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."

Scientists working for Hitler's Third Reich continued to work, after the war, but for the United States. Historians believe that the U.S. rocket progr...

Still a national hero in Britain, Lord Horatio Nelson helps to save his country from invasion.

Is the story about Isaac Newton and the falling apple true or just a legend? A 1752 manuscript may provide an answer.

Within five years of Jesse James'' death, publishers were releasing young-adult stories about the famous outlaw.

Lt. Colonel James Doolittle and his “Raiders” were aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8), en route to their planned take-off location (in the Pacific Ocean...

J.M. Barrie never really got over the sadness he felt when several of the Llewelyn-Davies boys endured more tragedies in their lives.

Julius Caesar sails to Britain from France, in 55 BC, and is initially met with men who are willing to fight against Caesar and his troops. Caesar lea...

W.A. Rogers, an artist whose illustrations depict scenes from the American West, created several drawings of cowboys in action.

The ancient Laws of Eshnunna, which scholars believe predate the Code of Hammurabi, contain a "mad dog law" specifying compensation if a rabid dog kil...

History tells us that the runner from Marathon to Athens was Pheidippides, but there is more to uncover about his story

Born on September 9, 1828, Leo Tolstoy was the writer of still-famous 19th-century Russian masterpieces. See him in this rare video from the Russian S...

Professor van Musschenbroek, from Leiden University, conducts a world-changing experiment which gives him a massive electric shock.

Show tooltips