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For centuries, researchers have puzzled over the ingredients in a 2,300-year-old Chinese recipe for bronze. Now, they think they’ve finally figured them out. The Trustees of the British MuseumThese knife coins were used as a form of currency in imperial China 2,500 years ago. For decades, researchers have puzzled over ancient China’s prolific bronze industry — and they may have just found their answer in a mysterious, 2,300-year-old text. In a study published in the journal Antiquity, scientists in England say that they have identified a recipe by which imperial China manufactured bronze on a massive scale, written in an ancient text known as the Kaogong ji....

Nature’s Most Peculiar Plants: Rafflesia Arnoldii (Corpse Flower) Source: Divine Caroline The Rafflesia arnoldii, found in Southeast Asia, is known by the name “corpse flower” due to the smell of rotting flesh which it gives off. The plant is rootless, leafless, parasitic, and has the largest known flower in the world – it can grow to be approximately 3 feet across. The bloom only lasts a few days before dying off, but its foul scent and large, mottled, red petals make it an unmistakable bloom....

Phoolan Devi escaped an abusive arranged marriage and embarked on a life of crime, intent on getting revenge on those who had hurt her. FlickrPhoolan Devi, the “Bandit Queen.” Phoolan Devi was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, to a poor family of the Mallah caste. Growing up, she was known for her foul mouth and bad temper, and Phoolan quarreled often with her family members, especially her older cousin, who took over as the head of the household after her grandparents passed away....

Now, with preserved liquid blood in hand, these scientists are eager to clone this extinct species back to life. Semyon Grigoryev/NEFU/The Siberian TimesThe Ice Age foal being analyzed by scientists from the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation. Seven months ago, researchers uncovered a 42,000-year-old foal found perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. That discovery was stunning enough, but Russian and South Korean scientists have now extracted liquid blood from the prehistoric specimen....

From the embarrassingly funny to the outwardly banned to the downright offensive, here is a list of the most tasteless ad campaigns from around the world: The 6 Most Tasteless Ad Campaigns: Groupon Tibet Commercial Groupon’s $2 million ad during this year’s Super Bowl takes the cake for its tasteless depiction of an international crisis. Featuring Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton, the ad makes light of the political unrest in Tibet as it promotes cheap deals on Tibetan curry....

By the time the Chinese Massacre of 1871 was finished, 17 Chinese men and boys were dead. Not a single person involved would be held responsible. California Historical SocietyImage of Old Chinatown neighborhood, circa 1875, where the Chinese massacre transpired. In 1871, the city of angels had a population of 6,000 people and only six law enforcement officials. According to the U.S. census, the Chinese population was only about three percent of the city’s entire population — roughly 172 people....

The Hitler family has five remaining members of the bloodline. If they have their way, it will end with them. Wikimedia CommonsAdolf Hitler with his longtime lover and short-lived wife Eva Braun. Peter Raubal, Heiner Hochegger, and Alexander, Louis and Brian Stuart-Houston are all vastly different men. Peter was an engineer, Alexander a social worker. Louis and Brian run a landscaping business. Peter and Heiner live in Austria, while the Stuart-Houston brothers live on Long Island, a few blocks from each other....

Black holes have captured the interest of scientists and pop culture lovers for the ages. So what happens to the human body if it enters one? There are few things more mysterious than black holes. For some scientists, black holes represent a continuous source of wonder and frustration as they struggle to understand just exactly what makes them tick. For most everyone else, they represent an unknown, incredibly powerful entity which is so strong that not even light can escape its grasp....

As a serious gambler, he wanted a “food of convenience” that wouldn’t disrupt his card game. Wikimedia Commons John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. Ah, the sandwich. It’s found in every child’s lunchbox, as an offering in every office cafeteria, and a go-to in every corner deli. It’s a staple in the cuisines of almost all nations, and no matter the filing, its many different forms have come to grace almost every restaurant, lunchbox, and ballpark in the world (though is a hot dog really a sandwich?...

Did you know that Americans spend $700 million a year on V-Day gifts for their pets? Read on for more strange Valentine’s Day facts. Whether you love the holiday for its sentimentalism, or loathe it for commoditizing intimacy, Valentine’s Day is hard to ignore. Learn a little bit more about the billion-dollar holiday with us as we prepare for yet another onslaught of cards, flowers and candy with these little-known Valentine’s Day facts:...

These fun facts about Canada present a country much more eclectic — and weirder — than you may have ever thought. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 27 Statue Of Liberty Facts That Bust The Myths And Reveal The True History 33 Japan Facts That Reveal The Truth About Samurai, Geisha, And So Much More...

An ambitious young detective was always first on the scene of the crimes, but was his enthusiasm for the crimes something more? YouTubeAlain Lamare’s gendarme photo. In July of 1978, a young French woman named Karine was shot in Pont-Sainte-Maxence as she was leaving a movie theater. She managed to make a recovery, though she could not give an identification of her attacker. However, several days later, the French gendarme received a note from the attacker, claiming that Karine knew him and that he would strike again....

A researcher at the site said, “I remember when we got the dates back, and we just sat back and said ‘Holy moly, this is old.’” Grant Callegari/Hakai Institute A team of Canadian Ph.D students discovered an ancient village that dates back to before the era of the pyramids. CTV reports that a team of students from the University of Victoria’s archeology department have uncovered the oldest settlement in North America....

While digging at a concentration camp site, researchers uncovered a charm with a haunting past. While recently digging at the site of a Nazi extermination camp, archaeologists uncovered a pendant that may be linked to Anne Frank. Except for a different date of birth, Frank owned an identical charm. According to Israel’s Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the pendant likely belonged to a girl named Karoline Cohn, whose backstory is remarkably similar to Frank’s and with whom Frank may actually have some connection....

Some biblical archaeologists believe that a slew of ancient female figurines could very well represent an early Judeo-Christian Goddess named Asherah, the wife of God. Wikimedia Commons.A terra-cotta figurine of Asherah from Judah. The ancient Middle East had plenty of gods and goddesses, so what’s discovering one more going to mean for our history? Well, if the deity in question happens to share an altar with God Himself, then 2,000 years of orthodoxy is up for grabs....

Forget Las Vegas or Area 51, Fly Geyser in Nevada offers much brighter and otherworldly sights at a much cheaper cost. Ropelato Photography; EarthScapes/Getty ImagesFly Geyser near Black Rock Desert in Nevada. In the middle of the Nevada desert, there are tall, jutting, brightly colored geysers that spew boiling water five feet into the air. Really. Though it might seem like the least likely place on Earth for these geological wonders to exist, Fly Geyser does, indeed, stand tall in the dry desert climate of northern Nevada....

In many ways “The Flintstones” was actually a show geared toward adults. Of course, tobacco companies weren’t necessarily against getting people while they were young. “Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones. They’re the modern Stone Age family. From the town of Bedrock with Fred and Barney smoking on TV.” Wait. What? Believe or not, this alternate theme song rings true. Fred and Barney smoked cigarettes in a 1960 commercial for Winston cigarettes....

John C. Woods lied to the U.S. Army and got them to promote him to the position of the official hangman of the Nazis at Nuremberg — and he made sure they suffered as they died. adoc-photos/Corbis/Getty ImagesJohn Clarence Woods (1911-1950), American executioner during the Nuremberg executions. In 1946. (Photo by ) There are few tears shed anywhere in the world for the 10 Nazi war criminals hanged by Master Sergeant John C....

Over the course of just 53 days, serial killers Alton Coleman and Debra Brown murdered eight people across six states in the American Midwest. Bettmann/Getty ImagesAlton Coleman and Debra Brown terrorized just about everyone they met — from senior citizens to children. Alton Coleman had a way with words. The serial killer was charming enough to gain the trust of people he barely knew — before brutally murdering them. From May to July 1984, he terrorized the American Midwest....

Even before America became a sovereign nation, a freed slave named Prince Hall fought for the emancipation of his people in Boston and beyond. Wikimedia CommonsThe only known portrait of Prince Hall, painted after his death. Throughout the 1770s, Prince Hall fought tirelessly for the rights of Black people in America. Known today as a “Black founding father” alongside other early American patriots of color like double-agent James Armistead Lafayette, Hall joined the Revolutionary War as a free Black man and called for abolition decades before Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation....