A total disregard for his own personal safety, an indomitable fighting spirit, reckless courage, … and the gift of being nearly indestructible. This soldier survived five wars, including World War I and World War II becoming one of the most decorated British officers of all time and sustaining countless injuries. Was he the unluckiest soldier of all time or the quintessential British war hero? Make up your mind as you hear the story of today’s protagonist: Adrian Carton de Wiart, the unbreakable soldier.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Every single American has been taught the stories of his accomplishments since elementary school, and it’s hard to go anywhere in the US without eventually being reminded of Ben Franklin. In Philadelphia, there is the Ben Franklin Bridge, Franklin Institute, and statues of his likeness all over the city.  His face is also on the one hundred dollar bill. There was so much respect for him in the US, that saying anything negative is practically treasonous. But on today’s Biographics, we aren’t going to hold back on all of the details on how Ben Franklin was and more than a bit of a mad lad.

On November 22, 1963, 24 year old Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shot that would change history. As crowds cheered on Dealey Plaza, the former Marine sharpshooter put a bullet through the head of America’s telegenic young President. It was the first successful assassination of a US president in 62 years. But Oswald didn’t live long enough to celebrate his grim achievement. Not two days later, Oswald would be dead too, killed by an assassin’s bullet while in police custody.

Gianni Versace was a brilliant businessman who took his humble beginnings and built a multi-billion dollar fashion empire. He became a celebrity designer, and his company’s famous Medusa logo is recognized around the world. But in 1997, his life was cut short when he became the victim of a serial killer.

The story we bring to you today shows exactly that. This is the story of three individuals who through imagination, cunning and sheer cheek were able to fool the secret services of half of Europe at the height of World War II. This is the story of the secret agent codenamed ‘Garbo’ and his associates, and how they brought about the greatest deception of the War.

Hundreds of people stood in a crowd in front of the Menlo Park factory in New Jersey as a banner unfurled to reveal the image of Thomas Edison. He wanted the world to know that he was the most important person in the room. He was the brand. The inventor. The one in charge of over 1,000 machines created under his name.

Louis Pasteur was the chemist who has gone down in history as one of the fathers of microbiology. He is famous for several accomplishments that changed science as we know it, including the pasteurization process of killing bacteria from liquids, and paving the way for immunology by creating life-saving vaccines. These accomplishments are just the tip of the iceberg,  because without Pasteur’s revolutionary germ theory, modern medicine would not be anything like it is today. On this episode of Biographics, we are talking about the life and work of Louis Pasteur, and why he was one of the greatest minds in history.

Imagine, for a moment, that you could travel backwards through time and give your sixteen year old self the powers of a God. Imagine placing the lives and fates of millions into your trembling teenage hands. Would the result be a happier world, a utopia? Or would the result be catastrophe for everyone involved, including your younger self? In October, 54 AD, the Roman Empire made this little thought experiment a terrifying reality. They elevated an emotionally unstable 16 year old boy to the position of emperor. That boy’s name? Nero.

Count Victor Lustig may have been the most successful con man of the XXth Century. From the Belle Epoque to the Great Depression, through the Roaring Twenties and across two continents, this elegant swindler eluded the grasp of the law while racking in hundreds of thousands of Dollars.

Nancy Wake was beautiful, smart Australian woman living in France, and at first glance, she looked like a housewife, and no one would have suspected that she was actually a secret agent for the SOE. During World War II, she was given the nickname of “The White Mouse”, because she continued to escape from the Nazis’ grasp. After becoming an expert in espionage, she was put on the Gestapo’s Most Wanted List, and had a 5-million-franc bounty on her head. This is the incredible story of Nancy Wake, The White Mouse.