Today In History engagement report

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• Sep 10, 20261133x their median

  In 1982, Titanic survivor Ruth Becker was giving an interview in which she stated that the ship had broken in two. The treasurer of the Titanic Historical Society actually took the microphone away from her and said she had been mistaken. Three years later, they found the wreck broken in two…

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• Sep 19, 2026182x their median

  Heath Ledger signed his will on April 12, 2003, before he met Michelle Williams and before their daughter Matilda was born in 2005. When the actor died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, that document was still in effect, and it left his entire fortune, valued at between $16 million and $20 million, to his parents and his three sisters. In light of this, his father, Kim Ledger, publicly stated that the family had decided to leave everything to Matilda, who was only two years old at the time, without Williams filing any legal claim. Legally, Matilda could have been considered a “disinherited heir” (omitted by accident), which would have entitled her to claim a portion of the estate anyway, but the family’s gesture prevented any dispute.

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• Sep 9, 2026142x their median

  In 2018, a man found $7.5 million in a storage unit on the show “Storage Wars” that he had purchased for $500. He later negotiated with the original owners, who paid him $1.2 million to return the money to them. https://t.co/wPrJM5BQjb

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• Sep 8, 202696x their median

  In 2008, iBeer became one of the first viral App Store hits. It cost $2.99 and the creator, Steve Sheraton, was reportedly earning $10k-$20k per day at peak. The app reached ~90M downloads. Steve later chose to walk away from it all and live a quiet life on a farm in Spain. https://t.co/ddL9SJkrwR

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• Sep 29, 202652x their median

  In 1951, Marilyn Monroe had been under a new contract with 20th Century Fox for barely a year, after having been fired from the studio years earlier in 1947. This photograph, taken on a rooftop at the studio in Los Angeles, is part of a promotional photo shoot typical of the era, when the studio was promoting her image as one of Hollywood’s rising young stars through swimsuit photos for magazines and advertisements. That same year, she starred in small roles in films such as as Young as You Feel and Love Nest, which helped solidify her presence in the industry, although her true breakthrough would come shortly thereafter with Niagara (1953) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). These types of photo shoots, known as “cheesecake” in the slang of the time, were a common tool used by studios to generate media coverage and build their actresses’ public profiles before they had established leading roles.

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• Sep 10, 202642x their median

  This tiny wooden coffin, dated 1875, holds the remains of a coal miner's companion, a canary named "Little Joe." The inscription reads, "In Memory of Little Joe, Died November 3, 1875." https://t.co/UXBJCgtQjI

  6.2K39018771K viewsView on X
• Sep 25, 202640x their median

  This is one of the most famous and valuable photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales, taken on August 24, 1997, exactly one week before her death in the Paris car accident. The image shows her sitting on the trampoline of the yacht “Jonikal,” owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Al-Fayed, while on vacation in the Mediterranean with her sons, Princes William and Harry, and her new partner. The exact location usually cited is the Mediterranean, off the French coast near Saint-Tropez, although some sources also place it off the coast of Sardinia; there is no unanimous consensus on whether it was specifically off Portofino. A photographer, whose identity was never fully confirmed, captured her from a motorboat, and the image was published on August 24, generating immediate fascination. Following Diana’s death on August 31, this photograph took on an almost prophetic significance, showing her serene and alone, with a seagull flying overhead. It eventually sold for up to one million dollars, becoming one of the most expensive celebrity images in history.

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• Sep 7, 202639x their median

  Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy take a photo when they run into each other while filming different movies on the same set back in 2000 https://t.co/1B7h7bEgb9

  5.8K3237647K viewsView on X
• Sep 26, 202638x their median

  Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and director Shawn Levy personally visited Madonna in 2024 to ask for her permission to use “Like a Prayer” in a key scene from “Deadpool & Wolverine,” since she rarely authorizes the use of her songs, and she had never licensed that one before. They showed her the exact scene where the song would play, explaining how and why they wanted to use it. Madonna not only approved the use of the song but also gave them a single, specific piece of feedback on how to improve the sequence, telling them exactly what to adjust at certain moments. According to Levy, the team reshot that part within the next 48 hours to implement her suggestion, and both agreed that the final result significantly improved the scene. Interestingly, there is speculation that one of Madonna’s sons, a Deadpool fan, may have played a positive role in convincing her to agree to the meeting. The song ended up appearing both in the film’s climax and in its final trailer, which premiered on July 26, 2024.

  5.7K207368616K viewsView on X
• Sep 28, 202627x their median

  The story of Ruth Coker Burks, known as the "Angel of the Cemetery." In 1984, at age 25, this young mother from Hot Springs, Arkansas, walked into a hospital room out of curiosity, drawn by warning signs and trays of untouched food left outside. Inside, she found Jimmy, a young man ravaged by AIDS who was asking to see his mother. When she asked at the nurses’ station, she was told that no one was coming to visit him, he had been alone for six weeks. From that point on, with no medical training, she devoted more than a decade to caring for patients abandoned by their families, the medical system, and even churches, eventually caring for nearly 1,000 people. She used her salary as a real estate agent to buy medicine, pay rent, and transport the sick to their appointments, relying also on a community of drag queens who organized Saturday shows to raise funds. When no cemetery would accept the bodies, she buried them herself with a shovel in the family cemetery her mother had purchased years earlier out of resentment toward an uncle. She personally buried more than 40 people, in some cases storing the ashes in ceramic jars when not even an urn was available.

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