Excalibur, King Arthur's fabled sword, has two different origin stories: 1) It was given to him by the Lady of Lake, and chucked back into the lake by Arthur's knight Bedivere after Arthur was mortally wounded, or 2) It was pulled out of a stone by boy Arthur, signaling his divine right to be king.
Read MoreBrian May of Queen is a man of many talents. Not only is he a brilliant lyricist and an imaginative guitar player, he's also an astrophysicist. He's also managed to build a guitar all from scratch, thanks to random stuff around the house, his dad, and ingenuity. It's the Red Special.
Read MoreVice President Mike Pence and Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris head to the debate stage tonight in a contest that The Guardian said has been made more important due to presidential candidates' ages -- President Trump is 74 and Joe Biden is 77 -- as well as Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis.
Read MoreThe X&Y cover features a Tetris game in the middle of a dark blue background. When the album was first released, MTV said people didn't understand what was going on in the album. Was Coldplay just closet Tetris fans? The band teased that there was something deeper and people started staring.
Read MoreEddie Van Halen, an icon of rock music whose iconic guitar riffs inspired many to pick up a guitar and try for themselves, died in 2020 at the age of 65 following a brave, decade-long battle with throat cancer. Here's how these famous rock stars reacted to Eddie Van Halen's death.
Read MoreEven though he wears his heart on his musical sleeve, Bruce Springsteen is less known as a person than he is as an artist. But today, we'll attempt to fix this by taking a long, hard look at the moments that not only made him Bruce Springsteen the artist but also made him Bruce Springsteen the man.
Read MoreThe 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, while not the "Big One," was a complete catastrophe, nonetheless. In a mere 15 seconds, per Britannica, the 6.9 magnitude quake caused $6 billion in property damage, injured 3,800 people, killed 67, and reshaped the face of San Francisco forever.
Read MoreIt's been a heavy year, for many reasons, but the death of music legend Eddie Van Halen, announced on October 6, 2020, is yet another sad marker of time's passage.
Read MoreWhen the Pilgrims first set sail on the Mayflower in August 1620 to the New World, they expected a month-long trip. However, what it was really like sailing on the Mayflower was far different. Pilgrims on the Mayflower ran out of fresh food, water, and had to occupy themselves with games.
Read MoreAn LA Times article called out Disney for not paying its fair share to the city. Anaheim owns the parking garage that Disneyland uses for its visitors, and the city only charges the mega-corporation $1 per year to lease it. Meanwhile, Disneyland pulls in multi-million-dollar revenue every year.
Read MoreThe electric guitar is the definitive instrument of rock 'n' roll, and Eddie Van Halen was one of the greatest. This is the untold truth of Eddie Van Halen.
Read MoreCelebrity marriages often get rocky, and that shouldn't be such a surprise. To be fair, relationships require a lot of time, work, and commitment — even in the best of conditions — and things inevitably become more complex when you throw in constant publicity, tabloid gossip, tours, schedules, much less being part of Van Halen, one of the biggest bands in rock history.
Read MoreEddie Van Halen's brother Alex is also a founding member of the rock group Van Halen. Originally trained as a classical pianist, Alex Van Halen took up drums and went on to great acclaim. Details you might not know about Alex Van Halen include a contentious lawsuit with his ex-wife.
Read MoreThere's a lot to be said about the United States of America's third president, Thomas Jefferson. But presidents aren't superhuman. Jefferson had one fear, in particular, was quite strange given the man's very public career path. This was Thomas Jefferson's strange fear during his presidency.
Read MoreLegendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen died on October 6, 2020, of throat cancer. The rock and roll star broke new ground in the genre, and one way he did it was with the cobbled-together guitar that he called "Frankenstein." Here's the trust about Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar.
Read MoreThe loss of musician Eddie Van Halen, the man once voted the Greatest Guitarist of All Time, is sad news for rock and guitar fans everywhere, and, heartbreakingly, Van Halen's wife of 11 years, stuntwoman Janie Liszewski Van Halen. Here are details you didn't know about Eddie Van Halen's wife.
Read MoreFormer NBA point and shooting guard Jason Terry used to take his pregame prep seriously. First, the night before a game, he insisted on wearing the game shorts of the team he was facing to bed. But not any run-of-the-mill game shorts: he needed official NBA game shorts to find the magic he needed.
Read MoreThe rock 'n' roll world took a hit today, as it said goodbye to one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century. TMZ reported that Eddie Van Halen, of his riotously successful namesake band, lost his years-long battle with throat cancer. This is the sad death of Eddie Van Halen.
Read MoreDoug Sandom was part of The Who while they were still The Detours (they changed the name -- thankfully -- after learning that there was already another band with the same name). Unfortunately for Sandom, a tiff with Townshend during their audition with Fontana Records would be the end of his tenure.
Read MoreSinger Mitch Malloy had the opportunity to join the band in 1996 following Hagar's first departure. Again according to Ultimate Classic Rock, guitarist Eddie Van Halen was "extremely complimentary about the work the singer did while auditioning for the group."
Read MoreKhambatta, an internationally known model from Mumbai (formerly Bombay), won Miss India in 1965 clad in an outfit she purchased right before the competition, according to the New York Times. She had appeared in Indian films before coming to Hollywood to play roles
Read MoreEven before the band hit, it went through lineup changes caused by issues between members. Frischmann, who was in a relationship with Anderson, was kicked out of Suede after the two broke up, though NME revealed that Anderson credits Frischmann's departure as the reason for Suede's later success.
Read MorePolitico describes an October surprise as either "happenstance or deliberately orchestrated ... bombshells that scramble political calculus just as the stakes are at their highest." And it appears as though October 2020, like the rest of this bewildering year, won't be lacking in such events.
Read MoreIn a time when we are beginning to challenge the figures of the past whom we have chosen to lionize either by erecting statues or giving their names to streets, it seems that Walter Reed, whose name adorns the Presidential hospital at Bethesda, is an utterly apt and timely choice.
Read MoreWhile Wager and Tolkien share similarities, it could be because the same mythologies inspired them. Tolkien always downplayed any connection to Wagner, even to the point that any comparison annoyed him. "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceased," Tolkien supposedly said.
Read MoreIrish immigrants faced discrimination in the US during the Great Famine of 1845, according to History. And while Shamrock's stereotypical characteristics don't tread on the "dirty Irish" ones historically used, pigeonholing her as only that is unfair to Shamrock.
Read Moreaccording to The Atlantic, if you want to party with Pence, you'd better hope Karen is at his side. The vice president said back in 2002 that "if there's alcohol being served and people are being loose, I want to have the best-looking brunette in the room standing next to me."
Read More
