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While reigning as the autocratic ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium may have killed as many as 15 million people. Wikimedia CommonsLeopold II reigned as King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and established the Congo Free State in order to seize vast quantities of ivory and rubber. Belgium may not be the first European country that most people think of when they hear the words “blood-soaked colonial tyranny....

While on a quest for revenge, Liver-Eating Johnson earned his gruesome nickname and struck fear into the hearts – and livers – of his enemies. Montana Historical SocietyJohn Jeremiah Garrison Johnston, nicknamed Liver-Eating Johnson. They say he was born John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston, but it’s a safe bet that almost nobody called him that. The mountain man of the wild west was better known by his nickname, one he earned and then some....

It’s one of 54 chapters from a transcription of The Tale of Genji, written in the 11th century. Kyodo NewsMotofuyu Okochi’s family had held onto the missing manuscript for nearly 300 years. Nerdy book lovers might be familiar with The Tale Of Genji, an ancient Japanese tale considered to be the world’s first novel. But the story’s original manuscript, written by an 11th-century noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu, no longer exists....

Joseph McKinnon strangled his girlfriend Patricia Dent, then died while trying to bury her body in their garden. When police first answered a 911 call about an “unresponsive man” lying in his yard in Trenton, South Carolina, it seemed like a simple tragedy. Authorities found Joseph McKinnon dead of a heart attack, but then they also found the body of his girlfriend, Patricia Dent, in a nearby pit. McKinnon, police realized, had died while trying to bury his girlfriend’s body....

In 1990, Pamela Smart’s 16-year-old lover Billy Flynn killed her husband Gregory Smart. And after a highly-publicized trial, Pamela was sentenced to life in prison as an accomplice. Bettmann/Getty ImagesPamela Smart in court for the murder of her husband Gregory Smart in 1991. As Pamela Smart tells it, May 1, 1990, started out like any other day. She went to work at Winnacunnet High School, where she had a job as a media coordinator, and attended a school meeting....

“To those who oppose the death penalty - in my particular case, anything short of death would be cruel and unusual punishment.” Wikimedia CommonsRonald Gene Simmons. In Arkansas on December 28, 1987, retired military serviceman Ronald Gene Simmons walked into a law firm and fatally shot a secretary. He then went on to an oil company, a convenience store, and lastly, his former workplace at the Woodline Motor Freight where shots were also fired....

At the human tower building competition in Spain, castellers stack upon one another, building insane towers that stretch into the sky. Source: South China Morning Post If 15 minutes of TV news watching has left you doubting humanity’s ability to work together toward achieving a common goal, Spain’s human tower competition might just change your mind. Every other October, hundreds of people in Tarragona, Spain come together to form castells — Catalan for the word “castles” — that reach more than 30 feet into the Spanish skies in a competition called the Concurs de Castells....

According to police testimony, Allyson Moran admitted to having sex with a student under the age of 18 on two separate occasions at her home. Macon County Sheriff’s OfficeAllyson Moran In another case of sexual assault in an American high school, a Michigan substitute teacher was arrested this week for having sex with one of her students. The Lansing State Journal reports that Allyson Brittany Moran, 26, was arrested last Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting a student from Stockbridge High School, Michigan in April....

“He did not think much of it at the time because such incidents with people who are intoxicated are not unusual.” FacebookSophie Pointon A 22-year-old student in the United Kingdom was recently jailed for falsely accusing a taxi driver of raping her. Sophie Pointon, a criminology student at Leeds Beckett University in Leeds told police officers she had been sexually assaulted and molested in the back of a cab she had been riding in, reports The Telegraph....

The last captive Tasmanian tiger died in 1936, leading experts to believe that the thylacine had gone extinct. But recent sightings claim otherwise. The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was a carnivorous marsupial whose resemblance to a wolf made it among the most distinct fauna of Australia. However, it allegedly preyed on a variety of livestock, prompting European settlers to hunt the species to extinction. But nearly a century after the last known thylacine died in an Australian zoo in 1936, rumors of thylacine sightings have made experts question whether the animal might still be around....

Bbringing underwater biological diversity to the surface, Alexander Semenov’s deep sea photography is the best thing you’ll see this week. The White Sea is frigid and unforgiving, but it holds vast amounts of life and biological diversity that simply beg to be photographed. Enter Alexander Semenov, a 2007 graduate of renowned Lomonosov’s Moscow State University. There, Semenov studied zoology, and specialized in the study of invertebrates such as squid brains, jellyfish, and worms....

Ancient Hercules statue uncovered in Greece, 2,600-year-old cheese found in Egypt, 2,000-year-old Roman statues destroyed in the Vatican. Archaeologists In Northern Greece Uncovered A 2,000-Year-Old Statue Of Hercules Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And SportsThe son of Zeus and Alcmene, Hercules is widely depicted as the most heroic of the Greek demigods, a figure of unparalleled strength who completed some of mythology’s most arduous tasks as part of his legendary 12 Labors....

Vasily Ignatenko was just 25 when he succumbed to slow death via radiation poisoning after fighting the fires of Chernobyl. Sputnik/RIAVasily Ignatenko was 25 years old when he died of radiation. Even after more than three decades, the death toll of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is still wildly disputed. According to Newsweek, the wafting clouds of radioactive material over Ukraine, Belarus, and even as far as Sweden, killed 4,000 people. That’s what U....

From Pompeii to King Tut’s Tomb, discover some of history’s most interesting archaeological discoveries and sites. Voynich Manuscript Since its discovery in 1912 (discovery meaning a book dealer bought it and realized its significance), the Voynich manuscript has baffled scientists, historians and cryptographers everywhere. The languages aren’t ones that are commonly used, and many of them have no translation available today. Even codebreakers from both World War I and World War II tried and failed to decipher its meaning....

Istanbul is the largest city of the Republic of Turkey. With a massive population of 14.1 million, the city is the largest in Europe, second largest in the Middle East and fifth largest in the world. A truly transcontinental city, Istanbul spans across the Bosporus Strait, claiming Europe and Asia as footholds. Founded as Byzantium around 660 BC, it was re-established as Constantinople in 330 AD and would later be the capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire....

Believe it or not, no injuries or deaths were ever reported from baby cages. British Pathe, YouTube In 1884, Luther Emmett Holt wrote of the importance of “airing” out babies in his book, The Care and Feeding of Children. This claim resulted in what is perhaps one of the strangest inventions to come out of the 20th century: baby cages. Holt intended for his text to be used as a manual for nursery aides and mothers in need of helpful pointers when it came to, well, caring for and feeding their children....

The bone came from an ancient girl who was believed to be around 13-years-old when she died - approximately 90,000 years ago. T. Higham, University of OxfordThis bone fragment was found in 2012 at Denisova Cave in Russia by Russian archaeologists and represents the daughter of a Neandertal mother and a Denisovan father. A bone fragment scarcely bigger than a quarter has provided archaeologists with their latest major scientific breakthrough....

This is the saddest thing you will ever watch. If there’s a more depressing video on the Internet, I have yet to see it. Recent footage from Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park shows the devastating aftermath of a baby elephant being hit by a speeding car. “It was emotionally draining to watch and I never want to have to experience such a moment again,” Heidi Haas, who filmed the scene after coming upon the already-injured elephant, told Latest Sightings....

The 35 fishermen followed their noses to a whale carcass in the Gulf of Aden and discovered to their delight that it contained the rare substance ambergris. YouTube“It was an unimaginable price. We are all poor. We never expected this thing would give us such a huge amount,” one of the fishermen said after nabbing the valuable chunk of ambergris. Some people dream of discovering gold. Others hope to find whale vomit....

Glaucus atlanticus, or the blue dragon, is one of the most fascinating looking creatures in the ocean. It also happens to be one of the most deadly. Recently, miniature blue dragons washed up on Australia’s shores. The dragons drew in beachgoers, as they always do, with their strange, singular beauty. But no matter how beautiful or small these creatures are, if you ever see one, you should back far away....