A Brief History On October 22, 2014 and again on October 29, 2014, the FX channel television production American Horror Story: Freak Show features a two-faced character based on an alleged real-life human freak named Edward Mordrake. Digging Deeper With actor Wes Bentley portraying the unfortunate, two-faced man, the show takes us back to 1952 in Jupiter, Florida where a troupe of human freaks is assembled as a carnival sideshow.  If you have ever seen the iconic 1932 film Freaks, you might know that by that time in history, the public was beginning to not take too kindly to deformed humans…

A Brief History On October 22, 1964, French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre became the first person to voluntarily refuse a Nobel Prize, in his case the prize for literature.  Incredibly for a Frenchman, in 1945 Sarte had also refused the Legion of Honor (Legion d’honneur), France’s highest award. Digging Deeper Sartre said that though he was honored to be selected for the Nobel Prize, he refused to accept it because he did not want to become part of the “establishment.”  He also feared his acceptance of an award that had been issued by a Western institution might make him look as if he had taken sides…

A Brief History On October 21, 1995, Spanish illustrator and author Jesús Blasco died at age 76.  Although largely unknown in the United States, he worked extensively on British comics in the 1960s and 70s. His parents had seen fit to name him after the son of God, something that is not so common outside of Catholic Spanish-speaking countries.  Granted there are many Mohammeds, how many people who go by the first name of Buddha, Allah, Jehovah or God do you know?  You might have better luck meeting someone named after a mythological god such as Zeus, Thor, Odin, Aphrodite, Athena, Venus, etc.  History…

A Brief History On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson shot his famous footage of a bigfoot at Bluff Creek, California.  The creature was later determined to be female and became known as “Patty.”  Digging Deeper Patterson was someone who might be considered an amateur bigfoot hunter.  Together with Robert “Bob” Gimlin, a rancher and horse trainer who acted as a guide, he set out on horseback to capture a bigfoot, or sasquatch as they are also known, on film.  They followed various sets of tracks (Patty’s were later found to have been the medium-sized ones…) until they reached Bluff Creek where the horses reeled upon catching sight of…

A Brief History On October 20, 1968, former First Lady of the United States and widow of President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy married Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis.  From that point on, the media usually referred to her as Jacqueline Onassis or as “Jackie O.,” even after Onassis’ and her deaths. Many people marry more than once.  Here 9 more second marriages of the notorious, rich and famous who married a second time or who were the second spouse are listed.  Since many of these second marriages also ended in divorce, we kindly also invite you to read the History and…