THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW

In May 2011 a 104-year-old woman died. In her span of life she witnessed the birth of aircraft flight, and the moon landing, World War I, World War II, and the September 11th attacks. She witnessed the beginning of radio, film, television, and the internet. 19 men - Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, had been president, and five states joined the union. Women earned the right to vote. She narrowly missed perishing on the Titanic. She survived on the millions of dirty dollars her father earned by lying and cheating before the 20th century even began. She had two luxurious homes she never lived in. Instead she preferred to live in a hospital, safe from the outside world.  Huguette  Clark was one of the world's most famous recluses. Huguette's  father, William Clark was born in a log cabin in Montana. He made his money in mining copper. He built a settlement in the Nevada desert that would come to be known as Las vegas. He ran for senate, bribing anyone who could help him a...

Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet And losin' on card game bets with Dalí Sounds like a pretty fun gal. Taylor Swift wrote The Last Great American Dynasty about Rebekah Harkness, socialite and Bitch Pack member who shocked society by marrying the heir to Standard Oil. Once one of the wealthiest women in America, Harkness partied and patronized, much to the chagrin of her contemporaries. Rebekah Harkness would have been forgotten had the legend that is T- Swift not brought her back to life in song form. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915, Rebekah West grew up the daughter of a wealthy midwest family. Her parents left the care of their children to nannies. Rebekah attended two schools for girls as a young woman. She and her friends called themselves the Bitch Pack. Rebekah did not abide by society's rules for proper young debutants. She spiked the punch at her sister's coming out ball with mineral...

  How does a plastic bowl with a sealable lid relate to feminism? Oddly, by being an icon of housewife  domesticity,  Tupperware  gave women unprecedented freedom. Brownie Wise, a single mother with money issues perfected the Tupperware Party and took women from the kitchen to the sales force - via the kitchen. Although ousted from the company she helped elevate, Brownie Wisesmade proper food storage common in American homes. Brownie Wise is remembered today as an icon of sales innovation. Postwar America became a suburban paradise. Women needed to keep food fresher longer to feed  broods of Baby Boom babies. Plastic containers as we know them today were practically non-existent.  Earl Tupper , while working for  Du Pont, use flexible polyethylene to fashion lightweight food storage containers. He founded his own company and began to sell his products and department stores. But housewives didn't exactly know what to do with the products so they mostly ...

  "Andrew Borden is now dead,  Lizzie hit him on the head.  Up in heaven he will sing,  On the gallows she will swing." That is the lesser known second verse of the famous rhyme "Lizzie Borden took an axe..." that most people know even if they don't fully know Lizzie Borden's story. The murders of Andrew and Abbey Borden, possibly at the hands of Andrew's daughter Lizzie certainly were a subject of fascination in 1892, but Lizzie Borden has become an absolute legend. Her story is intriguing - why would a spoiled daughter of privilege take a hatchet (not an axe) and give her stepmother 17 (not 40), and her father 11 (not 41) whacks? If Lizzie Borden did it at all. Andrew Borden was Fall River, Massachusetts' foremost property developer. He made his fortune manufacturing caskets (oh the irony - was he buried in a casket his company had made?) He bought commercial properties then developed them into successful businesses. He made a fortune of $300,000. ...

  Witches come in many forms - old crones, green skinned neophytes, bubbly 1960s housewives, sisters unlucky in love, and middle-aged Scottish ladies. That last one really isn't typical, yet Helen Duncan was tried as a witch... in 1944. Born in Callendar in 1897 Helen Duncan was a psychic medium tried for witchcraft. Helen often gave prophecies as a child. In 1916 she met Henry Duncan, who supported her in her paranormal efforts. The two married and had six children. In 1926 Helen became a physical medium. In physical mediumship spirits manifest themselves in a physical way. A spirit manipulates the medium corporally, as in automatic writing, or putting their words into the medium's mind to be spoken. Helen would spit up ectoplasm which was supposed to be the after effects, and proof, of Helen having spirits enter her body. Helen had a spirit guide named Peggy who assisted her during seances. In November of 1941 Helen connected with a soldier aboard the HMS Barham. That soldier...

  Ladies have accomplished many things in history, some great and long-lasting, others just unique. A 17th century Countess may have been the world's first lady serial killer, and is credited as being the most prolific serial killer ever - body count : 650. But did Elizabeth Bathory really slaughter virgins to bathe in their blood, or was that way back in the day anti-feminist propaganda? Erzabet Bathori was born into a very politically well connected family in 1650. She was well educated, even by today's standards. She learned languages, literature, science and math. Her parents were wealthy and owned a great deal of land.  When she was 10 Elizabeth's father died and at age 11 she became betrothed and was sent to live with her future husband's family. She and her husband married when he was 15. They were given a castle as a wedding gift - you know, cause blenders are so over gifted. Elizabeth and her husband had five children - mostly sons. Her husband died in 1604 le...

  Two women traveling in Paris in 1901 saw many sites - The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe. Surely they ate baguettes, brie, and eclairs and perhaps bought themselves new chapeaux. But they also traveled back in time - okay not exactly, but something similar. They saw an imprint of the past, kind of like how when exposed to bright light you can see an after image. Only this after image lasted longer than a few seconds, and featured other people, including Marie Antoinette. Let's go back to 1672. King Louis XV built Le Petite Trianon on the grounds of Versailles as a gift for his mistress - a high class shag shack if there ever was one. Louis XVI gave Le Petite Trianon to Marie Antoinette, and she decided to make the grounds of working farm. Gardeners grew vegetables, and servants tended to farm animals. In the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette , the queen and her baby daughter feed a lamb - Marie Antoinette in her Cottage Core era. Marie Antoinette used Le Petite Trianon as her hom...

" I'm lookin' for a mind at work ." Ain't we all Angelica. Hamilton' s Schuyler Sisters predate Sister Sledge by 200 years, but they were family ; everyone could see they were together as they walked on by, all girl group sass and swishing hips.  And the real  Schuyler Sisters were the same, holding 1770's New York city society in thrall. But one man with a dueling pistol changed the life of middle sister Eliza, and possibly the fate of the nation. ANGELICA !  Phillip Schuyler, father of Angelica Eliza and Peggy, was a general in the Continental Army. Their mother Catherine was born a Van Renesselaer. Both were old name Dutch founders of New York City families. (Like the names Mrs. Astor would put on her 400 a hundred years later.) Angelica was the first daughter. Through their father's military connections the sisters socialized with the top political names of the era. Angelica fell in love with a Brit, John Baker Church, supplier to both the French a...

  America holds great respect for the First Lady. The woman dubbed "The First First Lady," Dolley Madison, elevated the position to how we see first lady today - hostess, ambassadress, model of American womanhood. Dolley Madison embodied America's fighting spirit, saving important American artifacts the White House was engulfed in flames. She lived through personal and professional turmoil and held herself as a beacon of early American history. Dolley Madison was a bastion of American independence. Dolley Payne, born in a log cabin in 1768, lost her father at an early age. Her mother turned their home into a boarding house. Statesman Aaron Burr resided there; he and Dolley would remain friends for the rest of their lives. In 1790 she married John Todd, a Philadelphia lawyer. She and Todd had two sons, but in 1793 John Todd and their baby son died of yellow fever. Family friend Aaron Burr gave Dolley and her son financial support, and introduced her to James Madison. Madis...

In 1936 a British society lady flew the reverse of Charles Lindbergh's historic flight. Beryl Markham was the first person to fly from Europe to North America. After this feat she fell into obscurity. Before the flight she was a daring woman who had affairs with important male figures of her day. Beryl Markham lead a bold life atypical of women, society ladies or not. Beryl  Markham was born in Asheville, England. Her father, a horse trainer, relocated to Kenya and took young  Beryl  with him. When she was 17 her father moved to Peru and  Beryl  took over his horse farm. She married three times, taking the last name of Markham, from her second husband, as her own. She had one son, Gervase. She had affairs throughout all of her marriages, and became the Mistress of Prince Henry, brother of Edward, Prince of Wales (who abdicated the throne for Wallace Simpson.) They met while Prince Henry was on safari in Kenya. Her husband threatened to name the prince as a ...

Humans furthered their pursuit of flight, transcending from balloons to airplanes. Ladies continued to fly with many ladies becoming professional pilots. As with anything in life, there must be a first person to do something. For pilots, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to earn a pilot's license. Sadly Harriet Quimby lost her life before she could possibly achieve other aviation firsts. Born May 11th, 1875 Harriet Quimby was one of only two children to survive out of ten in her family. She lived in Michigan with her father, mother, and sister. Her mother came from an upper class New York family ; her father's family were poor farmers. Her father tried several careers before moving the family to San Francisco. Her mother encouraged Harriet to become a journalist, as the career offered a steady paycheck and opportunities not usually offered to women. Harriet took to the stage instead, under the name Hazel Quimby. Through her theater connections she earned a job as a reporter...