The city, founded in 315 BCE and named after Alexander the Great's half-sister Thessaloniki, was a major thoroughfare in the Macedonian Empire, and became a center of trade between east and west under the Byzantine Empire.
Read MoreEveryone needs a little help from their friends. Even a legend like Ella Fitzgerald. The singer gained popularity in the 1940s, performing jazz and classics in small clubs. But despite her talent, racial barriers and her looks held back her career. Until she became friends with Marilyn Monroe.
Read MoreRecording Medicine at Midnight wasn't without its own peculiar moments. Unlike the Foo Fighter's first nine albums, the challenges around the 10th album couldn't have been easy to predict, since they were supernatural and all. That's right: A haunting almost ruined the Foo Fighters' 10th album.
Read MoreOn the way to becoming Japan's true White Savior and its final, bestest samurai ever, Tom Cruise gets dressed by a Japanese widow who develops feelings for him, teaches some lessons about never giving up to other Japanese people, and leads a rebellion of samurai against some guys with cannons.
Read MoreOzzy has immortalized himself in more ways than one. That's not to say the legendary musician isn't approaching actual immortality. Lord knows he's lived through more near-death experiences than the rest of us, including numerous drug overdoses.
Read MoreDespite its long affiliation with the Christian holiday of Christmas, the Yule log actually has its roots in pagan Norse mythology. The tradition originated in Scandinavia, then spread to the Celtic Brits and Gaelic Europeans, who believed that burning a yule log would bring good luck.
Read MoreWomen have dipped their blades in the fires of battle all around the world for millennia. This is the forgotten history of women in combat.
Read MorePresident Franklin Roosevelt was reportedly concerned that his administrations' records would be lost, destroyed, or sold, which had been the case for past presidents. He also wanted a place in which to write his memoirs and to "burnish his image as a defender of democracy."
Read MoreFor many people -- celebrities included -- conspiracy theories and crank ideas come to cause untold damage to their professional and personal lives. One example is rapper B.o.B, aka Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., who shot to fame in 2009 after his hit single, "Nothin' On You," reached number 1.
Read MoreFor a long time, Evander Holyfield, four time heavyweight champ, had the funds to live a lavish lifestyle. That's what a tough chin and hard hands will get you. But there came a point when this former International Boxing Hall of Famer was losing more money than his fists could bring in.
Read MoreBefore Matt LeBlanc hit it big as Joey Tribbiani on the '90s TV chart-topper Friends, he was Daphne Zuniga's (TV's Melrose Place, the film Spaceballs) romantic partner in a Bob Seger video.
Read MoreApparently a motorcycle remains Keanu's "preferred mode of transportation" not only because of its ease in getting him to his many appointments, but also because he enjoys "the physical sensation of riding, the wind, the smell, the sights, the connection to the machine, the living-in-nature."
Read MoreCelebrating the Christmas holiday was actually banned in Massachusetts from 1659 through 1681, per Time magazine. Early American Life magazine notes that Puritans "abhorred the excesses of church celebrations" and saw Christmas as just another day on which to work hard in the name of Lord.
Read MoreIn 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, and in 1972, she became the first Black person to campaign seriously for the presidency on a major party ticket. She maintained her independent spirit throughout her career, sometimes to her detriment. Here is her story.
Read MoreAs with most holidays, Christmas is rife with symbols that we take for granted, but of course there is lots of rich history behind them. Just like Christmas trees, candy canes, and mall Santas, the tradition of hanging wreaths had to start somewhere, and exactly where kind of depends on who you ask.
Read More"Jingle Bells" is a favorite everywhere, from Christmas radio stations to seasonal concerts, as a cheerful holiday melody that everyone can sing along to. But it was never originally intended to have any connection to Christmas at all.
Read MorePeople used to put candles on their Christmas trees, explained Popular Mechanics. The tradition was brought to England by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, who grew up in Germany. A magazine published an illustration of the Queen's family gathered around a tree with candles adorning it.
Read MoreHanging decorated stockings by the fireplace, with the hope that Santa Claus will fill them with treats, is a popular tradition. In 1823, the practice was commemorated in song with the publication of the famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," better known today as "The Night Before Christmas."
Read MoreOne theory posits that employers distributed "Christmas boxes" full of gifts, money, and leftovers from their holiday feasts to their servants on December 26, as the servants would have worked on Christmas Day. The boxes were the 1800s' version of holiday bonuses.
Read MoreSanta Claus at the top of the world in a winter wonderland. His workshop bustles in the Arctic Circle while his helpers pump out toys for billions of kids. But the North Pole at the top of the world isn't the only place that Santa calls home. You can find the jolly saint in several different places.
Read MoreIn a common sense way, it's understandable why ancient people would have used snow to craft a human figure, or even just play with (if they weren't trying to avoid freezing to death, that is). After all, cave paintings, tribal figurines, and hand-hewn statues all depict the human form.
Read MoreThe relationship between the US and the indigenous people of North America has been infamously bloody, cruel, and usurious. In a single century, from 1784 to when the Dawes Act was signed in 1887, native lands were stolen, bit by bit, until only tiny fragments of modern-day reservations remained.
Read MoreEven as a world record holder, life is anything but easy for the World's Shortest Living Man.
Read MoreIn the story of NASA, one of the worst disasters in the department's history happened on solid ground. As NASA reports, on January 27, 1967, a fire during a preflight test for the Apollo 1 mission took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee.
Read MoreIt's perhaps the most famous sidewalk in the world, but not many people know the true history of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, even though it has some very interesting tales to be told. Here is the history of the Hollywood Walk of Fame explained.
Read MoreOn July 20, 1969, one of the most momentous events in human history occurred: Men walked on the Moon. Eventually the United States completed six Moon landings, bringing a total of 12 astronauts to the Moon's surface by 1972. Then we stopped. This is the real reason we haven't been back to the moon.
Read MoreSchlitzie the Pinhead was one of the most famous circus sideshow acts ever. Schlitzie's unusual "pinhead" appearance brought swarms of audiences to the circus sideshows he called home. But Schlitzie's life was incredibly hard behind the scenes. Here's the untold truth of "Schlitzie the Pinhead."
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