June 2026

On this day in 1731, Martha Washington, America’s first First Lady, was born. Image: Martha Washington / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Martha Dandridge was born on her family’s plantation Chestnut Grove in Virginia. She was the first of eight children born to Frances Jones and John Dandridge, a successful planter and immigrant from England. At the age of 18, she married wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis and together they had four children; only two lived… Read the full story

Today we celebrate what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday. Image: Marilyn Monroe / Wikimedia Commons She was born Norma Jean Mortensen on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California to Gladys Pearl Monroe. Her father’s identity remains unknown, though she used the surnames of her mother’s ex-husbands, Mortensen and Baker, growing up. Her mother struggled with mental illness and was unable to care for her daughter, so Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes…. Read the full story