Legends and Legendary People Story Briefs

Meet some of the world's most-colorful characters in this collection. From Roman times to the Spanish Main, these individuals were famous in their own lifetimes and later, when their stories became the "stuff of legends."

Horatio Nelson is Britain's national hero, but what he did at Trafalgar made him a legend.

Cover of the highly acclaimed translation of "Beowulf," by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.

In 1718, a battle occured between the British Royal Navy and Edward Teach (the pirate known as "Blackbeard").

The James-Samuel farm, as it appeared in 1877, was the boyhood home of Jesse James.

Jonathan Harker has realized ... he is a prisoner in Count Draculas castle. Why??

Bram Stoker based his novel, "Dracula," on the legend of a real person, Vlad Tepes. In the first chapter of his story, we meet Jonathan Harker, a youn...

Something very strange is going on with Mina Murray's friend, Lucy Westenra. She is sleepwalking, more than usual, and in very strange places.

An African-American legendary cowboy, Britton Johnson was born a slave in Tennessee but became a famous cowboy in Texas. He was one of many black Texa...

In 1667, a French pirate known as Franois L'Olonnais plans an attack on Maracaibo (a city in todays northwestern Venezuela). Disastrous consequences ...

One week after her husband's death, Jackie Kennedy told reporter Theodore White that the Kennedy era was like "Camelot." It was her way of making sure...

Captain William Kidd was born in Scotland in 1645 and has an interesting story as a sailor, privateer or pirate. Did the courts judge fairly?

A famous Apache medicine man, often referred to as an Apache chief, Geronimo remained a prisoner of war after his surrender in 1886. The U.S. federal ...

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