. Before going to the World Trade Center, he decided to practice on the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. And two years later, he completed a walk at the Sydney’s Harbour Bridge. Both of the walks were illegal. When Philippe came to New York, he was shocked. He found it impossible to walk between the towers. Not only because of the high altitude of the buildings, but also because of the difficulties with the preparation. How to bring all the necessary equipment secretly? He made three trips to New York to explore the towers. Philippe and his accomplice even rented a helicopter to take aerial photographs of the buildings. To come into the towers, Philippe pretended to be an architect, a journalist, and a construction worker. He even built a model of the tower. While exploring the building, Philippe met Barry Greenhouse. He worked in the south tower. Barry recognized Petit as the street performer and agreed to help him. Petit took into account the swaying of the towers.
In case of strong winds, they could slightly sway - it was a part of their design. Another problem appeared three weeks before the planned walk. Philippe stepped on a nail in one of the Twin Towers… He laid up in the bed for three days and then he could walk only with the help of crutches. But, actually, it was a stroke of luck - guards helped him during his visits to the towers and didn’t ask for an ID. To bring the equipment, Petit and his team pretended to be high riggers. They said that they were hired to install an electric fence on the rooftop. The walk had to start early in the morning. Before everybody realized that they were not construction workers. To fix the wire Philippe used a bow and arrows. The walk lasted 45 minutes. Petit crossed the wire between the towers eight times. He performed tricks and even laid down on the cable. Police tried to stop him and even promised to use a helicopter to snatch the artist. When Petit finished the performance, police officers arrested him. The court decided not to punish him. Petit only had to perform a high-wire walk in Central Park for children. The Frenchman was happy to do it.
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21:: Betty Brosmer, The Most Gorgeous Body Of 50s
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 16.04.2019 · 14:00:07 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Pioneer of female fitness and bodybuilding. She had the most gorgeous body of the 1950s. Her name is Betty Brosmer. She was born in 1935 in Pasadena, California. As a child, she played sports with her father and was actually a tomboy. She stood out when she was just a teenager because of her figure and beauty. At 13, Betty first appeared in the Sears & Roebuck catalog. The next year a photo of her was sold for commercial advertising. It was published in several magazines including Time and Life. In 1950, she moved to New York and entered George Washington High School. In her spare time, Brosmer pursued her modeling career. She worked with famous pin-up artists, Alberto Vargas, and Earl Moran. Her pictures graced the covers of crime and romance books and journals. Despite her young age, she posed wearing pretty revealing outfits. Betty won more than 50 beauty contests before she was 20. She was Miss Television, Miss Potato Chips, and Summer Queen. After graduation, she left for Los Angeles to study psychology. In 1954, she modeled for legendary Christian Dior. She later signed a contract with photographer Keith Bernard. He had worked with Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. But it was Betty who became his best selling pin-up model. She made 100-200 dollars a day while other girls got only 50-75 dollars. Brosmer was the first model to have rights on all her photos. She got a percentage whenever her pictures were published. Betty appeared on over 300 covers, featuring in “virtually every men's magazine”. Her images decorated milk cartons, billboards, and calendars. Because of her hourglass body shape, people called her “the girl with impossible waist”. And it was the absolute truth: her measurements were 94-46-91 cm. Playboy tried to get an exclusive photo shoot with Brosmer once. But since she refused to pose naked, the resulting pictures were sold to another magazine. In 1961, she married Canadian bodybuilder Joe Weider and gave up pin-up modeling. Betty became a role model instead, appearing in fitness and bodybuilding periodicals. Soon she began writing articles for her husband’s magazine “Muscle and Fitness”. She eventually got her own monthly columns, “Health by Betty” and “Body by Betty”. They say it was Betty who recognized young Arnold Schwarzenegger’s talent. She suggested Joe take a closer look at him, and Weider became Arnold’s mentor. In 1981, she co-founded women’s health and fitness magazine “Shape”. During the 1980s, she co-authored several fitness guides with her husband. Though they never had common children, they were happily married until Joe’s death in 2013. In 2014, Betty was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame. She spent a lifetime telling the truth about nutrition and exercise and inspiring women.
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22:: The Sad True Story Of Elvis Presley's Last Days
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 14.04.2019 · 18:28:17 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· From his first appearance in 1956 on The Ed Sullivan Show, Elvis Presley embodied rock and roll. His career spawned hit after hit and elevated a simple country boy to the most popular musician on the planet.
Presley sold millions of records and sold out concerts to screaming fans. But behind the scenes, Presley was a deeply troubled man. As the years went by, he sunk into opiate addiction and neglected his health. He would die at just 42.
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23:: Why Victorian Mothers Hid In Photos With Their Kids
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 13.04.2019 · 23:30:43 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· In the late 1800s, a photograph required about 30 seconds of exposure time to take. So anyone sitting for a portrait had to be able to sit still for at least a minute or so.
Kids, of course, found this difficult, so some parents, in order to get pics of their brood, sat for the portrait with their children but tried to pretend like they weren’t in the picture by using various disguises and hiding spots — in curtains, under blankets, behind chairs, and more…
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24:: The Married Woman Who Hid Her Lover in the Attic For Over A Decade
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 11.04.2019 · 15:00:02 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Walburga ‘Dolly’ Oesterreich was a housewife in her early thirties, married to the owner of a Milwaukee apron factory. But nobody knew that she kept her secret lover hidden in the attic of her family house!
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25:: How An Indian Servant Became Queen Victoria’s Closest Friend
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 10.04.2019 · 19:32:44 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Queen Victoria’s closest friend in her final years… was actually a young servant from India. In 1887, the newly-minted Empress of India celebrated her Golden Jubilee. As a “gift from India”, she received two waiters. One of them was Abdul Karim, a 24-year-old clerk from Agra. He’s had a crash course in English language and manners shortly before arriving in Britain. He served the Queen and helped her interact with Indian dignitaries at the banquet. Victoria was fascinated by her new attendant from the very start. She described him as dutiful, “tall, and with a fine serious countenance”. One day Karim treated her to chicken curry with dal and pilau. The Queen loved the dish so much that it was added to her regular menu. The communication between them was stiff, and she asked him to teach her Urdu. Karim’s English lessons were also doubled. Soon they were able to correspond without any intermediaries. Though the Queen treated him well, Karim was not used to menial work. Far from home, he felt like “a sojourner in a strange land and among a strange people”. He wanted to return to India, so Victoria had to come up with something to keep him. Just a year after his arrival, he was promoted to “Munshi”, the Queen’s personal teacher. The court was angry and terrified by such a rapid career advancement. Not only Karim was of the lower class, but he was also of a different race. He traveled with Victoria and was allowed to leave for India a couple of times. His father got a pension and his former employer a promotion upon his request. The Munshi was given residences at the main royal estates in the UK and back in Agra. His wife joined him in Britain and regularly had tea with the Queen herself. He enjoyed the best opera seats and was even moved to John Brown’s bedchamber. Brown was the Queen’s previous servant and favorite who died in 1883. In 1895, Karim was decorated as a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. Victoria commissioned numerous portraits of her confidant. She signed her letters to him with kisses and as “your closest friend” and “your loving mother”. Though they did spend a night alone at a Scottish cottage, they were never lovers. When the Queen died in 1901, he was the last to see her body before her casket was closed. After that, Karim was expelled from the court and returned to India. Victoria’s letters to him were burnt in front of him by the new king’s order. Her heirs made sure no trace of the Munshi could be found. But his diary survived. His story became widely known nearly a century after his death in 1909.
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26:: The Life Of Schlitzie, The Sideshow "Pinhead"
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 04.04.2019 · 21:32:28 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Schlitzie had the mental capacity of a 3-year-old even in his adulthood. He could only speak in short sentences and phrases. Dressed as a girl, he performed in various sideshows throughout his life. Schlitzie had a rare condition called microcephaly. It causes deformation of a brain, skull, and body. The disease can lead to epilepsy, learning disabilities, and issues with hearing and vision. Most sources agree that Schlitzie was born in 1901. But many argue about his real name. It could be Simon Metz or Shlitze Surtees. It is believed that Schlitzie was born in a wealthy family but he was abandoned. Then, he changed many foster parents. In circuses, Schlitzie was billed as “The Monkey Girl” and “The Last of the Aztecs”. He performed as a female wearing dresses on stage. Dresses made it easier for his handlers to take care of him as he suffered from incontinence. Schlitzie’s fame skyrocketed in 1932 when he appeared in the film Freaks. This movie was about love and betrayal in a circus. It is well-known for featuring a number of real sideshow freaks, like Schlitzie. The movie was highly criticized for its grotesque horror involving the freaks. The Hollywood Reporter called it an outrageous onslaught upon the feelings, the senses, the brains and the stomachs of an audience. One woman wanted to sue MGM claiming that the movie caused a miscarriage. Despite all the negativity around the film, Schlitzie became a star. He was cute and innocent always charming people around him. In 1936, a chimp trainer George Surtees adopted Schlitzie. Surtees loved Schlitzie and took care of him until Surtees’ death in 1965. Surtees’ daughter sent Schlitzie to a mental hospital in Los Angeles. He stayed there for three years. Schlitzie missed circus life and his health began to decline. A sword swallower Bill Unks recognized Schlitzie during his performance in the hospital. Unks lobbied the hospital to make him Schlitzie’s caregiver. The hospital allowed Schlitzie to return to sideshows. He performed a few times with the Dobritch International Circus. Schlitzie retired in Los Angeles. Despite his fame, he didn’t have a home or a fortune. In retirement Schlitzie still entertained people by feeding pigeons and ducks at the park. He died in 1971, at the age of 70. Schlitzie was buried in a simple unmarked grave. But in 2007, a fan raised money to install a proper headstone.
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27:: Why Marlon Brando Refused The Best Actor Oscar For The Godfather
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 02.04.2019 · 07:00:02 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· In 1973, the actor Marlon Brando declines the Academy Award for Best Actor for his career-reviving performance in The Godfather. The Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather attended the ceremony in Brando’s place, stating that the actor “very regretfully” could not accept the award, as he was protesting Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in the film.
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28:: Volkswagen Beetle Was Designed Especially For Hitler
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 28.03.2019 · 00:00:00 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
29:: How A Factory Girl Norma Jeane Became Marilyn Monroe
01.01.1970 · 01:00:00 ··· 26.03.2019 · 13:06:45 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· Before Marilyn Monroe, there was Norma Jeane Mortenson: a curly-haired brunette who never imagined she would be more than a housewife.
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