Adventurers

PEOPLE

The attempt to dig a canal through Panama was led by French diplomat and builder Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had earlier triumphed with the Suez Canal. Though the project had a promising start soon turned into one of history’s biggest engineering failures.

PEOPLE

At just fourteen, Thomas Nickerson was the youngest crewmember of the whaleship Essex. When the ship was struck and sunk by a whale, he was launched into one of the most grueling sagas of survival in maritime history.

PEOPLE

French war hero Charles Nungesser and his navigator François Coli vanished during their attempt to make the first transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, leaving behind one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

PEOPLE

Babe Ruth is one of the most iconic athletes the world has ever seen—but most people don't know the Great Bambino's dark history.

PEOPLE

Bartholomew Roberts (AKA Black Bart) dominated the seas, from the Caribbean all the way to West Africa. But Roberts wasn’t your average buccaneer.

PEOPLE

Marcus Crassus was known as “the richest man in Rome”—and when he finally met his end in 53 BC, it was utterly horrifying.



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