The movie American Gangster includes a stunning sequence, wherein heroin was smuggled into the U.S. inside the coffins of fallen soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. Did this really happen?
Read MoreOne of Netflix's most recent acquisitions, The Night Clerk, is part police procedural, part whodunnit, part study of humanity, as the best mysteries always are.
Read MoreActing is a notoriously fickle business. There are those actors who want to branch out into music, or direct, or return to their roots in live theater. Or aspire to film, rising above the more pedestrian work to be found on television. (Commercials? Ew.)
Read MoreKeiynan Lonsdale, an Australian actor took on the role of Wally West, who becomes Kid Flash. But he may have been a flash in the pan, so to speak.
Read MoreYou could do worse than marrying the King of England. That had to have gone through her mind... at least until she was beheaded.
Read MoreIf ancient Mesopotamia was the cradle of civilization, Babylon was arguably its favorite baby. Nowadays, its name is synonymous with opulence and moral decay, but to quote the Evening Standard, "Babylon wasn't so bad."
Read MoreThere have been many popes who kept their birth name when they were elected to the papacy, though the last one was in 1555 -- Marcellus II. Here's why they change them.
Read MoreThe Mythbusters, among other unrealized dreams, and much to their own disappointment, will never turn the world into their own personal Hot Wheels track.
Read MoreNearly 30 years ago, in 1991, Guns N' Roses released "November Rain," a nine-minute ballad full of sweeping orchestral accompaniments, soaring guitar work, and a music video that grew as much notoriety as the song itself.
Read MoreThe world's most dangerous tree takes the form of the manchineel, typically found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and of course, Florida.
Read MoreNo doubt it was a mixture of dedication to physical perfection and wanting to make successful movies that drove supreme martial artist Bruce Lee to the lengths he went to.
Read MoreMatisyahu struck an interesting figure in the mid-2000s music scene. After all, he was the Hassidic reggae artist from New York, who looked and acted the part. Since then, where has he been?
Read MoreThe Peter Parker school of ethics teaches that with great power comes great responsibility. If Spider-Man had consulted a lawyer, he'd know that U.S. courts often hold people with great power less responsible for wrongdoing, especially public officials, a legal protection called qualified immunity.
Read MoreEmmett Till loved to laugh."He would pay people to tell him jokes," according to his cousin, Wheeler Parker. He also "loved to tell jokes," said childhood friend Richard Heard, who remembered Emmett being "a funny guy all the time."
Read MoreThe Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, is a remarkable feat of architectural design and structural engineering. And it's got a ton of bathrooms.
Read MoreBaba Yaga is Russian, she's scary, and she wants to eat you, but there's so much more. How do you know when you've found a Baba Yaga and not just a generic forest witch? Is she definitely going to eat you? Can you go to her for a solid deal on a good horse? This is the legend of Baba Yaga explained.
Read MoreAmerica's tragic history of racism is rooted at least in part in the nation's sordid history of slavery. Enter the Clotilda -- a poignant reminder of injustice.
Read MoreEvery time a metalhead throws up the devil horns and casts a protective ward against the evil eye, we're saying a small thank you to Ronnie James Dio. Here's how he passed.
Read MoreAn 1884 song observed that "A Boy's Best Friend is His Mother." It perfectly describes the relationship of King Henry VII of England -- father of the future Henry VIII, grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I -- and his mother, Margaret Beaufort.
Read MoreYes, 300 is based-ish on real events, but it portrays those events through a deeply goofy lens. As it turns out, the Spartans, the real Spartans, weren't what you'd call "TV ready."
Read MoreNevertheless, there are those who manage to cut a truly unique swath through the world of popular culture, even art, and sustain that unique place for the course of a career. By anyone's estimation, at the head of the pack would be the songwriter/director/actor/performer known as Prince.
Read MoreGenuine, committed, dyed-in-the-wool dog owners are like golfers: They're really easy to shop for. But there's one thing dog owners are split down the middle about -- dog beds? To buy or not to buy?
Read MoreIn the scant few months since its official unveiling, America's sixth military branch, the United States Space Force, has faced many battles. But its biggest foe of all may turn out to be ... Netflix.
Read More"Bruce Lee was my friend and teacher," Kareem Abdul Jabbar states simply, yet powerfully. The basketball superstar had started studying martial arts growing up in New York, and when he was a student at UCLA sought to continue that growth.
Read MoreQuick: what do George Floyd and Kente cloth have in common? Congressional Democrats were accused of using both of them in a photo op masquerading as a meaningful gesture.
Read MoreLegendary rock and roll/folk artist Neil Young is 74 years old, but that doesn't stop him from continuing to tour around the world and making and releasing music for his fans.
Read MoreThey say that some of the best things come by accident, something hard rock pioneers Led Zeppelin knew too well during the group's formation in the late 1960s.
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