History Talks

The Unbelievable Stories of Famous Multiples



Learn about the world renowned Dionne quintuplets who were taken from their parents as babies and made wards of the Canadian government. Raised in isolation and exhibited to 100,000 spectators each month, the five little girls were abruptly returned to their relatively unknown family when they were nine, creating even more problems. We'll also check on the status of "Octamom" and discover the sad tale of the beautiful and talented Hilton twins who were conjoined at the hip. In spite of prejudice, they became celebrated musical stars of vaudeville. The story of their lovers and their tragic ending is an unforgettable tale. From Colombia, we'll examine a baby switching case with two sets of identical twin brothers. They were mistakenly raised as fraternal twins and were not even biological brothers. The accidental brothers were 25 when they discovered the mix-up and the lives they should have had. We'll address the debate between the effect of nature (our genetic wiring) and nurture (our environment) and the causes of multiple births in this unusual and fascinating presentation.