Frederick Douglas, actual birthdate unknown, was born in 1818 into slavery. Suffering numerous beatings and maltreatment by slave breakers, Frederick devised a daring plan to find freedom.

From CHRISTINELEADS.COM:

On September 3, 1838, at the age of 20, Frederick Douglass put a daring escape plan into action. Disguising himself as a free Black sailor, he dressed in a red shirt, a borrowed sailor’s uniform, and a wide-brimmed hat—a strategic choice, as Black sailors were sometimes allowed to travel freely. He also carried forged identity papers provided by a free Black seaman, which he used as proof of his freedom.

With these in hand, Douglass boarded a northbound train from Baltimore to Philadelphia—a journey that, if unsuccessful, could have meant severe punishment, re-enslavement, or even death. The fear of being caught was overwhelming. He later recalled the sheer terror of each passing moment:

“I had the additional dread of being overtaken. Beyond Philadelphia, I felt comparatively safe, but the interval between me and the city was full of doubt and anxiety.”

At any moment, a conductor, a fellow passenger, or a slave catcher could have recognized him and sent him back into bondage. Enslaved people were often required to carry papers proving their owner’s permission to travel, and Douglass knew that his fate rested entirely on the scrutiny of the white men around him.

But fortune was on his side. The train’s conductor glanced at his borrowed papers but did not inspect them closely. His disguise, his confidence, and the sheer luck of avoiding detection allowed him to cross into free territory. When he arrived in Philadelphia, a free city, he breathed easier—but he was not yet safe.

From there, he continued to New York City, where he was taken in by abolitionist David Ruggles, a leader in the New York Vigilance Committee, which helped fugitive enslaved people find shelter, legal aid, and protection from slave catchers.

For the first time in his life, Frederick Douglass was free. But his freedom was fragile—even in the North, fugitive enslaved people were constantly at risk of being captured and returned to the South.

Recognizing the dangers he still faced even in the North, Douglass sought to establish a stable life as quickly as possible. With the help of abolitionist David Ruggles, he sent for Anna Murray, a free Black woman from Baltimore whom he had fallen in love with before his escape. Anna had believed in his potential from the start, and when Douglass planned his flight to freedom, she played a crucial role—using her savings to help fund his journey. Just 11 days after his arrival in New York, they were married by a Black minister. Shortly after, the newlyweds moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where Douglass began a new life—and a new fight.

In New Bedford, Douglass took a job as a manual laborer in the shipyards. Though he was now free, racial discrimination in the North still limited his opportunities—white dockworkers refused to work alongside him, and he was paid far less than white laborers. But he refused to let racism silence him.

It was in New Bedford that Douglass first encountered the abolitionist movement, attending anti-slavery meetings and reading newspapers like The Liberator, published by radical abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison’s powerful editorials against slavery resonated deeply with Douglass, and before long, Douglass himself would step into the spotlight as one of America’s most influential abolitionist voices.

“I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. Slavery had become hateful to me, and I had waged war against it.”

His war against slavery would soon take him to national and international stages, where he would use the power of words—the very skill his enslavers had tried to deny him—to fight for justice.

SOURCE: CHRISTINELEADS.COM

In the early hours of the morning on Sunday, August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France. In the car with her was her current boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed; Henri Paul, the driver of the car; and Trevor Rees-Jones, her bodyguard. Rees-Jones was the only survivor.

Here’s the true story of Princess Diana’s death:

Princess Diana and Dodi planned to be in Paris for less than 24 hours

Diana and Dodi had spent 10 days together on board Mohamed Al Fayed’s yacht, the Jonikal, and then flew from Sardinia to Paris on August 30, 1997. She was due back in London on August 31, 1997, where her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were returning from Balmoral Castle.

The two arrived in Paris around 3 p.m., and went from the airport to Villa Windsor, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s former home that Mohammed Al Fayed purchased. From there, they went to the Ritz Paris, owned by the Fayed family. During this time, Princess Diana spoke to her sons on the phone. While at the Ritz, Dodi visited the Repossi jewelry shop in Place Vendôme.

Early in the evening, they left the Ritz for Dodi’s apartment on Rue Arsène Houssaye.

The couple planned to eat dinner at Chez Benoit around 9:30 p.m., but due to paparazzi attention, ended up back at the Ritz. They first tried to eat at the L’Espadon restaurant, but 10 minutes later, went to dine in private in the Imperial Suite. According to the Associated Press, “Diana is reported to have ordered an appetizer of mushrooms and asparagus, and then sole; for Dodi, turbot.”

The fatal drive began just after midnight

Shortly after midnight, they decided to leave the hotel to go to Dodi’s apartment. Henri Paul, the head of the Ritz security, drove them in a Mercedes S280 car. (Autopsy results later revealed that Paul was drunk.) They left around 12:20 a.m. through the back entrance of the hotel.

Though they had attempted to use a decoy car at the Ritz, paparazzi quickly picked up their tail. In the car, neither Princess Diana nor Dodi were wearing seat belts; Rees-Jones, sitting in the passenger seat, was reportedly wearing one.

Around 12:25 a.m., the car entered the Pont de l’Alma tunnel at dangerously high speeds. As the AP reports, “Seconds after the car enters the tunnel in the left westbound lane, it goes out of control, striking the 13th concrete pillar dividing the tunnel, rolls over and rebounds into the right wall. It then spins around. When the car stops, it is facing east — the direction it came from.”

An account from a doctor at the scene:

At the same time as the crash, a French doctor, Dr. Frederic Mailliez, was driving through the tunnel. Witnessing the crash, he quickly rushed to the scene.

“I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,” he recalled years later. He saw “four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition. The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes. And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty to breathe. She needed quick assistance.”

He ran to his car, called emergency services, and grabbed a respiratory bag. “She was unconscious. Thanks to my respiratory bag… she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.”

Princess Diana was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

At 12:27 a.m., firefighters received a call for help, and police and firefighters arrived at 12:40 a.m. When they arrived, both the driver, Henri Paul, and Dodi were pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses later testified that paparazzi continued taking photos, and seven photographers were taken into police custody at the scene.

Sergeant Xavier Gourmelon, a firefighter, who was on the scene, said Princess Diana’s last words were “My God, what’s happened?”

When Princess Diana was extracted from the wreckage of the car, she went into cardiac arrest. First responders performed CPR, and got her into a hospital. Around 2 a.m., the Princess and Rees-Jones arrived at the hospital.

Per CNN’s report at the time, “Ambulance workers managed to revive her at the crash scene, but her heart stopped beating on arrival at the hospital, said Dr. Bruno Riou, head of the hospital’s intensive care unit. Surgeons opened Diana’s injured chest, closed a wound in her heart and massaged the heart for two hours in a vain battle to save her life, he said.”

Why didn’t Diana have more protection with her?

Years later, in Operation Paget—the investigation into Princess Diana’s death spurred by numerous conspiracy theories that surrounded it—the report stated, ” In 1994, at her request, official personal protection had been removed from the Princess of Wales. She wanted less intrusion into her private life. Until then, the MPS ‘Specialist Operations’ Command had routinely provided protection to her as a senior member of the Royal Family. From 1994 onwards she received such protection only if she was on an official visit that warranted such security or if members of the Royal Family who warranted protection in their own right, most obviously her sons, accompanied her.”

Diana’s death is announced to the world

Princess Diana was declared dead at around 4 a.m. in Paris on August 31, 1997; she was 36 years old. At 6 a.m., Dr. Alain Pavie, head of the cardiology department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, held a news conference, announcing the death of the Princess of Wales. The British ambassador to France, Michael Jay, was there. He said, “The death of the Princess of Wales fills us all with shock and deep grief.”

Later that day, then-Prince Charles flew to Paris with Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, to bring her body home. Princess Diana’s funeral was held on September 6, 1997.

SOURCE: TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM

In late 1982, Smith, a fifth-grader at Manchester Elementary School in Manchester, Maine, wrote a plaintive letter to Soviet leader Andropov. She said that she was “worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to have a war or not?” A few months later, Smith’s letter was reprinted in Russia and it was announced that Andropov was writing a response. Smith received his letter in April 1983. Andropov assured Smith that he did not want a nuclear war with the United States or any other country. Calling Smith a “courageous and honest” little girl, Andropov closed the letter with an invitation for her to visit the Soviet Union. In July, accompanied by her parents, Smith embarked on a two-week trip. She was a hit in the Soviet Union, and although she did not get to meet with Andropov, she traveled widely and spoke to numerous groups and people.

In the United States, some people branded her as a patsy for the communists and claimed that Soviet propagandists were merely using her for their own purposes, but Samantha’s enthusiasm and contagious optimism charmed most Americans and millions of other people around the world. During the next two years, Smith became an unofficial U.S. goodwill ambassador, speaking to groups throughout the United States and in foreign nations such as Japan. On August 25, 1985, while traveling with her father, their small plane crashed and both were killed.

Smith’s legacy lived on, however. Her mother began the Samantha Smith Foundation, which has as its goal bringing people from different nations and cultures together to share their experiences. In particular, the foundation established a student exchange program with the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, news of Smith’s death was met with great sadness. The Russian government responded by issuing a stamp in her honor and naming a mountain after the young girl.

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM