The National Enquirer (also commonly known as the Enquirer) is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc (AMI). Founded in 1926, the tabloid has gone through a variety of changes over the years.

The Enquirer openly acknowledges that it will pay sources for tips, a practice generally frowned upon by the mainstream press. At least one prominent story, connected to the Elizabeth Smart case, had to be retracted after it was revealed that two informants had fabricated false information. The informants had been paid a large sum for the story^{[citation needed]}.

The tabloid has struggled with declining circulation figures due to competition from glossy tabloid publications. As of 2010, the National Enquirer sells for $3.49 on newsstands in the United States. Subscription rates are $1.90 per issue for 52 issues, and $2.40 for 26.

In 1926, William Griffin, a protégé of William Randolph Hearst, founded the paper as The New York Evening Enquirer, a Sunday afternoon broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout New York City, using money lent to Griffin by Hearst. As partial payment of his loan, Hearst asked Griffin to use the Enquirer as a proving ground for new ideas. Hearst took the ideas that worked in his successful publications; the less successful ideas stayed with the Enquirer, and as a result the Enquirer's sales never soared. During the 1930s and 1940s, it became a voice for isolationism and pro-fascist propaganda. The paper was indicted along with Griffin under the Smith Act for sedition by a grand jury in 1942 for subverting the morale of US troops due to Griffin's editorials against US military involvement in World War II. The charges were later dropped.

Dawn Elberta Wells (born October 18, 1938) is an American actress known for playing Mary Ann Summers on the sitcom Gilligan's Island during its run from 1964 until 1967.

Wells was born in Reno, Nevada, where she attended Reno High School. She later attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she majored in chemistry. She transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, where she graduated in 1960 with a degree in theater arts. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

In 1959, Wells was crowned Miss Nevada and represented her state in the 1960 Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

After moving to Hollywood, she began appearing in guest roles in such television series as 77 Sunset Strip, The Cheyenne Show on ABC, Maverick on ABC, and Bonanza on NBC, before taking on the role of Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island. She reprised her character in the various Gilligan's Island reunion specials, including three reunion movies Rescue from Gilligan's Island, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island. She also made guest appearances on The Roaring Twenties, Wagon Train, Tales of Wells Fargo, 87th Precinct, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, It's a Man's World, Laramie. Burke's Law, The Invaders, The Wild Wild West, The F.B.I., Vega$, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Alf, Herman's Head, Three Sisters, Pastor Greg and Roseanne.

John Andrew Boehner ( /ˈbeɪnər/ BAY-nər; born November 17, 1949) is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from Ohio's 8th congressional district, serving since 1991. The district includes several rural and suburban areas near Cincinnati and Dayton, and a small portion of Dayton itself.

Boehner previously served as the House Minority Leader from 2007 until 2011, and House Majority Leader from 2006 until 2007. As Speaker of the House, Boehner is second in line to the presidency of the United States following the Vice President in accordance with the Presidential Succession Act.

Boehner was born in Reading, Ohio, the son of Mary Anne (née Hall) and Earl Henry Boehner, the second of twelve children. His father was of German descent and his mother had German and Irish ancestry. He grew up in modest circumstances, having shared one bathroom with his eleven siblings in a two-bedroom house in Cincinnati. His parents slept on a pull-out couch. He started working at his family's bar at age 8, a business founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938. He has lived in Southwest Ohio his entire life. All but two of his siblings still live within a few miles of each other; two are unemployed and most of the others have blue-collar jobs.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time. Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American female artists to follow in her footsteps.

Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator, television host, television journalist, and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a victims' rights standpoint, with an outspoken style that has won her both praise and condemnation. She is the host of Nancy Grace, a nightly celebrity news and current affairs show on HLN, and she was the host of Court TV's Closing Arguments. She also co-wrote the book Objection! — How High-Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System. She was also the host of Swift Justice with Nancy Grace, a syndicated courtroom reality show on which her replacement, former Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, was announced May 24, 2011, effective at the end of its first season.

Nancy Grace was born in Macon, Georgia, the youngest of three children, to Mac Grace, a freight agent for Southern Railway, and Elizabeth Grace, a payroll clerk for a manufacturing plant. Grace has two older siblings: a brother, Mac Jr., and a sister, Ginny. The members of the Grace family have been longtime members of Macon's Liberty United Methodist Church, where Nancy's mother Elizabeth plays the church organ and her father Mac was once a Sunday School teacher.