In December 2020, Major League Baseball officially recognized the seven leagues that collectively made up the Negro Leagues from 1920-48 as being Major Leagues. This belated recognition meant that the statistics of the approximately 3,400 players who performed in the Negro Leagues during those years - men who had been barred from playing in the National or American League simply because of their race - would be added to MLB's official historical records. Because record keeping in the Negro Leagu...

Bill Russell is widely considered one of the greatest players in both college basketball and NBA history. Ove the course of his playing and coaching career he achieved multiple firsts: he was the first basketball player (of any race) to win an NCAA title (in 1955 playing for the University of San Francisco) and an Olympic gold medal (at the 1956 Summer Olympics) in back-to-back seasons. In 1958 he became the first Black MVP in the history of the NBA; a few years later he was the first NBA playe...

In the 21st century, some view Valentine's Day as a holiday to celebrate love in all its forms (although primarily romantic love), while others deride it as an overly commercialized holiday that is focused more on boosting the sales of flowers, candy, greeting cards, and jewelry than it is on celebrating love. When the holiday rose to prominence in the Middle Ages, it was definitely focused on the ideas of love and romance. It was also dedicated to honoring the saint for which the holiday was na...

In 1979, Rosie Ruiz, a 26-year-old administrative assistant in New York City, filled out an application to run in that year's New York City Marathon. On the application, she estimated her expected finishing time to be four hours and 10 minutes. But when the race was held, she had a recorded time of 2:56:29 - 11th best among the female entrants. At the time, no one connected to the race or in the media thought anything of her result. Her time was good enough to qualify her to compete in the Bost...

For as long as history has been recorded by humankind, it has been common for a child to choose the same profession as one or both of their parents. One drawback to following in a parent's footsteps is that if the parent achieves significant success and/or fame in their careers, that success can overshadow the child's achievements.This is definitely a concern for upstart actors who have famous parents in the industry. However, there are many examples of second and third-generation actors who hav...

Roger Neilson is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was a head coach for eight different NHL teams - the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Ottawa Senators in a career that spanned four decades (1977 to 2002). Although he never won a Stanley Cup, he was known as an innovator - he earned the nickname “Captain Video” because of his use of videotape to analyze other teams and was the first to u...

Over the course of history, many scientific and medical discoveries have been ignored, mocked, or met with open hostility. A physician was thought to have lost his mind when he theorized that medical personnel simply washing their hands before examining pregnant patients greatly reduced the chances of the patients dying of childbed fever; he eventually was confined to a mental institution. The British explorer who discovered that members of a lost expedition may have resorted to cannibalism in a failed attempt to survive became the victim of a vicious smear campaign that damaged his reputation and may have cost him a knighthood. Both men's theories turned out to be spot-on.

• None Uruk Is Considered The First 'True' City In History, But Its Importance Declined Over The Ages Located in Mesopotamia and settled by King Enmerkar in c. 4500 BCE, Uruk is considered the oldest known city in the world. It was the most influential city in Mesopotamia from approximately 4100-3000 BCE, when it was the largest urban center in the region and a hub of trade and administration.

One of many strange and unexplained mysteries of the world surrounds the sudden appearance of two children (a girl and a boy) who climbed out of a wolf pit or cave just outside the English village of Woolpit sometime in the 12th century. Not only were the children literally bright green, but they also wore strange clothes and spoke a language no one in Woolpit understood. This real-life mystery, which has long been part of English folklore, has baffled and intrigued historians, folklorists, sci

Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin - all convicted bank robbers - vanished after they broke out of the famed federal prison on Alcatraz Island the night of June 11, 1962.

In 2017, Robert Greenhut, who was one of the producers on A League of Their Own, told ESPNW that the film was difficult to cast because they were looking for actors who could play baseball. While it might look easy when watching a game on television, the producer admitted, "We all quickly learned how hard it is to throw from first base to third to get somebody out." Director Penny Marshall told MLB.com, "There was a big tryout where [the actors] were judged on running, catching, hitting. Throwi

One of the saddest and most shocking events in pro wrestling history occurred on May 23, 1999. World Wrestling Federation star Owen Hart was killed when a stunt he was set to perform for his entrance to the Over the Edge pay-per-view match went tragically awry.

Cheating in major sports like football, baseball, basketball, and soccer generates major headlines and can destroy reputations, if not careers. Even now, more than 100 years later, many baseball fans know what the Black Sox scandal is. If you mention “deflategate" to an NFL fan, chances are they will know that refers to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. And all kinds of competitors, from football players to Olympic athletes, have been penalized for using banned substances. But cheating in competitive sports is not restricted to the major sports. Pretty much anything that has a competitive edge to it - from chess to video games to fishing - is vulnerable to participants bending or breaking the rules.

Thousands of natural wonders exist in the world. But have you ever wondered about the history behind them? Some of these amazing formations and events date back millions of years, while others are less than 100 years old. There are legends and theories attached to how some of them came into existence, but what are the actual scientific explanations? And while climate change is a major topic in the 21st century, what role did this play in the formation of these natural wonders, and how has it affected them in the years since they were formed? These are the stories about how some of the most amazing natural wonders came into existence.

The saying “revenge is a dish best served cold” may be attributed to the 19th-century French author Eugène Sue (in his novel Memoirs of Matilda), but as history shows, people had been finding creative ways of getting back at their enemies long before Sue was ever born. And of course, vengeance is not the only motive for wanting to give a big “FU” to someone or something. Maybe, like Gregory Watson, you want to prove a point. Or, like Calvin Coolidge, you refuse to be pressured into doing - or saying - something. Or maybe the person simply feels like being petty. Here are the stories behind just a few of the memorable “screw you” incidents in history.

Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, may not receive as much scrutiny from the general public as her older brother Prince Charles or nephews Prince William and Prince Harry, but she's still had an eventful life. From making the British Olympic team as an equestrian, to nearly being kidnapped just weeks after her wedding, to being nominated for a Nobel Prize, the Princess Royal has packed a lot of living into her years. Blunt and often sharp-tongued, and with little use for pretense, she is considered one of the most popular members of the British royal family in the eyes of the general public and has earned the informal title of being the hardest-working royal. And she managed to carry out her royal duties while providing her children with a fairly normal childhood (well, as normal as one can have as a member of the British royal family), keeping them more or less out of the spotlight. Here is more about the Princess Royal, who, as of this writing, is 14th in line to inherit the British throne.

Since Saturday Night Live debuted on NBC on October 11, 1975, the weekly late-night live sketch/variety show has had more than 150 cast members. Some of the actors have remained on the show for years - for instance, Kenan Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member in show history, having been with SNL for 17 seasons (2003-present). Others have lasted for just one season, if that. And when cast members do leave SNL, the breakup can be messy or confusing. Shane Gillis never even got to appear on

In the first few years following the end of WWI, a new type of filmmaking started to appear in the United States. Known as "race movies," these were films usually featuring all-black casts targeted to black audiences. The man widely considered to be the leading figure in this genre was Oscar Micheaux. From 1919 to 1948, the self-taught Micheaux produced and directed more than 40 short and feature-length silent and talkie "race movies," the majority of which he also wrote. He is believed to be the first African American to produce any sort of feature film, as well as the first to produce a talkie. Most of Micheaux's movies have not survived. But two that have, Within Our Gates (1920) and Body and Soul (1925), are considered among his most important works; many historians believe the former was a direct response to D.W. Griffith's epic, The Birth of a Nation (1915), while the latter introduced movie audiences to the great Paul Robeson. Micheaux was not afraid of tackling controversial issues like prejudice, lynching, and interracial romance, which led to many conflicts with film censors. He was also determined to give black actors better roles than they could expect from white Hollywood. Here's a look at the life and career of the pioneer who inspired many black filmmakers.

In October 1972, Richard Phillips was one of two men convicted in the untimely demise of Gregory Harris. Phillips always claimed he was innocent, but his appeals for a new trial were consistently denied until 2014, four years after Richard Palombo, Phillips's co-defendant, confessed that Phillips was not involved. He was finally granted a new trial in December 2017, and was released on bond after being imprisoned for over 45 years. In March 2018, the charges against him were dropped, making him the longest-serving exonerated inmate in US history. While incarcerated, Phillips took up painting as a way to try and keep his sanity and process the trauma of being wrongfully accused. He composed hundreds of watercolors, and since he couldn't keep them in his cell, he sent the artwork to a pen pal. After he was released, he retrieved the paintings and reluctantly decided to start exhibiting and selling some of his work in the hope of being able to support himself financially. Since his release, Phillips has worked on readjusting to being a free man and has received much acclaim for his artwork. He has even established his own gallery.

To Alabamans, "a ways" is a distance that could be anything from 10 minutes to two hours in terms of travel time. "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit” is a colorful way to express delight and/or surprise. A shopping cart may be referred to as a "buggy." Alabama is in the tornado belt, so if an Alabaman says they're "goin' to the shelter," that likely means they're headed to a tornado shelter. It doesn't snow much in Alabama, so if people think a storm is coming, they'll go buy out all the