Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington; April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) had a voracious appetite for sex and food. The elegant American jazz pianist, composer, master of instrumental colour and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra wrote thousands of songs and performed all over the world, not least in his role as … Continue reading "32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington" The post 32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington appeared first on Flashbak.

A top official in the Third Reich, Rudolf Hess started out as one of Adolf Hitler’s most trusted right-hand men. However, as the Nazi party embedded itself across Germany, then Europe, pushing towards World War II, Hess made decisions that resulted in his ousting, with no friends to be found on either side of […]

Ancient Egypt, Diogenes, and more!

After the Russian Empire’s collapse, the USSR hemorrhaged aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals. The first refugee wave came during the Russian Civil War. These exiles became known as “White émigrés” due to their association with the White armies that fought the Red Army. As refugees from the Revolution overran Europe, 400,000 stateless people arrived in […]

In 1907, the Wiener Werkstätte art movement produced a set of 12 prints featuring different Variety acts. These Varieténummer – Vaudeville performances – were both madly daring and fanciful. Mac Bull from Philadelphia (Act 11) would drive his car around a rainbow. A. Lucci the Famous Hunger Artist (Act 3) had gone 132 days without … Continue reading "12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907" The post 12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907 appeared first on Flashbak.