Category Archives: People

10 Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin was a man of many and varied accomplishments- a Renaissance man in the grand tradition of Leonardo da Vinci. He was a writer, scientist, musician, inventor and innovator, despite only ever receiving 2 years of formal schooling. His ideas and principles helped shape his fledgling nation, and his diplomatic skills assured the newly born United States of America […]

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The Siberian Family Who Didn’t See Another Human for Over 40 Years

To this day, the Siberian wilderness is still one of the most isolated places in the world. Known as the Siberian taiga (meaning “forest” in Russian), its harsh, cold climate greatly discourages human habitation. Its steep hills and difficult terrain makes it nearly impossible to travel through it, much less live there. It’s filled with pine and birch trees, nearly […]

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The Man Who Personally Executed Over 7000 People in 28 Days, One at a Time

Today I found out about Vasili Blokhin, the “Most Prolific Executioner” of all time, according to the Guinness World Records. Born to a Russian peasant family in 1895, as a young man he quickly earned a reputation for “chernaya rabota”, or “black work”, while serving in the Tsarist army during World War I- gaining recognition from Stalin himself for his […]

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The Guy Who Gave Hitler the Finger

Bob Young was born in Bakersfield, CA., on January 15, 1916.  As a relay runner, he was to compete in the 1936 Olympics and would go on to win a silver medal.  But despite these two historic (and very cool) accomplishments, Bob Young’s “coolest ever” accomplishment was a very unique one.  He gave the finger to Adolf Hitler. Bob was […]

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The Olympic Swimmer Who Had Never Been in a Pool Until a Few Months Before Competing in the Olympics

The man was Eric Moussambani Malonga, later nicknamed “Eric the Eel”.  Moussambani is from Equatorial Guinea in Africa and only managed to get into the Olympics at all because of a wildcard drawing system put in place by the International Olympic Committee, designed to try to encourage developing countries to participate in various Olympic events. Thanks to this drawing, Equatorial Guinea […]

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The Odd Eating Habits of Marlon Brando

He is one of the most admired actors in the history of the movies. Marilyn Monroe called him “the sexiest man” she had ever seen. And if you watch his early, incredible performances in “On the Waterfront” (1954), “Streetcar Named Desire” (1951), “The Wild One” (1953), “The Men” (1950), and my favorite Brando film “Guys and Dolls” (1955), you can […]

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The Final Day in the Life of Orson Wells

On October 9, 1985, the great director and actor, Orson Welles, was scheduled to appear on “The Merv Griffin Show”, one of TV’s most popular talk shows. Griffin had actually met Welles years before at his Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow. “I was right outside his bungalow”, recalled Griffin. “I introduced myself, and he said ‘I know who you are and […]

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The Mass Murdering Warlord Turned Christian Evangelist Who Was Known as General Butt Naked

This is a guest post by Dan Lewis. Dan runs the wildly popular daily newsletter Now I Know (“Learn Something New Every Day, By Email”). To subscribe to his daily email, click here. Today I found out about the mass murdering warlord turned christian evangelist who was once known as General Butt Naked. Joshua Milton Blahyi, pictured above, is a […]

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Steve Jobs’ First Business was Selling Blue Boxes that Allowed Users to Get Free Phone Service Illegally

Today I found out Steve Jobs’ first business was selling “blue boxes” that allowed users to get free phone service illegally. These boxes were designed in 1972 by Jobs’ close friend and future co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak.  The idea to sell them was supposedly Jobs’.  The two learned about blue boxes from famed “phreaker” (phone freak/hacker) John “Cap’n Crunch” […]

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