Entertainment

For over a century, roller coasters and other amusement park rides have provided thrills by walking the line between scary and fun. Yet for almost as long, these rides have led to accidents that are scarily dangerous. Most recently, an Ohio State Fair attraction known as the Fire ...read more

One after another, voice actors appeared before the judge. This was no ordinary courtroom testimony—they were there to squeak Betty Boop’s signature “boop-boop-a-doop.” It was 1934, and Betty Boop was on trial. The cartoon vixen was an unlikely candidate for a lawsuit—and for ...read more

The effect a Tony Award has on a Broadway production is similar to what an Oscar can do for a Hollywood film. It’s the industry’s highest honor, and can make or break a play when it is given—or not. Although it may seem like a mainstay now, the Antoinette Perry Award for ...read more

1. Sam Patch Rhode Island native Sam Patch had a hardscrabble upbringing as a child laborer in a cotton mill, but he later became America’s first celebrity daredevil after he discovered he could draw a paying crowd by staging terrifying leaps off waterfalls, bridges and river ...read more

MTV made waves when Emma Watson was awarded a non-gender specific “Best Actor” award for her performance in “Beauty and the Beast.” But while this may be a first for the MTV Movie & TV Awards, it’s not a first for the entertainment industry. For the top honors in film and ...read more

1. 1934: The Children’s Hour At the time of the Broadway premiere of “The Children’s Hour,” making any reference to homosexuality on stage was illegal in New York. The three-act drama was set in an all-girls boarding school where a disgruntled, runaway student makes a shocking ...read more

Along with perms, mix tapes and denim jackets, the mid-1980s saw a rash of celebrity activism against hunger. From Band Aid to Live Aid, musicians around the globe lent their voices to raise money for famine-stricken Africa. After USA for Africa garnered $53 million with its 1985 ...read more

1. He named himself after another magician. Houdini was born Erik Weisz, but his name was altered to Ehrich Weiss after his family emigrated from Hungary to Wisconsin when he was 4 years old. Young Ehrich—nicknamed “Ehrie” or “Harry”—had a fascination with magic, particularly ...read more

1. Isaac Van Amburgh—“The Great Lion Tamer” From his humble origins as an assistant at a menagerie called the Zoological Institute of New York, the flamboyant Isaac Van Amburgh grew into the most famous lion tamer of the 19th century. His act was renowned for its extreme daring. ...read more

1. Schulz’s lifelong ambition was to be a cartoonist. A Minnesota-born barber’s son, Schulz dreamed of becoming a cartoonist from a young age. He had a less-than-distinguished academic record, but outside the classroom he drew constantly and read newspaper comic strips with his ...read more

Whether or not Walt Disney wished upon a star, his dreams were about to come true as nearly half of the United States gathered around black-and-white televisions on July 17, 1955. After more than two decades of planning and a breakneck year of construction, the Mickey Mouse ...read more

1. Barnum was an entrepreneur from an early age. Barnum’s knack for moneymaking first manifested during his youth in Bethel, Connecticut. The future showman sold snacks and homemade cherry rum during local gatherings, and by age 12, he had made enough money to purchase his own ...read more

1. Disney came from humble beginnings. Born in Chicago on December 5, 1901, Walt Disney, the fourth of five children, moved with his family to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, when he was four. It was in Marceline—a small-town community Disney remembered as an adult as having been ...read more

1. Steeplechase Park Opened in 1897 by entrepreneur George C. Tilyou, Steeplechase Park was the first of three major amusement parks that put New York’s Coney Island on the map. The park took its name from its signature attraction, a 1,100-foot steel track where patrons could ...read more

1. Superman’s creators first envisioned him as a villain. Recent high school graduate Jerry Siegel self-published a story in January 1933 called “The Reign of the Superman,” featuring a mad scientist who plucks a vagrant from a bread line and gives him telepathic capabilities. ...read more

In early 1914, the White House announced that Woodrow Wilson would hold a series of regularly scheduled press conferences. To the dismay of career White House reporters, whispers swirled that a congressional committee would determine which journalists deserved invitations. Eleven ...read more