https://www.facebook.com/269101579610012/

Animal & stories, l, Los Angeles, CA (2025)

08/01/2025

Bertha Heyman, born around 1851, earned a notorious reputation in 19th-century America as one of the most daring con artists of her time. Known by nicknames like “Big Bertha” and the “Confidence Queen,” she operated with a boldness and cleverness that amazed even the most experienced lawmen. Detective Thomas F. Byrnes, a legendary New York police figure, once called her “one of the smartest confidence women in America”—a title she truly deserved for her brilliant manipulation and psychological insight. Unlike many con artists who relied on secrecy, Bertha's schemes were based on sheer audacity; she confidently entered high society, pretending to be fabulously wealthy, convincing wealthy men that she only needed temporary financial help.
Her scams were elaborate, and her victims were often educated, successful men who couldn’t imagine being outsmarted by a woman—especially one as physically imposing and socially commanding as Bertha. She didn’t just deceive them with tales of hidden fortunes or stranded inheritances; she charmed and disarmed them before emptying their pockets. One of the most remarkable parts of her criminal career was her ability to keep running cons even while behind bars. Bertha managed to swindle men out of thousands of dollars from prison, proving that her greatest weapon wasn’t freedom—it was her mind.
Bertha Heyman stood out in an era when women rarely appeared in the criminal spotlight, and never with the kind of infamy she held. While her crimes left a trail of broken trust and empty wallets, they also revealed the vanity and vulnerability of a society eager to believe in appearances. In many ways, she was a reflection of the Gilded Age—a time of glamor, greed, and illusion—where even the sharpest gentlemen could be brought down by the “Confidence Queen.”

08/01/2025

A great woman erased from history by idiots.
The branding of the syrup was a tribute to this woman’s gifts and talents. Now future generations will not even know this beautiful woman existed. What a shame. The world knew her as “Aunt Jemima”, but her given name was Nancy Green and she was a true American success story. She was born a slave in 1834 Montgomery County, KY. and became a wealthy superstar in the advertising world, as its first living trademark. Green was 56 years old when she was selected as spokesperson for a new ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour and made her debut in 1893 at a fair and exposition in Chicago. She demonstrated the pancake mix served thousands of pancakes, and became an immediate star. She was a good storyteller, her personality was warm and appealing, and her showmanship was exceptional! Let's not forget greatness & exceptional black folks who broke so many barriers! 🥰
Credit goes to the respective owners-

07/15/2025

This photograph is something special—a glimpse behind the glittering curtain of Marilyn Monroe’s public life. Here she is, just 29, with no makeup, no Hollywood glamour. For once, we’re not seeing the movie star, but Norma Jeane, the woman beneath the myth. She looks weary, a little fragile, and yet there’s something quietly arresting about her honesty.

The timing is telling. She had just wrapped The Misfits, a film that would become one of her most enduring legacies, though the original article mistakenly references When the Woman Ascends the Stairs—a film actually starring Japanese actress Hideko Takamine, not Monroe. Behind the scenes, her marriage to Joe DiMaggio was unraveling. DiMaggio’s love for her was real, but so was his jealousy and controlling nature, which sometimes turned violent. The pressures of fame, the glare of the spotlight, and the weight of expectation pushed her toward sleeping pills and alcohol, as she tried to cope with a life that often felt like it wasn’t her own.

Yet, in this unguarded moment, we see a different story. It’s not about glamour or seduction. It’s about resilience. Her skin, softly lit, shows freckles and faint blemishes usually hidden under layers of studio makeup. There’s a youthful quality to her face, untouched by the exhaustion that would later take its toll. But it’s her eyes that linger—thoughtful, distant, as if she’s lost in memory or simply seeking a moment’s peace from the chaos around her.

No false lashes, no bold lipstick, no carefully styled curls. Just Norma Jeane, stripped bare. And in that vulnerability, there’s a quiet strength—a reminder that the real person behind the icon was always more captivating than any character she played. Sometimes, the most powerful image is the one that shows us the truth, unfiltered and unadorned. This is that rare photograph: a portrait of a woman who, for a fleeting instant, was simply herself. And that, it turns out, is more than enough.

07/15/2025

Sean Connery—the iconic actor who forever defined James Bond—made a choice that still feels rare in today’s world: he left the glitter of Hollywood behind for a quiet, sunlit life in the Bahamas with the woman who meant everything to him.

After years of dazzling fame, premieres, and global recognition, Connery found something even more precious—a life of privacy, deep companionship, and genuine contentment with his wife, French-Moroccan artist Micheline Roquebrune. Their marriage lasted more than four decades, a testament to enduring love in a world where such stories are increasingly scarce.

In interviews, Connery often spoke about Micheline with tenderness and gratitude. “She is the love of my life,” he once reflected. “Without her, I might have lost myself in all the chaos.” Those words carry the weight of a man who truly understood what mattered most.

Far from the flashbulbs and fanfare, the couple retreated to a secluded home, where Connery spent his days painting, enjoying rounds of golf, and sharing laughter with his grandchildren. He turned down countless offers and millions of dollars, not out of indifference to his craft, but to safeguard the private world he and Micheline had built together.

Sean Connery will always be remembered as 007, but his greatest role was the one he chose off-screen: a man who knew the value of peace, love, and the quiet moments that make life meaningful. In an era of endless noise, his story reminds us that sometimes the boldest move is stepping away—and finding what truly lasts.

07/14/2025

On a quiet morning back in 1888, Bertha Benz quietly left a note on the kitchen table. She was taking the children to visit their grandmother—or so it seemed. What she didn’t say was that the journey would cover 66 miles, and she’d be driving there in the world’s very first automobile.
Her husband, Carl Benz, had invented the Patent-Motorwagen—a three-wheeled, gas-powered carriage—but the public wasn’t convinced it could actually work. Carl hesitated to push it further. Bertha didn’t.
So while he slept, she wheeled the car out of the workshop in silence, careful not to wake him. With her two sons alongside her, she fired up the engine—and made history.
They crossed steep hills, got stuck in mud, and navigated the unknown. When fuel ran low, she stopped at a pharmacy in Wiesloch and bought ligroin, making it the world’s first gas station. When the fuel line clogged, she used a hat pin. When the brake lining wore thin, she adjusted it with her hairpin.
Her 12-hour journey to Pforzheim wasn’t just a family trip—it was the first long-distance drive in an automobile. A test. A statement. A quiet revolution.
By the time she returned home, the world was watching. Carl’s invention was no longer just a curiosity—it was real, and Bertha had proven it.
She wasn’t just the first driver. She was the first believer. And with one bold act, she took humanity’s future for a spin.

07/14/2025

William James Sidis: The Brilliant Mind We Almost Forgot

William James Sidis: The Forgotten Prodigy
William James Sidis (April 1, 1898 – July 17, 1944) was an American child prodigy known for his extraordinary intellectual abilities in mathematics, linguistics, and general knowledge. Born in New York City to Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants, Boris and Sarah Sidis—both highly educated—William's upbringing was grounded in intense academic focus from an early age.
By the age of 18 months, Sidis was reportedly reading newspapers. By age 6, he had written four books, including one on anatomy. By 8, he was fluent in multiple languages, including Latin, Greek, French, Russian, and German. He also created a constructed language called “Vendergood,” which included aspects of Latin and Greek and its own grammatical structure.
At age 11, Sidis was admitted to Harvard University, where he gave lectures on four-dimensional geometry and rapidly attracted attention in academic circles and the press. Despite his brilliance, the attention brought by his early fame had adverse effects. Sidis struggled with the pressure of expectations and later distanced himself from public life.
After Harvard, Sidis attended graduate school at Rice University, where he briefly taught mathematics. He eventually withdrew from both academia and the spotlight, choosing instead to live a private life. He held various clerical jobs and published essays and books under pseudonyms, touching on subjects ranging from cosmology to history.
Sidis’s later life was marked by a desire for anonymity. He rejected the fame associated with his youth and filed lawsuits against publications that continued to publicize his story without consent. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Boston at the age of 46.
Though many claims about his intelligence—such as speaking 40 languages or possessing a photographic memory—remain anecdotal, Sidis is still cited as an example of the extreme potential and psychological complexity of child prodigies.

07/13/2025

“Does love make someone
fade on the outside?”
she whispered,
like a child asking
about magic.

The old woman chuckled softly.
“No, my dear,” she said,
“Love peels away the surface—
the lines, the wear, the time—
until all you see
is the soul that’s always been there,
shining through.”

07/13/2025

"This is my youngest daughter, she’s 14. This is her second year working a summer job. She decided where she wanted to work and walked in a resume. They didn’t call. So she called them, twice. Then went in to see if they had looked at the resumes yet. They hadn’t. They asked her if she had time now to do an interview. She said “yes”...
She got the job.
She works whatever shift they want. She posted a sign on the employee bulletin board telling co-workers if they want a day off she’s happy to help...
She cleans dishes and toilets. Takes out garbage and mops the floor. Waits on customers and manages money. She makes fancy coffees and smoothies...
It’s not glamorous- but she’s saving 70% of what she makes to become a doctor. The other 30% is going towards a computer and time with her friends...
She’s leaning in. She’s putting the work in. She impresses me"
Credit: Wendy Shane🥰

07/12/2025

On This Day July 1942
The Frank family went into hiding.
Early that morning, Margot Frank left first, cycling through Amsterdam with Miep Gies to the secret annex above Otto Frank’s office.
A short time later, Otto, Edith, and Anne Frank followed on foot—each wearing multiple layers of clothing and carrying bags packed with the essentials of a life they were about to leave behind.
The annex wasn’t fully ready yet.
As soon as they arrived, they began making curtains to shield themselves from view, their new world shrinking to silence and shadows.
The Frank family wasn’t alone in preparing for the unknown.
They were supported by Otto’s trusted employees and friends—Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman, and Victor Kugler—who risked everything to help them.
On the ground floor, workers continued their daily routines, unaware of the lives hidden just above—except for Bep’s father, the warehouse manager, who quietly kept watch.
This day marked the beginning of two years in hiding, chronicled with remarkable insight, hope, and honesty by a 13-year-old girl whose words would live on:
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
– Anne Frank

07/12/2025

Picture yourself sitting quietly beside Katie Roubideaux, a Lakota woman born in 1890 on the Rosebud Reservation—just a little over a decade after the echoes of the Battle of the Little Bighorn still lingered in the air. She entered a world where elders spoke reverently of Sitting Bull and Spotted Tail, where buffalo hides were still cherished, and the ancient songs of her people drifted softly across the open plains.

By the time Katie passed away in 1991, the world had transformed in ways she could hardly have imagined—two world wars had reshaped nations, humans had walked on the moon, and computers had found their way into classrooms. Yet through all these sweeping changes, she stood firm—a living bridge between past and present, a guardian of memory.

Katie knew the harsh reality of boarding schools not as a distant chapter in history but as a deep, personal scar. Perhaps she was one of the young girls whose braids were cruelly cut, whose native tongue was silenced by force. But despite it all, the Lakota spirit remained etched in her very being. She carried with her the songs sung softly by grandfathers beneath the stars, the lullabies whispered by mothers in secret, and the sacred ceremonies held quietly away from prying eyes.

When the warriors gathered again at Wounded Knee in 1973, Katie was an elder—a living link to a history that refused to fade. Imagine asking her what that moment meant, how it stirred the fire of her ancestors within her, a flame that had never truly been extinguished.

Katie Roubideaux was more than a witness to history—she was its heartbeat. A living library whose pages we only began to glimpse before she was gone.

But her legacy lives on.

It’s in every Lakota child who speaks their first word in their native language.

In every star quilt wrapped with love and pride.

In every drumbeat, every sun dance, every story shared around kitchen tables, in lodges, and classrooms.

History doesn’t always rest in books.

Sometimes, it lives in the elders—if only we take the time to listen.

07/11/2025

In 1943, a single photograph quietly shattered Hollywood’s carefully guarded illusions. There, walking side by side, were Mae West—fearless, unapologetic, and larger than life—and Albert “Chalky” Wright, a former featherweight boxing champion. This wasn’t a staged moment or a scene from one of Mae’s daring films; it was a real-life connection that defied the rigid racial boundaries of the time.

Chalky was far more than just Mae’s driver. He was her trusted companion, her protector, and what many believe to be the great love of her life during the 1930s and 1940s. In an era when the color of your skin dictated your place in society and who you could be seen with, their relationship was nothing short of scandalous—yet deeply revolutionary. When the managers of the Ravenswood apartment building refused to let Chalky upstairs simply because he was Black, Mae didn’t waste a moment arguing. Instead, she bought the entire building. That was Mae West—bold, decisive, and fiercely unyielding.

Chalky’s loyalty was just as fierce. In 1935, when Mae became the target of an extortion plot, it was Chalky who orchestrated the sting—planting a bag of counterfeit money near Warner Bros. studios to help the police catch the culprit. Mae West never played by anyone else’s rules; she wrote her own. For her, loyalty trumped appearances, justice outweighed approval, and love defied society’s narrow expectations. She didn’t just challenge the status quo—she rewrote it. And standing beside her, not in the glare of the spotlight but in the steady shadow of unwavering devotion, was Chalky Wright—a testament to a love that dared to be real in a world that wasn’t ready to see it.

07/11/2025

In the early 1970s, Romy Schneider—one of Europe’s most beloved actresses—was often seen in quiet, tender moments with her cherished son, David Christopher Haubenstock. Born in Berlin on December 3, 1966, David was the heart of Romy’s world, the son she lovingly called her “greatest love.” Though Romy’s name shone brightly on the silver screen, it was her role as a mother that truly defined her.

By then, Romy had gracefully stepped beyond the youthful charm of her Sissi days, carving out a powerful place in international cinema. Films like La Piscine (1969), where she starred alongside Alain Delon—her former fiancé—showcased her depth and maturity as an actress. Yet behind the glamour, Romy faced the delicate balancing act of nurturing David while managing the pressures of fame and a demanding career.

Her marriage to German director Harry Meyen, David’s father, began to unravel during this period, ending in divorce by 1975. In the midst of personal upheaval, Romy found new love with journalist Daniel Biasini, who would become her second husband and the father of her daughter, Sarah, born in 1977. Despite the storms in her private life, Romy’s star continued to rise. She earned critical acclaim for films like Le Train (1973) and L’Important c’est d’aimer (1975), the latter winning her the very first César Award for Best Actress.

Through every success and setback, David was Romy’s steady anchor. He often accompanied her on film sets and family trips, moments captured in intimate photographs that reveal a bond both tender and unbreakable. Romy’s on-screen melancholy mirrored a deep emotional richness, but it was motherhood that brought her the truest joy.

Tragedy struck on July 5, 1981, when 14-year-old David suffered a fatal accident trying to climb over the spiked fence of his grandparents’ home in Paris. The loss shattered Romy, plunging her into a grief that no spotlight could ease. Less than a year later, on May 29, 1982, Romy was found dead in her Paris apartment at just 43 years old. Officially, her death was attributed to heart failure, but many who loved her believe she died of a broken heart.

The story of Romy and David is one of profound love and heartbreaking loss—a timeless tale that continues to touch the hearts of those who remember her not only as a cinematic legend but as a devoted mother whose love transcended the screen and endured beyond her years.

Animal & stories

08/01/2025

08/01/2025

07/15/2025

07/15/2025

07/14/2025

07/14/2025

07/13/2025

07/13/2025

07/12/2025

07/12/2025

07/11/2025

07/11/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category