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Today marks the 106th anniversary of Glacier, Montana’s official designation as a national park. The park is home to more than 700 lakes, 68 different species of animals, and covers an astonishing 1,012,837 acres. Glacier has an unexpected reason for the protection it enjoys today. The Great Northern Railway company crossed the Continental Divide in 1891, and had a vested interest in encouraging the public to travel out west. So in 1897, the company pressed the United States Congress to make the area a forest preserve, which eventually led to establishing Glacier as a national park....

How a single photo by a photography student of David Kirby moved the world to a greater understanding of the AIDS pandemic. Therese FrareDavid Kirby, near death, lies in bed with his family by his side in Ohio, 1990. In November 1990, a gaunt, dying man appeared in the pages of LIFE magazine. That man, David Kirby, had already made a name for himself as an HIV/AIDS activist in the 1980s, and was in the final stages of the disease in March 1990, when journalism student Therese Frare began photographing Kirby’s own battle with the virus....

Ninety-year-old Aaron Epstein of California paid $1,100 for his ad, which is almost the same amount he pays for an entire year of AT&T service. Wall Street JournalThe opening of Aaron Epstein’s letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey. Aaron Epstein has been a loyal AT&T customer for more than half a century. The 90-year-old Californian has generally been happy with the company’s service. However, their ongoing failure to upgrade internet speeds in his neighborhood recently left him fed up — to the point that he bought an ad in The Wall Street Journal to complain....

Experts said the animal captured in the footage was likely the long-lost wolf breed. Céline David Desjardins Experts believe the lone wolf captured on camera belongs to the long-lost gray wolf species of Europe. A European gray wolf may have been spotted in France’s Normandy region in what could be the first appearance of the species in the territory in 100 years. According to local news outlet Francetvinfo, the extremely rare sighting was captured by a surveillance camera setup a few miles north of the town of Londinières....

Ever since 1969, Jim Bishop has singlehandedly constructed Bishop’s Castle, which is the largest self-built palace in the United States — and may be the largest self-built architecture project in the entire world. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 25 Jaw-Dropping Photos Of Oheka Castle, The Real ‘Gatsby’ Mansion On Long Island 21 Enchanting Photos Of Paronella Castle, The Australian Party Palace Abandoned In The Jungle...

For decades, forced sterilization was legal in dozens of U.S. states. A recently-discovered filing cabinet shines light on how racist the program was. The use of forced sterilization to weed out human “undesirables” is a chapter of American history that most would like to forget. That’s difficult to do, though, since hundreds of its victims are still alive today. Many have argued that these survivors should receive government compensation, since a government-funded procedure stripped them of the ability to have a family....

Known for both eating his own feces and mutilating himself on stage, GG Allin was perhaps the most shocking musician in history — until his dramatic death at just 36 in 1993. Many words have been used to describe GG Allin. “Individualist,” “anti-authoritarian,” and “unique” are among the nicest. “Violent,” “chaotic,” and “madman” are some others. All of those identifiers are true, but if you asked GG Allin how he would describe himself, he’d say just one thing: “the last true rock and roller....

Before Albert Einstein died in April 1955, he told his family he didn’t want to be studied. But hours after he perished, a medical examiner stole his brain for research. Wikimedia CommonsWhile analyzing Albert Einstein’s cause of death, an autopisiest famously removed the genius’s brain — without permission from his family. When Albert Einstein was rushed to the hospital in 1955, he knew that his end was near. But the 76-year-old famed German physicist was ready, and he informed his doctors with all the clarity of a math equation that he would not like to receive medical attention....

Louisa May Alcott infused Little Women with her personal trials and tribulations of growing up in an impoverished and unconventional family. Louisa May Alcott’s most famous work follows the tale of four young women trying to make their way in the world. Her complex, realistic characters — sisters Meg, Beth, Jo, And Amy — were actually derived from Alcott’s own experiences with her own three sisters. Alcott endured all the tribulations of a progressive 19th-century woman, but she managed to transform these struggles into something lovely: the captivating and enduring story of Little Women....

Michael Close fired 24 shots at Isabella Thallas and her boyfriend from his apartment window on June 10, 2020, leaving him wounded and her dead. Denver District Attorney’s officeMichael Close pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but jurors found that he was aware of his actions. When Michael Close saw a dog defecating outside his Denver, Colorado, apartment in June 2020, he became enraged. After exchanging words with the dog’s owners, he retrieved an AK-47 and opened fire — killing 21-year-old Isabella Thallas and injuring her boyfriend....

She represented American on the global stage and became the country’s most beloved dancer in spite of rampant discrimination. Donaldson Collection/Getty ImagesMaria Tallchief. Maria Tallchief’s talent and persistence allowed her to conquer stereotypes both at home and abroad and become a record-breaking dance star and America’s very first prima ballerina. Maria Tallchief’s Early Life The Osage tribe had been forced farther and farther from their homeland in modern-day Missouri ever since the Trail of Tears....

Formally known as the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, North Korea is a subject of fascination the world over as it’s one of the few countries that can accurately be described as an Orwellian state. Though technically governed by a modern democratic constitution, the government is run by a paranoid monarchy, revolving around a dynastic cult of personality. Food is scant, electricity is rationed, and offenses as minor as referring to the current or former leaders without their proper title can land people—even children—in a labor camp for life....

“In my 35 years I will tell you it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen,” said the local sheriff. ABC13Christine Rollins was found dead in the front yard of an elderly couple after she was killed by feral hogs. “In my 35 years I will tell you it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.” That’s what Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said after he found the body of a 59-year-old woman in an elderly man’s front yard in Anahuac, Texas, outside Houston....

Albino animals look cute, but the lack of melanin in their bodies causes a fair amount of hardship for these pigment-challenged creatures. Albino animals look cute, but the lack of melanin in their bodies causes a fair amount of hardship for these pigment-challenged creatures. The complex polymer determines skin and hair color, and can impact vision and its development. This means that in addition to being far easier to spot by potential predators and prey, albino animals struggle with basic survival skills....

The segmented invertebrates known as tardigrades may be microscopic, but these indestructible “water bears” are planet Earth’s most resilient creatures. No creature on Earth, or perhaps in the universe, has been through as much as the tardigrade and lived to tell the tale. Measuring just over one millimeter, the tardigrade a.k.a. water bear is by no means a large animal. In fact, you’ve probably never seen one. But don’t let its minuscule stature fool you....

When America’s biggest city was mostly farmland. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: A City On The Brink: 1960s New York In 55 Dramatic Photos 44 Colorized Photos That Bring The Streets Of Century-Old New York City To Life 27 Bizarre Vintage Photos From The Annals Of New York City History 1 of 27Construction of Madison Avenue....

This 17th-century list includes items like “greenfish” and a “fireshovel.” Archaeologists who are helping restore a historic country home in Kent, England have discovered a 17th-century shopping list hidden under its floorboards. Written in 1633, the note was uncovered during a multimillion dollar renovation of the famed Knole House. Constructed in the late 15th century and surrounded by 1,000 acres of forest, it is one of England’s largest houses. Written by one Robert Draper to a Mr....

Richard Jessee was driving his ATV near his mining claim when the bear attacked him out of nowhere and destroyed his vehicle and cell phone. Then it kept coming back every night for a week. U.S. Coast GuardThe remote mining camp was about 40 miles outside of Nome, Alaska. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued an Alaskan miner after they spotted him waving his arms in the air and saw a distress sign written on his roof....

The woman even had the jacket altered by a tailor to fit her perfectly. Instagram/@oriolvilanovaThe jacket was part of Oriol Vilanova’s “Old Masters” series. From the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 to the infamous heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, art larceny is nothing new. But the theft that occurred at Musée Picasso in Paris on March 7, 2022, was a little different — as the culprit was an oblivious senior citizen....

Aubrey Beardsley delighted in scandalizing his Victorian audiences with erotic and morbid artworks, and he would become entangled in a scandal with none other than Oscar Wilde. Wikimedia CommonsAubrey Beardsley’s bizarre art sought to criticize Victorian gender and sexual norms. As though he was born haunted by his own premature death, Aubrey Beardsley’s drawings in black ink developed under an obsession with the morbid — and it shows. His pieces hinge on the macabre, the curious, and the sordid....