Facts Virals

01/17/2025

01/17/2025

Boeing 747 - Economy seats in 1970

01/17/2025

When this picture was taken, likely in early September of 1873, these three men were the most famous Westerners alive. Seated on the right is Buffalo Bill Cody, who earned his name as the greatest buffalo hunter alive before rising to fame as a scout for the United States Army. Across the table sits Wild Bill Hickok, the deadliest gunslinger of his day and perhaps the most fabled lawman in American history. And behind these two men, with his right hand resting familiarly on Wild Bill's shoulder, stands Texas Jack Omohundro.
Omohundro wasn't a buffalo hunter or a lawman in Kansas cow towns. Texas Jack was a cowboy. The Earl of Dunraven, who hunted with both Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill, wrote:
"Buffalo Bill had always been in Government employ as a scout, but Texas Jack had been a cowboy, one of the old-time breed of men who drove herds of cattle from way down South to Northern markets for weeks and months, through a country infested by Indians and white cattle thieves."
When these three men toured as The Scouts of the Plains, audiences who rushed to their local theaters to catch a glimpse of their heroes were gladly spending their hard-earned money to see the West's most famous scout, its most famous lawman, and its most famous cowboy together on stage. They were so famous that nearly 150 years after they posed for this picture, they still shape our stories of the American West. Buffalo Bill became the most famous American, and perhaps the most famous person full stop, during his own lifetime. His Wild West show performed before thousands on both sides of the Atlantic, shaping the public perception of the West in his own image forever. Wild Bill was struck down by an assassin's bullet, but his name lives on, inspiring countless books, movies, television shows, and trips to the small South Dakota town of Deadwood, where Hickok was killed and is buried.
Texas Jack didn't live long enough to ensure his name would be remembered forever and he didn't "die with his boots on" to go down in history. But his life and his legacy as America's first famous cowboy, the man who introduced the lasso act to the stage and rode with Pawnee warriors across the western prairie, has influenced every cowboy story that followed. From Owen Wister's The Virginian to Louis L'amour's Hondo, from Tom Mix to Cary Grant, from Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name to John Wayne's Ethan Edwards—every cowboy has been cast in the mold of Texas Jack.

01/17/2025

"My first big recipe was shark repellant that I mixed in a bathtub for the Navy, for the men who might get caught in the water."

Before she mastered the art of French cooking, Julia Child cooked up shark repellent while working for the precursor to the CIA as a covert operative during World War II. Sharks kept unintentionally setting off underwater explosives meant for German U-boats — until Child came up with an inventive recipe that saved the day.

01/16/2025

A family in front of their new house (124 years ago)

01/16/2025

When we had big slides in the 50s.

01/16/2025

The world's last commercial ocean-going sailing ship - The Pamir - rounding Cape Horn, 1949

01/16/2025

His mother was 40 years old when Jesse was born. Jesse grew up in a very rough home in Morgantown, West Virginia. Jesse’s father, who was mentally ill, was a violent man and was abusive to Jesse. At 13, his father died leaving his mother to take care of him and his brothers. At the time, things weren’t easy for Jesse and he didn’t think life held much hope for him. While Jesse had his struggles, he had dreams too. He wanted to be a ventriloquist and he found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his money until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy. When he was old enough, he joined the military. The military recognized his talents and placed him in the entertainment corp. He toured the western Pacific Islands as a comedian as part of a G.I. variety show called "Stars and Gripes.” It was there he was able to share his talents with fellow soldiers. In 1946, he discharged with rank of Technician Grade 5, which was the equivalent then of a Corporal. During his military service, Jesse was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 4 bronze service stars), Army Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge (with an M1 Carbine) and Honorable Service lapel pin. Through his military service, Jesse gained confidence and found that he had a talent for making people laugh. In spite of his early struggles, Jesse became one of the best-loved characters of all time. For it was Jesse,...Jesse Don Knotts who brought us Barney Fife!

01/16/2025

My great-grandmother at the age of 15!

01/16/2025

Marilyn Monroe
Circa 1954

01/16/2025

Two little girls in 1887.

01/16/2025

This family of five stand on the front porch of their home located in the Ozarks of Missouri.

01/16/2025

Fun before the internet, 1960s

01/16/2025

Edith Steiner, a Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust, and John Mackay, the Scottish Soldier that saved her. They were married July 17th, 1946, and will be celebrating their 78th wedding anniversary this year!

01/16/2025

*** More Black History ***

Burr designed a lawn mower with traction wheels and a rotary blade that was designed to not easily get plugged up from lawn clippings.

John Albert Burr also improved the design of lawn mowers by making it possible to mow closer to building and wall edges. You can view U.S. patent 624,749 issued to John Albert Burr.

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01/15/2025

Two sisters, Florence and Susie Friermuth arrested for moonshining during the Prohibition, 1921.

01/15/2025

Clint Eastwood Aged 26

01/15/2025

These daguerreotype portraits show the oldest generation of people to ever be photographed, 1840-1850. Many of these people were born in the 1700s and some of them even lived through the American Revolutionary War.