On this date in 1994, Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States died. Nixon's paranoia led to the misuse of the FBI for domestic spying and the creation of the "White House Plumbers Unit" to find and destroy his political "enemies". The subsequent scandal became known as Watergate after the name of the [...]
On this day in 1924 the most famous photo of The Loch Ness Monster was published by the British tabloid the Daily Mail. It came to be known as the surgeon's photo as it was supposedly taken by Col. Robert Kenneth Wilson.In 1999, on his deathbed Chris Spurling confessed that he, Wilson and two friends had faked [...]
On this date in 1889 Adolf Hitler was born. Following World War I, this obscure Austrian rose to become the Chancellor of Germany with the help of many wealthy American, British and German industrialists. By this date in 1939 he was powerful enough that his 50th birthday was observed as a national holiday. His extermination [...]
On this day in 1927 Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $500 for obscenity. Her Play Sex was a critical failure but a box office smash. There were 375 performances and more than 325,000 people saw the play before it was shut down by a blue-nose grand jury. She was offered [...]
On this day in 1480 Lucrezia Borgia, the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, was born. She is best remembered as a poisonner and as a femme fatale. She was the mother Alexander's eighth child and was involved in a sex triangle with her bothers Cesare and Juan. To find out more watch our video The Party Pope. [...]
On this day in 1492 Christopher Columbus signed a contract with Spain to search for a direct rout to the Orient. As we now know some islands in the Caribbean got in the way and the European conquest of the New World Started. When Columbus saw some native men wearing gold ornaments, he had them [...]
On this date in 1943 Albert Hoffman discovered the effects of LSD-25 through a laboratory accident. While researching the compound he accidently absorbed some through his finger. He described the effects as "... affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant [...]
On this day in 1922 the US Senate opened an investigation into what would become the largest scandal in American history up to then. The Teapot Dome Scandal involved the Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall taking bribes in exchange for leasing oil fields on public lands to Harry F. Sinclair (Mammoth Oil, [...]
On this day in 1907 one of the most brutal dictators in history was born. Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier ruled over Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. The depth of his corruption was legendary. He and his family became incredibly rich while the poor literally starved in the streets. He maintained his power [...]
Whether Alexander VI was a good or bad pope continues to be a matter of great debate. Most of the incidents mentioned in this video are generally accepted as factual, although there are revisionists who argue against that. Alexander's great legacy comes from his expertise in diplomacy at a very difficult time in European history. It [...]
