Hollywood is a neighborhood located in Los Angeles, California, that’s also synonymous with the glamour, money and power of the entertainment industry. As the show-business capital of the world, Hollywood is home to many famous television and movie studios and record companies. ...read more
Debbie Reynolds had just landed the role of a lifetime—and she was exhausted. The 19-year-old had been cast as Kathy Selden, the female lead in Singin’ in the Rain, and she had big shoes to fill. Her partner was none other than the very seasoned, astonishingly talented Gene ...read more
Louisa May Alcott had come to Europe to rest. But even in the Swiss Alps, the author couldn’t escape the thing that had exhausted her in the first place: her fans. Her latest book, Little Women, was a runaway bestseller—and the constant barrage of fan mail, the visits and the ...read more
If you consider films like Rebecca, Citizen Kane or All About Eve to be cinematic masterpieces, you’re not alone. All three were born during Hollywood’s Golden Age, a wildly creative era in which movies dominated mass entertainment and their glamorous stars entranced the public. ...read more
The world was first introduced to one of the most iconic characters in video game history in 1981. He wasn’t much, just a handful of colored pixels on a grainy screen, a figure trying to save his girlfriend from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. By the time the 1990s came around, ...read more
Today, it’s hard to imagine a Halloween not filled with doorbells, costumes, and treats. In 2016 Americans spent $8.4 billion on the holiday. But while trick-or-treating is many children’s favorite pastime, it hasn’t been a pastime for all that long. The tradition didn’t make its ...read more
In August 1965, the American Sociological Association convention was held in Chicago. Playboy’s Mansion was then located in Chicago, and Hugh Hefner invited about twenty sociologists to the mansion. I was one of them. When we arrived at the mansion, an aide met us at the door and ...read more
The spectre of the “creepy clown” has gotten a lot of attention as of late. Beginning in August 2016, creepy (and fake) clown sightings spread across the U.S. and other countries, creating a kind of viral clown panic. And as summer came to a close in 2017, killer clowns came for ...read more
For over a century, roller coasters and other amusement park rides have provided thrills by walking the line between scary and fun. Yet for almost as long, these rides have led to accidents that are scarily dangerous. Most recently, an Ohio State Fair attraction known as the Fire ...read more
America’s “scariest motel” can be yours for $900,000. Located on a stretch of highway in Tonopah, Nevada, halfway between Las Vegas and Reno, and next to the town’s first cemetery, rests this potentially haunted, clown-filled motel. Yes, you heard that right—a ...read more
One after another, voice actors appeared before the judge. This was no ordinary courtroom testimony—they were there to squeak Betty Boop’s signature “boop-boop-a-doop.” It was 1934, and Betty Boop was on trial. The cartoon vixen was an unlikely candidate for a lawsuit—and for ...read more
It’s rare that you go to an event these days where a person doesn’t take out their smartphone. In the 10 years since the iPhone was first released, smartphone images posted to social media have sparked protests and provided crucial evidence to the authorities, as well as allowed ...read more
The effect a Tony Award has on a Broadway production is similar to what an Oscar can do for a Hollywood film. It’s the industry’s highest honor, and can make or break a play when it is given—or not. Although it may seem like a mainstay now, the Antoinette Perry Award for ...read more
1. Sam Patch Rhode Island native Sam Patch had a hardscrabble upbringing as a child laborer in a cotton mill, but he later became America’s first celebrity daredevil after he discovered he could draw a paying crowd by staging terrifying leaps off waterfalls, bridges and river ...read more
MTV made waves when Emma Watson was awarded a non-gender specific “Best Actor” award for her performance in “Beauty and the Beast.” But while this may be a first for the MTV Movie & TV Awards, it’s not a first for the entertainment industry. For the top honors in film and ...read more
1. Riverfront Square Before building his Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Walt Disney considered opening his second theme park in a slightly less tropical clime—St. Louis. A native son of Missouri, Disney drew up blueprints for a five-story indoor theme park, dubbed Riverfront Square, ...read more
1. Sybil Ludington: The Female Paul Revere On the night of April 26, 1777, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles to warn approximately 400 militiamen that the British troops were coming. Sound like Paul Revere? It was, except she rode twice as far, was half his age and was ...read more
1. 1934: The Children’s Hour At the time of the Broadway premiere of “The Children’s Hour,” making any reference to homosexuality on stage was illegal in New York. The three-act drama was set in an all-girls boarding school where a disgruntled, runaway student makes a shocking ...read more
Along with perms, mix tapes and denim jackets, the mid-1980s saw a rash of celebrity activism against hunger. From Band Aid to Live Aid, musicians around the globe lent their voices to raise money for famine-stricken Africa. After USA for Africa garnered $53 million with its 1985 ...read more
1. He named himself after another magician. Houdini was born Erik Weisz, but his name was altered to Ehrich Weiss after his family emigrated from Hungary to Wisconsin when he was 4 years old. Young Ehrich—nicknamed “Ehrie” or “Harry”—had a fascination with magic, particularly ...read more
1. Isaac Van Amburgh—“The Great Lion Tamer” From his humble origins as an assistant at a menagerie called the Zoological Institute of New York, the flamboyant Isaac Van Amburgh grew into the most famous lion tamer of the 19th century. His act was renowned for its extreme daring. ...read more
1. Seventy years after the end of World War II, we commemorated the Allies’ final push to Berlin and the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, explored Mussolini’s final hours, looked back at how the world celebrated V-E Day, met a Japanese engineer who survived two atomic bombs, and ...read more
1. Schulz’s lifelong ambition was to be a cartoonist. A Minnesota-born barber’s son, Schulz dreamed of becoming a cartoonist from a young age. He had a less-than-distinguished academic record, but outside the classroom he drew constantly and read newspaper comic strips with his ...read more
Whether or not Walt Disney wished upon a star, his dreams were about to come true as nearly half of the United States gathered around black-and-white televisions on July 17, 1955. After more than two decades of planning and a breakneck year of construction, the Mickey Mouse ...read more