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The fortress was specially constructed on a foggy mountainside to keep Escobar’s enemies out — and not the cocaine kingpin in. RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty ImagesThe prison known as La Catedral (“The Cathedral”), where late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was held near Medellin, Colombia. When druglord and “King of Coke” Pablo Escobar agreed to a prison sentence in Colombia, he did so on his own terms. He constructed a jail so lavish it was referred to as “Hotel Escobar” or “Club Medellin,” but the enduring name has been La Catedral, “The Cathedral,” and with good reason....

During Operation Paperclip, the records of premier German scientists were expunged so that they could secretly work in American labs to give the U.S. a leg up over the Soviets in the Cold War. In the immediate wake of World War II, the Allies were widely venerated for their role in ending the reign of the Third Reich. But the Allied powers also made controversial decisions in secret that were kept classified for decades....

A view of our home from above. NASA Source: Mashable Forty five years ago, the world observed its very first Earth Day. And yet, it would take decades of discord, troubling discoveries and subsequent environmental activism before such an event would gain enough popularity to even be thinkable. In the preceding decades, modern warfare and heavy industrialization-led growth had proliferated throughout all hemispheres. In the United States, the launch of Sputnik catapulted our attention to space and resulted in the creation of NASA, an institution that would aid substantially in studying the effects of our actions on Earth....

When Bruce Campbell moved into his new log cabin in 1994, the basement was littered with mysterious, dusty tapes. He paid them no mind for 15 years before realizing what he’d had on his hands. Robert F. Sargent/National Archives and Records AdministrationU.S. troops arriving on Normandy’s shores on D-Day. “Here we go again; another plane’s come over!” reporter George Hicks yells as anti-aircraft fire erupts in the background. “Right over our port side....

Since being discovered in 1957, the “Boy In The Box” case baffled Philadelphia police. But thanks to genetic testing, the four-year-old victim has been revealed to be Joseph Augustus Zarelli. In the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia, there is a headstone that reads “America’s Unknown Child.” It’s a permanent reminder of the child who lies beneath it, a boy who was found beaten to death in a box some 65 years ago....

When Charles Millar died childless in 1926, he bequeathed his fortune to whichever woman could bear the most children in a 10-year span. What followed was a baby boom the likes of which Canada had never seen. Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty ImagesMrs. Arthur Hollis Timleck claimed to have given birth to nine children in a ten-year period in a bid to win Charles Millar’s fortune. On the night of Halloween 1926, a wealthy Canadian lawyer, financier, and now-legendary jokester died....

Remnants of ancient psychedelic beer found in Peru, love note sewn with human hair put on display in London, prehistoric crocodile found with a dinosaur in its stomach. Archaeologists Just Discovered That The Wari Warriors Of Ancient Peru Drank Beer Laced With Hallucinogens Lisa Milosavljevic/Royal Ontario MuseumExperts say that the psychoactive vilca seeds used in this beer inspired hallucinations and out-of-body experiences similar to the effects of ayahuasca. Archaeologists excavating an ancient town in Peru that was once inhabited by the Wari people have found a batch of 1,200-year-old seeds — that were used as the psychoactive ingredient in a hallucinogenic beer used to control the empire’s warriors and expand its power....

Vasily Zaytsev was one of Russia’s most skilled marksmen and decorated snipers who was immortalized in Enemy at the Gates. Vasily Zaytsev grew up in the Ural Mountains, some of the roughest inhabited terrain there is. Lacking the luxury of going down to the deli to pick up meat, Zaytsev became acquainted with the finer points of marksmanship from a young age, hunting deer and other animals for food. Wikimedia CommonsVasily Zaytsev in action during the Battle of Stalingrad....

Viking sword found, “Excalibur” mystery solved, lost languages uncovered, Hitler’s sexual bloodlust revealed, St. Peter’s bones possibly dug up. 1,200-Year-Old Viking Sword Discovered On Norwegian Mountain Einar Åmbakk Reindeer hunters in Norway were surprised to find an amazingly well-preserved Viking sword while they were hunting in a high altitude area. Secrets of The Ice, a Norwegian glacial archaeology organization, reports that a 1,200-year-old Viking sword was discovered by reindeer hunters in Norway....

From pieces of the destroyed ship to items recovered from the wreckage, these artifacts from the Titanic reveal the true scope of the tragedy. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 25 Heartbreaking Photos Of 9/11 Artifacts — And The Powerful Stories They Tell 9 Terrifying Historical Artifacts — And The Disturbing Stories Behind Them 33 Rare Titanic Sinking Photos Taken Just Before And After It Happened...

From the bear who became a soldier during World War II to the sideshow entertainer who saved 6,500 babies, all of these incredible stories actually happened. Getty ImagesOne of the weird history facts below features the story of Stephan Bibrowski, a 20th-century sideshow performer who spoke five languages, had a gentlemanly demeanor, and dreamt of becoming a dentist. History is full of strange moments, people, and places. And as this list of weird history facts proves, every era contains its oddities....

With millions of dollars already in funding, the Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research Lab in Australia believes they can bring the Tasmanian tiger back from the dead. Public DomainTasmanian tigers have been extinct for decades. In 1936, a Tasmanian tiger named Benjamin died in an Australian zoo. Likely the last of his kind, Benjamin’s death seemed to herald the end of these strange beasts. But scientists in Australia think that they have the technology — and the funding — to bring Tasmanian tigers back to life....

Though he could have lost his job, and his life, if the government found out, Chiune Sugihara continued to risk it all to help every Jewish citizen he could. Wikimedia CommonsJapanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara was responsible for saving hundreds of lives during WWII War has always brought out the best and the worst in mankind. WWII, the greatest conflict the world has ever known, accordingly saw tremendous acts of both evil and bravery, sometimes from unexpected quarters....

Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden became a media sensation when she was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an ax on August 4, 1892. But was she guilty? In 1892, a grisly crime rocked the quiet town of Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew Borden and his wife Abby had been found brutally murdered — bludgeoned to death by an ax. While police didn’t know who to blame at first, suspicion soon fell on Andrew’s 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie Borden....

One of the organization’s famed members, Homer Hickam, did not take kindly to the profane tweet announcing the intern’s new position. TwitterPart of the Twitter exchange between Naomi and Homer Hickam. A would-be intern for NASA learned the hard way about the power of social media. Twitter user @NaomiH_official reportedly lost her highly-coveted internship with NASA after a vulgar string of tweets caught the attention of a former NASA engineer and the company itself....

Over the course of seven years starting in 1977, George Meegan secured his place in the Guinness Book of World Records for walking from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost point in Alaska. Express Newspapers/Getty ImagesGeorge Meegan, pictured in the early 1980s, during his historic walk across the Western Hemisphere. After retiring from the United Kingdom’s Merchant Navy in 1976, George Meegan soon set off on a remarkable seven-year journey....

Once the victim’s leg was found riddled with bite marks in the Berlin park, police dogs led officers to the suspect’s home, where they uncovered a bone saw and a cooler for storing meat. PixabayPolice uncovered some of the victim’s remains in a park in northern Berlin. A 41-year-old elementary school teacher identified only as “Stefan R.” was just arrested by German police in connection to the murder and suspected cannibalization of a man who went missing in September....

If Giulia Tofana’s confessions are to be believed, then the lethal potion maker is among the most prolific serial killers in history. Giulia Tofana was a 17th-century professional poisoner who sold her signature concoction to wives that wanted to kill their husbands. Once she was caught, Tofana guessed that she was responsible for having provided the poison in 600 deaths which, in a way, made her one of the most prolific assassins in history....

Found in the rainforests of Central and South America, glass frogs are some of the only partially see-through land animals on Earth — and their transparency is their greatest strength. Glass frogs are unique amphibians with a rather peculiar physical feature: They have translucent skin that makes their insides visible to the naked eye. Simply looking through their underbelly gives a full view of their intestines, lungs, and sometimes even their beating heart....

In August 1977, scientists at Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope detected a 72-second signal from space that was extremely difficult to explain. Big Ear Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical ObservatoryScientist Jerry Ehman circled a series of numbers and letters on a computer printout in August 1977. The Wow! signal has intrigued scientists ever since. On a summer night in 1977, Ohio State University Professor Jerry Ehman flipped through a stack of computer printouts....