In 30 B.C., Cleopatra died by suicide after she allowed a poisonous snake to bite her bare breast. At least, that’s how the story goes. Wikimedia Commons Cleopatra’s death has long fascinated artists and historians. On an August day in 30 B.C., the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra VII locked herself in a mausoleum that she’d built on the palace grounds in Alexandria. The Queen of the Nile then sent for a poisonous snake....
While serving a life sentence for the murder of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener, Lester Eubanks was granted a trip to an Ohio mall — and vanished without a trace. In 1973, convicted child murderer Lester Eubanks escaped from prison. Incarcerated for life without parole in 1966, Eubanks had been a model inmate for about seven years, so Ohio State Penitentiary granted him a furlough to go Christmas shopping at a local mall that December....
Though it has been left largely uninhabited since the 18th century, the towering Hohenzollern Castle remains one of Germany’s most visited palaces for its fairytale views. Atop a formidable hill surrounded by Germany’s Black Forest rests the high-walled fortress of Hohenzollern Castle. It towers regally over the town of Bisingen on a mountain of its own name, “Burg Hohenzollern,” and is bound by the Rhine Valley to the west and the south....
After 10 years behind bars, John Dillinger went on a year-long bank-robbing spree that captured America’s imagination. Federal Bureau of InvestigationA mugshot of John Dillinger. The bank robber and gangster John Dillinger didn’t live a long life, but he spent almost all of his 31 years in some kind of trouble. He quickly gained notoriety as one of America’s leading celebrity criminals, becoming a legendary media character who commanded the entire country’s attention....
North Korea has reportedly sent up to 50,000 laborers to Russia and then confiscated 80 percent of their pay. With so many international sanctions putting a damper on North Korea’s trading abilities, they’ve reportedly begun exporting one of their only remaining resources: human workers. The government has shipped about 50,000 North Korean manual laborers to Russia, according to the activist group NKDB. The workers are then forced to forfeit at least 80 percent of their earnings to the Workers’ Party of Korea, allowing the government to make a reported $120 million off of their exported labor....
The climbers on Everest face danger every day, but Rob Hall had lived to tell the tale several times before his fatal climb. YouTubeRob Hall on a climb. Since he was old enough to walk, Rob Hall had been a climber. Born and raised in New Zealand, Hall naturally got into climbing. The Southern Alps span the entire country, and it’s where Hall spent most of his time as a young man....
From troubled teen to Hollywood star to high-speed racer, Steve McQueen always lived life in the fast lane. Steve McQueen led the kind of life that a whole generation observed in awe. He was a man’s man who rapidly became iconic to movie buffs and race car fanatics alike. Men wanted to be him and women couldn’t help but notice him. But before the glamorous Hollywood parties, celebrity friends, romances, and race car antics, the Indiana-born kid had to overcome some serious hurdles....
In January 2003, Susan Wright stabbed her husband Jeff 193 times, later claiming that she snapped after suffering years of physical abuse from him. From the outside looking in, Jeff and Susan Wright seemed like a happy couple. They had two young children and lived a comfortable life in Houston, Texas. But on Jan. 13, 2003, Susan tied Jeff to their bed — and stabbed him 193 times. Public DomainSusan Wright detailed the abuse in her marriage on the stand in 2004....
“We have let someone out that has been charged with attempted murder and I just pray that no one else is injured during this period.” Metro PoliceQuintarius Jordan and Quindarius Jordan. Mixing up twins is often just a low-stakes, honest mistake. But when you work in the criminal court system and mixing up twins causes you to accidentally release an attempted murder suspect from custody, that mistake could have dire consequences....
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, a Japanese newspaper reported on the barbaric killing competition as though it were a sporting event. In 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Empire of Japan invaded China, and for the next eight years, committed horrific atrocities against the civilian population. But while the international press was reporting on the brutality of Japanese troops, newspapers in Japan were looking for stories of wartime heroism. One of the stories they quickly settled on was that of two officers and an unusual contest....
The Harpe Brothers were America’s first recorded serial killers and their murders are proof that serial killing didn’t get off to a slow start. Wikimedia CommonsIn 1799, near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the world’s longest cave was the scene of a horrific murder, when the Harpe brothers killed a young black man by slamming his head against a tree. You wouldn’t call the Harpe brothers pioneers. As America’s first recorded serial killers, however, they definitely started what would become a long and a twisted history of people notorious for killing sprees....
The old coins that park employees found wedged into trees weren’t the result of saving gone awry. Instead, they were fundamental to the history of Britain’s Wishing Trees. Geograph Most people have tossed a coin into a fountain, or dropped a penny down a wishing well, hoping by some miracle that the act would make their wish come true. In the touristy village of Portmeirion, located in Gwynedd, North Wales, staff noticed some peculiar trees covered with coins....
Source: Pat Dollard George Washington was the first President of the liberty-loving nation, and The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Both of these comprise rather well-known events throughout the course of American history. But there’s a wealth of hidden history nuggets that you might not know about. Here are ten of them. Source: When In Time The Founding Fathers penned the first couple of drafts of the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper, since at the time at least 75 percent of all the world’s paper was made from cannabis hemp fiber....
Though scientists have put forth several theories as to what exactly wiped out the dinosaurs, evidence suggests that an asteroid strike was the beginning of the end for the prehistoric creatures. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. From the chicken-sized Compsognathus to the towering Apatosaurus, these prehistoric reptiles roamed all around the globe during the Mesozoic Era. So then, what killed the dinosaurs in such a sudden fashion?...
Jessica Krug taught both African and Latin American studies, all while claiming to be Black and Caribbean herself. Embassy of HaitiAssociate professor Jessica Krug speaking at the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. A George Washington University (GW) professor who portrayed herself as a Black woman for her entire professional career has just revealed that she’s been lying. According to CNN, Jessica A. Krug not only taught African and Latin American studies, but wrote extensively about these identities as if they were hers for years....
The baby was happy and healthy until he woke up from an afternoon nap with weakness in the right side of his body. Getty ImagesChickenpox on a child’s neck. A devasting stroke suffered by an otherwise healthy baby has once again exemplified the importance of vaccines. In a recent study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, it was documented that an 11-month-old boy suffered a stroke as a result of exposure to the chickenpox a few months prior....
These weird Christmas ads will make you glad that the strangest holiday imagery is well behind us. Pinterest Flickr/x-ray_delta_one Flickr/vintagehalloweencollector Flickr/obsequies Flickr/wackystuff Wikimedia Flickr/jbcurio Flickr/Classic Film Flickr/x-ray_delta_one Thanks to social media and the indispensable role technology plays in everyday life, holiday ads are practically ubiquitous. As much as they may offend, annoy, or embitter you, the weird Christmas ads above remind us that they have the potential to be far worse....
The assassination of Gianni Versace on July 15, 1997, captivated the world, but there was much more to Andrew Cunanan than the public knew. “I don’t know that we are ever going to know the answers.” 20 years later, Miami Police Chief Richard Borerro is still right — we don’t have all the answers about the murder of fashion mogul Gianni Versace. But we do know that a serial killer was responsible....
This is the first evidence ever discovered that proves the lost city of Tenea truly existed beyond ancient myth and text. Greek Culture MinistryThe framework of the ancient city of Tenea just discovered in Greece. Archeologists have searched for the ancient Trojan city of Tenea since 1984. They believe they have just now uncovered it. Before this excavation, the only knowledge that historians and experts had about Tenea came from Greek myth and ancient texts....
After a few minor setbacks and problems with mold, astronaut Scott Kelly announced that the first flower has bloomed in space. The first flower to bloom in space was a zinnia flower. Space got a little more colorful over the weekend when a flower bloomed on the International Space Station (ISS). United States astronaut Scott Kelly broke the news on Twitter, sharing the above photo of a zinnia plant aboard the ISS:...
