The puzzle was the brainchild of journalist Arthur Wynne, and he modeled it after a word game he had played as a child called "Magic Squares."
All in Entertainment
The Miracle Bowl
One of the most dramatic comebacks in college football history happened on this day.
Pokémon Shock
It was on this night that one of the most infamous cartoons of all time aired on Japanese television.
Smoke on the Water
This was the night that the historic Montreux Casino on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland burned to the ground.
Forry
He was perhaps the biggest force in science fiction fandom, and he spent his life promoting/elevating the genre as both an art form and a cultural movement.
Scared to Death
Max Factor was a cosmetics pioneer who rose from rags to riches and became famous around the world.
Manolete
On the day he died, the greatest matdor faced a venerable opponent descended from a deadly line of Miura bulls.
Death by Cornflake
Lon Chaney is most remembered for his iconic roles as Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and as Erik in The Phantom of the Opera.
News from Choctaw Ridge
In 1967, Bobbie Gentry recorded her Southern Gothic masterpiece, Ode to Billie Joe. The song shot to #1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. It sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide and earned Gentry 3 Grammy awards.
Adios Amigo
Jim Reeves was one of the smoothest crooners on the airwaves in the fifties and early sixties. His velvety voice helped establish the Nashville Sound.
Triskaidekaphobia
Extremely superstitious, Arnold Schoenberg dreaded the number 13...and as he feared, he died Friday the 13th in his 67th year.
The Captain
Bob Keeshan started his performing career in 1948 as the horn-honking Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody Show. His landmark show, Captain Kangaroo, premiered in 1955 and would run for 30 years.
The Deadly Beat
Jean-Baptiste Lully, the Italian composer whose fast-tempoed music livened up the court of France's Louis XIV, died on this day after a 3-month battle with an infection that started with a smashed toe.
The First New Orleans Mardi Gras
It was Fat Tuesday, and a bunch of students decided to dress up and dance in the streets of the French Quarter.
4 and 20 Blackbirds
It was a lavish party on this day that may have inspired a popular nursery rhyme.
Jack Paar Walks Away
This was the day that Jack Paar, host of The Tonight Show, made a very public stand against censorship.
The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
Kuda Bux was a famous Indian mystic who thrilled audiences and baffled scientists.
La Goulue
Her legendary mastery of the Cancan combined with her wild and unrestrained antics made her the toast of Paris!
The Willow Bunch Giant
Unable to pursue his dream of being a cowboy (he was too big for the horses), Beaupré turned to the freak show circuit as a way to support his family.
Hoagy Carmichael
He wrote some of the most recorded songs of all time, including "Stardust," "Georgia On My Mind," and "Heart And Soul."