Byte Sized Biographies…

After her rejection by the State Department, Virginia Hall became the most decorated American female civilian during World War II. Virginia Hall Virginia Hall, was savvy enough to anticipate the occupation of Vichy France and only days before the Germans stormed into the region, she made a daring escape by foot over fifty miles of the snowy, rugged Pyrenees Mountains.  In Virginia’s case it actual...

After her rejection by the State Department, Virginia Hall became the most decorated American female civilian of World War II Fake identity card for Virginia Hall Still, two weeks after Virginia’s return, it was her mother who accompanied her to a private ceremony in Washington, where Wild Bill Donovan formally presented her with the Distinguished Service Cross.  Donovan already knew that the OSS...

On July 19, 1989, United Air Lines pilot Captain Al Haynes was confronted with a mechanical failure that threatened all 296 passengers aboard his flight, United 232. The response of Haynes and his crew and the ensuing landing provided one of the most remarkable stories in the history of commercial aviation. Captain Al Haynes, at a news conference the day after landing United Flight 232 On Wednesda...

On July 19, 1989, United Air Lines pilot Captain Al Haynes was confronted with a mechanical failure that threatened all 296 passengers aboard his flight, United Flight 232. The response of Haynes and his crew and the ensuing landing provided one of the most remarkable stories in the history of commercial aviation. The ruptured fan disc of Flight 232, found in an Alta, Iowa cornfield The NTSB and t...

Part Hank Williams and part Spinal Tap, Gram Parsons' influence on popular music can be heard every day. Gram Parsons Fifty years after his death, Gram Parsons has achieved respect as an influence on many prominent musicians and is perceived as musically way ahead of his time.  The Byrds, Chris Hillman, left, Roger McGuinn, center For three years, beginning with their 1965 hits, one band, the Byrd...

Part Hank Williams and part Spinal Tap, fifty years after his death, Gram Parsons' influence on popular music can be heard every day. Gram Parsons' Nudie suit Country Music Hall of Fame Whatever discipline that drove Parsons and Hillman to compose the music that appeared  on their first album completely disappeared once they had to perform live.  Most observers of their early LA club dates describ...

The creator of 1984 and Animal Farm lived a life that was as original and strange as the books themselves. George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair was born in Motihari, Bihar, India on June 25, 1903.  He would not assume the pen name of George Orwell until the age of 30.  Blair was the son of an English civil servant father and a mother who was the daughter of a French colonial entrepreneur operating in B...

The creator of Animal Farm and 1984 lived a life as original and strange as the books themselves. Barnhill, Orwell's hideaway in Scotland Wanting to escape the distractions of London, in September of 1945, Orwell first travelled to Jura, a remote island in the Southwest corner of Scotland.  Once there he stumbled upon Barnhill, a remote and unoccupied farmhouse that he immediately leased from its...

The true story of eight nazi spies who landed on American shores via U-Boat at the height of WWII George Dasch, FBI mugshot George John Dasch was born on February 7, 1903 in Speyer, Germany, the fifth of thirteen children.  His mother, a social worker and quite influential at critical moments of his life, implored him at the age of thirteen to enter a seminary in preparation for the Catholic pries...

The true story of eight nazi spies who landed on American shores via U-Boat at the height of WWII. Typical German U-Boat By the time the Dasch group was loaded on to U-202, Walter Kappe was seemingly glad to be rid of everybody.  Although the U-Boat captain Hans-Heinz Linder asked the group to join him in his quarters for a toast to the newcomers, Kappe stayed merely long enough to wish everyone w...

Martyr and Saint, Savior of France, National Icon, All by the Age of Nineteen Joan of Arc Joan of Arc was born sometime in January of 1412, the date of the sixth is traditionally mentioned.  Her parents, Jacques and Isabelle, were farmers who modestly tended a fifty acre plot in the village of Domremy.  This tiny town was located in a remote area of Lorraine, a region loyal to the French monarchy...

Martyr and Saint, Savior of France, National Icon, All by the Age of Nineteen Joan of Arc, under interrogation Among the more driven individuals attempting to pry Joan out of the grasp of de Luxembourg was Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais.  Cauchon was a former Dean of the University of Paris, a chaplain to the Duke of Burgundy, as well as an ambitious and calculating high-ranking cleric.  C...

The true story of the television scandal that shocked America. Charles Van Doren and Herb Stempel during their climactic game The showdown between the two men continued on December 5, 1956, Stempel having accumulated 66,500 dollars.  The first show again resulted in a 21-21 tie.  The tension built as the dashing college educator tried to pull off the upset, but in the fourth game Herb Stempel pull...

The true story of the television scandal that shocked America. Charles Van Doren, 1959 On November 2, 1959, at 10 AM, Charles Van Doren and his attorney Carl Rubino entered the caucus room where the House Subcommittee hearings investigating potential game show corruption were conducted.  He had spent the previous evening accompanied by his wife and father at what must have been a very surreal dinn...

Homeless at age 19, in one of the poorest cities of the Third World, Bob Marley eventually created what Time Magazine called, "The greatest album of the Twentieth Century.  Bob Marley, Dublin, Ireland, 1980 Robert Nesta Marley was born in Nine Mile, Jamaica on February 6, 1945 to Cedella Editha Malcolm and Norval Sinclair Marley.  Marley’s mother, a Jamaican of African descent was 18 years old.  H...

18, unemployed and homeless in one of the poorest cities of the Third World, Bob Marley eventually created what Time Magazine called, "The greatest album of the Twentieth Century." The I-Threes, Rita Marley, center Meanwhile, in 1974, he was attempting to reorganize the Wailers and decide on his next musical direction.  He needed to replace the two most prominent departed, which he did with a trio...

In life, a prominent Lakota warrior chieftain, in death, an American legend No photo of Crazy Horse has ever been authenticated, this sketch was verified by his sister after his death Most likely, Crazy Horse was born in the spring of 1840, in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, near Rapid City.  His father was a member of the Oglala clan, also named Crazy Horse, and his mother, Rattle Blanke...

In life a prominent Lakota warrior-chieftain, in death an American legend. Seven feet tall, "Touch the Clouds" In his final moments of freedom, nervous and bewildered, Crazy Horse accepted the hand of Kennington who began to lead him to Fort Robinson’s jail within the guardhouse.  Lee facilitated this process by explaining to Touch the Clouds and the others that they should stay with Crazy Horse o...

A popular actor, John Wilkes Booth used his professional access to Ford's Theater to assassinate President Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth In April of 1865, Booth was an American celebrity.  Having earned as much as 20,000 dollars a year, the equivalent of over 600, 000 dollars today, Booth was also described as the handsomest man in America and discretely involved with Lucy Hale, the daughter of a US...

A well known actor, John Wilkes Booth used his professional access to enter Ford's theater and assassinate President Lincoln Booth, in typical garb In April of 1865, John Wilkes Booth was a very depressed 27-year old.  His career in shambles, his fortune gone and involved in a volatile and passionate romantic relationship that was tenuous at best only added to his general agonizing over Confederat...

Charles Bukowski: Slacker, Drunkard, Misanthrope, Poet, Artist, Hero. The building where Bukowski was born in 1920, Andernach, Germany Heinrich Karl Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany on August 16, 1920.  Andernach is a small German town located on the Rhine River, between Bonn and Koblenz.  Bukowski’s father, also named Heinrich Karl Bukowski was a sergeant in the US Army of occupation follo...

Charles Bukowski: slacker, drunkard, misanthrope, poet, artist, hero. Bukowski parking his Beamer at Santa Anita Although he was over sixty, Charles Bukowski was just hitting the stride of his professional life.  With money rolling in, he no longer gave public readings and his life settled into a daily, rigid, if undemanding  routine.  He got up late and then headed out in his newly purchased, exp...

The ultimate American traitor, Benedict Arnold's life was much more complicated  Death of Montgomery at Quebec Montgomery and Arnold spent December planning the inevitable storming of the city, a siege impossible against superior British artillery and December 31st the end of the enlistment period of many of Arnold’s militiamen.  They resolved to attack central Quebec City by scaling the walls on...

Benedict Arnold is the ultimate American traitor, his life was actually much more complicated Peggy Shippen, sketched by John Andre During the British occupation, Peggy Shippen interacted closely with several British officers and enjoyed a flirtation with Major John Andre, a member of British commander Sir Henry Clinton’s staff.  Peggy continued to communicate with Andre after the British retreat...

The eternal Free Bird, Ronnie Van Zant Ronnie Van Zant, In Concert Ronald Wayne Van Zant was born on January 15, 1948.  His father Lacey, was a long haul trucker and his mother Marion, nicknamed “Sister”, was a part time doughnut shop employee and the fundamental caregiver of the family’s six children.  Even as a young person, Ronnie had ambitions to escape the lower middle class enclave he grew u...