Leaving behind her own royal family and marrying into another, Marina would never gain a higher title than Princess, but that was all she needed. At the time of her marriage, the public largely viewed the British royals as pompous and distant, but this was an image that the crown desperately wanted to fix. Through Princess Marina and her husband, the Royal Family went from highfalutin to highly fashionable—and it changed Britain forever.
When Princess Margaret married celebrated photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, their wedding was watched by millions around the world. He was the first commoner to marry the king's daughter in centuries, and the glamorous couple seemed to embody a modern royal future. Decades later, however, a DNA test uncovered a secret that had begun before their marriage and came to light because of a child born while they were still on their honeymoon.
Imagine walking into school knowing a teacher could paddle you, boys could be sent home for long hair, and many students were expected to stand the instant an adult entered the room. For much of American history, these rules were considered perfectly ordinary rather than controversial. Looking back, many of them seem almost unbelievable. Here are some of the classroom rules and expectations that once shaped daily life for millions of American students.
A woman in power is always a threat, but that went double in Elizabethan England. So when beautiful, wealthy, and educated Lettice Knollys managed to snag the hand of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite courtier—and rumored lover—Robert Dudley, the Queen took her down an infamous peg. Knollys’s tragic life did the rest.
Polygraph test results aren't admissible in court, but law enforcement agencies still use them anyway.
In some corners of the world, all it takes is a hushed mention of “Queen Soraya” to summon a tale of dazzling beauty, royal betrayal, and enduring tragedy. From a teenage marriage to a mysterious end in a Paris penthouse, Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary’s life reads like a darkly twisted fairy tale. It’s no wonder they called her “the sad-eyed princess.”
Tommy Dorsey was a bandleader with a scary reputation. He once almost threw a man off a balcony—just for hugging his wife.
Pushed from infancy to reclaim his family’s political clout, William of Orange devoted his life to the pursuit of power—and he far exceeded his family’s expectations. It takes a special kind of ruthless to come out of left field and take the thrones of England, Ireland, and Scotland for yourself. Love him or hate him, the controversial reign of King William III was definitely one for the ages.
Before Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States, he battled for years with polio.
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