My favorite Hughes story is that a flashing hotel sign across the street was bothering him, so he called them up and demanded they turn it off. They refused. He had his staff buy the hotel and then called them back to tell them that he was the owner now, and they had better turn it off.
It turns out it was a Kenny Rogers chicken place. And then Hughes tried their chicken and loved it. Then Kramer came over and they had the chicken together and it was beautiful.
It was the Silver Slipper, that had a massive silver illuminated rotating shoe hoisted high on a pole just outside the hotel. After Hughes bought the hotel, he was informed that no longer illuminating the slipper would have a dire effect on trade. So Howard changed his mind and let it be.
@@MrMoggyman wrong. It was a labrador rescue home with an illuminated golden labradorable lab and he was so entranced by it it was triggering his love of labs
I had a college professor who lived in Vegas in the 60s. He said that he would be getting into an episode of Star Trek (on Hughes's station) when all of the sudden it would cut out and an old movie would start playing. Apparently Hughes could just call the station and tell them what he wanted to watch. That story always cracked me up and its cool to see it mentioned here.
@@tinyGrim1 I wasn't mocking him, it's his joke. There's a difference between mocking mental illness by using crude humor to minimize it and making self deprecating jokes to laugh about tough issues.
My brother was obsessed with flying from a really young age. At age 6 he would turn cardboard boxes into pretend airline cockpits, drawing all the controls and windshield with markers. He could name what make of airplane he saw flying and knew what airlines used what planes. As he got older his interest always remained but he grew out of the single minded obsessive nature of his interest, branching out into normal kid stuff like sports and music. He wasnt a great student and he would struggle in college, eventually failing out. He then decided to pursue his earliest passion and is now a commercial airline pilot.
Xiphane X But he didn’t get the recognition with the Academy Awards which was common even when he did an amazing job in the movie he was doing at the time. But I think his portrayal of Howard Hughes was his best role.
He definitely should've gotten his Oscar way earlier then he did for aviator. One of my favorite films. Cate Blanchett was also amazing in it. "it's the way of the future... The way of the future...its The way of the future"
Howard Hughes lived at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, Canada for six months in 1972. "There were photographers camped on the roof across the street for months," says Yip. "One photographer even tried to sail past his window with a hang-glider."
He's always been one of my favorite historical figures. I got to stick my head in his 1953 Buick Roadmaster when it was a part of the Ron Pratte collection. It was MIND blowing...because the entire car was sealed (only the driver's window went down, all vents were sealed, etc), the car smelled...like...the 50s...or something. I swear, it was like a time capsule. Absolutely amazing. That car went on to sell for a record-setting 1.6+ million dollars at Barrett Jackson shortly thereafter. Seriously incredible piece of history.
So sad that he couldn’t get the help he needed. OCD is a real killer. It’s like living in a mental torture prison only the one who’s doing the torturing is yourself. 😢
If you hate trump bud you shouldn't let him live rent free in your head and remember socialism is the first step to fascism so next time you pointing the nazi finger make sure your not pointing in a mirror.
That doesn’t make you a winner though, it always you a neurotic control freak who will eventually die alone. As irritating as other people can be, their expectations of us and our reliance on each other is ultimately what holds us in place.
@@Poussyeater-w5ebut he was a genius and a billionaire..and famous all over the world..i dont think u have any of these life qualities ...and coming to ocd he was managed with it until it got worsen
@@Ppaula77 That must be hard as f*ck! Never mind Huges, you living through that makes you a total badass too! I have an anxiety disorder and it kicks my ass, I can't even imagine how hard contaminant OCD must be. Keep Kickin it's ass 👍
Like Hughes, himself, this was a very interesting video. I wish you'd had time to talk about him flying the Spruce Goose when he wasn't supposed to fly it. That story really shows how Hughes had no fucks to give anyone who tried to tell him what he couldn't do. Looking back through our 2017 lens, it's pretty easy to see that his mental decline was simply a case of repetitive concussions. It's a very sad story.
There is some much we had to leave out because we want these to be about 20-22 minutes. I think he is fascinating. And after reading the script I had many things to include but our time was already being pushed. -Shell
Some speculate Hughs could have also contracted syphilis from his Hollywood years. If un-diagnosed it would have contributed to his mental decline in later years.
The plane is called the H-4 HERCULES! It was made of Birch, not Spruce. My cousin HATED that other, deliberately derivative name of a wooden water fowl!
+Biographics, great video, instant sub!, but you didn't mention my favorite Hughes contribution. He spent so much time in hospital beds that he designed a new one, the forerunner of modern hospital beds. It's my favorite because I've been spending time in them lately and truly wish that I could thank him. Off to binge some more of these, kudos to the team!
@@leeroberts4850 I posted that last year, but I'm sure the planes still there. It's the centerpiece of the main museum, pretty sure the building was constructed around it. Some stuff has gone with the recent scandals and financial troubles of the various entities in control of different parts of the museum campus though I'm sure.
In Latin America, the “Outlaw” was known as “Las Gran Tetas”. The local Archbishops and Cardinals forbade their parishioners to view it, otherwise, they ( the parishioners) would be excommunicated. Needless to say it was a smash hit in all the countries it was shown.
"He bought a TV studio so he could demand they show only the movies he wanted to watch" ! He may have been Mad as a Hatter but who doesn't want to do That !
Titus Tucker - I wonder if he ran the movies with or without commercials? They're obviously way better without the commercials but the ads are how you pay the TV station's bills so are fairly important to the viability of the station.
The only person that could hold back a person like Howard is the mind of Howard. If someone like that was to also have perfect mental health theyd rule the galaxy by now. Godspeed Howard. You did it your way.
There was one man, that knew Howard Hughes, in the truest sense of the word after his seclusion Noah Dietrich C. E. O Hughes Corporation 1925- 1957 It's believed that Noah Dietrich, was an advisor to Howard Hughes until Hughes departed from Las Vegas in 1970 Though, there are no official records to that point
Please do Walt Disney and perhaps some of the crazed rail, oil and steel barons. They were all nutters. Others that would be interesting is Musha Musa probably the wealthiest man ever known. The late billionaire behind Aldo’s groceries who was so secretive, would be fascinating as well. This channel has a ton of potential.
We discussed doing Walt, but we felt he has been done a lot and pushed him out of the first 50, maybe in the first 100 we do. I have never heard of Musha Musa and a Google search didn't provide a lot of information. Can you give me more to go on? -Shell
Biographics sorry I made a typo. This is the man I would love to know more about. You can find paragraphs here and there but I’m betting this has a great story. Mansa Musa Year: 1280-1337 Country of origin: Mali. His mini story of his hajj is very intriguing.
Yours Truly, I'm lost. Can you give me ANYTHING to back your claims up? Just the least little thing. John Smith? Really? Before you start slandering others, at least crack open a book or 2. Wikipedia is REALLY your friend! Emperor John Smith Obama? Just so you know, Mormons are QUITE Conservative, Hairless Reid not withstanding. "John Smith"s real name was Joseph Smith Jr. I have NO IDEA who's ASS you pulled "John Smith Obama" out of! steve
Excellent overview! Once again, an example of no matter how rich, beautiful or smart you are, it does not guarantee a happy life. I'll take what passes for normal any day.
Howard Hughes is my personal hero despite grappling with severe mental illness all his life he still managed to work his way up into being one of the richest men in the world as someone who also struggles with mental health, I see him as an inspiration and proof that your condition doesn't have to hold you back.
i too wanted to trust in his inherent infallibility and determined he must have meant it the same way. Or maybe it had been H.H. himself that proclamated his body was emancipated
hughes was married to the beautiful actress jean peters from 1957 to 1970; jean had retired from films aged just 31, having been one of the top film stars in the early 50's; she was a close friend of marilyn monroe, with whom she co starred in 'niagara.' check out some of jean's other films, such as 'anne of the indies', 'lure of the wilderness', 'apache' & 'pickup on south street.' when they were divorced, jean peters agreed a smallish settlement with howard hughes & resisted every offer to dish the dirt on him, even if she could have made millions from exposing his story.
It's truly heartbreaking to see such a brilliant person descend into madness! Not that I was there to see it happen to him but I have seen people succumb to mental illness and it's terrible. Mental illness wasn't understood back then and there weren't any effective treatments to speak of. Mental illness has taken many brilliant people throughout history. Just imagine how much more Hughes could have accomplished if he had be given effective medical treatment.
The craziest thing about him is even though he lives does a recluse in completely bizarre circumstances, he competently ran an entire empire until his death
Do you honestly think he was completely running his business empire when he was whacked out on morphine, codine etc. while sitting in a movie theatre for 4 months straight? Clearly if there’s one think he can genuinely been credited with (since outside of being able to bankroll things with his fathers money he seems to have been a detriment to most of the projects he worked on) it’s that he certainly hired competent people to run his businesses successfully in spite of him
The difference between Howard abusing drugs and modern day politicians is that Howard found competent people to run things while he sat around naked on morphine. Excuse me I have to go pay $4… no wait $5… no wait $4.39 for a gallon of crappy gas
@@harveyholmes9533he built his empire before he fell into that hell then he hired people to take care of it ... he knew how to delegate - as do most moguls. You're simply a fool if you attempt to divert credit away from him. You can hate him all you want but he was a genius no matter what good ol' Harvey thinks!
To be honest I think he knew he was going insane and without help and drugs look what he achieved. He wasn't weak, his will power was awesome! Sad ending too a man who did it his way.
Yeah Howard Hughes was undoubtedly a genius on many levels and it makes one wonder what could’ve been had he not had so many obvious brain injuries that he sustained from his plane crashes. He likely had the same issue that many football players and boxers deal with , CTE I believe it’s called. We’re only recently learning that brain injuries can cause some to experience not only serious depression but also homicidal and suicidal thoughts and tendencies among other issues. Sad really. But for Hughes we’ll never know what his true potential could’ve been.
During COVID 19 I basically became Howard Hughes. My work wouldn’t let me come in and I was forced to work from home for over 6 months. I started a bad habit of not grooming myself and just worked, ate and slept. It doesn’t help that I’m single and have no one else in my home to keep me company.
Actually showering every day is overkill. What did people do in the 1800's? The 1600's? Ect. Kinda depends on your activities. Hard work outside getting dirty, you need a wash. Inside sedentary activity lower need to wash daily.
I somehow prefer your more substantial videos, just like these. I mean the Radium Girls was one of the best pieces of historical corporate meddling and outright willful negligence. Even your recent video on blank cassettes was not, merely, a trivia video. It has an enormous impact on today's grey legal area, where the law hasn't caught up yet. It made people more aware of things they had not been acquainted with before. If you keep this channel classy and free of "Why are Buffalo Wings Called That?" Then I'll be beyond happy. ...then again, it's just my small feedback. You're doing great work overall.
I remember seeing x rays of Hughes body in some doc and showed tons of broke off needle tips still in his arms,just one of tons of insane Hughes stories
Howard was sane until he crashed a jet. The jet fuel burned him severely. He was on the worlds strongest pain killers for the rest of his life. He was an incredible guy but for that accident and the following addiction to pain killers
When you mentioned Sikorsky, I wondered if you had done a biography of him yet. He's everywhere in our town. Banks, bridges, airports are named after him. There are school events in his honor. And we live close to one of his companies' helicopter engineering plant. They even have a Black Hawk helicopter on display near the entrance.
My granny worked for him at Hughes tools in Houston and he tried to get her to date him but fortunately she was already married and refused to leave my grandpa😂.
She was over looked but she did not discover DNA. She was a X-ray crystallographer. Not say she does not deserve the noble prize for it; but she was contracted in to help with the other colleges work.
Assuming that your facts and research were correct and thorough (and they certainly appeared to be so), this is an excellent biography / documentary. I particularly liked the non-emotional and non-judgemental way it was delivered, presenting only the facts (as far as they were ever known about Howard Hughes!). It was kept brief and to the point, the hallmark of good journalism. My only "gripe" (if you could call it that) was calling it the "madness" of HH. I think he was an extraordinary man DESPITE his OCD rather than because of it. Other than that, bloody excellent. Many thanks.
Gotta admit that the more you describe his decent into "madness" the more I thought " hell yeah boy! Ballin hard!" 4 months drugged up watchin movies in the nude an eatin junk food? buyin a TV station so you can demand your favourite films? flyin about butt naked over London? That ain't madness, that's livin the dream! Lol
You know I'm still caught off guard every time you mention a city I'm either living in at the time or have lived in being from small town missouri . Hearing about these big names even having ties to Carthage or Joplin is pretty crazy. Im fairly well versed in this areas history. You still catch me off guard
Have you seen his Doctors video he wasn’t mad he was ahead of his time. When Howard flew many times he crashed landed and hit his head many times which slowed his brain down and certainly couldn’t think like normal. He was a Genius
Hughes was a brilliant and even great man. Sad to learn of his mental illness and decline. If only there had been better mental health treatment back then.
Back then? Nowadays mental health treatment is setting in front of a circle k in a puddle of piss begging for another quarter to buy your next 40oz with...being cray cray in the 40s sounds alot better
Nice biopic.Nice touch also to make the audience empathetic with the madness of Howard Hughes by driving them insane with the incessant Ragtime piano music in the background.
Watching this five years later I'm thinking apparently this was before backgrounds were a thing on UA-cam. The jacket hanging on the wall is hilarious. Simon, you've come a long way baby.
Fun Fact: the Hughes Hercules is called the Spruce Goose for one reason only... the massive main wing spars, of Spruce! for which Hughes spent the better of a year bargaining with the Haida for two Canoe Trees - the only trees large and strong enough to do the job. In centuries past, those would have been used as ship masts... :) While negotiating, he lived in the Hotel Vancouver, in Vancouver BC Canada.
Hi! I really enjoy your bios but as a resident of Humble TX I am compelled to point out that Humble (pronounced Umble because that's how the founder pronounced his name) is only 20 miles from Downtown Houston, (unless of course you are referring a different oil town named Humble.) Thanks for the interesting histories of famous figures!
I read that he had what I have, that beeing CRPS but not much at all was known, accepted or properly diagnosed at the time. If he did have it, I can completely understand his reclusive behaviour and probably the following catalytic effect it would of had on his mental health. It's something that I fear as I see myself becoming reclusive because of the unimaginably painful condition. When you're unlucky enough to get something like it, money becomes something very unimportant
Dr. Larry Mitchell Howard Hughes was the real deal. He set out to be a great Golfer, great Producer, great Aviator and great Businessman. He succeeded at all of them without declaring bankruptcy once.
That said, his speed record in 1935 in the H1, still often repeated by Americans today, was no record except in the US. The Schneider trophy winning S6B exceeded 400mph in 1931, years before Hughes' slower "record", and had been beaten again, by an Italian aircraft, in 1934. His record was for a landplane, though is disputed as there were at least two competing land speed claims.
Visited Vegas in the 60's while Hughes stayed up in one of his hotel-casinos. Rumor was he would make an appearance, but we never saw him. Shecky Greene, I believe, in his Las Vegas act... "Our Father who art in thou Penthouse, Howard be thy name." Hughes kept life interesting back then and fascinated the country.
BeardedDudeFromSpace there’s no such thing as a British accent. Britain is made up of 4 countries England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland. I’m Scottish & have a Scottish accent. The presenter is English & therefore has an English accent.
A sad story but,you handled it very well. Congrats to Simon and company yet again. Not a bad way to pass a cold rainy night.Yes, I'm sure there are those who have different ideas. Different strokes etc.
Hughes inspired me so much when I watched the movie "the aviator" for the first time, I watched the movie 3 times back to back. I loved his tenacity and somewhat coolness, it's his odd behavior that got me worry though.
Another one: I'm pretty sure you meant to say that his body was emaciated, not emancipated. Also, it seems an omission not to mention the hoax of Clifford Irving, that forced Hughes to come out to the public to refute Irving. This story and the one about Melvin, who claimed his estate, fed on the fact that Hughes' eccentricities were well known.
Yes, mistake. I also recall that he and Gene Saracen developed the sand wedge together, from a common interest in golf and Hughes’ skill as an engineer and flyer.
I stopped actually watching Simon a while back; the constant hand waving is surprisingly distracting. Now, though having sincerely tried, I find I just can't overlook the huge number of mispronunciations of simple English words (and, as a dedicated Anglophile, I am not referring to his accent) and of words fundamental to the subject matter. Add in the often appallingly bad grammar, and the weird and unnecessary overuse of "well" for emphasis, and (sigh) Simon is just too hard to listen to. Too bad because, in a way I like him and the topics are often interesting.
J Paul Getty Ist also became a paranoid recluse before he died in his locked office in 76'. He was known as the richest man in the world. Getty oil was sold to Texaco for 11 Billion in 83'..
"History Detectives" did a segment on Howard Sr. suggesting that the drill bit was in use in Louisiana prior to the patent being filed certainly it was contested by a rival company in Reed Rollerbit v Hughes Tool 1926
Howard Hughes had OCD. In his time that was pretty much untreatable. He wasn't mad - he had a severe illness. Calling him nuts is insulting everyone with a mental illness. The poor man went through hell during most of his life.
Hearing that a symptom of his paranoia was "He refused to shake hands or touch door handles", now in July of the first year of the plague, I suddenly heard every person with OCD type worry about these things chorus ,"*See* told ya so! And you all thought we were nuts!"
Thanks for this video. I have read 5-10 books on Hughes. My favorite is "Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes" followed by "Howard Hughes The Untold Story". The story of his steam car is very interesting. As is the time he was arrested during the 1940s in Louisiana after police mistook him for a homeless person. He also went undercover as a commercial pilot & lived with a family working as a farmer to avoid CA marriage laws.
At 21:18 "His emancipated body..." I struggled to fit the spiritual idea of his liberation from the body into the story, but then realised "his emaciated body" worked better.
My favorite Hughes story is that a flashing hotel sign across the street was bothering him, so he called them up and demanded they turn it off. They refused. He had his staff buy the hotel and then called them back to tell them that he was the owner now, and they had better turn it off.
Very cool
LMAO 😂😂
It turns out it was a Kenny Rogers chicken place.
And then Hughes tried their chicken and loved it.
Then Kramer came over and they had the chicken together and it was beautiful.
It was the Silver Slipper, that had a massive silver illuminated rotating shoe hoisted high on a pole just outside the hotel. After Hughes bought the hotel, he was informed that no longer illuminating the slipper would have a dire effect on trade. So Howard changed his mind and let it be.
@@MrMoggyman wrong. It was a labrador rescue home with an illuminated golden labradorable lab and he was so entranced by it it was triggering his love of labs
I had a college professor who lived in Vegas in the 60s. He said that he would be getting into an episode of Star Trek (on Hughes's station) when all of the sudden it would cut out and an old movie would start playing. Apparently Hughes could just call the station and tell them what he wanted to watch. That story always cracked me up and its cool to see it mentioned here.
Howard Hughes and his personal 1960s Netflix.
mr.big I have lived in Las Vegas since 1978 and never saw that happen.I think it's hyperbole,in all frankness.
By the time you've started living in Vegas, Hughes died
Aleksey Shevchuk you
You are right,Aleksey.
My mistake.
Maybe that's why I never saw that phenomenon the professor related.:)
Bill Theripper all over but the bloodbath you could always try and find an American channel that's as well articulated.
"I'm not a paranoid deranged millionaire. Goddammit, I'm a billionaire"
--Howard Hughes.
My favorite quote of his
& that's a big bloody difference!
Oh yeah, let's make fun of mental illness genuises, poor or rich.
TheFoxandTheRabbit shut up
@@tinyGrim1 I wasn't mocking him, it's his joke. There's a difference between mocking mental illness by using crude humor to minimize it and making self deprecating jokes to laugh about tough issues.
I wonder if Howard was driven crazy by piano music playing over his biography?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣i think so
😂😂😂😂
Nothing wrong with the old timey music don't you know 🙂
Omg! Glad it's not just me. It was really annoyingly loud.
Yes, I found it annoying.
My brother was obsessed with flying from a really young age. At age 6 he would turn cardboard boxes into pretend airline cockpits, drawing all the controls and windshield with markers. He could name what make of airplane he saw flying and knew what airlines used what planes. As he got older his interest always remained but he grew out of the single minded obsessive nature of his interest, branching out into normal kid stuff like sports and music. He wasnt a great student and he would struggle in college, eventually failing out. He then decided to pursue his earliest passion and is now a commercial airline pilot.
Good for him
who THE FICK CARES!!!!????
Hughes had his own netflix like 50 years before everybody else.
supbrotv lol, hell yeah
Only if you ignore almost all of the elements that makes up what Netflix is lol.
Hmph! Rich people, lol!
Smh
I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT!!! LOL
Leonardo de Caprio's performance as Hughes was a work of genius :D
Xiphane X
But he didn’t get the recognition with the Academy Awards which was common even when he did an amazing job in the movie he was doing at the time. But I think his portrayal of Howard Hughes was his best role.
Xiphane X truly
He was very good but it wasn't genius. It was definitely Oscar worthy.
Ingrid Dubbel
From the videos I have seen of the real Howard Hughes you would think Leonardo was Howard as excellent he did.
He definitely should've gotten his Oscar way earlier then he did for aviator. One of my favorite films. Cate Blanchett was also amazing in it. "it's the way of the future... The way of the future...its The way of the future"
Howard Hughes lived at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, Canada for six months in 1972. "There were photographers camped on the roof across the street for months," says Yip. "One photographer even tried to sail past his window with a hang-glider."
He's always been one of my favorite historical figures. I got to stick my head in his 1953 Buick Roadmaster when it was a part of the Ron Pratte collection. It was MIND blowing...because the entire car was sealed (only the driver's window went down, all vents were sealed, etc), the car smelled...like...the 50s...or something. I swear, it was like a time capsule. Absolutely amazing.
That car went on to sell for a record-setting 1.6+ million dollars at Barrett Jackson shortly thereafter. Seriously incredible piece of history.
So sad that he couldn’t get the help he needed. OCD is a real killer. It’s like living in a mental torture prison only the one who’s doing the torturing is yourself. 😢
Genius and madness are close bedfellows.
Hence the word, MadGenius
There's a thin line between genius and madness.
Its because the mind can't be stopped, its always thinking and if you are not careful it runs a muck
If you hate trump bud you shouldn't let him live rent free in your head and remember socialism is the first step to fascism so next time you pointing the nazi finger make sure your not pointing in a mirror.
@Adrienne Gurge shame most people can't spot the difference between neo nazi ethnic nationalism and traditional conservative values.
The House always wins.
Nice.
You play by house rules!
You do realize some Casinos went bankrupt don't you?
hydrolito it’s a reference you didn’t get it F
Mr.Happy never loses
He sued the censors, that is something else.
And he won....weird.
Influential at the time being a supplier & manufacturer of Military Hardware
& He Won! That's something else again!
The absolute madman
I wish someone could do that again.
I've always held the belief Mr Hughes was the only person to leave this world a winner, unaffected by anyone else but himself.
That doesn’t make you a winner though, it always you a neurotic control freak who will eventually die alone.
As irritating as other people can be, their expectations of us and our reliance on each other is ultimately what holds us in place.
Well, the guy died with a mental condition, I'd hardly call that winning
@@Poussyeater-w5ebut he was a genius and a billionaire..and famous all over the world..i dont think u have any of these life qualities ...and coming to ocd he was managed with it until it got worsen
@@Poussyeater-w5ehe died remembered
Hughes is one of my all time favorite human beings
@Louise Severn your point
Armer Pony du arme Sau
@@Ppaula77 That must be hard as f*ck! Never mind Huges, you living through that makes you a total badass too! I have an anxiety disorder and it kicks my ass, I can't even imagine how hard contaminant OCD must be. Keep Kickin it's ass 👍
@@Ppaula77 im sorry man i have ocd though not as bad as hughes i hope you do well
Like Hughes, himself, this was a very interesting video. I wish you'd had time to talk about him flying the Spruce Goose when he wasn't supposed to fly it. That story really shows how Hughes had no fucks to give anyone who tried to tell him what he couldn't do. Looking back through our 2017 lens, it's pretty easy to see that his mental decline was simply a case of repetitive concussions. It's a very sad story.
There is some much we had to leave out because we want these to be about 20-22 minutes. I think he is fascinating. And after reading the script I had many things to include but our time was already being pushed. -Shell
Some speculate Hughs could have also contracted syphilis from his Hollywood years. If un-diagnosed it would have contributed to his mental decline in later years.
@@DoomFinger511 that's the fate which ultimately befell Al Capone, if I'm not mistaken
ITS CALLED THE HERCULES!
And it will fly got damn it
The plane is called the H-4 HERCULES!
It was made of Birch, not Spruce.
My cousin HATED that other, deliberately derivative name of a wooden water fowl!
+Biographics, great video, instant sub!, but you didn't mention my favorite Hughes contribution. He spent so much time in hospital beds that he designed a new one, the forerunner of modern hospital beds. It's my favorite because I've been spending time in them lately and truly wish that I could thank him. Off to binge some more of these, kudos to the team!
Fun fact:
The Spruce Goose is currently on display in the aviation museum in Evergreen, Oregon.
Nathan Cassidy It's the Evergreen Aviation Museum, which is in McMinnville, Oregon. Drive by it every day lol.
@@leeroberts4850 I posted that last year, but I'm sure the planes still there. It's the centerpiece of the main museum, pretty sure the building was constructed around it. Some stuff has gone with the recent scandals and financial troubles of the various entities in control of different parts of the museum campus though I'm sure.
It’s the Hercules
It used to be in Long Beach with the Queen Mary in 80s.
@@justaroot4315 Right you are. Quite a girl.
One of the most influential people of the 20th century. There’s a reason most people hadn’t heard of Juan Trippe before the film The Aviator.
In Latin America, the “Outlaw” was known as “Las Gran Tetas”. The local Archbishops and Cardinals forbade their parishioners to view it, otherwise, they ( the parishioners) would be excommunicated. Needless to say it was a smash hit in all the countries it was shown.
The only saving grace of the movie was Jane Russel’s breast’s.
@@jimarcher5255 OMG !!! LOL!!!
@@jimarcher5255 🤣🤣🤣
"He bought a TV studio so he could demand they show only the movies he wanted to watch" ! He may have been Mad as a Hatter but who doesn't want to do That !
Titus Tucker - I wonder if he ran the movies with or without commercials? They're obviously way better without the commercials but the ads are how you pay the TV station's bills so are fairly important to the viability of the station.
@@hughmungus1767 I bet they only rad commercials when he wasn't watching :P
Ironically that's exactly what Netflix is today. Imagine if he mass marketed that idea in his time!
Dude I LOVE how quickly but thoroughly you cover these individuals. I think I'm becoming addicted to your channel LOL
Correction: Humble IS in Texas and it's 20 miles north of Houston.
I came to the comment section to see if anyone else caught it. Thank you.
The only person that could hold back a person like Howard is the mind of Howard. If someone like that was to also have perfect mental health theyd rule the galaxy by now. Godspeed Howard. You did it your way.
There was one man, that knew Howard Hughes, in the truest sense of the word
after his seclusion
Noah Dietrich
C. E. O Hughes Corporation 1925- 1957
It's believed that Noah Dietrich, was an advisor to Howard Hughes until Hughes departed from Las Vegas in 1970
Though, there are no official records to that point
When you're so filthy rich, you can essentially have your own Netflix decades before anyone else even thought of the idea.
Please do Walt Disney and perhaps some of the crazed rail, oil and steel barons. They were all nutters. Others that would be interesting is Musha Musa probably the wealthiest man ever known.
The late billionaire behind Aldo’s groceries who was so secretive, would be fascinating as well.
This channel has a ton of potential.
We discussed doing Walt, but we felt he has been done a lot and pushed him out of the first 50, maybe in the first 100 we do. I have never heard of Musha Musa and a Google search didn't provide a lot of information. Can you give me more to go on? -Shell
Biographics sorry I made a typo.
This is the man I would love to know more about. You can find paragraphs here and there but I’m betting this has a great story.
Mansa Musa
Year: 1280-1337
Country of origin: Mali.
His mini story of his hajj is very intriguing.
David G Draper JP Morgan!!
Yours Truly, I'm lost. Can you give me ANYTHING
to back your claims up? Just the least little thing.
John Smith? Really?
Before you start slandering others, at least crack
open a book or 2. Wikipedia is REALLY your
friend!
Emperor John Smith Obama?
Just so you know, Mormons are QUITE Conservative,
Hairless Reid not withstanding. "John Smith"s real name
was Joseph Smith Jr. I have NO IDEA who's ASS you
pulled "John Smith Obama" out of!
steve
@@Biographics He means MANSA MUSA
Another good one! Again the background music is insanely annoying.
(Tinny Piano Music belting out):
Just be thankful you didn't live in the Tinny Piano Music playing in music halls, over the radio & in cinemas era!
It was great wat do u mean
OMEGA MECHANIC It truly was f’ing annoying, to loud, and totally unnecessary.
@Spoiler Oh yeah, must b running out of subscribers. Lovely pun, that.
Its scott Joplin! Best music
mr house from fallout new vegas
Yes!!!!! Hahahahah he had to be the inspiration!
Excellent overview! Once again, an example of no matter how rich, beautiful or smart you are, it does not guarantee a happy life. I'll take what passes for normal any day.
Howard Hughes is my personal hero
despite grappling with severe mental illness all his life he still managed to work his way up into being one of the richest men in the world
as someone who also struggles with mental health, I see him as an inspiration and proof that your condition doesn't have to hold you back.
A sad example of “ what good is it to gain the world and loose your soul”
Fascinating never the less
Marc - EXACTLY!!!
Lose
Amen!
Amen
To beat the game
Simon, I think it's "emaciated", not "emancipated"
Tyler Smith I am choosing to interpret it as his body emancipated from his nutter-ass mind
+sterhax No, they admitted it was a mistake in a response to someone else's comment.
i too wanted to trust in his inherent infallibility and determined he must have meant it the same way. Or maybe it had been H.H. himself that proclamated his body was emancipated
Thank you! I was hoping others noticed that!
The closed-captioning has the correct word.
When Howard Hughes died he was emaciated not emancipated. Unless his death was being thought of as a release from his OCD
hughes was married to the beautiful actress jean peters from 1957 to 1970; jean had retired from films aged just 31, having been one of the top film stars in the early 50's; she was a close friend of marilyn monroe, with whom she co starred in 'niagara.'
check out some of jean's other films, such as 'anne of the indies', 'lure of the wilderness', 'apache' & 'pickup on south street.'
when they were divorced, jean peters agreed a smallish settlement with howard hughes & resisted every offer to dish the dirt on him, even if she could have made millions from exposing his story.
@@normansmithers7631 why are you telling us this
@@zakiahmed6655 because jean was married to him for 13 years & it was her he dated in the late 40's & helped to give her, her first break in films?
@@normansmithers7631 who asked
@@jannerantanen5121
No one but who asked you?
It's truly heartbreaking to see such a brilliant person descend into madness! Not that I was there to see it happen to him but I have seen people succumb to mental illness and it's terrible. Mental illness wasn't understood back then and there weren't any effective treatments to speak of. Mental illness has taken many brilliant people throughout history. Just imagine how much more Hughes could have accomplished if he had be given effective medical treatment.
An older generation's Elon Musk that was ever more eccentric
Musk isn't yet as old as Hughes in the crazy years
Elon wouldnt like that comparison
Waiting for Elon to going over the edge of fence like him 😂
Elon is crazy but not insane like that
@@Diego.03 I guess smoking pot is what helps him not go full crazy / insane?
The craziest thing about him is even though he lives does a recluse in completely bizarre circumstances, he competently ran an entire empire until his death
Do you honestly think he was completely running his business empire when he was whacked out on morphine, codine etc. while sitting in a movie theatre for 4 months straight? Clearly if there’s one think he can genuinely been credited with (since outside of being able to bankroll things with his fathers money he seems to have been a detriment to most of the projects he worked on) it’s that he certainly hired competent people to run his businesses successfully in spite of him
The difference between Howard abusing drugs and modern day politicians is that Howard found competent people to run things while he sat around naked on morphine.
Excuse me I have to go pay $4… no wait $5… no wait $4.39 for a gallon of crappy gas
@@harveyholmes9533he built his empire before he fell into that hell then he hired people to take care of it ... he knew how to delegate - as do most moguls. You're simply a fool if you attempt to divert credit away from him. You can hate him all you want but he was a genius no matter what good ol' Harvey thinks!
To be honest I think he knew he was going insane and without help and drugs look what he achieved. He wasn't weak, his will power was awesome! Sad ending too a man who did it his way.
Yeah Howard Hughes was undoubtedly a genius on many levels and it makes one wonder what could’ve been had he not had so many obvious brain injuries that he sustained from his plane crashes. He likely had the same issue that many football players and boxers deal with , CTE I believe it’s called. We’re only recently learning that brain injuries can cause some to experience not only serious depression but also homicidal and suicidal thoughts and tendencies among other issues. Sad really. But for Hughes we’ll never know what his true potential could’ve been.
During COVID 19 I basically became Howard Hughes. My work wouldn’t let me come in and I was forced to work from home for over 6 months. I started a bad habit of not grooming myself and just worked, ate and slept. It doesn’t help that I’m single and have no one else in my home to keep me company.
Actually showering every day is overkill.
What did people do in the 1800's?
The 1600's? Ect.
Kinda depends on your activities.
Hard work outside getting dirty, you need a wash. Inside sedentary activity lower need to wash daily.
He was social distancing before it was cool lol
Jeremey Collins-- What we’re doing these days should be called “anti-social” distancing in my humble opinion.
Cool?
Jeremey Collins it's not cool
It's not cool now..
Social distancing was always for weenies. Howard just seemed to garner a general distaste for people, of which I can relate.
"...there's no one I can't buy or destroy..."
Remember, kids, that includes yourself
I somehow prefer your more substantial videos, just like these. I mean the Radium Girls was one of the best pieces of historical corporate meddling and outright willful negligence. Even your recent video on blank cassettes was not, merely, a trivia video. It has an enormous impact on today's grey legal area, where the law hasn't caught up yet. It made people more aware of things they had not been acquainted with before.
If you keep this channel classy and free of "Why are Buffalo Wings Called That?" Then I'll be beyond happy.
...then again, it's just my small feedback. You're doing great work overall.
I remember seeing x rays of Hughes body in some doc and showed tons of broke off needle tips still in his arms,just one of tons of insane Hughes stories
Howard was sane until he crashed a jet. The jet fuel burned him severely. He was on the worlds strongest pain killers for the rest of his life. He was an incredible guy but for that accident and the following addiction to pain killers
When you mentioned Sikorsky, I wondered if you had done a biography of him yet. He's everywhere in our town. Banks, bridges, airports are named after him. There are school events in his honor. And we live close to one of his companies' helicopter engineering plant. They even have a Black Hawk helicopter on display near the entrance.
This was stan lees inspiration of iron man
PC PRINCIPAL HEY LESLEY SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!!
Saxon Centurion *LOL*
HE DED NOW
You mean Batman
Yep and he was the inspiration behind Mr. House
You didn't talk about the legal mess that was the probating of his estate, nor the legacy he left behind. Both were substantial.
Thanks! I.didnt know any of that - I'll look it up.
The Mormons stole all his money
The Mormons stole all the Osmonds money too.
My granny worked for him at Hughes tools in Houston and he tried to get her to date him but fortunately she was already married and refused to leave my grandpa😂.
Grandpa WINS!
Lucky for you or you might not be here today! ...or you might be here but with Hughes as your grandfather instead. :p
lmaoo thats so cute
Your grandma must be beautiful
@@katietaylor8314 nah he wouldn't be here
I put off watching this for the longest time because I was pretty sure it was gonna make me cry. Good job, it did.
I’ve spent 2 days watching this channel. Congratulations; I’m addicted.
Here’s a fun fact: This guy was the inspiration for Bioshock’s Andrew Ryan
And Mr. House in Fallout: New Vegas
Also tony stark
That and Ayn Rand’s characters its even in his name. Andrew Ryan - Ayn Rand. Ryan’s personality and philosophy is based on objectivism
🤯🤯🤯
do a biography on Rosilind Franklin, the woman who discovered DNA but who's work was overlooked in favor of her two colegues who got all the credit.
She was over looked but she did not discover DNA. She was a X-ray crystallographer. Not say she does not deserve the noble prize for it; but she was contracted in to help with the other colleges work.
lee Roberts lol they didn’t even credit her
lee Roberts I’m from the scientific community. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry to be specific.
lee Roberts It’s your choice to believe me. We’ve talked about this in lectures. The central dogma, transcription, translation,
@@leeroberts4850 haha damn at least try to be grammaticaly correct if you're calling someone else wrong
Assuming that your facts and research were correct and thorough (and they certainly appeared to be so), this is an excellent biography / documentary. I particularly liked the non-emotional and non-judgemental way it was delivered, presenting only the facts (as far as they were ever known about Howard Hughes!). It was kept brief and to the point, the hallmark of good journalism. My only "gripe" (if you could call it that) was calling it the "madness" of HH. I think he was an extraordinary man DESPITE his OCD rather than because of it. Other than that, bloody excellent. Many thanks.
He really would have lost his mind if he was around now dealing with coronavirus, he'd be absolutely bonkers over that.
@@Ppaula77 peace be with you ALWAYS and in ALL WAYS.
Greetings from prescott AZ
I had ocd years before covid. My ocd didn’t manifest over covid so not much has changed for me.
I find it all sad what he went through.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Hughes.
What being rich and powerful.
@@blover8548 Heidi was of course referring to his pain and suffering. Duh!
thank you Heidi for a thoughtful opinion. @blover hates anyone who has more cash than she does.
This was one of the best reports about Howard Hughes. Thumbs way up.
Gotta admit that the more you describe his decent into "madness" the more I thought " hell yeah boy! Ballin hard!" 4 months drugged up watchin movies in the nude an eatin junk food? buyin a TV station so you can demand your favourite films? flyin about butt naked over London? That ain't madness, that's livin the dream! Lol
The "American Dream" ✨
No that’s madness.
@@breathefree4056 Human dream*
Stop thinking so lowly of other countries
He had so much money he did what the hell he wanted and that's it
That's what I though lol
The music, THE MUSIC!!! MY GOD THIS MUSIC!!
You know I'm still caught off guard every time you mention a city I'm either living in at the time or have lived in being from small town missouri . Hearing about these big names even having ties to Carthage or Joplin is pretty crazy. Im fairly well versed in this areas history. You still catch me off guard
Have you seen his Doctors video he wasn’t mad he was ahead of his time. When Howard flew many times he crashed landed and hit his head many times which slowed his brain down and certainly couldn’t think like normal. He was a Genius
Hughes was a brilliant and even great man. Sad to learn of his mental illness and decline. If only there had been better mental health treatment back then.
Back then? the treatment now is horrible
Back then? Nowadays mental health treatment is setting in front of a circle k in a puddle of piss begging for another quarter to buy your next 40oz with...being cray cray in the 40s sounds alot better
@D he was always medicated on barbiturates. Very high dosage
"If man were meant to fly, he'd have been born with wings!" - Archemedis, the educated owl.
The best animated Disney film ever made
If man had been born with wings, he wouldn't have had arms! ('just made that up, think about that next time you see a picture of an angel)
Nice biopic.Nice touch also to make the audience empathetic with the madness of Howard Hughes by driving them insane with the incessant Ragtime piano music in the background.
Watching this five years later I'm thinking apparently this was before backgrounds were a thing on UA-cam. The jacket hanging on the wall is hilarious. Simon, you've come a long way baby.
Fun Fact: the Hughes Hercules is called the Spruce Goose for one reason only... the massive main wing spars, of Spruce! for which Hughes spent the better of a year bargaining with the Haida for two Canoe Trees - the only trees large and strong enough to do the job. In centuries past, those would have been used as ship masts... :) While negotiating, he lived in the Hotel Vancouver, in Vancouver BC Canada.
1:00 - Chapter 1 - Early life
5:50 - Chapter 2 - Movie Mogul
10:30 - Chapter 3 - Aviator
12:35 - Chapter 4 - Mental illness
16:50 - Chapter 5 - Withdrawal from society
21:10 - Chapter 6 - Death
Leo washing his hands in the “Aviator” is me washing my hands in 2020
Hi! I really enjoy your bios but as a resident of Humble TX I am compelled to point out that Humble (pronounced Umble because that's how the founder pronounced his name) is only 20 miles from Downtown Houston, (unless of course you are referring a different oil town named Humble.) Thanks for the interesting histories of famous figures!
Elon Musk took a lot out of the Howard Hugh’s playbook, it’s almost shocking to look at how similar both men are
thats back when pilots didnt wear crash helmets because all a real man needed was a fedora
That reminds me I need fedora too lol
@@gtx-808 it has a much different association in our time than his, I wouldn't.
When Howard Hughes sang that rap music, he did so without autotune!
The real life Tony Stark.
Tonys dad, Howard Stark.. Hence the first names..
Ive said this year's ago !!! Like 7 year's ago
Or Elon Musk...
ssunfish Howard Hughes inspired comic book Tony. Robert Downey Jr based the MCU Tony off of Elon Musk
packr72 you fucking what!!?? Hahahahahagah
I read that he had what I have, that beeing CRPS but not much at all was known, accepted or properly diagnosed at the time. If he did have it, I can completely understand his reclusive behaviour and probably the following catalytic effect it would of had on his mental health. It's something that I fear as I see myself becoming reclusive because of the unimaginably painful condition. When you're unlucky enough to get something like it, money becomes something very unimportant
Pearso0000 : CRPS?
It also could have been escalated by a life time of pain killers and drugs. Further altering his personality.
"I've got the best planes, the best planes, everybody says, the best planes."
Dr. Larry Mitchell Howard Hughes was the real deal. He set out to be a great Golfer, great Producer, great Aviator and great Businessman. He succeeded at all of them without declaring bankruptcy once.
That said, his speed record in 1935 in the H1, still often repeated by Americans today, was no record except in the US. The Schneider trophy winning S6B exceeded 400mph in 1931, years before Hughes' slower "record", and had been beaten again, by an Italian aircraft, in 1934. His record was for a landplane, though is disputed as there were at least two competing land speed claims.
sounds eerily like Donald Trump
Visited Vegas in the 60's while Hughes stayed up in one of his hotel-casinos. Rumor was he would make an appearance, but we never saw him. Shecky Greene, I believe, in his Las Vegas act... "Our Father who art in thou Penthouse, Howard be thy name." Hughes kept life interesting back then and fascinated the country.
No one stepped in to get Howard help, that's strange.
Not much help you can offer if an individual pushes you away.
Too many control issues
They didn’t know much about OCD then. I’m not sure what help he would’ve got, except being hospitalised.
The dangers of "yes men"
You look like vsauce with an English accent lol, great video!
BeardedDudeFromSpace there’s no such thing as a British accent. Britain is made up of 4 countries England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland.
I’m Scottish & have a Scottish accent. The presenter is English & therefore has an English accent.
@@TheDickPuller northern Ireland isn't a country.
Pat Aherne whatever!! Tell you what mate, like Scotland, it’ll always be part of the UK.
British & Proud🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
O shoot, I thought it was vsauce!!,
This channel is great Simon (and team) keep going, the high quality biographies will gain traction.
Humble is in Texas. Not to far from Houston
Yes. About 15 miles north of downtown Houston. Pronounced "Umble" and many people still consider that "Houston"
@@a98ctr62 It's right next to Houston Intercontinental Airport...which used to be called Hughes Airfield...
That was one hell of à biography. I loved every minute of it
Man howard hughes was so cool, he’s like the real life batman
A sad story but,you handled it very well. Congrats to Simon and company yet again. Not a bad way to pass a cold rainy night.Yes, I'm sure there are those who have different ideas. Different strokes etc.
love the new channel :) keep them coming mate
ive seen the Spruce Goose in real life, its Massively huge, you have to see it, to believe it !!!
Hughes inspired me so much when I watched the movie "the aviator" for the first time, I watched the movie 3 times back to back. I loved his tenacity and somewhat coolness, it's his odd behavior that got me worry though.
Thanks for the great video. I actually knew Howard, and he was a sweet soul.
A sad ending to IRL Tony Stark. Great video, Biographics! I'm in the middle of another binge watching session of your videos
This channel is amazing!!!!!
Another one: I'm pretty sure you meant to say that his body was emaciated, not emancipated. Also, it seems an omission not to mention the hoax of Clifford Irving, that forced Hughes to come out to the public to refute Irving. This story and the one about Melvin, who claimed his estate, fed on the fact that Hughes' eccentricities were well known.
Ugh...a simple mistake. Sorry about that.
Yes, mistake. I also recall that he and Gene Saracen developed the sand wedge together, from a common interest in golf and Hughes’ skill as an engineer and flyer.
I stopped actually watching Simon a while back; the constant hand waving is surprisingly distracting.
Now, though having sincerely tried, I find I just can't overlook the huge number of mispronunciations of simple English words (and, as a dedicated Anglophile, I am not referring to his accent) and of words fundamental to the subject matter.
Add in the often appallingly bad grammar, and the weird and unnecessary overuse of "well" for emphasis, and (sigh) Simon is just too hard to listen to. Too bad because, in a way I like him and the topics are often interesting.
@@Dragantraces i feel glad such things don't detract from my enjoyment
“Emancipated body” -- what a delightful Freudian slip. Thanks; that whole video was excellent.
Hahah indeed!
Fascinating! You’re such a great storyteller
J Paul Getty Ist also became a paranoid recluse before he died in his locked office in 76'. He was known as the richest man in the world. Getty oil was sold to Texaco for 11 Billion in 83'..
"History Detectives" did a segment on Howard Sr. suggesting that the drill bit was in use in Louisiana prior to the patent being filed certainly it was contested by a rival company in Reed Rollerbit v Hughes Tool 1926
The "H" in Humble, TX is silent. It's ok, I didn't know this either until I moved here.
Came here for this comment.
Howard Hughes had OCD. In his time that was pretty much untreatable. He wasn't mad - he had a severe illness. Calling him nuts is insulting everyone with a mental illness. The poor man went through hell during most of his life.
Hearing that a symptom of his paranoia was "He refused to shake hands or touch door handles", now in July of the first year of the plague, I suddenly heard every person with OCD type worry about these things chorus ,"*See* told ya so! And you all thought we were nuts!"
His dad was a graduate of Missouri Military Acadamy. We played MMA in football.
Hey another great vid! How about good old teddy Roosevelt? Guy fawkes? Samuel Johnson? All would be great topics in my most humble opinion 😎
TJ W - T Roosevelt is a good one
Thanks for this video. I have read 5-10 books on Hughes. My favorite is "Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes" followed by "Howard Hughes The Untold Story". The story of his steam car is very interesting. As is the time he was arrested during the 1940s in Louisiana after police mistook him for a homeless person. He also went undercover as a commercial pilot & lived with a family working as a farmer to avoid CA marriage laws.
Joel D .
Interesting, thanks I'll check those out.
At 21:18 "His emancipated body..." I struggled to fit the spiritual idea of his liberation from the body into the story,
but then realised "his emaciated body" worked better.
I like how the music comes when a new phase in the video starts