Biographics: History One Life at a Time

Boudicca was an ancient Celtic warrior Queen who lead an army in a rebellion against the Roman Empire. The story of this brave woman’s life has often been reduced to just a few sentences in a textbook, and that’s because there is very little known about her life. There were just two Roman historians; Tacitus and Cassius Dio, who wrote down information about Boudicca. So everything we know about her is skewed from the enemy’s perspective, and both of their versions of the story vary slightly from the other.

The protagonist of today’s story discovered ancient tombs, explored secret passages inside pyramids and recovered artefacts as old as time - while getting into fistfights, foiling assassination attempts with his trusty whip, dodging bullets amongst Egyptian ruins and facing the opposition of a French rival.

During World War II, most women were doing their duty on the home front by working in factories and looking after the future generations of their respective nations. But for one 24-year old Ukrainian woman named Lyudmila Pavlichenko, she wasn’t about to let Nazi Germany take over her beloved USSR. With 309 confirmed kills, Lyudmila Pavlichenko became the most successful female sniper in all of history.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving President in US history, serving 12 year in office from 1933-1945. He steered the nation through its worst economic crisis, only to be faced with the most horrific war in history. Though facing titanic physical challenges of his own, he imbued America with the indomitable fortitude and sense of morale that was required to spur the nation to victory. In today’s Biographics we examine the inspirational life of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Aleister Crowley may just be one of the most interesting men who ever lived. He was a self-proclaimed magician, scholar, writer, and even an undercover spy. He was known as “The Great Beast 666”, because some even believe that he was the AntiChrist told in the Book of Revelation. Others believe that he was a genius and a visionary, and that the world would not be the same if it were not for his teachings. Today, we’re going to talk about the life of this legendary figure, and you can decide for yourself if he truly was “The Wickedest Man Alive”.

On November the 5th, 1604, thirteen men plotted together to blow up the Palace of Westminster in London on the day when the most powerful men in England were set to meet at Parliament. The authorities learned about the plan through an anonymous letter, and the terrorists were stopped just in time. The first man they encountered at the scene was Guy Fawkes, who had been guarding barrels of gunpowder in the basement below the palace.

She was an exotic dancer in Paris at the height of the Belle époque. She was the object of sexual desire for wealthy men, ambassadors and high ranking officers. She was Mata Hari: the dancer, the spy, one of the great names of WWI espionage.

She was the poor little rich girl who overcame huge obstacles to become the First Lady of the World. Orphaned at the age of nine, she took control of her own destiny, transforming herself from a shy, fearful girl into a strong, socially aware, confident woman. As the First Lady of the United States she took a ceremonial title and turned it into a platform to help others, then going even further to develop the magna carta of the modern age – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In today’s Biographics, we examine the very busy life of Eleanor Roosevelt.

These are the perfect words to describe the life of Hunter S. Thompson. He was a writer who is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and he was the founder of “gonzo journalism”. He has gone down in history as being one of the wildest writers in American history.