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Dutch Christmas traditions have long included a blackface servant known as Zwarte Piet, but anti-racism activists are now calling for this to end. Every year, thousands of people line the streets across the Netherlands to celebrate the festival of Saint Nicholas, or, as he is better known, Sinterklaas. The story of Sinterklaas has been celebrated throughout Europe since the Middle Ages. He is a robed, white-bearded man who visits good children on December 5 to lavish them with gifts....

At some seven miles below the surface, Challenger Deep is not only the deepest part of the ocean, it’s an alien world unlike no other. Mark Thiessen/National Geographic CreativeJames Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger touches down at Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the ocean, in 2012. On January 23, 1960, Swiss oceanographer Jaques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh had the unique experience of exploring a place no human in history had been before: the deepest part of the ocean, now known as Challenger Deep....

“The medical profession needs to be prepared for inevitable questions about the impact of sex robots on health.” Channel 4/The SunA new report found no evidence that sex robots provide health benefits. Sex robots are a $30 billion industry. That’s not all that surprising given that some companies are able to regularly sell sexbots costing between $5,000 and $15,000, and are advertised as being the “perfect companion” or offering “unconditional love and support....

As Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Louis Bernays combined psychology with public relations to sell everything from bacon to cigarettes — and even a coup. Bettmann/Getty ImagesEdward Bernays at his desk at age 89. Edward Bernays was a mere business consultant on the surface, but in practice he was a skilled surgeon of popular opinion. Bernays probed the depths of social behaviors and molded what the average American wanted — only to sell it back for use by corporations and governments of the early 20th century....

A nurse from Queens, New York, Marie Van Brittan Brown created the first video home security system in 1966, paving the way for the technology we use today. Marie Van Brittan Brown was a nurse living in Queens – until she became an inventor. As a nurse living in Queens, Marie Van Brittan Brown was used to working the night shift. And in the 1960s, Brown’s husband, Albert, also worked unusual hours as an electronics technician....

Formed over 300 million years ago, the Cliffs of Moher are striking not only for their beauty but also for their fascinating history. Wikimedia Commons The Cliffs of Moher began to form during the Upper Carboniferous period. Standing 700 feet high and running for about 9 miles, the majestic Cliffs of Moher are the crown jewels of Ireland’s west coast. With their astounding height and breathtaking views, these rock formations are some of the most visited natural attractions on the Emerald Isle....

Everyone should see Iguazu Falls in person, but if you can’t make it to South America just yet, these photos should tide you over. Iguazu Falls In 24 Breathtaking Photos View Gallery A single waterfall is spellbinding in its own right – imagine the sight of 275 of them convening in a single spot. That place isn’t fantasy; it’s a reality to be found at Iguazu Falls. Like this gallery?Share it:...

The mother of one of the victims of last weekend’s Portland stabbing advocated inclusion in a vigil. “Give it up for love” are surprising words to hear from a mother whose child was recently stabbed to death by a stranger. But that’s what Asha Deliverance instructed attendees at a vigil for her son, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, who was recently murdered while protecting two young Muslim women — one black, one wearing a hijab — during a hate-fueled attack on a Portland train....

In 2015, Kristal Reisinger moved to Crestone, Colorado, to find enlightenment in its New Age religious community. Instead, she vanished without a trace just one year later. Left: Never Forget Me/Facebook; Right: Unmasked: A True Crime Syndicate/FacebookKristal Reisinger left her daughter with her ex-boyfriend in Denver to find enlightenment in Crestone, Colorado. Kristal Reisinger was 29 years old when she disappeared in the small mountain town of Crestone, Colorado. A self-described clairvoyant, she had left her ex-boyfriend Elijah Guana and their four-year-old daughter Kasha in Denver to find enlightenment in the Crestone hills....

The vengeful ghost of a murdered slave named Daniel Robitaille, Candyman may be fictitious, but one real murder did help inspire the classic film’s horrors. “Be my victim.” With these words, an icon of horror was born in 1992’s Candyman. The vengeful spirit of a Black artist lynched for having an illicit affair with a white woman, the titular killer begins terrorizing Helen Lyle, a graduate student researching the Candyman legend, which she’s sure is a myth....

Because he was the first celebrity serial killer, Jack the Ripper’s victims and their tragic lives were always overshadowed by the man himself. Head to London for a dose of the macabre and you won’t be disappointed. Guided tours of the Whitechapel district — where in 1888 legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper brutally cut the throats of five prostitutes and removed their organs — continue to draw in droves of tourists to this day....

Joyce Carol Vincent was a 38-year-old woman in London with a family and friends. So why did it take over two years for people to realize she had died? Picture this: you walk into an apartment that is on the messy side with piles of unopened mail by the door and a sink full of dishes. There’s a glow from the television playing BBC1 and a pile of wrapped Christmas presents waiting to be sent out....

Although Marina Oswald Porter testified against Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, she later asserted that her husband was an innocent scapegoat. Corbis via Getty ImagesA photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald, Marina Oswald Porter, and their child June, c. 1962. Marina Oswald Porter became Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife after they married in 1961 in the Soviet Union. The following year, the young couple moved to Texas....

After Noela Rukundo’s husband hired hitmen to kill her, they not only refused to do so — but they also gave her evidence of her husband’s attempted murder. In January 2015, Noela Rukundo of Melbourne, Australia, flew to the African country of Burundi for her stepmother’s funeral. Little did she know that when she returned home a month later, she’d be attending her own funeral. What happened in between is a nightmare that still haunts her....

“This specimen perfectly illustrates the cooperative evolution of plants and animals during this time period.” David Dilcher et alAngimordella burmitina is a newly discovered ancient beetle species, found trapped inside fossilized amber. While the significance of pollination — and pollinating insects — has become common knowledge, scientists have long struggled to estimate when the phenomenon of pollination first began on Earth. A popular guess used to be about 49 million years ago....

You could own Northern Ireland’s Gosford Castle, the real-life Riverrun from ‘Game of Thrones,’ for a surprisingly reasonable price. Maison Real Estate Listen up Game of Thrones superfans: You can now own a piece of the show’s history for a pretty reasonable price. Part of Northern Ireland’s Gosford Castle, which was used for exterior shots of the Riverrun castle on season three of the show, is up for sale starting at just $656,452....

Though her father died when she was just four, Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee has made it her mission to preserve his philosophies — and even produced a long-lost script of his. Shannon Lee was four years old when her father Bruce Lee died unexpectedly. At 32, he was on the cusp of his stardom, but he never got to see the success of his superstar debut in Enter The Dragon — nor did he get to see the life of his daughter....

A popular 15-year-old cheerleader from Morgan Hill, California, Sierra LaMar was kidnapped and killed in 2012 — and her body has never been found. LaMar FamilySierra LaMar was 15 when she vanished on her way to school in 2012. One morning in 2012, a 15-year-old Morgan Hill, California, girl named Sierra Lamar walked to her school bus stop, then apparently disappeared off the face of the Earth. When LaMar’s discarded cellphone was found the following day, the local sheriff’s department still considered her a missing person, dismissing any foul play....

Despite the hollow maxim that men run the world, history has given us a handful of prolific women who have aided in defining it. History’s Most Prolific Women: Marie Antoinette The wife of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette is probably best known for her falsely attributed line of “Let them eat cake.” Crowned the Queen of France in 1774 after her husband ascended the thrown, the French people came to dislike her because of her perceived promiscuity, her affluent lifestyle (which went hand-in-hand with accusations that she was responsible her for the decline of the country’s funds), and for allegedly harboring sympathies to her native Austria....

The legend of an ax-wielding man in a rabbit suit haunting Fairfax County started in the 1970s and continues to this day, with one local overpass even dubbed “Bunny Man Bridge.” Wikimedia CommonsThis hatchet was given to police after Robert Bennett and his fiancé’s alleged encounter with the Bunny Man. The police gave it back. For generations, the story of the Bunny Man has been passed around at sleepovers, campfires, and Halloween parties in Northern Virginia....