Kristen Orkoshneli
Stories (57)
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How an Enslaved Man Helped Jack Daniel Develop His Famous Whiskey
Jack Daniel’s stands as one of the most iconic American brands and most popular spirits in the world. Yet while the whiskey and its eponymous founder have become dominant names in American liquor lore, the person perhaps most responsible for its success—an enslaved man named Nathan “Nearest” Green, who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey distillation—went unacknowledged for more than 150 years.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
Lenin vs Stalin: Their Showdown Over the Birth of the USSR
The question of where Russia begins and ends—and who constitutes the Russian people—has preoccupied Russian thinkers for centuries. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 turned these concerns into a big “Russian question” that constitutes a world problem: What should be the relation of the new Russian state to its former imperial possessions—now independent post-Soviet republics such as Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine—and to the Russian and Russian-speaking enclaves in those republics? How should mental maps of Russian ethnicity, culture and identity be reconciled with the political map of the Russian federation?
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in The Swamp
Why the Menendez Brothers Killed Their Parents
On August 20, 1989, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez were shot to death in their Beverly Hills home. Nearly seven years, three trials, and many thousands of hours of TV coverage later, their sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez, were found guilty of their murders and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, freedom is a very real possibility for the Menendez brothers, who were resentenced Tuesday and are immediately eligible for parole.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in Criminal
Why Czar Nicholas II and the Romanovs Were Murdered
When Nicholas Romanov was crowned czar of Russia in 1894, he seemed bewildered. “What is going to happen to me…to all Russia?” he asked an advisor when he assumed the throne. “I am not prepared to be Czar. I never even wanted to become one.”
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in Criminal
Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn: Were They Friends or Rivals in Hollywood?
When it comes to Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s, two actresses shined brighter than the rest. We are, of course, talking about Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. But who were those women anyway and did they even know each other through their time on the silver screen? We find out everything you need to know about Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn’s relationship, including if they were friends, enemies or strangers.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in Humans
6 Things You Didn’t Know About Marilyn Monroe
Most people know that the American sweetheart solidified her sex-symbol status with her femme fatale role in Niagara. In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with co-star Jane Russell, she flaunted her triple-threat versatility with an unforgettable performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” And, with features like How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, The Prince and The Showgirl, and Some Like It Hot, she popularized the “dumb blonde” stereotype—for better or for worse.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in Humans
Marilyn Monroe: Fascinating Facts About the Real Woman Behind the Legend
Marilyn Monroe died on August 5, 1962, yet she's remained an unforgettable icon for more than half a century. As with many pop-culture figures, some overly hyped aspects of Monroe's story — such as her reputation as a "dumb blonde" and the mystery around her death — have often overshadowed other aspects of her legacy. Here are six fascinating facts about her life that reveal a more nuanced picture of the real woman behind the legend:
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in Humans
Sekhmet: The Lioness of Flame and Fury
In the burning deserts of ancient Egypt, where the sun scorches the sands and life clings to the Nile, there roared a goddess of fire and blood: Sekhmet, the lion-headed warrior deity whose power could both destroy and heal. She was not a gentle goddess of grain or love—Sekhmet was born of wrath, her breath the desert wind, her eyes burning with the heat of Ra himself. She was feared and revered, invoked in both war and plague, and her name—meaning “The Powerful One”—echoed through the temples like a growl from the divine.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
Hekate: Guardian of the Threshold, Goddess of Shadows and Sorcery
In the flickering light of ancient torches, standing at the crossroads where choices are made and fates are sealed, Hekate waits. Neither wholly light nor dark, she is the Greek goddess of magic, the moon, necromancy, and transitions. Revered and feared in equal measure, Hekate is a guardian of liminal spaces—the in-between realms of dusk and dawn, life and death, body and spirit.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
Inanna (Ishtar): Queen of Heaven and the Dark Divine
Long before the rise of Olympus or the thrones of Valhalla, there reigned a goddess of immense power and contradiction in the ancient cities of Sumer: Inanna, later known as Ishtar by the Akkadians and Babylonians. She was the Queen of Heaven, the goddess of love and war, creation and destruction, fertility and death—a figure so complex and vast that no single definition could contain her.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
Athena - Goddess of Strategy, Wisdom and War
Among the glittering pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses, none stands taller in intellect, strategy, and justice than Athena, daughter of Zeus. A deity of paradox and balance, she embodies both wisdom and warfare, thought and action, discipline and creativity. Revered not just as a goddess of battle but as a protector of civilization itself, Athena’s influence reached far beyond myth, shaping art, politics, and philosophy in both ancient and modern minds.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
What did JFK new files revealed about CIA
More than sixty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. government has released a significant new tranche of classified documents—part of an ongoing effort to bring closure to one of the most scrutinized events in American history.
By Kristen Orkoshneli6 months ago in History
