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Annie Oakley was a remarkable sharpshooter whose legendary accuracy with firearms captivated audiences across the world. She could place bullets precisely where she intended from distances that left spectators breathless with amazement. But as impressive as this was, there was more to Annie Oakley's life than her ability with a gun.

Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was the most feared pirate of the Golden Age—a towering figure who struck terror into the hearts of sailors from the Caribbean to the Carolinas. Most biographies seem to start and stop with that statement, but there was much more to the life of Blackbeard than that, and much more to learn about the man behind history’s most fearsome pirate legend.

Discover the remarkable life of Josephine Earp... She was supposed to marry for security, settle down, and disappear into domesticity. Instead, Josephine Earp ran away to the Wild West, fell in love with a famous gunfighter, and spent almost haft a century chasing adventure across the American frontier. From the dusty streets of Tombstone to the frozen rivers of Alaska, Josephine Earp lived a life that defied every expectation of 19th-century womanhood.

History remembers her as the gracious wife standing beside Lyndon B. Johnson, but Lady Bird Johnson was much more than just the period of time that she spent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the White House. Born in the piney woods of East Texas to a wealthy but troubled family, Lady Bird overcame tragedy to become one of the most accomplished women of her generation. By age 22, she had earned two college degrees and harbored dreams of becoming a globe-trotting journalist.

Tom Petty is one of the greatest icons of rock and roll music. He is known for his classic hit songs, such as “Free Fallin’”, “I Won’t Back Down”, and “Learning to Fly”, just as much as for his cool demeanor. Who could ever forget the image of Petty on the Heartbreakers’ debut album in a leather jacket adorned with bullets and a larger-than-life sneer?

In 1956, Britain, France, and Israel launched an invasion of Egypt. For Britain and France, the main objective was to secure control over the vital Suez Canal and to re-emphasize their place as significant world powers. For Israel, the issue was defeating a hostile and powerful Arab neighbor.

Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors,” and never has this been truer than in the case of the Parthian Empire. The Parthians left few written records, and most of what we know about the empire comes from its two main adversaries—first the Greeks and then, for most of its history, the Romans. Fortunately, modern scholarship and archaeology have recently helped us to understand a little more about this ancient empire.

Roy Orbison possessed a voice that commanded immediate attention. He may have appeared meek and mild-mannered on the surface, yet beneath this facade lay an inner world brimming with passion and fervor. Orbison’s style was innovative and avant-garde, almost as if he were an embodiment of alternative rock before the term even entered the lexicon. He represented the emotive, tender facet of rock and roll, a stark contrast to his contemporaries, who were often swathed in leather jackets and exuded the confidence of a typical rockstar.

The Norman invasion of England in 1066 and the subsequent rule of William the Conqueror are among the best-remembered and often-documented events in European history. What is much less well known is that less than 50 years before the Norman invasion, England was invaded, conquered, and ruled by Scandinavian kings to become part of a North Sea Empire.

From the late eighth century to somewhere around the middle of the 11th century, the history of Europe was dominated by the people who have become known as the Vikings. The Vikings were among the first global explorers who established territory that stretched from North America in the west to Constantinople in the east, and from the frigid wastes of the Arctic in the north to the warm shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the south.

The Bosnian War was not a single, isolated conflict, but rather formed part of this wider series of wars. To unravel the complexities of the Bosnian War, one must delve into the intricate web of connections with these other conflicts and the fragmentation of Yugoslavia itself. Even then, it is essential to recognize that the root causes of this war still linger.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked a number of significant historical turning points. It saw the end of the last vestige of the Roman Empire, which had been founded more than 1,400 years before, and marked the beginning of a period of dominance for the growing Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, this moment marked the end of the Middle Ages in Europe and the beginning of the Renaissance, as the fall of Constantinople was directly linked to both these events.

With his fiery piano-playing style and powerful stage presence, Jerry Lee Lewis enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame. Although his time as a relevant artist was comparably brief, that short time in the sun was nothing short of revolutionary. While his run lasted, Lewis played a pivotal role in forging what would become classic rock and roll and rockabilly.

Few military conquests lead to truly lasting cultural, political, religious, or societal change. Countries are often occupied by stronger nations, but as those inevitably decline, independence is reasserted and the country usually resumes its previous form. One exception to that is the Norman Conquest of England which took place between 1066 and 1071.

The Punic Wars, a series of three wars involving the Roman Republic and Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE, did much to shape the subsequent history of the world. These wars were among the most important of any fought in the ancient world and led directly to the power and reach of the later Roman Empire. One of these wars also saw the emergence of two men who would become revered as among the greatest military leaders of all time: the Carthaginian leader Hannibal Barca and the Roman General Scipio Africanus....

A main architect of the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler was perhaps one of the most ruthless men that ever lived. For most, this would be hyperbole, but for Himmler, such words would seem like a rather apt description.

Apartheid, a state-sponsored policy of discrimination and segregation, was introduced and brutally enforced in South Africa for more than 40 years. It led to thousands of deaths, mass arrests, torture of prisoners, and to the suspension of the most basic human rights for the majority of Black South Africans. How did this come to be, and how did a modern state come to enact and enforce a series of laws deliberately designed to ensure poverty and lack of opportunity for the majority of its population?

Nikita Khrushchev came to power in the aftermath of the notorious Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s death. Although Khrushchev came on the scene with aggression and fury (the world would never forget how he declared that he would bury the West), he was ultimately a much more peaceful Soviet leader than Stalin ever was. Even when the Cold War was at its most dangerous point during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was, in many ways, the measured restraint of Khrushchev which helped to avoid unleashing nuclear Armageddon.

The creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922 was one of the defining events of the 20th century. This new federation, created to embody the ideals of communism and the notion of rule by the people, was intended to be different from any other nation in the world. This utopian vision inspired people around the world, and soon, communism became an international movement. However, the history of the Soviet Union did not develop in the way its originators envisaged.

Even half a century after his death, Humphrey Bogart remains one of the most iconic actors of all time. The epitome of class and cool, he embodied the ultimate tough guy—and no one wore a fedora quite like him. “Bogie” began life under uncertain circumstances, born to parents addicted to drugs and disorder, but he would rise above these difficulties to become a star. From Broadway to Hollywood, he became a top-billed actor, the likes of which the world has rarely seen.