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Valerie DeBenedette
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Valerie DeBenedette is a freelance writer who lives in New York State with a small tan dog and a big red cat. She most often writes about health and medicine and knits quite frequently.
Sybil Ludington: The Teen Revolutionary Who Outrode Paul Revere
Sybil Ludington's ride through the New York countryside to rouse the troops was longer and more difficult than Paul Revere's....
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How an Early Female Travel Writer Became an Immunization Pioneer
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu—British aristocrat, feminist, and writer—was largely responsible for the adoption of inoculation against smallpox in England....
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Sushruta, Ancient Indian Surgeon and Father of the Nose Job
He was practicing plastic surgery thousands of years before European surgeons were even washing their hands....
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Virginia Apgar, the Woman Whose Name Saves Newborns
The Apgar test has rescued countless infants, but people are often surprised to discover Virginia Apgar was a real person....
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15 Wonderful Things You Might Not Know About L. Frank Baum
In honor of the author's birthday, here are 15 facts about the actual man behind the curtain....
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St. Guinefort, the Dog Venerated as a Saint
According to legend, Guinefort protected a baby he was later unjustly accused of murdering....
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The 11 Sweetest Taffy Shops to Hit This Summer
If you're hitting a boardwalk or beach, you'd better know where the nearest taffy shop is....
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Saint Gertrude of Nivelles: The Patron Saint of Cats (More or Less)
Patrick isn't the only saint celebrated on March 17....
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Retrobituaries: Dan Rice, America’s First Famous Clown
Think Robin Williams at his fastest and Jon Stewart at his most political, and you have Dan Rice....
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Show & Tell: Obstetrical Forceps, an Invention Kept Secret for More Than a Century
In the 1600s, the family who invented forceps for use in childbirth surrounded them in secrecy....
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Alice Guy-Blaché, Forgotten Film Pioneer
She made hundreds of movies and owned and operated her own studio. So why has she been all but ignored?...
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Retrobituaries: Fanny Crosby, America’s Greatest Hymn Writer
Fanny Crosby—poet, public speaker, activist—wrote so many hymns that publishers had to give her dozens of pseudonyms....
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11 Overlooked Fruits and Veggies To Try on the Grill this Year
Throw some eggplant and watermelon on the grill next to those burgers and brats....
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15 Things You Might Not Know About Thomas Hart Benton
The American muralist's 127th birthday is today!...
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Annie Oakley Once Took Hearst Newspapers to Court for Reporting a False Cocaine Addiction
The biggest fight of Annie Oakley’s life was not in the Old West—it was in courtrooms across the country....
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