William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death.
Wendell Lewis Willkie was an American lawyer, corporate executive, and the 1940 Republican nominee for President of the United States. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican field's only interventionist: although the U.S. remained neutral prior to Pearl Harbor, he favored greater U.S. involvement in World War II to support Britain and other Allies. His Democratic opponent, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, won the 1940 election with about 55% of the popular vote and took the electoral college vote by a wide margin.
Double Star is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first serialized in Astounding Science Fiction and published in hardcover the same year. It received the 1956 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
The Jungle is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). The novel portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry during the early 20th century, which greatly contributed to a public outcry which led to reforms including the Meat Inspection Act. Sinclair said of the public reaction, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
Christopher Crosby Farley was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live between 1990 and 1995. He later went on to pursue a film career, appearing in films such as Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes.
Bardiya, also named as Tanyoxarces by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. Bardiya either ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BC, or was impersonated by a magus called Gaumāta, until he was toppled by Darius the Great.
A look-alike, double, or doppelgänger is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of family resemblance.
Alexander I, also known as Alexander the Unifier, was a prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later a king of Yugoslavia from 1921 to 1934. He was assassinated by the Bulgarian Vlado Chernozemski, during a 1934 state visit to France.
A secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars. "Secret history" is also used to describe an alternative interpretation of documented facts which portrays a drastically different motivation or history from established historical events.
James Aloysius Farley was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaster General under President Franklin Roosevelt, whose gubernatorial and presidential campaigns were run by Farley.
Richard Caruthers Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He is one of the people who has been nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Voices".
Farley Earle Granger Jr. was an American actor, best known for his two collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock: Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.
Richard Wade Farley is an American convicted mass murderer. A former employee of ESL Incorporated in Sunnyvale, California, he stalked his co-worker Laura Black for four years beginning in 1984. Black obtained a temporary restraining order against him on February 2, 1988, with a court date set for February 17, 1988 to make the order permanent.
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 24 October 1960. It is the only Christie first edition published in the UK that contains stories with both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, the writer's two most famous detectives. It retailed in the UK for twelve shillings and sixpence (12/6) and comprises six cases. It was not published in the US although the stories it contains were published in other volumes there.
A political decoy is a person employed to impersonate a politician, to draw attention away from the real person or to take risks on that person's behalf. This can also apply to military figures, or civilians impersonated for political or espionage purposes.
The 1940 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 15 to July 18, 1940. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace from Iowa was nominated for vice president.
Louis McHenry Howe was an American reporter for the New York Herald best known for acting as an early political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Word of Honor is the fifth major novel by American writer Nelson DeMille and the first which involves the Vietnam War. It was originally published in 1985 by Warner Books. Time Magazine referred to it as "The Caine Mutiny of the 80s", while Publishers Weekly stated that it is comparable to the classic but has "wider implications". The novel covers broad themes associated with war, crime and punishment, culpability of leaders, guilt, justice, honor, and the Vietnam War.
Kyle Craig is a fictional character and antagonist in James Patterson's series of novels featuring Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross. Craig, a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is initially a close friend of Cross and assists the detective in his high-profile investigations, and also occasionally asks Cross for help with his own cases. However, in the 2000 novel Roses Are Red, Craig is revealed to be a criminal who calls himself "The Mastermind", having organized a series of brutal bank robberies and murders. He is eventually brought to justice by Cross. From Violets Are Blue onwards, Craig is one of Cross' most formidable adversaries. In the film adaptations of Patterson's novels Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, Craig is played by Jay O. Sanders.
The Democratic Party's 1944 nomination for Vice President of the United States was determined at the 1944 Democratic National Convention, on July 21, 1944. U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri was nominated to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's running-mate in his bid to be re-elected for a fourth term.
