
Christine Chubbuck, a 29-year-old television presenter, arrived at Channel 40, the local Florida TV station where she worked, on July 15, 1974. Sally Quinn wrote in a Washington Post editorial the following month, “She was in unusual good spirits.”
None of Chubbuck’s coworkers (a technical director, a male co-anchor, and two camerawomen) questioned her choice to change the running order of her show, Suncoast Digest, which would now begin with a story on a local shooting instead of an interview.
The show began at 9.30 a.m., as normal, but the team quickly ran into a technical hitch when the prerecorded VT failed to roll. Chubbuck then returned to her script, saying, “In keeping with Channel 40’s goal of bringing you the newest in blood and guts and in living color,” she stated, “you are going to see another first: an attempted suicide.”
Chubbuck then took a.38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol from her bag of puppets, which she used to perform shows at a local hospital for mentally handicapped children, and shot herself in the right ear. Thousands of people watched her commit suicide live on television.
A coworker discovered a blood-soaked news piece on her desk as she was brought to the hospital (where she was later confirmed dead). Christine Chubbuck had written a longhand description of her own demise.
The Unfortunate footage

The news made headlines all across the world within hours. It was forgotten within months, save for those morbid detectives who would obsess over discovering the tragic footage once the internet age took hold. It remained a minor footnote in history until last year, when two films about Christine Chubbuck premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Indeed, Hall’s first instinct was to hide the screenplay from herself, believing that no one would want to witness such a macabre production.
“My immediate instinct was terror,” Hall adds. “I was perplexed as to why you would make this picture. The things she did have an infinite circular irony to them. Of course, she was afflicted with a terrible, terrible mental disease, and this is the result. However, the things she did had to be seen as a primal scream against a world that was growing increasingly predatory. In front of the world, she was practically abusing her own agony. This necessitates a delicate balancing act.
“You’re truly onto something if you can make a film about sensationalism without becoming sensational.” But I’m pleased to say that I believe we succeeded.”
The second of these, simply titled Christine, has received positive reviews for actress Rebecca Hall, who portrays Chubbuck in his dying weeks. When Hall initially met with filmmaker Antonio Campos (who also directed Simon Killer) and writers Craig Shilowich, she had never heard of Chubbuck.
Hall made her cinematic debut in 1992, at the age of ten, in the miniseries The Camomile Lawn, as the daughter of opera singer Maria Ewing and theatre director Sir Peter Hall. She has since demonstrated her acting prowess in a number of dramas (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, The Town), blockbusters (Iron Man 3, The BFG), comedies (Everything Must Go), and award-winning theater productions.
senseless suicide
Chubbuck’s image by Hall is a stunning item, serving as a counterpoint to contemptuous statements like “senseless suicide.” Christine’s depressive episode is depicted as a nuanced account of depression in which she can giddily anticipate a date with her handsome co-anchor (Michael C Hall), engage in girl-talk with a colleague, Jean, and end up in screaming matches with both her mother (J Smith-Cameron) and her station boss (the indomitable Tracy Letts).
“I feel accountable that if I feel something for a character, I should probably strive to make other people feel something,” Hall adds. “I felt a tremendous sense of obligation to the real person.”
Screenwriter Shane Black claimed last summer that Hall’s initial villain part in Iron Man 3 was cut due to “merchandising problems.” The actor isn’t immune to or unaffected by misogyny. Chubbuck, on the other hand, was subjected to a far more uniform form of misogyny. When the journalist expresses concern about the news getting more graphic, her boss’s response is shocking, but not out of the ordinary for a 1970s workplace: “What’s your problem, Ms Chubbuck?” You’re a feminist, right? You believe that the best method to get ahead is to speak louder than the other person. In a nutshell, that’s the whole movement.”
“I believe this is a crucial exercise in human understanding,” Hall says. “There’s a comparison with the movie’s character Jean, who is a woman working in a similar high-pressure situation. In the video, she tells Christine, ‘When I’m unhappy, I eat some ice cream and sing a song.’ In other words, she’s saying, ‘I have the skills to keep surviving.’ I may not like it, but I can handle it.’
“With Christine, we’re asking her to spend two hours with someone who doesn’t have those tools.” Then, ideally, you’ll have a better grasp of how bad the situation is. Nobody should have to cope with that situation in the first place.”
Essentially unknowable
But why was Chubbuck the one who did it? There are no easy answers in the film. Did Hall come up with a working hypothesis to help her get through the show?
“An important part of the film’s balancing act is that it asks you to get close to someone who is fundamentally unknowable. It accomplishes it in a courteous manner, as it gives suggestions rather than generating false certainty. You’re dealing with a professional journalist. That was something we had to respect.
“I believe I came to the conclusion that if you have a strong desire to kill yourself for whatever reason, every day is a battle to stay alive.” She wakes up every day thinking to herself, “If I just succeed at this, if I just make friends with X, I won’t kill myself.” I’ll make it through the day’s challenges. She realizes that if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to tell more juicy ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ stories. And he realizes, “If that’s what you want, I’m not going to be able to provide it to you.”
Last year, an experimental documentary on Chubbuck, Kate Plays Christine, was released. Why did these two films on a forgotten historical event come out so soon after one another? What’s more, why now?
“Her tale is incredibly indicative of so many things that we as a culture are wrestling with right now,” Hall speculates. “The idea of living your entire life in front of a camera.” The idea that it couldn’t have happened unless it was caught on video. False information. The fact that she continues to be subjected to gender prejudices. We still don’t know how to talk about or ask for help when it comes to mental health difficulties. The stigma associated with suicide.
“What she does is, in some manner, summarize everything and toss it at you, asking you to think about it.”
Christine has been released.

Atomic Tourism: In the 1950s, nuclear tests in Las Vegas served as a draw for tourists
Between 1950 and 1960, Las Vegas offered “Atomic Tourism” in which guests could watch atomic bombs being tested in the desert as a form of entertainment.

Story of Kathrine Switzer: the first woman to run in Boston Marathon
Before women were allowed to run in the Boston Marathon, Kathrine Switzer participated. A race official attempted to forcefully remove her from the race in 1967, but her boyfriend pushed him down. She was the first female finisher who had a numbered entry in the race.

Will & William Wests: The puzzling situation of two inmates who are identical but not related
These are the mugshots of Will West and William West, and they are not related. They were both sent to Leavenworth Prison at the same time, in 1903, and after some confusion, the staff understood they had two different prisoners with the nearly same name, who looked exactly alike. They are part of the reason fingerprints are now used as identification.

1972 Andes Plane Crash Survivor recall the terrifying Struggles to Stay Alive
On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. The survivors were in brutal conditions - high altitude, bitter cold, and the lack of food—and faced the most terrible choice—eating the frozen flesh of their dead friends or starving to death themselves.

How Dmitri Mendeleev Developed the periodic table of the elements
1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand miles to Moscow so he could apply for the University of Moscow. Although he was not accepted, he walked to St. Petersburg where he was accepted, And with that education, he developed the the periodic table of the elements

June and Jennifer Gibbons The silent twin who Only Spoke to Each Other
Identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons were born on 11 April 1963 at a military hospital in Aden, Yemen where their father worked as part of the Royal Air Force.

Marion Stokes recorded 30 years of television
Marion Stokes, a Philadelphia woman began taping whatever was on television in 1979 and didn’t stop until her death in 2012. The 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes she made are the most complete collection preserving this era of TV. They are being digitized by the Internet Archive.

15 interesting facts about Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled Britain for 70 years, has away at the age of 96. She was the country's longest-reigning monarch. Here are some little-known facts about her.

History of Treadmill, punishment for prisoners
Treadmills were originally a punishment used to harness human power on a giant wheel used to grind grains, hence the name "treadmill." The History of Treadmill

From Flapper to Fashion Week: How 1920s Style Still Shapes Modern Trends
The roaring 1920s revolutionized fashion, introducing bold styles, daring cuts, and a spirit of freedom that still inspires today’s wardrobes. From flapper dresses to statement accessories, here’s how the Jazz Age lives on in modern fashion.

George Dantzig solved two famous “unsolved” problems in statistics mistakenly as assignment
In 1939, George Dantzig arrived late to his statistics class. On the board were two famous “unsolved” problems in statistics written as an example by his professor. Dantzig mistook the examples for homework assignments. He solved the “unsolved” problems and submitted the homework to his professor a few days later. His solutions earned him a doctorate.

Irena Sendler: woman who rescued Jews during holocaust
Irene Sendler was the Zegota resistance group's head of the children's department. She risked her life to smuggle children out of the Warsaw ghetto, place them with Polish families or orphanages, give each child a new identity, and keep records so that they could be returned to their families. In 1943, the Gestapo arrested and sentenced her to death, but she was rescued by Zegota.

The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
In 1986, while doing a night shift at the hospital, Sandra Clarke, a registered nurse, was asked by an elderly patient to stay. She promised to be back after checking on her other patients, but by the time she returned, the gentleman had passed away. Clarke became one of the key figures in launching No One Dies Alone, a program that allows volunteers to sit with terminal patients who have no one else.

Roller Coasters were First Invented to Distract People from sin
Roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin. In the 1880s, hosiery businessman LaMarcus Thompson didn’t like that Americans were going to places like saloons and brothels and created the first roller coaster on Coney Island to persuade them to go there instead.

10 world’s most destructive and dangerous volcanic eruptions in history
Volcanic eruptions can devastate cities, change the world's atmosphere, and devastate economic systems. They can create molten lava rivers, mudslides, suffocating ash, and poisonous gases that cause chaos around the world for years. A volcanic explosion's effects can be massive, from its size to its death toll to its economic cost. Here is ten world’s most destructive and dangerous volcanic eruptions in history.

Why the Word ‘Pen’ Comes from the Latin ‘Penna’ Meaning Feather
The humble word “pen” carries a rich history rooted in ancient times, derived from the Latin word penna, meaning “feather.” Long before modern pens revolutionized writing, feather quills—especially from geese—were the essential tools of scribes, scholars, and artists. This article journeys through the origins of the pen, its evolution, and fascinating trivia about the timeless connection between feathers and writing.

Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain's Workers in 1900-1941
Before alarm clocks were invented, there was a profession called a knocker-up, which involved going from client to client and tapping on their windows (or banging on their doors) with long sticks until they were awake. It lasted into the 1920s.

Thomas Baker's heroic act that earned him the "Medal of Honor" was 8 bullets until death
Thomas Baker instructed his team to leave him with a pistol and eight bullets propped up against a tree after he was injured. Later, American troops discovered the now-deceased Baker in the same location, lying next to eight dead Japanese soldiers and carrying an empty pistol.

The youngest person executed, George Stinney Jr was proven innocent
In 1944, George Stinney Jr. was 14 years old when he was executed in South Carolina. It took only ten minutes to convict him — and 70 years to exonerate him.

Blanche Monnier: Imprisoned For 25 Years For Falling in Love
Blanche Monnier, she was a French woman noted for her beauty, she wished to marry an old lawyer that her mother disapproved of, so she locked her in a small dark room in her attic for 25 years.

William James Sidis: The smartest person yet forgotten by people
William James Sidis, who was only 11 years old when he enrolled in Hardvard, finished his primary and secondary schooling in less than a year. He knew eight foreign languages by the age of eight and even invented his own language, "vedergood."

The unbroken seal on King Tutankhamun's tomb until 1922
The unbroken seal of Tutankhamun's tomb before it was opened in 1923, it was unbroken for over 3000 years.

The 440-pound bear named Wojtek and his World War II battle against the Nazis
Polish troops raised an orphaned bear cub during WWII. He enjoyed drinking beer, and was trained to salute. He became officially enlisted as a member of the forces, and helped carry artillery during battle.

The Baltic Way: the longest unbroken human chain in history
On August 23, 1989, about 2 million people from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania formed a human chain that united all 3 countries to show the world their desire to escape the Soviet Union and the communism that brought only suffering and poverty. This power stretched 600 km.

Archaeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Amazonian Cities Using Lidar Technology
Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, archaeologists have uncovered an ancient network of urban settlements once inhabited by the Upano people about 2,000 years ago. Using cutting-edge lidar technology, these discoveries reveal a highly organized society featuring sophisticated agricultural systems, drainage canals, and extensive road networks. This transformative find challenges long-held assumptions about ancient Amazonian societies and sheds light on a complex civilization thriving in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.