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The unnamed Jane Doe was born into Scientology and followed faithfully for decades. After serving as David Miscavige’s steward seven days a week, things went from disturbing to dangerous. Wikimedia CommonsThe Church of Scientology faces increasing public scrutiny each year. The Church of Scientology and its controversial leader, David Miscavige, are once again under intense public scrutiny with the filing of a recent lawsuit concerning human trafficking, child abuse, libel, and forced labor....

Who pays for prostitutes? Renowned photographer Cristina de Middel turned her camera on sex workers’ clients in an effort to uncover the often-ignored half of the controversial industry. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 1 of 22Felipe prefers not to say how old he is. He’s an independent worker, single, and a father of five children....

The former Nazi and rising Ku Klux Klan member was hiding a stunning secret. YouTubeJohn McCandlish Phillips, the reporter who outted Dan Burros. Daniel Burros was a member of the Nazi Party and a prominent member of a violent Ku Klux Klan group in New York. He was also a born-and-raised Jewish American. From Jew To Nazi, The Transformation of Daniel Burros Born in the Bronx, New York on March 5, 1937, Daniel Burros was the only child of George and Esther, working-class Jews with roots in Russia....

From 1943 to 1944, Elyesa Bazna worked as a valet for the British ambassador to Turkey. But behind the scenes, he photographed secret documents and gave them to the Nazis. Wikimedia CommonsUnsatisfied with his life as a servant to the British ambassador to Turkey, Elyesa Bazna (1904-1970) sought his fortune by stealing his employer’s documents and selling them to the Nazis for breathtaking prices. Elyesa Bazna had led a rambling, aimless life for 40 years, working as a driver for the French Army, a locksmith for a French carmaker, and even briefly as a professional opera singer....

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton was determined to walk across Antarctica. But when ice trapped his ship Endurance, his mission instantly changed from exploration to pure survival. Getty ImagesErnest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, trapped in ice. “Give me Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for speed and efficiency, but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.” This was Sir Raymond Priestley’s assessment of Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer whose legendary adventures during his lifetime have become even more revered since his death....

Fred Rogers, known as Mister Rogers, originally planned to become a Presbyterian minister. But he realized his true calling was teaching children how to love each other — and themselves. If you’re one of the millions of Americans who grew up watching Fred Rogers on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, you may have heard some rumors about his darker past. Ever hear about his time in the Marines as a sniper, when he recorded 150 “kills” he made during the Vietnam War?...

The “shoot-on-sight” policy at India’s Kaziranga national park saw more poachers killed by guards than rhinos killed by poachers in 2015. STRDEL/AFP/Getty ImagesTourists photograph a rhinoceros with her calf at Kaziranga National Park on February 21, 2012. Thanks to the rising cost of rhino horns on the illegal black market, rhino numbers are plummeting throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. However, the rhinos at Kaziranga, a national park in northeastern India, are thriving....

Until the September 11th attacks, the Jonestown Massacre was the greatest loss of civilian life as the result of a deliberate act in American history. Today, the Jonestown Massacre that resulted in the death of more than 900 people in Guyana in November of 1978 is remembered in the popular imagination as the time that gullible expatriates from the Peoples Temple cult literally “drank the Kool-Aid” and died simultaneously from cyanide poisoning....

Just a year into his reign in 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. But while England disapproved of the couple, Adolf Hitler welcomed them to Germany with open arms. The British crown has a long history of interfering in the love lives of its monarchs. And almost exactly 400 years after King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church to marry his lover Anne Boleyn, King Edward VIII sparked a constitutional crisis when he proposed to his American girlfriend, a divorcée named Wallis Simpson....

Few volcanoes are as spectacular as Mount Nyiragongo. Known for its active lava lake and (relatively) frequent eruptions, this incredible volcano has the potential for widespread disaster. Unfortunately, political unrest prevents the scientific community from studying the dangerous volcano in depth. But as seen in these breathtaking images, scientists and photographers have still been able to capture the bubbling, fiery lava that churns within the mountain’s lava lake. Located near the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano....

Pavel Kashin was attempting to do a backflip on a 16-story building when he lost his footing. The moment before Pavel Kashin plummeted to his death. When a parkour daredevil loses his balance on top of a tall building and has a brush with death, it’s a terrifying moment. When it happened to Pavel Kashin, it was fatal. Pavel Kashin was a Russian parkour artist from St. Petersburg. In 2013, he was performing a stunt on the rooftop of a 16-floor building as a friend was filming him....

When 23-year-old Phoenix Coldon disappeared from her Missouri home in 2011, her parents put their trust in law enforcement — but the authorities’ response prompted her parents to simply search themselves. Phoenix Coldon was last seen in the driveway of her family home in Spanish Lake, Missouri, on Dec. 18, 2011. A 23-year-old student at the University of Missouri State, Coldon sat in her mother’s black 1998 Chevy Blazer while talking into her cell phone....

For every event that has shocked the world, there has always been a man or a woman — or, most likely, a constellation of men and women — who have orchestrated and executed it. Share Flipboard Email These events — be it genocide, a purge, or forced labor — have understandably generated debate as to the origins of hatred, evil, and so on. Some say that these attributes are, in some people, simply innate....

Before dying at just 23, Princess Victoria Ka’iulani was the last heir to the Hawaiian crown — and one of its last hopes in keeping the monarchy alive in the face of American imperialism. Wikimedia CommonsPrincess Ka’iulani was the final heir to the throne of Hawaii before American sugar barons toppled the monarchy and annexed the country to the United States. To her Scottish father, the kingdom of Hawaii’s last heir apparent was known as Victoria, but to her people, she was “Ka’iulani, the Highest Point of Heaven....

“The aroma and flavor are incredible. I’m emotional,” tweeted the scientist-baker after tasting his freshly baked loaf. Seamus Blackley/TwitterA researcher-slash-baker successfully baked a sourdough loaf from 4,500-year-old yeast. Bread has been a common staple for many cultures around the world since ancient times. But have you ever wondered how different bread from, say, thousands of years ago would have tasted compared to sliced stuff you buy at a supermarket? Well, one physicist tried to figure that out....

We must look no further than the nasty, thousand-mile-wide strip of decomposing plastic in the northern Pacific Ocean to know that our world is becoming more polluted. Yet artist Alejandro Duran doesn’t let this reality deter his creative process; rather, this reality incites it. Rounding up oceanic debris found along Mexican coast lines, Duran upcycles it into art that’s anything but wasteful. Site-specific and color-driven, these pieces compose Washed Up, a refreshing project that begins with trash and ends with a beautiful, thought-provoking installation....

The festival takes place every year on Christmas day, so the residents can start the new year with renewed bonds, resolved conflict, and greater peace. Each year, the residents of a small Peruvian town get together to celebrate the holidays. They celebrate much like anyone does, with dancing, drinking, merriment, and, of course, a good old-fashioned Festivus-like public fistfight during something called Takanakuy. Even if you’re even just a casual Seinfeld fan, chances are you’ve heard of “Festivus....

“It’s like coming across a clearing in the jungle.” Share Flipboard Email Those are the words used by data journalist David McCandless when discussing the value and effect of data visualizations in a 2010 TED Talk. In a world where it’s easy to feel that we’re “all suffering from information overload or data glut,” McCandless added, visualizations offer a cleaner, leaner alternative to the more dull-and-dense aesthetic offered by traditional data representations....

The 1956 collision between the SS Andrea Doria and the MS Stockholm near Nantucket left 51 people dead and led to one of history’s largest civilian rescues at sea. What it lacked in speed and size, the SS Andrea Doria made up for in beauty. Often called a “floating art gallery,” the luxury liner contained a multitude of paintings, tapestries, and murals — in addition to its three on-deck swimming pools....

But, you have to be able to prove that your package was delivered after 8 p.m., and some former USPS mail carriers are saying that just because you didn’t receive your package by 8 p.m., doesn’t mean it will show up that way on paper. A former postal worker, who declined to be identified, told CBS News that her former postal supervisor gave workers specific instructions to falsify their delivery records, to reflect timely deliveries....