Americas
-
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was the eldest daughter of Arthur H Keller and his second wife Kate Adams. Arthur was a confederate soldier during the American Civil War, and later an editor of the North Alabamian in their hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama, where they lived on a former cotton plantation which had been in the Keller family for some time. His mother was a second cousin of US Confederate General Robert E Lee. Keller believed that black people were sub-human although it is stated in various sources that he wasn’t an unkind man. The family employed black servants, one of whom, the cook had a daughter Martha, who would become Helen’s…
-
The Confederacy and the road to war
With all the high-profile news stories we have seen recently regarding the South Carolina shootings and the ensuing commotion over flags associated with the Confederacy I thought it was about time we did a post regarding the history and causes of the Civil War. But before I begin I want to make it absolutely clear, that not only am I completely against racism in any shape or form (and this goes for all the Naked History team) but that as a Historian, the contents of this post are unbiased and objective. We condemn racial violence in all its forms, and any discussion regarding this post MUST remain tolerant of all…
-
James Dean’s Little Bastard: Curse or Conspiracy?
There are opposing views on the Porsche 550 Spyder that James Dean was driving, and ultimately crashed, on September 30, 1955. His death was nearly instant but the rumors and conspiracies involving his cursed car have lasted for 56 years. We may never know what really happened but we can look at all the stories surrounding the Porsche dubbed “Little Bastard”. On a beautiful day in Cholame, California, Donald Turnupseed was driving a Ford coupe on U.S. Route 466. As Donald turned at an intersection, Dean’s car smashed almost in a head-on collision with the Ford at 5:45 PM. Donald walked away with only minor injuries, as did Dean’s passenger,…
-
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 he was the second of six children to Benedict Arnold and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut. Like his father and grandfather, as well as an older brother who died in infancy, he was named after his great-grandfather Benedict Arnold, an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island.Only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood. Arnold’s father was a successful businessman, and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society. When he was ten, Arnold was enrolled in a private school in nearby Canterbury, with the expectation that he would eventually attend Yale. However, the deaths of his…
-
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin Hymen Siegelbaum was born February 28, 1906 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Max and Jennie Siegelbaum in the Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire, in modern Ukraine. They were a poor Jewish family. Siegel was known as one of the most “infamous and feared gangsters of his day”. He was also one of the driving forces behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. He was not only influential within the Jewish mob, he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate. Siegel was one of the founders and leaders of Murder, Incorporated and became a bootlegger during Prohibition. After Prohibition was repealed…
