In 1935, Münir Ertegün moved his family to Washington, DC when he served as the first ambassador of the new republic of Turkey. Son Nesuhi Ertegun took his nine year-old brother Ahmet to jazz clubs to see Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Soon Ahmet and Nesuhi were staging jazz concerts, booking the acts themselves. Expanding …
Kitty Genovese was headed home after another late evening at Ev’s Eleventh Hour, the bar in Hollis, Queens where she worked as the night manager. She parked her car in the Long Island Railroad parking lot and began to walk the one hundred feet to her apartment across the street. The entrance was located at …
Billy Laughlin was discovered by an MGM talent scout outside a movie theater doing Popeye imitations for his friends. Soon, Billy was starring in the final run of the Our Gang film series as “Froggy”. He spoke in the gravelly croak that brought him fame in 29 shorts beginning with The New Pupil in 1940 through Dancing …
Ernie Roth entered show business as a disc jockey in the early 1960s. Soon, he became involved with professional wrestling and began managing in the Detroit are using several different stage names, including “Mr. Clean” and “J. Wellington Radcliffe”. He represented Michigan native Edward Farhat, who wrestled under the guise of a rich but crazed …
Jack Slivinski thought he was doing the right thing. The 32 year-old Philadelphia firefighter always wanted to help those in need any way he could. So, when photographer Katherine Kostreva asked him to pose for a charity calendar called “Nation’s Bravest” a pictorial of firefighters from across the country with proceeds from sales going …
At 16 years old, Larry Fischer was institutionalized for attacking his mother with a knife. He was diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia and manic depression (now known as bipolar disorder). After his release from a mental hospital in his late teens, Larry lived on the streets of Los Angeles. He became a street performer serenading …
In 1939, retailer Montgomery Ward was looking for a gimmick to drum up business for the upcoming Christmas holiday. In the past, they had distributed free coloring books to children and decided to produce a book of their own to save money. They assigned in-house copywriter Robert May to come up with an appealing holiday …
After his 1917 discharge from military service, West Virginia-born Harry R. Truman moved to Riffe, Washington. In 1926, he became the caretaker of a lodge on the shore of Spirit Lake. The lodge was a popular spot for hunters and fishing enthusiasts looking for rustic accommodations in a remote wooded area. Harry was a cantankerous character who took in …
Gus Dudgeon worked his way from tea boy to sound engineer at Decca Records in the middle 1960s, where he worked on The Zombies hit “She’s Not There” and John Mayall’s Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. By the end of the 60s, he produced albums by Ten Years After, The Bonzo Dog Band and a …
US presidents. What a bunch of fuckers. Literally. A larger collective of men who can’t keep it in their pants never existed. Take a look at this list: Declaration of Independence author and third President Thomas Jefferson fathered six children with Sally Hemmings. a slave he inherited from his wife. When beloved 32nd President FDR died in …
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