Bill Withers, who gave us such classic songs as "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine," was a 32-year-old laid-off factory worker when he got two letters: one from the factory, inviting him back to work, and the other from The Tonight Show, inviting him to appear. He chose correctly.
Read MoreUntil 2005, it was legal to execute juveniles in the United States. As Oyez details, the case of Roper v. Simmons put an end to capital punishment for citizens under 18 years of age. Before 2005? That was a different story.
Read MoreBill Withers, the soulful singer-songwriter who gave us such classic tunes as "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine," died March 30, 2020, at the age of 81. He had been suffering from heart problems, said his son, quoted in the obituary in The New York Times.
Read MoreShe was only 18 when she took an ill-fated bus ride with a fellow student, Alejandro Gómez Arias. Though it would prove life changing, it may well be the reason we know her today.
Read MoreYou know the blonde, spiky hair, you know the sneer. It's Billy Idol, and though the 1980s are long over, he's still around. But what about his money? Is that still here?
Read MoreTsar Nicholas I of Russia is credited with coining the phrase "sick man of Europe" to refer to the declining Ottoman Empire. Though, as documented in The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Nicholas actually said, "We have a sick man on our hands, a very sick man." How far the mighty had fallen.
Read MoreJohnny Cash started out poor, born in Arkansas as the fourth of seven children (four boys, three girls). As it turns out, losing his a sibling had a profound impact on him.
Read MoreAs The Book of Absinthe describes, the ever-witty Oscar Wilde once said, "After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world."
Read MoreThere are a couple of schools of thought concerning the events which led Chuck Berry to hit Keith Richards so hard that his life Jumpin' Jack Flashed before his eyes. Here they are.
Read MoreThe Doobie Brothers have had a truly glorious and long-lasting career that's made doubly more impressive by the fact that it's been in the highly volatile world of rock 'n' roll. But has it left anything in the musicians' pockets, or has the rock star life left them penniless?
Read MoreJosef Mengele was a breed of monster all his own, a doctor who opted not to heal the sick but instead conducted torturous and often fatal experiments on Jews at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Here's how he died.
Read MoreOnly half of the emperor of China actually died in office. And that's just the beginning. This is the tragic history of Chinese emperors.
Read MoreA 1993 study showed that just shy of half of the members of the yakuza had been ritualistically deprived of a portion of their finger, and that 15% of those had undergone the procedure more than once. The practice is called "yubitsume," or "finger shortening," and it goes back over a hundred years.
Read MoreHygiene is your friend in the best of times. However, now that the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world into the blurst of times, sanitizing surfaces seems more paramount than ever. But what about the surfaces that go in your mouth?
Read MoreIt's a frog-eat-frog world, and it's only getting hungrier. However, the award for the most WTF defense goes to the aptly named "horror" frog, which freaking breaks its own toes and turns them into weapons.
Read MoreHe was named Johnny Cash (except when he wasn't). He always wore black (except when he didn't). Complicated? Of course he was. Everyone is. For instance, it's worth examining his famous song "Folsom Prison Blues," and what inspired it ...
Read MoreWith "social distancing" expertly positioning itself as 2020's Word of the Year, companies and schools have turned to teleconferencing with unprecedented interest. At the forefront of this movement has been Zoom, the video calling service which has experienced a meteoric rise to the top.
Read MoreMata Hari has gone down in history as the femme fatale du jour of World War I. Mata Hari is the classic archetype. She was exotic and alluring, a promiscuous dancer, a courtesan, a divorcee, and a seductive spy. But that isn't Hari's whole story. This is the crazy real-life story of Mata Hari.
Read MoreIt would be easy to assume that Ringo Starr decided to leave the Beatles due to ego. Shockingly, it wasn't ego that drove Ringo to leave the Fab Four mid-recording session on August 22nd, 1968. To hear it described by those involved, it was the opposite: he didn't feel good enough.
Read MoreOn March 31, Deutsche Welle reported that scientists recorded the first known heat wave in Antarctica's history.
Read MoreThe fiery disintegration of Columbia ultimately led to the loss of lives and the retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet. But as it turns out, there's more to the story that makes it so much worse. As you'll find out, the worst part of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster might not be what you think.
Read MoreA three hundred year-old 'possessed' nun's cryptic, Satanic messaged has finally been decoded.
Read MoreBenjamin Franklin is generally considered a somewhat eccentric genius. The man's accomplishments span several different fields... including music.
Read MoreYou like cats, but don't necessarily want one glued to you -- one that doesn't require your constant loving attention and affection; what some might call an "independent" cat. So which breed is right for you?
Read MoreIf you're trying to hunt bears, guns help, of course, but what you need is a good dog. Especially a bear dog. You'll want the Blue Ribbon Champion of bear annihilation: the Caucasian mountain dog, bred specifically to help take down Mr. Bruin in the Caucasus region of Russia.
Read MoreShaolin monk warriors seem to defy gravity and bend the laws of physics. This is the truth about the legendary Shaolin monk warriors.
Read MoreHave you ever dreamed one of those dreams where you're flying? The liberating feeling of being able to take it to the skies. The wonderful experience of actually feeling in control of the dream. You can handily escape whatever ogres or bloodthirsty were-kittens your subconscious throws at you ...
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