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Because he was black, Navy sailor Doris Miller was relegated to shining officers’ shoes, making beds, and serving meals in the kitchen. Then his heroics at Pearl Harbor earned him the Navy Cross. U.S. Navy/Wikimedia CommonsDoris Miller, the first African-American to earn the Navy Cross for valor, in May of 1942. Doris Miller, known as Dorie to his friends and shipmates, was a U.S. Navy sailor who wanted to travel the world and support his family....

On January 31, 1976, Marie Elizabeth Spannhake vanished near her home in Chico, California — but it wasn’t until 1984 that a woman named Janice Hooker claimed that her husband Cameron had abducted and murdered Spannhake eight years before. California Department Of JusticeMarie Elizabeth Spannhake vanished in 1976 after a fight with her boyfriend. Many fans of true crime know the story of Colleen Stan, the “girl in the box” who was kidnapped in California in 1977 and kept in a wooden coffin by her abductors for seven years....

Félix Ismael Rodríguez spent his life as a special agent with the CIA fighting communism in Central and South America — and got his hands very dirty along the way. YouTube/American Veterans CenterFélix Rodríguez (center-right) in Vietnam. Félix Rodríguez is no stranger to regime change wars. He was born in Cuba to a wealthy, land-owning family before the revolution of 1959. His family fled to Miami that same year, and Rodríguez worked the rest of his life to fight communism as a CIA officer, and often went to extraordinary — and extra-legal — lengths to do so....

On November 22, 1997, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence was found naked and choked to death with a snakeskin belt tied to his hotel door — leaving many to wonder if his death was a suicide or an accident. As the singer and frontman for the popular Australian rock band INXS, Michael Hutchence was loved by many. So when Michael Hutchence died on the day of a rehearsal for the band’s 20th-anniversary tour on November 22, 1997, shockwaves reverberated around the world....

Incredibly, none of the passengers on the inflatable vessel were injured — and neither was the walrus. Russian Navy Northern Fleet The crew aboard the Russian naval boat, Altai, rescued passengers without incident from the walrus attack. Walruses are sluggish-looking creatures, what with their hefty bodies and perpetually somber expressions. But don’t be fooled; these ton-sized animals are fierce enough to sink a naval boat. Such was the lesson that a group of Russian researchers and journalists learned last week when a mother walrus sank their boat while cruising the Arctic Ocean....

Authorities compared Omaima Nelson’s killing of her husband Bill Nelson to the fictional Hannibal Lecter. YouTubeOmaima Nelson in court. Omaima Nelson was an Egyptian model who immigrated to the United States when she was 18 years old. She was compared to Hanibal Lector and Jeffrey Dhamer because, after a month of marriage, the 23-year-old ludgeoned her allegedly abusive husband to death. She then chopped him up, cooked his head, and fried his hands in oil....

“I don’t know how the transformation occurred. But it feels like my own hands now,” said the 21-year-old transplant recipient. Arul HorizonAfter her surgery, Shreya Siddanagowda’s darker-hued transplants have become lighter. After a terrible bus accident led to the amputation of both of her hands three years ago, Shreya Siddanagowda underwent an intensive surgical procedure to attach hand transplants to her limbs. The surgery was a huge success as her body accepted the new hands without any issues....

British scientists use brain scans to officially prove for the first time ever that drugs like LSD and magic mushrooms truly do open the mind. For the first time ever, scientists have demonstrated what so many users have been preaching for decades: Psychedelic drugs do in fact create an “elevated level of consciousness.” That summation comes from new research published in Scientific Reports in which scientists administered either LSD, ketamine, and psilocybin (the compound found in magic mushrooms) to healthy subjects in order to monitor their brain activity while they were under the drug’s influence....

Relive the horror of the 1915 SS Eastland disaster that killed 844 people and wouldn’t have happened at all if not for the Titanic. Wikimedia CommonsThe steamer SS Eastland being righted after capsizing in the Chicago River. Chicago’s SS Eastland disaster of 1915 killed 844 people and likely wouldn’t have happened if not for the sinking of the Titanic three years earlier, yet it’s largely been forgotten today. Perhaps it’s because the SS Eastland capsized in just 20 feet of water while the ship was still docked on the Chicago River....

How lies and gross negligence contributed to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, one of the worst disasters in NASA’s history. January 28, 1986, at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. Millions of Americans are glued to their television screen, watching the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Many of them are children. Onboard the shuttle is Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher chosen to become the first teacher in space. Across America, teachers have rolled televisions into their classrooms so they can watch this historic moment unfold live....

Small Japanese villages have been visited by abandoned fishing vessels, some awash with dead bodies. But the reason why this may be is even more startling than their discovery. Yuri Smityuk via Getty ImagesSometimes there is little evidence of why the crews of these ghost ships abandoned them. Ghost ships have been a staple of maritime legends throughout the world for centuries, and the empty vessels washing up in Japan have some ominous backstories....

Along the Rockies and the Pacific coastline, on a small shared island, the United Kingdom and United States turned a small land dispute into a heated, full-fledged confrontation. Wikimedia CommonsSan Juan Island, where the great Pig War of 1859 took place. Land disputes were relatively common in North America in the 19th century. With explorers pushing into new territories, boundary disputes between nations were bound to come up. The Oregon Treaty was devised to clear up one such dispute, between America and Britain, along the Rockies and the Pacific coastline, at the border of Oregon and what is now Canada....

Every four years, Iowa becomes the most important state in the Union. But why? Barack and Michelle Obama in one of their final campaign stops before the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. Source: Luke Vargas For four decades, Iowans have had an out-sized privilege: They get the first say in who will become the presidential nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties. As a result, presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders dote on the state for months, making promises—and taking votes in Congress—that disproportionately benefit Iowans....

Along with the sword, you’ll also find the mummified hands of a thief who once tried to steal the blade. Wikimedia CommonsGalgano Guidotti’s real sword in the stone. If you’ve ever dreamt of becoming King Arthur and pulling a real Excalibur from stone, you may have your chance. Though it may cost you your hands. In the outskirts of Siena, Italy, there is a 900-year-old sword buried in solid rock. However, a mythical king never touched this sword’s grip....

In the last year, we’ve brought you the most interesting news from around the globe, dealing in a vast and diverse array of issues. For the last twelve months, we at All That Is Interesting have been providing our readers with a steady stream of some of the weirdest, most bizarre, and downright unbelievable and interesting news from across the world. Dinosaur ‘Mummy’ Unveiled With Skin And Guts Intact Jack The Ripper Identified?...

Catherine Howard was just a teenager when she married the middle-aged King Henry VIII in 1540 — and she was decapitated on his orders just two years later. Wikimedia CommonsA possible portrait of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII — and the second of his to be decapitated. On February 13, 1542, Catherine Howard mounted the scaffold and turned to face the crowd assembled near the Tower of London....

Source: I’m A Single London Girl If there’s one thing at which humans excel, it’s celebrating. Hanukkah, Halloween and Easter all rock up at the same time each year, but why not extend that festive savoir-faire to those lesser known holidays, like Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day, or even Fruitcake Toss Day? If you’re in the market for a few more excuses to indulge, we’ve got a whole host of weird celebration days for you....

Theodore Roosevelt quotes on everything from America’s true purpose to racial equality to the characteristics that make a good person. President Theodore Roosevelt was far more than a politician. Over the course of his life, he took on the roles of soldier, historian, conservationist, and world traveler, always living for grand adventures and the promotion of progressive values. Though his stint as a Rough Rider cavalryman during the Spanish-American War and “big stick” foreign policy makes his patch of the American fabric appear hyper-masculine if not bellicose, that’s not the entire picture: Indeed, Roosevelt successfully negotiated the end of a war between Russian and Japan, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906....

Researchers have discovered a link between exposure to the Toxoplasma gondii parasite and a higher likelihood to pursue entrepreneurship — among other puzzling side effects. ASPCA Toxoplasma gondii, a single-cell parasite most commonly found in cat feces, has puzzled researchers for years. After humans and other warm-blooded animals have been exposed, the resulting infection can cause a number of strange side effects, from an increased chance of serious mental illness to a higher likelihood to study business....

How William Levitt birthed the American suburb — upon a foundation of racism that echoes to the present day. Image courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center. Temple University Libraries. Philadelphia, Pa. “For Sale: A New Way Of Life.” Bill Myers had seen the promise splashed across newspapers and magazines around the country. Life in Levittown, America’s first suburbia, meant more than just moving into a community filled with completely identical houses....