Biography

Princess Diana Knew Exactly How to Be Photographed

Princess Diana demonstrated a remarkable savviness for bending the press coverage in her favor

Virginia Irwin, in St. Louis in 1939. The Post-Dispatch on the desk next to her typewriter is the edition of Oct. 17, 1939, reporting the German sinking of the British Battleship Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, Scotland.

Women Who Shaped History

Journalist Virginia Irwin Broke Barriers When She Reported From Berlin at the End of WWII

Her exclusive dispatches from the last days of Nazi Germany appeared in newspapers around the country, briefly making her a national celebrity

Donald Sutherland stars as John Paul Getty.

The True Story of “Trust,” Yet Another Interpretation of the Getty Kidnapping

Writers of the FX program have a much different spin than the recent movie on the same subject matter

After Audubon's health began to fail, his family completed the project, producing the color plates in installments for about 300 subscribers.

The Fantastic Beasts of John James Audubon's Little-Known Book on Mammals

The American naturalist spent the last years of his life cataloguing America's four-legged creatures

In Search of the Real Grant Wood

The denim-clad artist who painted American Gothic wasn’t the hayseed he’d have you believe

How Rosa Parks' Protest Sparked a Momentous Chain of Events

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white male. Her arrest sparked a citywide boycott against Montgomery buses

How One Amateur Historian Brought Us the Stories of African-Americans Who Knew Abraham Lincoln

Once John E. Washington started to dig, he found an incredible wealth of untapped knowledge about the 16th president

Joseph McCarthy's Downfall Was Accusing the Army of Communism

In mid-1954, a riveted nation watched Senator Joseph McCarthy accuse the U.S. Army of being infiltrated by communistd

The Bond Between Mary Todd Lincoln and Her Seamstress

The connection between first lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her African-American seamstress Elizabeth Keckley was a remarkably strong one

The wife and daughters of Mark Twain

For Mark Twain, It Was Love At First Sight

The aspiring author knew Olivia Langdon was the one when he first laid eyes on a photograph of her

How Edith Roosevelt Completely Transformed the White House

Edith Roosevelt was a reluctant First Lady. Despite this, she had the presence and determination to bring about a major innovation to the White House

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1875

Frederick Douglass’ 200th Birthday Invites Remembrance and Reflection

This Douglass Day, celebrate an icon’s bicentennial while helping to transcribe the nation’s black history

How Eleanor Roosevelt Redefined the Role of First Lady

Eleanor dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of the oppressed, including pushing FDR to set up the National Youth Administration

Boston Bruins forward Willie O'Ree warms up prior to a game against the New York Rangers in 1960.

Sixty Years Ago, Willie O'Ree Broke the NHL's Color Barrier

A debilitating eye injury and racial epithets weren't enough to derail the player's resolve

In 1997, the world gasped as Gianni Versace was shot to death on the doorstep of his Miami mansion.

The True Story of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”

Did the designer meet his killer seven years earlier?

Her Majesty the Queen with archive footage

Sixty-Five Years Later, the Queen Recalls Her Coronation

New Smithsonian Channel special has rare Queen Elizabeth II interview and offers a closeup of the Crown Jewels

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. chats with African-Americans during a door-to-door campaign in 1964.

This Theologian Helped MLK See the Value of Nonviolence

Minister, theologian and mystic Howard Thurman had a profound influence on Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Patty Hearst's Chilling Eulogy for Fallen SLA Members

When kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst's voice was transmitted on Radio KPFK in 1974, it wasn't the desperate plea for freedom many expected

Patty Hearst's Shocking Words After Robbing a Bank

On tape, kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst disavowed her family and expressed her support for the Symbionese Liberation Army

These Siblings Were Trapped in a Raging Flood in Italy

On October 9, 1962, Bartolomeo and Margareta Filippin became trapped on the second floor of their house in Longarone, Italy

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