By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS William Francis Kemmler (May 9, 1860 – August 6, 1890) was an American peddler, alcoholic, and murderer, who, in 1890, became the first person in the world to be executed by electric chair. He was convicted of murdering Matilda “Tillie” Ziegler, his common-law wife, a […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Geheime Staatspolizei (German pronunciation: [ɡəˈhaɪmə ˈʃtaːtspoliˌtsaɪ] (listen); transl. ”Secret State Police”), abbreviated Gestapo (/ɡəˈstɑːpoʊ/ gə-STAH-poh, German: [ɡəˈʃtaːpo] (listen)), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Andrew Smith Hallidie (March 16, 1836 – April 24, 1900) was an American entrepreneur who was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco. This was the world’s first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Paul Reubens (/ˈruːbənz/; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children’s entertainer. He was known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, and started his career as […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Samuel Hopkins (December 9, 1743 – 1818) was an American inventor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, On July 31, 1790, he was granted the first U.S. patent, under the new U.S. patent statute just signed into law by President Washington on April 10, 1790. Hopkins had petitioned […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, politician, and retired professional bodybuilder best known for his roles in high-profile action movies. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011 and was among Time magazine’s 100 […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Shuhada’ Sadaqat (previously Magda Davitt; born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor; 8 December 1966 – July 2023), known by her birth name, was an Irish singer and musician. Her debut studio album, The Lion and the Cobra, was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and one of the founders of the rock band the Rolling Stones. Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards have written most of the band’s songs together; their […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Walter Hunt (July 29, 1796 – June 8, 1859) was an American mechanical engineer. Through the course of his work he became known for being a prolific inventor. He got first involved with mechanical innovations in a linseed producing community in New York state that had flax mills. […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Hulda Hoehn Crooks (May 19, 1896 – November 23, 1997) was an American mountaineer, dietitian and vegetarianism activist. Affectionately known as “Grandma Whitney” she successfully scaled 14,505-foot (4,421 m) Mount Whitney 23 times between the ages of 65 and 91. She had climbed 97 other peaks during this […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Tarzan is a 1999 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 37th film produced by the studio, and the tenth and last released during the Disney Renaissance era, it is based on the 1912 story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice […]

By Kim McGuire Tony Bennett, whose professional career spanned nearly 80 years, died on Friday morning in New York City at age 96. He would have turned 97 on August 3. Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 but continued to perform — notably […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the “Little Dixie” area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as “bushwhackers” […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Nick Benedict (born Nicholas Joseph Sciurba; July 14, 1946 – July 14, 2023) was an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles on daytime soap operas. His father was actor and director Richard Benedict. He made his debut in 1955 in the […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Curie family is a French family with a number of illustrious scientists. Several members were awarded the Nobel Prize, including physics, chemistry, or the Nobel Peace Prize. Pierre Curie, his Polish-born wife Marie Curie, their daughter, Irène, and son-in-law, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, are the most prominent members. The […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisioned building a tourist attraction adjacent to […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Emily Howard Stowe (née Jennings; May 1, 1831 – April 30, 1903) was a Canadian physician who was the first female physician to practise in Canada, the second licensed female physician in Canada and an activist for women’s rights and suffrage. Stowe helped found the women’s suffrage movement in Canada and campaigned for […]

By Kim McGuire FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Lun Lun (Chinese: 伦伦) is a female giant panda at Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. The panda, now 242 pounds (110 kg), was born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China on August 25, 1997. Her original name, Hua Hua, was changed to Lun Lun by her sponsor, the Taiwanese rock […]

By Kim McGuire St. Swithin was a beloved ninth-century bishop of Winchester, England, who requested that he be buried in the churchyard—some say to be close to the common people, whom he loved; some say so that he could enjoy God’s gift of rain for […]