Joe, Henry, and Inez Stone alongside Dawn Hugh and John Shubin from HistoryMiami

Disco was invented in Miami. Well, Hialeah to be exact, at the humble 8-track studio above Henry Stone's record distribution office at 495 SE 10th Court.

George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby," written by Harry Wayne Casey (KC of KC and The Sunshine Band) was not the first disco song ever, but it was the first of the genre to sell over a million copies worldwide. It was disco's first real hit, and it has gone on to sell over 20 million physical copies around the world, a feat rarely matched by any artist. But that's just one of the thousands of albums released by Stone, a Bronx kid who has called Miami home since 1948, and who as a music distributor and manufacturer has sold hundreds of millions of records, massively influenced global popular culture, and been a confidant and friend to the greatest titans of the music industry.

Now, HistoryMiami is collecting his ephemera to preserve and document his cultural contributions for scholarly discourse and exhibition.

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Miami is a flourishing, young city, barely a century old and fluid in its rhythms, its culture, and its image. That image has evolved year by year with the rising and falling of skyscrapers all across the county, as we continue to find ourselves wandering about fascinating new pieces of architecture that pierce upward along our flat horizon. And while one of the most significant periods of that architectural evolution took place in the '80s, in the wake of Miami's cocaine renaissance, the ill-fated boom era of our economy that came to a grinding halt in 2007 saw a flurry of activity in the form of mega-cranes and legions of construction companies pushing our skyline higher.

Soon, that skyline will have itself a new occupant in the exciting form of Zaha Hadid's first skyscraper on this side of the planet. As Miami's architectural landscape prepares for yet another change, we're taking an affectionate look at the wonderful buildings we know and love around town. From downtown Miami to the northern throes of the Beach, here are the ten most exquisite heights in our expanding jungle of glass-and-steel behemoths.

See also:
- Zaha Hadid's One Thousand Museum Tower Will Make the Rest of Downtown Look, Like, So Ten Years Ago
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Gloria's cool and all, but we can think of at least 10 better subjects for a musical theater plot.

Miami music patriarchs Gloria and Emilio Estefan are about to embark on one of their biggest projects to date.

The die-hard Latin-pop vets will be developing a new theatrical production that will tell the story and share the sounds from their wild ride from Cuba to the top shelf of Spanish-language pop in North America. "We are very excited to share this story, which is based on hope, determination and the belief that with hard work and passion, our dreams can become our reality," the Estefans said in a statement.

But who cares? We can think of at least ten other Miamians whose lives we would rather see performed on stage with music. For example:More »

via @barlabcocktails, Instagram

Miami Beach is hardly a surfer's haven. With the Bahamas blocking off any swells from the east and Cuba locking us away from any southern waves, it takes a very peculiar set of circumstances for our stretches of ocean to come alive with the sharp crests and strong peaks for which surf rats of all credos long.

While this hellish bitch we've come to know as Sandy, the savage freak of a storm, has spent the last day and a half lashing away at the cities of New England, ripping cranes out of the sky in New York City, and bringing the Hudson River's frigid waters into the streets, we in Miami were witness to a very different kind of hurricane weather. For us, Sandy's effects created a perfect moment along the coast, one that transformed the Miami Beach coast into an unfamiliar but welcome setting -- a place where something rare and magical happened both in and out of the water.

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Mary Beth Koeth

See Miami Runner Raven to Run His 110,000th Mile.

Anyone who's roamed South Beach at sundown has seen Raven's unmistakable dark-clothed, hairy-chested form moving deliberately up and down the sand. As he passes, a lot of residents who know the story of his 110,000-plus mile running streak will say things like, "I love that guy!"

But there's a lot more to Raven than the eight miles he runs every day without fail. In addition to his inability to let go of his 37-year running streak despite increasing health problems and pain, he has trouble letting go of other elements of his past. On September 7, a one-night-only photography and video exhibit at the Miami Beach Cinematheque will explore Raven's need to cling to his personal history.

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Brian Smith Photography

Robert "Raven" Kraft will run his 110,000th mile on Miami Beach August 23.

When I first heard about the Raven, I was fascinated. Most people seem to be. What could keep a man motivated to run eight miles on the same stretch of sand every single day for decades? That's every single day, despite hurricanes, concussions, pneumonia, and pain that stretches into every cell "from hair to toes," as he says -- for 37 years.

On August 23, the total distance covered by Raven's 37-year streak will reach 110,000 miles. He'll have warmed up with his pull-ups and pushups at the outdoor gym at the 9th Street beach and strolled over to the 5th Street lifeguard stand 13,750 times. That's where he meets the pack of runners who will join him for his run each day. Some of these runners are just looking for sporty camaraderie. Others are looking for life answers. And then there are times when no one shows up, and the Raven starts his daily voyage alone.

On the surface, it's an amazing story of dedication to athleticism. Born Robert Kraft, Raven, who is so-nicknamed for his black attire and long raven-hued locks, began his running streak January 1, 1975, when he resolved to run eight miles on the beach every single day for the entire year. It was an attempt to mend what he perceived as a defect of character. "I never stuck with anything," Raven said in a recent interview. "Jobs, relationships -- I was a quitter. I wanted to change that. The first year [of my running streak] I caught pneumonia, I stepped on nails. Food poisoning." But he kept going, no matter what.

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Sixty-four years! My gosh! Where does the time go?

Seems like the '50s were only yesterday. What an era! So golden. Oh, son. What these fins have seen. Where this blow hole has been. I was so young, hungry and filled with life. Now I'm the oldest manatee in the world, a gosh-dang celebrity, a 1,200-pound sea cow hag. Hooey!

Getting old sucks.

Beh! Things have changed, man.

I remember the Bay so clean and pristine you could spend a whole week basking in its turquoise beauty. You'd catch me gently floating along an interior river canal, sunshine glistening off my wet whiskers. Those days felt like a big band ballad, just swinging, man; beautiful and timeless.

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Hey there, history buffs. Looking to take a break from the nonstop wedgies and tormenting by your peers? Today's your lucky day.

FIU's Wolfsonian archive has recently been digitized, putting thousands and thousands of artifacts at your fingertips. No, really -- there are over 16,000 objects catalogued in the archive, each with at least one photo. Browsing the Wolf's collection in person is the best way to see this stuff, of course. But as far as bored-at-work pastimes go, clicking through these archives totally trumps Facebook stalking or Perez Hilton.

Case in point: these ten fun, freaky finds. We've looked through the archive, and after our arduous research (read: tying lewd phrases in the search box) are bringing you a tiny sliver of some of the great finds to explore.

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Drs. Marvin Dunn and Paul George working on location

There are probably about a million secret histories hiding in Miami. With so many different cultures and communities coexisting in one place, no two people's versions of the events of the past are likely to match up perfectly. It's beautiful, in a way, but it also means that many of us are missing out on things that are happening right next door.

That's why the new documentary The Black Miami has piqued our interest. Based on Dr. Marvin Dunn's book, Black Miami in the 20th Century, the film describes the history and significance of blacks in South Florida. Regardless of your background, you're sure to be captivated by the stories of The Black Miami, many of which you've likely never heard.

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Some first heard the name Billy Corben in 2001, when he became one of the youngest directors in Sundance history. His next release, Cocaine Cowboys, co-produced with his Rakontur collaborator Alfred Spellman and David Cypkin, would prove to be monumental in its exploration of the cocaine-fueled Miami heydays of the 1980's, and earned him even further notoriety. Lately, he's been the most famous jury foreman in Miami's recent history, and is set to appear in court over tweets and Facebook posts he sent while serving jury duty.

Corben's career has taken him from ESPN to the Tribeca Film Festival and beyond. Cultist caught up with him recently to talk about jury duty, future projects, Miami Beach corruption, and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, on whom the movie Casino was based.

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