When the executioner raised King Charles I’s head before the crowd of onlookers, they let out a moan unlike anything the country had ever heard, before or since. The King of England had been killed by his own people. How did Charles I go from an absolute monarch to a head lying at the foot of the chopping block? What went wrong? Dive into the dark history of Charles I, the doomed king.
Rosemary Kennedy’s life is one of the Kennedy family’s most devastating, least-told stories. Born into a dynasty built on ambition and public success, she was expected to fit the polished image—but she struggled behind the scenes. And one fateful medical decision, made without her true consent, would permanently alter her future and silence her for decades.
You know Alexander the Great, but he wouldn't be anything without his dear old dad, King Philip of Macedon. Born into the bloodthirsty Macedonian royal family, Philip survived the game of thrones to turn his backwater kingdom into the greatest power in Greece. But fortunes could turn quickly in Ancient Greece, and just as Philip was on top of the world, it all came tumbling down.
Most Americans are taught that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover North America. However, the story of Leif Erikson proves that’s a lie. This hard-living Viking came from a long line of explorers before setting foot in what he called “Vinland”—and he left a trail of mysteries and tragedies in his wake.
Queen Victoria may have been the “Grandmother of Europe,” but her own mother was a titan on the home front. Believe me, just like her daughter, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld was no slouch in the drama department. From her scandalous romances to her disturbingly mommie dearest ways, this is one historical figure worth knowing about.
While Lord Byron became known for his poetry, he also became known for something else: his horrible treatment of women. Byron selfishly played with the hearts of women, and it didn’t matter if they were single, married, carrying his child or, on one occasion, even a member of his own family. When a country in crisis asked for his help, Byron finally did something altruistic. Tragically, it was this selfless act that drove Byron to an early grave.
For the Japanese people, Hirohito was a god. But behind the gilded facade and the royal duty he was born to, Hirohito was just a man like any other, and a flawed one at that. While his reign as Japanese Emperor centered around the growing power of the military and a series of terrible wars, Hirohito's own life was much different behind closed doors.
For a time, no woman was feared more in the court of King Henry VIII than the radical Protestant Anne Askew—and for very good reason. With the things she knew, Askew could have toppled the kingdom. But in exchange for facing down her enemies, all Anne got back was an utterly tragic end.
George II may have been King of Great Britain, but what he really wanted in life was to get on the battlefield. The royal loved nothing more than a good fight—especially with members of his own family. But he was also hiding some racy secrets behind closed doors. This King was both a prolific lover and a serious fighter—and as if that wasn’t exciting enough, his life also held some seriously jaw-dropping twists. Read on for these facts about George II.
The Vanderbilts are likely America's closest thing to a royal family—at least, they spent money like one. The money came from Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the lavish spending came from just about anyone carrying the Vanderbilt name. Watching this family’s dramatic economic decline would be something close to comedy... if it wasn’t so darn tragic.
When King George I took over the English throne in 1714, the vaunted House of Hanover began its centuries-old reign over the British Empire, ending only with Queen Victoria. Yet dark secrets lay at the root of this seemingly glorious family tree, corrupting and corroding all that grew out of it.
Rasputin rose from an illiterate Russian peasant to one of the most powerful men in the Romanov Empire, and he did it by means that still stump historians today. Loved by an ardent, powerful few and hated by the masses, dark rumors always swirled around the “Mad Monk” who had the Tsarina in his thrall…including the details of his mysterious end. The trouble is, some of those rumors are true.
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