Nico Medina

This compelling addition to the What Was? series covers what was supposed to be “the war to end all wars” but tragically wasn't. In 1914, the assassination of an Austrian archduke set off a disastrous four-year-long conflict involving dozens of countries with battles taking place in all...

Named Temujin at birth by his nomadic family in early Mongolia, the great Genghis Khan used his skill and cunning to create the Mongol Empire and conquer almost the entire continent of Asia. As ruler of the largest empire in human history, he was as respected as he was feared. Learn more about...

He came. He saw. He conquered. Julius Caesar was a force to be reckoned with as a savvy politician, an impressive orator, and a brave soldier. Born in Rome in 100 BC, he quickly climbed the ladder of Roman politics, making allies--and enemies--along the way. His victories in battle awarded him...

The panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series. On July 1, 1916, witnesses watched in horror as twenty-eight-year-old Charles Vansant was attacked and killed by a...

In this addition to the New York Times bestselling series, learn how incredible activists made the public aware of AIDS and spurred medical breakthroughs. In the early 1980s, the first cases of a devastating and fatal new disease appeared, a disease that at first struck only gay men and was...

There is only one QUEEN OF SOUL! Discover why Aretha Franklin garners so much R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Aretha Franklin was a musical and cultural icon whose legacy spanned six decades! Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1942, Aretha got her start singing in front of her father's Baptist congregation and found...

Learn how this Emmy-winning host, producer, and television personality became the world's most famous drag queen. RuPaul Andre Charles always knew he was meant to be a performer. Even as a young child, he loved to dress up and imitate the glamorous women he saw on television. When he turned...

Hold on to your Viking helmets as you learn about the first known European to set foot on North America in this exciting addition to the Who Was? series! Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and...

Journey into the Everglades—a national park in Florida home to hundreds of species of animals from crocodiles to manatees—in this audiobook for young listeners! From the #1 New York Times bestselling Who Was? series comes Where Is?, a series that tells the stories of world-famous landmarks...