http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT5x2E6oJ4s

American actress and singer Della Reese talks about her time touring with Nat King Cole. Reese explains how she was utterly and outwardly smitten with the famous jazz musician to the point where Cole’s band would tease her about her crush. She delights in her memory of Cole standing up for her one night after a show–telling his band to cease teasing her: “He had recognized me. It was wonderful.”

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Della Reese’s Crush on Nat King Cole appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G_Y496IIQI

Philip Seymour Hoffman's Hollywood peers such as Kevin Costner, Steve Coogan, Gary Oldman, Steve McQueen, and Harry Connick Jr. talk about why he was a special presence on screen and "one of the greats."  Hoffman passed away on February 2, 2014, at the age of 46.

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Initial Reaction From Stars on Hoffman’s Legacy appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMqlPhDmTM

Witnesses, friends of finalists Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, along with industry experts comment on the 1972 World Chess Championship, the “Match of the Century.” Spassky of the USSR, the reigning World Chess Champion at the time, was up two when he granted Fischer’s request for the games to be held in a private room sans cameras. Many believe this was a psychological ploy by Fischer that Spassky indulged–and it was the beginning of Spassky’s downfall as Fischer won this third match held backstage. The championship began on July 11, 1972 and by the last game, which took place on August 31, Fischer won: 12 and a half to eight and a half–the first U.S.-born American to win the title of World Chess Champion. The game was in Reykjavík, Iceland, and due to its hype as a Cold War confrontation, it attracted worldwide media attention.

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Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky: Chess Match of Century appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st3c8UTw-6Q

Paul McCartney reminisces on writing songs with his fellow Beatles member, John Lennon. He tells a funny story of a time when Lennon, who was practically blind without his glasses on, mistook a nativity scene for a group of people playing cards for a ridiculous amount of hours outside. McCartney mentions how Lennon was greatly inspired by rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly–and mentions how they both appreciated how unlike Elvis, Holly wrote his own music: “Buddy wrote and played. And played the solos. He was a self-contained guy, which was what we were trying to emulate.”

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Paul McCartney on John Lennon & Their Love of Buddy Holly appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGpjLX1BeHM

Colleagues such as Mary Burton of Archbishop Desmond Tutu discuss how he got involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) assembled in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The TRC reviewed thousands of statements from witnesses and victims of human rights violations during the apartheid as a method of catharsis. TRC commissioners describe Tutu’s mission to hear the “stories of the little people,” whose sufferings had been previously ignored and how within the second day, he broke down from all the deeply heartbreaking stories he heard. But a colleague says that Tutu recovered and said, “‘This shouldn’t be about me. This should be about the victims…I can learn to control my emotions.’ There after, you would see him biting his hand when he was getting emotional to ensure the focus remained on the victims.” The TRC was set up in 1995 and the hearings began in 1996.

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Desmond Tutu’s Key Role in the Truth & Reconciliation Commission appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT3_ff5nqkI

According to legend, during the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth pointed to the spot in the stands at Wrigley Field where he would hit the next pitch for a home run. Many people think this never happened, however, his teammates who were there, Joe Sewell and Ed Wells, confirm that Babe Ruth did indeed point to the stands.

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Witnesses Confirm Legend: Babe Ruth Pointed to Centerfield appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kViuZENvh2U

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton recalls how he admired Hillary Rodham Clinton, his future wife, from afar while they were both students at Yale Law School. Clinton did not, at the time, want to get into a serious relationship so he tried to avoid Rodham until she decided to come up to him one day and introduce herself. The two began dating and got married on October 11, 1975. He says of Rodham: “She’s still the most interesting person I know.”

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Bill Clinton on How He Met Hillary Clinton appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os

On September 26, 1960, John F. Kennedy–a young senator from Massachusetts at the time–and
Vice President Richard Nixon squared off in a hour-long debate–the first-ever televised presidential debate. While Kennedy looked confident, healthy and dapper; Nixon seemed sickly and underweight from a recent hospitalization. Approximately 74 million viewers noticed the difference. The debate rocketed Kennedy into the electoral spotlight and solidified the important role of television in politics. When Kennedy won the presidential election in November of 1960, he was reported to have said, “It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide.”

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Televised Presidential Debate Between JFK & Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9LcAJOsFGg

On September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon, a California senator at the time, went on air to defend himself against accusations of an established fund–created by his backers–that would reimburse him for his political expenses. He says, “Not one cent of the 18 thousand dollars or any other money of that type ever went to me or my personal use.”

He famously states in his speech that the one gift he plans to keep a is a dog that his kids named Checkers: “A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he’d sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted. And our little girl—Tricia, the 6-year-old—named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.”

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Nixon’s ‘Checkers’ Speech in 1952 appeared first on Witnify.

“You were just about the World’s worst mag when you started, but you set yourself an ideal, and, by gumbo, you achieved it!”

The “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin wrote to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creators of Marvel, in 1963, raving about the the “Fantastic Four” comic book series. In this adorably enthusiastic letter from a teenage Martin, he is blown away by the plot twists and calls Marvel the “world’s greatest comic magazine”:

Dear Stan and Jack,

F.F. #17 was greater than great. Even now I sit in awe of it, trying to do the impossible–that is, describe it. It was absolutely stupendous, the ultimately, utmost! I cannot fathom how you could fit so much action into so few pages. It will live forever as one of the greatest F.F. comics ever printed, ergo, as one of the greatest of ALL comics. In what other comic mad could you see things like a hero falling down a manhole, a heroine mistaking a toy inventor for a criminal, and the President of the U.S.A. leaving a conference that may determine the fate of the world to put his daughter to bed. The epic story, spectacular and exciting as it is, is not all that made this mag so great. The letter column was top-notch, too. I nearly died when I saw Paul Gambaccini’s letter. You’ve really made him change his tune; that letter was a far cry from the one printed in F.F. #9. Then there’s your cover boast–THE WORLD’S GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE! Brilliant! You were just about the World’s worst mag when you started, but you set yourself an ideal, and, by gumbo, you achieved it! More than achieved it, in fact–why, if you were only half as good as you are now, you’d still be the world’s best mag!!!

George R. Martin
35 East First St.
Bayonne, N.J.

Source: Marvel

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A Young George R. R. Martin Was a Marvel Fanboy appeared first on Witnify.