It Really Happened #11

Marie Curie traces the remarkable path of a Polish girl who grew up fascinated by science in her father's laboratory and pursued that passion to Paris, where she undertook groundbreaking research into uranium and radioactive elements alongside her husband Pierre. From her discovery of radium to her unprecedented second Nobel Prize and her efforts to use scientific knowledge to aid the wounded during the First World War, this biography celebrates a life dedicated to expanding human understanding and helping others.

Commander David McCampbell rose from Naval Academy athlete to Pacific combat pilot, commanding Air Group 15—soon famous as the "Fabled Fifteen"—aboard the carrier Essex during World War II. When Japanese planes threatened the American fleet, McCampbell and his squadron repeatedly turned them back, with the Commander himself racking up an impressive tally of aerial victories. His extraordinary courage under fire earned him the nation's highest honor and proved him a true fighting man.

When the steamboat "Robert E. Lee" dominates Mississippi River commerce, a determined rival captain decides to build the "Natchez" and challenge the champion to the ultimate race from New Orleans to St. Louis. With fortunes wagered and riverbank crowds roaring, the two mighty vessels battle for supremacy on the water, each pushing for glory and the title of "Monarch of the Mississippi." This tale captures a legendary contest that captured the nation's imagination in the golden age of steamboat racing.

Glenn Cunningham was told he might never walk again after a devastating fire accident in his Kansas schoolhouse claimed his brother's life and left his own legs severely burned—but through sheer determination and rigorous exercise, he defied the odds and rebuilt his strength from nothing. This true account follows his remarkable journey from a boy struggling to take his first painful steps to a world-class miler who would go on to set records and achieve international fame, proving that endurance and courage could overcome even the cruelest of setbacks.

When Anne Bonney sails to the Caribbean seeking adventure, she disguises herself aboard a pirate ship captained by Mary Read—only to discover her commander is a woman just like her. Together they become a fearsome duo, raiding merchant vessels and proving themselves in combat across the Western Seas, until the British Navy closes in and their lawless days come crashing down. It Really Happened #11 brings this true tale of two female pirates to vivid life, capturing the excitement and ultimate reckoning of their dangerous lives under the black flag.

Sonny Wells, a 21-year-old former soldier, undertakes a perilous 700-foot descent down the face of Stone Mountain to rescue a stranded dog—a mission driven by a childhood debt he's never forgotten. Racing against time and treacherous terrain, he must navigate the mountain's spike-studded surface with bleeding feet and a terrified animal to save her life.

Robert Burns rose from humble Scottish roots to become a beloved poet whose verses captured the hearts of his countrymen, despite a life beset by hardship and struggle. From his earliest verses penned as a young farmer to his triumphant publication in Edinburgh and later work as an exciseman in Dumfries, Burns fought against misfortune while pouring his passionate spirit into poems celebrating common folk and democratic ideals. His simple, stirring words—crafted in the face of failed harvests, financial strain, and life's constant trials—endured to become cherished across the world.

Lincoln Ellsworth, the American explorer determined to conquer the polar regions, chronicles his remarkable journey from the frozen Arctic to the vast Antarctic continent. Beginning with a harrowing expedition across the North Pole with the legendary Roald Amundsen in 1925, Ellsworth faces mechanical failures, treacherous ice, and setbacks that would break most adventurers—yet he returns again and again to pursue new polar goals. This is the true story of a man driven by exploration and the perilous expeditions that made him one of history's greatest polar pioneers.

Newton Watt and Henry Schwartz thought they had the perfect plan when they set out to rob the Kansas Express mail car during a stormy night in March 1886—but a single overlooked detail would unravel their scheme. When detectives piece together clues from a discarded suitcase and a torn scrap of paper left behind at the scene, the railroad men find themselves cornered and arrested. Their downfall comes as much from careless talk behind bars and evidence they never saw coming as from the law's determination to close the case.

"Wild Horse" Bob Crosby rode into rodeo legend through twenty-five years of grueling competition and broken bones, rising from a childhood spent in the saddle to become the undisputed champion of the circuit. From his early triumphs at Pendleton and Cheyenne to winning the prestigious Theodore Roosevelt Trophy in 1928, Crosby proved himself the toughest, most fearless competitor the rodeo world had ever seen. This is the true story of how a born cowpoke earned his crown as King of the Cowboys.