He is the only person whose baby picture was flown into space, and whose body has been preserved for decades after his death. He pushed his version of Communism so far, and for so long, that he was able to overthrow the government of the largest country in the world. To some, he is a hero, and to others, he is one of the most evil villains in history. On Today’s Biographics, we are talking about Vladimir Lenin- The man behind the Bolshevik Revolution, and the founder of the Soviet Union.

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Pancho Villa was one of the most divisive figures in history. To millions he was the Mexican Robin Hood, to others a ruthless terrorist who killed without conscience. What is without doubt is that he rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most famous Mexicans in history, playing a vital role in the decade that shaped modern Mexico. In this week’s Biographics, we discover the real story of Pancho Villa.

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09:02am, April 19, 1995. That’s the moment when 27-year old Timothy McVeigh exploded his way into the US history books, blowing up a gigantic truck bomb outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast annihilated the building. It ended 168 lives, including 19 children. It also sent a shockwave through the nation. No-one could believe such an atrocity was carried out by a fellow American, especially one as normal seeming as McVeigh.

Yet McVeigh’s callousness didn’t spring from nowhere. He was a decorated war veteran, a Second Amendment crusader, and a far-right activist. More than that, he was a product of his time, a monster born from some of the most controversial actions the Federal government has ever been involved in. A quiet loner, a bullied kid who never fit in, McVeigh was the most average boy imaginable. This is the story of how that boy became America’s deadliest terrorist.

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He’s the dentist’s son who grew up to become the world’s youngest billionaire. In the mid-2000s, Mark Zuckerberg created a website that defined a generation, a website you almost certainly use yourself. The behemoth that is Facebook today dominates the internet. It has more active users than the populations of China and India combined. At time of writing, it’s worth around half a trillion dollars. It’s also at the center of some massive controversies that have dominated headlines.
Yet how much do most of us know about the man behind the website? Perhaps you’ve seen The Social Network, which reimagined Mark Zuckerberg as a kind of Lex Luthor of the internet, using his genius to crush his enemies. There’s an element of truth in that, but the real Mark Zuckerberg is far more interesting, far more nuanced, and far more tragically flawed. Rich, brilliant, idealistic; this is the story of how one privileged kid from small town New York created a digital empire… only to see all his good intentions collapse into dust.

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If the name McAfee sounds familiar, that’s because the McAfee anti-virus software has been installed in nearly every computer in the past 20 years. But few people know much about the company’s founder, John McAfee, or the fact that his millions have helped him to very literally get away with murder.

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There have been a lot of crazed leaders throughout history, but few have been as depraved as the man who brutalized Uganda throughout the 1970’s. With his penchant for torture, severed heads and, by his own admission, cannibalism, he thoroughly deserved the description given to him by the man he replaced as Ugandan president, Milton Obote:

The greatest brute that an African mother has brought to life.

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By the age of twenty-four Hermann Goering was a famous combat pilot, a national hero, and leader of Germany’s most celebrated fighter squadron. By the time of his death, less than thirty years later, he was reviled as a monster with the blood of millions on his hands. Highly-decorated combat pilot, drug-addicted lunatic, international statesman, and one of the twentieth century’s most notorious criminals, Goering’s life was one of soaring highs and crashing lows.

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As the founder of Playboy Magazine, Hugh Hefner was one of the icons of the sexual revolution in the 1960’s. Opinions about Hefner are very polarized- you either love and admire the man, or completely disapprove of the multi-million dollar empire he created. But no matter how you feel about Hugh Hefner, there is no arguing that he was truly a genius when it came to business, and a one-of-a-kind publisher, writer, and entrepreneur.

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Friedrich Nietzsche was a nineteenth century philosopher who is most remembered for his killer quotes and incredibly large mustache. The main goal of his work was aimed to uncover the fact that there is no universal truth, and that the human condition is in a constant state of overcoming our animalistic urges. He came up with many amazing quotes that we still use to this very day, including “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger”, and “God is dead”. While he is often misunderstood, and his work has been used for the justification of evil over the past hundred years, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche truly has changed the way people live in the 21st Century. Today, we’re going to talk about his life, philosophy, and legacy.

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Gilles de Rais was a knight who became the richest man in all of France. He became famous after battling alongside Joan of Arc in the name of God, and he was very well-loved by the French people. No one could have imagined that just a few years later, he would later be sentenced to death for summoning a demon and murdering over 100 children.

For hundreds of years, he was considered to be one of the first serial killers in recorded history. However, some modern-day historians believe that he was framed, and they are trying to exonerate. So, did he really kill innocent children as part of a satanic sacrifice, or is he one of the most misunderstood figures in history?

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