Compact Biographies

“Slavery has never been abolished from America’s way of thinking.” – Nina Simone

Nina Simone Biography

Nina Simone was a complicated woman.  Extraordinarily talented musically, she played a wide variety of styles, and although well-known and critically acclaimed, she only had one song reach the top 20 chart in the United States throughout her whole career. However, it was the combination of her powerful, passionate music along with her strong views and activist nature which made Nina Simone an exceptional artist and campaigner for civil rights.

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21 February 1933, Nina Simone was raised in the town of Tryon, North Carolina, and of the eight children born to her parents, she was the sixth. Although her family was incredibly poor, aged only three, Nina’s musical talents started to shine especially when it came to playing the piano. This talent was soon noticed and it wasn’t long before she was playing piano at her church and aged only 12 she was given the honour of playing a recital. It was not the music she played at this recital that would influence her future, but rather an event that occurred there that brought home to her what it was really like to be an African American in 1940’s USA. During the recital, Nina’s parents, who had sat in the front row to watch Nina play, were compelled to give up their seats to a white couple. However, Nina would have none of it and refused to perform until her parents were once again seated in the front row. From that point forward, Nina decided that she would dedicate her life and career to civil rights.

With the help of her parents, who although being very poor did what they could, and of various donations and funds that came her way thanks to the help of her music teacher, Nina Simone was able to attend Allen High School for Girls, which was located in Asheville, North Carolina. After graduating from high school in 1950 Nina sent in an application to the Curtis Institute of Music hoping for an audition. Her family had already moved to Philadelphia in anticipation of her acceptance into the program but her application was unceremoniously and without reason denied. Although the school denied it, Nina strongly believed that it was her skin colour that kept her from being accepted into the music program.

Nina did not take the news of her rejection lying down and decided to continue growing her skills at the piano through taking private lessons with one of the professors from the Curtis Institute. Getting private lessons from a prestigious teacher was expensive, so Nina took on singing jobs at local clubs and bars to pay for them. In 1954, she took on the name that she would be known by for the rest of her life – Nina Simone. The use of a stage name was important for her as her parents, who were devout Methodists, would not be supportive of the types of song their daughter would be singing as they would be considered immoral by the church. The stage name Nina Simone was intended to allow her to work on the music that was important to her without any interference from her family. The name Nina Simone was created from two separate ideas. Nina, Spanish for ‘little girl’, was a nickname her boyfriend had given her, while Simone was the name of a French actress Nina was fond of.

Throughout the 50s her time playing in different bars and clubs began to pay off as she developed a small but strong fan base.

In 1958, Nina met and married Don Ross, but she instantly regretted the decision. It was during this time that she also wrote what would become her only top 20 song in the United States, “I Loves You, Porgy.” Between this and her album “Little Girl Blue”, Nina Simone began to attract attention, although she would not benefit financially from the released versions of this early music as she had sold the rights outright for only $3000. It has been estimated that Nina lost more than a mil...

“I have not yet begun to fight!” – John Paul Jones

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John Paul Jones Biography

The reputation and legacy of John Paul Jones really depends on which side of the Atlantic you are on. In Britain, he is commonly thought of as a privateer at best and a pirate at worst. Having originally served for the United Kingdom, there are even some who viewed his defection to the American cause as treasonous. However, in the United States, he is known as the father of the American Navy, which was largely non-existent at the time, and as a naval hero for the fledgeling Continentals.

Born in Scotland on 6 July 1747 John Paul had a simple peasant’s life before beginning his first maritime career at the age of 13. Slowly becoming more adept in skill and rank, John Paul was finally promoted to first mate on the ship Two Friends. Seeking a position on another vessel, John Paul through happenchance became the master of the ship when both the captain and first officer died, leaving John Paul in charge.

However, it was not long before his fortunes ran aground and John Paul was accused of unnecessary cruelness during the punishment of a crew member. The crew member died some weeks later of unrelated causes, but the damage to his reputation had been done due to the influential nature of the family of the dead crewman. Not long after, aboard a separate ship – the Betsy – John Paul was forced to kill a mutinous crew member. Although he believed himself to be in the legal right, he did not trust the admiralty court and feared that he would be found guilty. It was around this time that he added the surname Jones, likely as a measure to help avoid future law enforcement.

With the outbreak of war between the colonies and Great Britain, the colonies were in sore need of experienced naval personnel. John Paul Jones quickly signed up, and with the recommendation of Richard Lee was quickly assigned to a ship. Throughout the war, John Paul Jones led repeated successful commands, changing ships multiple times but never getting a ship he felt worthy of his purposes or a crew that could sufficiently carry out his orders.

It was during this period that Jones began what would become a lifelong friendship with Benjamin Franklin. It is through the letters that the two shared that we have some of the greatest insight to John Paul Jones during this period of his career. Finally, in 1779 Jones got a ship more worthy of his talent, the USS Bonhomme Richard. It was a 42 gun French merchant ship but more than a match when compared to the ships Jones had previously commanded.

In September of 1779, Jones with the USS Bonhomme Richard set sail for the coast of England with a small squadron of ships including the Alliance to harass British merchant fleets. Little could he have imagined that it would be this particular engagement that would cause John Paul Jones to go down in American legend. The 50 gun HMS Serapis engaged the USS Bonhomme Richard. With the flight of the fellow members of his squadron and realizing that his merchant ship was no match for the big guns of a British frigate, Jones did what some might call prudent and others call reckless – he sought to engage the Serapis at point-blank range locking the two ships together and thus negating her speed and other tactical advantages.

The HMS Serapis and the USS Bonhomme Richard fought a bloody point blank battle for some time. When asked by the British captain if he would surrender, Jones is supposed to have said: “I have not yet begun to fight!” During the chaos and confusion that followed, the USS Bonhomme Richard began to sink and her flag was torn away from the repeated fighting. One of the crewmen, believing Jones to be dead, asked to surrender. When the British commanding officer responded if they intended to strike their colours,

In the second episode of the fourth season of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast, we take a brief look at the life of the father of the American Navy, John Paul Jones.

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In the first episode of the fourth season of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast, we take a brief look at the life of one of England's most famous, or notorious Kings - Henry VIII.

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“Of all losses, time is the most irrecuperable for it can never be redeemed.” – King Henry VIII

King Henry VIII Biography

King Henry VIII is probably the most well-known and most studied of English monarchs. His reign is often seen as a prelude to and the forerunner of the British empire. Certainly, without the institutional changes he brought, the wars he fought, and the religious differences he ushered into his country, England, and therefore Britain likely would have never risen to the status she ultimately achieved. His life was rocked by repeated scandal, religious schism and lustful ambition making King Henry VIII one of history’s most fascinating and mixed characters.

Born at the end of the fifteenth century on 28 June 1491, Henry was groomed from an early age for leadership. As a member of the royal family, he had a high level of education for his time and learned French and Latin becoming fluent in both languages. He also dabbled in Italian. As educated as he was, though, Henry was not initially trained to become the future King of England as he was not expected to ascend to the throne. However, after a sickness claimed the life of his older brother Arthur in 1502, Henry, at the age of 10, became the Duke of Cornwall and the new Prince of Wales. Upon the death of his father King Henry the VII, Henry ascended to the English throne in 1509 becoming King Henry VIII. He solidified his position through marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and also Arthur’s widow; a move designed to ease relations with Spain.

After the normal pardoning of friends and execution of potential rivals or treasonous elements that typically occurred during the early part of a transitional king’s reign, Henry the VIII set about the business of ruling his kingdom as well as attempting to produce a legitimate heir to his throne. Unfortunately, his first child with Catherine was stillborn and his second child lived only a few weeks before also dying. Several more children were also stillborn or died in infancy. This caused a high level of strain within the royal marriage and is possibly one of the factors that led to Henry the VIII becoming more amorous and taking multiple mistresses.

Although eventually producing a living child, Mary, Catherine of Aragon never successfully produced a male heir for Henry. For political and successive reasons, Henry sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled and he petitioned the Pope for his support. The pope, however, rejected his request, not the least of reasons being that the Pope had no desire to anger the highly Catholic and powerful Spain.

In response to the Pope’s decision, Henry decided to sever all ties with Rome and the Catholic Church and announced that he would become the head of the new Church of England. As head of the new church, Henry set out to reform religion throughout the land, requiring that all religious leaders swear loyalty and obedience to the King. After having created this state led church, and ensuring that tithes and money were given to the church that had once gone to Rome, now found their way into the kingdom’s treasury, he also set about the business of signing his own divorce certificate.

King Henry the VIII then married a long-time mistress, Anne Boleyn, one of the former Queen’s ladies. Although successfully producing what would ultimately be Henry’s most notable heir, Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn also had multiple miscarriages including the miscarriage of a son. Due to enemies at court, repeated miscarriages, and rumours of adultery and witchcraft, Anne found herself out of favour with the King. With a new mistress, Jane Seymour, on the rise, it became politically expedient for King Henry to simply dispatch with Anne Boleyn and he had her executed in 1536.

Jane Seymour is the only one of Henry’s six wives to provide Henry with a male heir,

In the fourth episode of the third season of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast, we take a look at the short, violent life of bank-robbing legend John Dillinger.

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“I rob banks for a living, what do you do?” – John Dillinger

John Dillinger Biography

The Depression-era has become a somewhat romanticised time in American history, especially as the memory of it fades from the collective consciousness. It was a time when people used to think that outlaws still had a certain amount of nobility or chivalry about them. And during this period, there was no outlaw who was more famous to the people and reviled by the federal agents than John Dillinger.

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Born in Indiana, USA on 22 June 1903, John Dillinger had a troubled youth. His mother died before his 4th birthday and his family situation with his father was never stable. John Dillinger simply had a desire for mischief even from a young age. Accused of bullying smaller children at school, brash behaviour, and petty theft, Dillinger, even as a child showed all the hallmarks that would come to characterise his personality later in life. His father, concerned for his well-being and fearing that the city was corrupting his son, moved them further out into the countryside; however, this did nothing to assuage the young Dillinger’s need for rebellion and by the age of 19 he was getting into more serious trouble and in 1922, he was arrested for auto theft.

John Dillinger’s behaviour started to drive a wedge between him and his father and so he enlisted in the US Navy and was assigned to the USS Utah as a Fireman.  however, after only a few months into his service, he deserted when the ship made port in Boston and he eventually received a dishonourable discharge. He then returned to the rural town he had left, Mooresville, Indiana, where he met Beryl Ethel Hovious, whom he married in 1924. The couple attempted to settle down into some sort of family life but John had difficulty finding work, and when he did find a job he often struggled to keep it, so he started to think of more rewarding ways of making money, eventually settling on a plan to commit a robbery in collaboration with his friend Ed Singleton.

Recognised by a local man, John Dillinger and Ed Singleton were quickly caught by the Mooresville Police Department. After initially pleading not guilty, John was convinced by his father that he would get an easier sentence if he pled guilty. John’s father worked to try and get a lenient sentence for his son but instead, John was sent to prison for 10 to 20 years. Unfortunately, his time in prison did not have the desired results and instead of rehabilitating he spent his time learning from other inmates and even began meticulous planning for how they would rob banks when they were released. It was during this period that John Dillinger learned the skills that would make him a bank robbing legend.

Through the successful lobbying of his father, Dillinger was paroled after having served nine and a half years. With a newly acquired knowledge of criminality and getting released in the midst of the Great Depression, honest work was difficult to come by and so immediately upon release, Dillinger began a professional life of crime and started planning his first bank robbery.

On 21 June 1933, the day before his 30th birthday, Dillinger successfully robbed the New Carlisle National Bank, getting away with $10,000. After robbing another bank in Ohio, Dillinger was swiftly caught by the police who took him into custody and sent him to the Allen County Jail. Before he entered the jail, he was searched and to their astonishment the police found him to be in possession of documents that seemed to point towards an escape plan, but when he was quizzed about them, he wouldn’t let on what they were.

With the help of friends from his previous time in jail who were adept at impersonating police officers, Dillinger did indeed break out of prison and immediately formed his first professional b...

In the third episode of the third season of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast, we take a brief look at the life of music legend Waylon Jennings.

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Waylon Jennings Biography

Waylon Jennings is a Texan legend when it comes to musical expression and songwriting. Born in Littlefield, Texas, USA on 15 June 1937, Waylon Jennings went on to have an extensive and ground-breaking career which included not only songwriting for which he received multiple awards but also saw him taking on acting work as well.

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Waylon Jennings was tutored from a young age to enjoy music. Learning his first musical lessons from his mother at the age of eight, it was not long before he was playing borrowed guitars at family gatherings. He continued to borrow guitars from any family member who had one until he was gifted with a used Stella guitar from his mother. She later replaced this old Stella with a Harmony guitar.

Waylon’s talent did not go unnoticed – between serenading his family and winning talent shows, he set his sights on something bigger and auditioned to play on the local Littlefield radio station, KVOW. Waylon was only 12 years old at the time but the owner of KVOW, J.B McShan, was not put off by the age of this new performer and liked what he heard. He ended up bringing on Jennings for a weekly 30-minute program, and Waylon took the opportunity to collect some of his other musically gifted friends and acquaintances together to form his first band, the Texas Longhorns.

From the age of 12 and through high school, Jennings grew his musical talent and ability but he was also disruptive and unruly at school and so at the age of 16, the local high school superintendent excluded him. Being forced out of school led Waylon to start looking for work and he went through a variety of jobs, including driving a concrete truck, working for a lumber company, and working in produce at a grocery store, but through all of this, it was his music and the desire to make music his career that kept him going.

While performing on KDAV Radio, Waylon Jennings met Buddy Holly and the two became fast friends. Continuing his music career working as a DJ in Lubbock, Texas, Jennings recorded a variety of songs that would become some of his most iconic pieces. Some of the music produced during this time included songs like “Jole Blon” and “When Sin Stops (Love Begins).”

It was in 1958 that Waylon Jennings’ fortunes began to change when he was invited by Buddy Holly to go on what would become the now infamous Winter Dance Party tour.

The Winter Dance Party tour began on 23 January 1959, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, scheduling was not given enough thought, considering the distances and difficulty of winter travel in the Midwest. The tour buses broke down repeatedly, even leading to a frostbite related hospitalisation of the band’s drummer. This led to the need to make other travel arrangements. Renting a charter plane to get to their next location of their next gig seemed to be the best way, although the plane would not seat everyone. Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to a fellow tour member who had the flu. It was during this time that an incident occurred that would haunt Waylon for the rest of his life.

When Buddy Holly found out that Waylon had given up his seat on the plane and was going to take the bus to the next venue location, Buddy Holly is reported to have said, “I hope your butt freezes,” to which Waylon jokingly responded, “Well, I hope your plane crashes”. A few hours later on 3 February 1959, that is exactly what happened when the plane carrying Buddy Holly, and other musicians at the start of what promised to be massive careers,  crashed in Iowa, killing all on board. Waylon Jennings felt personally responsible for having joked about such a thing before his friend’s death and this led to chronic substance abuse throughout much of the rest of his career.

It was during the mid-to-late 60s that Waylon Jennings’ music really came into it...

In the second episode of the third season of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast, we take a look at the life of discovery in the sciences that was led by Nobel laureate Francis Crick.

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