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“What I want him to do is realize what he did, to remember it and feel guilty,” said Kurt Salzinger’s widow. “He destroyed a person’s life to rush for a train.” Left: Hofstra University, Right: Wikimedia Commons A distinguished scholar and professor who escaped the Nazis just before World War II has died after he was shoved to the ground at a New York City subway station. When 89-year-old Dr. Kurt Salzinger and his wife Deanna Chitayat arrived at New York City’s Penn Station subway stop one Saturday afternoon in late October, they were ready to do some shopping — but the actions of one senseless commuter would have deadly consequences....

In 1901, Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley twice at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He was executed for the assassination less than two months later. Library of CongressA depiction of Leon Czolgosz killing President William McKinley. President William McKinley believed in luck. He specifically believed in the luck brought by red carnations, which is why he wore one to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901....

Mary Sawyer claimed that a boy named John Roulstone wrote the classic nursery rhyme for her in 1816, but the real origin of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” is subject to intense debate — and has never been setted. Transcendental Graphics/Getty ImagesA lithographic cigar box label from 1870 featuring the “Mary’s Lamb” nursery rhyme. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is perhaps the most famous nursery rhyme of all time. First published in 1830, the pastoral tale of a young girl accompanied by her young sheep has been enjoyed by children across the United States and Europe for over a century....

Most street artists accept that when night falls, their artwork will be obscured by darkness. But most street artists aren’t Max Zorn. Most street artists accept the fact that when night falls, their work will also fade into nothingness. Not so for Max Zorn. To keep his creations from disappearing under the veil of the Amsterdam night, Zorn invoked street lamps and a little ingenuity. Zorn incorporates semi-transparent packing tape into his work, so parts of the scene shine through when placed on or near a source of illumination....

It may be cute, but the dumbo octopus is also tough — it can thrive in one of the harshest environments known to man, four miles below the surface of the ocean. At first glance, the dumbo octopus appears more cartoonish than it does resilient. Yet, these adorable cephalopods are in fact the deepest-living octopus on the planet and thrive in the cold depths four miles below the surface of the sea....

“He seemed happy about what he had done," said a top Mexican prosecutor after hearing the man’s confession. FGJEMJuan Carlos N. and Patricia N. of Mexico City who are accused of murdering up to 20 victims. A couple in Mexico City was caught walking around with a baby stroller containing severed human remains — and they may be responsible for murdering as many as 20 women. The man, Juan Carlos N....

McLeod’s wife said that he “just snapped,” like he usually does when he’s drunk. FacebookRepublican lawmaker Doug McLeod tried to tell the deputies responding to the domestic assault report that everything was okay. Then his wife walked out with a bloody face. When Mississippi State Rep. Douglas McLeod’s wife didn’t undress quickly enough for the politician’s liking, he punched her in the face. According to The Sun Herald, in his drunken rage and frustrated urge to have sex, he resorted to domestic violence — and has since been arrested for it....

Fortunately, there’s only an average of seven cases of the plague per year in the U.S. and it can be treated with antibiotics. John Montenieri/CDCAn adult male Oropsylla Montana flea, more commonly known as the Diamanus Montana. This flea carries Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the plague. In late July, officials from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge shuttered an area of the park for fairly worrying safety reasons — namely, that there were prairie dogs found with a form of the bubonic plague....

Nancy Spungen was a groupie with an abrasive attitude and a raging drug habit that showed just how dangerous the lifestyle could turn out to be. In the early hours of October 12, 1978, residents of the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan heard sounds coming from the room of Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious. Given the clientele at the Chelsea Hotel in the 70s, screams, moans, and cries were hardly unusual. These cries, however, were out of the ordinary, which the hotel’s residents would realize the next morning when the body of Nancy Spungen was rolled out of the hotel in a body bag....

Despite their slight size, bees are an integral part of the world’s agriculture. This macro bee photography provides us with a better understanding of them. Source: Twenty Two Words There are literally thousands of different bee species flying around out there, and it is biologist Sam Droege’s job to identify and document them, as head of the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program. Located in Maryland, the program collects and carefully archives every detail of each species, including those so tiny that they can’t be discerned by the naked eye....

Believed to have killed at least six people between 1974 and 1986, Wayne Nance only stopped his reign of terror when he was fatally shot by a would-be victim. Missoula County Sheriff’s OfficeWayne Nance is believed to have taken six victims before he was shot to death in 1986. Known as “The Missoula Mauler,” Wayne Nance shot and stabbed his victims, often raping them beforehand. Between 1974 and 1986, he invaded homes across from Montana, slipping out of the shadows long enough to take someone’s life, only to quickly escape back into the night....

Mercy dogs, also known as casualty dogs, were first used by the German Army to help find wounded soldiers on the battlefield and to comfort the dying. Library of CongressA Red Cross dog, also called a mercy dog, in Italy. For wounded soldiers in No Man’s Land during World War I, few things could bring more comfort than the gentle nudge of a wet nose. The arrival of a mercy dog meant help was coming....

When the bubonic plague killed a resident of San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1900, the city and state tried to hide it — and then ostracized Asian immigrants. The National Library of Medicine/Centers for Disease ControlSan Francisco was besieged by the Black Plague for nearly a decade in the early 1900s. Relief came only after an extensive rat extermination campaign, pictured here. In the early 1900s, San Francisco became the first U....

With just a few basic supplies and an empty ice chest, Jose Alvarenga survived for over a year at sea by himself. HILARY HOSIA/AFP/Getty ImagesJose Alvarenga after being rescued. Jose Alvarenga was an experienced fisherman, well versed in the ways of the sea after years spent fishing commercially. But even the most experienced fishermen are no match for the strength of a tropical storm, especially when they’re in a 15-foot skiff with no way to steer, no food, and a horribly inexperienced fishing mate....

While the men wore lead aprons to protect themselves from the radiation, the women were given nothing. The Radium Girls were even told to lick their brushes to get a fine point for detail work. In 1917, scores of patriotic young girls counted themselves lucky to have landed war work at a large warehouse complex in Orange, New Jersey. The pay was fantastic – roughly three times the average working girls’ wage – and the work was light....

Humanity has conjured a constellation of ways to conduct executions, and this may be one of the wildest methods of them all. Wikimedia Commons Capital punishment has always been cruel, but that cruelty has changed over time and varies in accordance with place-specific cultural mores and legal norms. Still, the prospect of meeting your end under the weighty foot of a compliant elephant seems too absurd to be real. However, the strange but true practice of death by elephant was a common method of public execution popular in Southeast Asia, predominantly India, from the Middle Ages until as recently as the late 19th century....

The story of Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designing the first American flag is one of the most popular tales of Revolutionary lore. But it might not even be true. Wikimedia CommonsThe story of Betsy Ross accepting George Washington’s request for a flag is dubious to say the least. The United States was just a few weeks shy of celebrating its one-year anniversary when the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution establishing an official flag for the nation....

Meet Annie Edson Taylor and learn why the tale behind her infamous stunt is as fascinating as the stunt itself. Annie Edson Taylor, the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel, pictured here with her preferred mode of transportation. In 1901, it wasn’t Evel Knievel, Johnny Knoxville, or any other man who was challenging modern conventions with unthinkable stunts. It was a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor....

Though federal law prohibits using DNA from victims in the national Combined DNA Index System, states and cities often retain DNA in their own databases. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThen-San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin declined to prosecute the woman in February 2022 when he found out how her DNA had been obtained. In 2016, a woman identified as “Jane Doe” reported a sexual assault and submitted her DNA to a rape kit....

The FIFA World Cup is always a roller coaster of emotion. We root for our favorite teams, boo when the referees make terrible decisions and feel a deep, unalienable sense of nationalistic pride when our team fights for a win, despite all odds. Yet with all of the success and thrills presented by the World Cup every four years, the tournament’s seedy underbelly is hard to conceal. From increasingly violent demonstrations to brutal player-on-player contact to a thriving demand for prostitutes, it has an undeniable dark side....