A Brief History On October 8, 2014, the latest iteration of American Horror Story debuts with series regular Jessica Lange portraying a character based on a real-life actress of early twentieth-century cinema! Digging Deeper According to E Online and Entertainment Weekly, the persona of Lange’s character was molded after Marlene Dietrich who ranked fourth on History and Headlines’s list of German-speaking actresses of the early years. American Horror Story: Freak Show (AHS: FS) is set in Florida in the early 1950s, around the time when Dietrich starred in such American and British films as Stage Fright (1950), No Highway in the Sky (1951) and Rancho Notorious (1952). Other aspects of the show also drew inspiration from reality. First,…
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A Brief History On October 8, 1806, British forces fighting the French at Boulogne employed Congreve rockets, the same type of rockets mentioned in the National Anthem of the United States (“…and the rockets red glare…”). Here nine people or things named “Rocket” are listed. Digging Deeper 9. Congreve Rockets. These weapons of war were actually developed to replicate the Mysorean rockets which had been used in India against the British in the late 18th century. The Mysorean Rockets were the first iron-cased rockets to have been successfully utilized in combat. The British rocket program began in 1801, and the Congreve rocket was the…
A Brief History On October 7, 1916, in the most lopsided college football game of all time, Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College 222-0. That is really, really creaming the other side! Back on August 22, 2014, we ran a list titled “10 Times One Side REALLY Creamed the Other Side (Lopsided Victories),” and here we list another 9. Last time some folks complained about the lack of examples from American football, so this follow-up list makes up for that. As always, feel free to mention your own examples of mismatched opponents in the comments section. Please note that YouTube videos are not available for many…
A Brief History On October 6, 1976, the former dictator (Prime Minister) of Thailand, Thanom Kittikachorn, returned to Thailand after he had fled the country in 1973, which generated mass protests. The ensuing crushing of the protesters in an incident that became known as the Thammasat University Massacre made way for a military coup in which the military seized power from the elected civilian government. It is a widespread belief that countries run by the military are second rate. This article elaborates on this conception and the things dictatorships and military governments commonly do that fuel it. Digging Deeper If your country’s leader wears a military…
A Brief History On October 5, 2001, Barry Bonds hit two home runs giving him a total of 72 home runs in one baseball season and breaking Mark McGwire’s record of 70. Bonds would later be implicated in a far-reaching steroids scandal that would also include McGwire. On August 3, 2014 History and Headlines ran a list of “10 Sports Scandals,” and below we elaborate on 9 more. There seems to be a never-ending supply of these, so if you do not see your favorite, you may see it in a future list. Digging Deeper 9. Ball Four, Baseball Exposé…