Byte Sized Biographies…

Brought to Russia as fourteen-year-old Princess Sophia from a tiny German principality, she became Catherine the Great, the most powerful woman in Europe. Peter III, Catherine's husband Catherine's mother, Princess Johanna The Empress Elizabeth Frederick the Great Grigori Orlov Poniatowski Catherine on the the balcony of the Winter Palace after she seized the throne from Peter III Catherine, in the uniform of the Imperial Guard

Brought to Russia as fourteen-year-old Princess Sophia from a tiny German principality, she became Catherine the Great, the most powerful woman in Europe. Catherine's coronation painting, wearing her remarkable crown Pugachev, harassing captive nobles before their execution Paul I, Catherine's son and heir Grigori Potemkin Peterhof Palace The Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum The Bronze Horseman statue of Peter the Great

Listen to this February 5, 2020 flashback episode about Bob Marley, homeless at age 20 in one of the poorest cities of the Third World, he became a popular music phenomenon and 20th century icon. Bob Marley performing in July of 1980 Bob Marley's mother's home, Trench Town, Kingston, Jamaica Bunny Wailer, one of Marley's earliest collaborators Peter Tosh, another Marley associate, performing in 1978 The I Threes, performing with Marley, Rita, his wife, center

Listen to this February 5, 2020 flashback episode about Bob Marley, homeless at age 20 in one of the poorest cities of the Third World, he became a popular music phenomenon and 20th century icon. Marley, performing last outdoor show, Dublin, Ireland, July 6, 1980 Marley, publicity photo Marley's son, Ziggy Bob Marley, mausoleum complex entrance, Nine Mile, Jamaica

This special flashback episode, from March 16, 2018, discusses D. B. Cooper and the most infamous unsolved hijacking in US history. Some of the crew members from the plane Cooper hijacked Initial crude wanted poster circulated by the FBI Richard McCoy, wanted poster circulated after he escaped from a federal penitentiary Another potential D. B. Cooper, Robert Rackstraw.

This special flashback episode, from March 16, 2018, discusses D. B. Cooper and the most infamous unsolved hijacking in US history. Northwest Orient Plane similar to the one DB Cooper hijacked. Money recovered on the shores of the Columbia River that was ultimately identified as part of Cooper's $200,000 Grave of Richard Mccoy, who many believe was D. B. Cooper

On April 5, 1976, when he died in a private jet,  en route to Houston, Texas, Howard Hughes was a hopeless drug addict, weighed 93 pounds and hadn’t even taken a step on his own in several years.  He was also the world’s wealthiest man, living proof that money can’t buy happiness. Howard R. Hughes Sr., standing next to a drill site Howard Hughes as a small boy Howard Hughes' boyhood home in Houston, Texas Movie poster for Hell's Angels Jane Russell, The Outlaw Hercules, aka The Spruce Goose, taxiing in Long beach Harbor

On April 5, 1976, when he died in a private jet,  en route to Houston, Texas, Howard Hughes was a hopeless drug addict, weighed 93 pounds and hadn't even taken a step on his own in several years.  He was also the world's wealthiest man, living proof that money can't buy happiness. The entrance to the Beverly Hills Hotel, Howard Hughes' home for over a decade Jean Peters The Desert Inn, circa 1968 Actress Terry Moore, one of Hughes' female companions, who claimed after his death that he married her in a boat in international waters and that she gave birth to Hughes' illegitimate child that died shortly after childbirth. The Hughes estate settled with her for a sum believed to be around 400,000 dollars.

In 2013, while working as a contractor at the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden leaked an extensive collection of top secret documents, an act of defiance that, today, still reverberates throughout US intelligence and international relations. National Security Agency Headquarters, Fort Meade, MD Edward Snowden Glenn Greenwald, publicity photo Laura Poitras General Keith Alexander

In 2013, while working as a contractor at the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden leaked an extensive collection of top secret documents, an act of defiance that, today, still reverberates throughout US intelligence and international relations. Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport Edward Snowden in his Hong Kong hotel room Glen Greenwald and Ewan Mckaskill, in Hong Kong Academy Award onstage presentation to Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Lindsay Mills, second from right Keith Alexander 2014 retirement party, with Chuck Hagel and James Clapper