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Meet Havelock Ellis, the man who wrote the first English medical textbook on homosexuality — all the way back in 1897. Wikimedia CommonsHavelock Ellis Topics like homosexuality, masturbation, birth control, and hallucinogenic drugs can be touchy ones even today. But that didn’t stop English physician and writer Havelock Ellis from publishing some controversial, forward-thinking ideas on topics like these — in the heart of the Victorian era. Havelock Ellis’ Early Life Havelock Ellis was born to Edward and Susannah Ellis in Croydon, England on Feb....

Camille Bell’s son was found dead on Nov. 8, 1979, an early victim of the Atlanta Child Murders. Grief-stricken, Bell’s anguish drove her to seek justice for the slain and safety for the living. John Sunderland/The Denver Post/Getty ImagesFollowing her son Yusuf’s death, Camille Bell organized the Committee to Stop Children’s Murder and became its chair. When she watched her nine-year-old son, Yusuf, head out on a warm summer day in October 1979, Camille Bell never suspected it would be the last she saw him....

John Christopher Ludwick claimed to help with the disposal of Natalee Holloway in 2005, but wasn’t charged with anything. Now, he’s been stabbed to death after a woman he tried to kidnap took control. foxnews.comJohn Ludwick In 2005, Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba while on a high school graduation trip, making international headlines. Her body was never recovered, and she was officially declared dead in 2012. Joran Van der Sloot was the last person seen with Holloway and was arrested as the prime suspect in her disappearance....

Described as humble, average and poor, Uruguay’s Jose Mujica is a remarkable politician precisely for not seeming like one. Source: The Guardian The five-year administration of the “world’s humblest president” is about to come to an end. José Mujica took office as President of Uruguay in March 2010, but never moved into the Presidential Palace in Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo. Instead, he lived on his wife’s farm surrounded by the family dogs....

“I was sitting at a bar and said to my wife, ‘Hey, I want to get a statue made of a middle finger, and I’m going to put it up on the lawn’… If you don’t want to look at the building, look at this.” Ted Pelkey They wouldn’t let Ted Pelkey build a garage, so he decided to build something else instead. After a more than ten-year fight with local officials over the permit to build the garage on his property in Westford, Vt....

The 5,000-year-old beer factory was found in a necropolis dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld. Egypt Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesThe factory is 5,000 years old and might possibly be the oldest ever discovered. In the early 1900s, British archaeologists posited that the ancient Egyptians had a high-production beer factory, but it wasn’t until recently that they found it. According to NBC News, researchers have uncovered a 5,000-year-old beer factory at the Abydos burial ground on the west side of the Nile River in Egypt — and it is currently the oldest brewery in the world....

Scientists say that alcosynth is healthier than traditional alcohol, and can help lower alcohol-related injuries. Have you ever had a hangover so bad you’ve sworn off alcohol forever, only to find yourself back out at the bars the next night, looking for some hair of the dog? Well, according to Professor David Nutt, a teacher at Imperial College and former drug advisor to the British government, that may be a thing of the past thanks to synthetic alcohol....

Harry Edward Greenwell targeted female night clerks at motels off Interstate 65 in Kentucky and Indiana in the 1980s and 1990s. Indiana State PoliceHarry Edward Greenwell in an undated booking photo. For three decades, police in Kentucky and Indiana were stumped by a spree of murders and assaults that unfolded along the I-65 corridor in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, thanks to “investigative genealogy” police have identified Harry Edward Greenwell — who died in 2013 — as the man behind three murders and one attempted murder....

Legendary Eskimo slaughter site uncovered, Ancient Greek murder mystery solved, Black Death-era coins dug up. Archaeologists Finally Uncover Grisly Evidence Of Legendary 17th-Century Eskimo Massacre Universal History Archive/UI/Getty Images According to centuries-old folklore from the Eskimos of southwestern Alaska, also known as the Yup’ik, an innocent dart game once sparked a historically bloody massacre. Now, 350 years later, a group of archaeologists may have found proof that this tragic tale is actually at least partially true....

Stanley Ann Dunham had a lifelong influence on her son Barack Obama. Tragically, she died long before he became the 44th President of the United States. Stanley Ann Dunham, Barack Obama’s mother, wasn’t there when her son was elected 44th President of the United States. She never met his children, nor witnessed the “birtherism” conspiracy theory that her own child was a Kenyan immigrant spread like wildfire. Although she died in 1995, she left a legacy of service and wonder behind....

The scaly-foot snail grows its own iron suit of armor — and thrives in the white-hot hydrothermal vents of the Indian Ocean. Kentaro Nakamura, et al./Wikimedia commonsThe volcano snail’s astonishing iron shell helps it to survive the white-hot hydrothermal vents it calls home. Its scientific name is Chrysomallon squamiferum, but you can call it the volcano snail. Sometimes, it’s also known as the scaly-foot gastropod, the scaly-foot snail, or the sea pangolin....

These rarely-seen pictures of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, autopsy, and funeral reveal the full story of the shooting that shook the nation in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Images of John F. Kennedy’s assassination hold a permanent place in the American consciousness. Jackie Kennedy’s pink dress. The doomed convertible. The jubilant crowds. It was the moment, in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963, when American history changed forever....

Members of the Domspatzen Catholic boy’s choir described the school as “a prison, hell and a concentration camp.” When Alexander Probst was in the third grade, he entered the prestigious Domspatzen Catholic boy’s choir in Regensburg, Bavaria. There, teachers slapped and beat him regularly. But it wasn’t until high school that things got really bad. A teacher selected Probst for a secret group, where he would drink beer, smoke, and watch pornography....

Russ Gremel bought $1,000-worth of Walgreens stock 70 years ago. Now, the Chicago native is giving his entire fortune to protect wildlife. Illinois Audubon SocietyThe Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary “All people will always need medicine and women will always need cosmetics.” That’s what Russ Gremel’s brother told him nearly 70 years ago when suggesting that Russ invest in pharmacies. It seemed logical enough, so Russ picked a local Chicago chain and bought about $1,000 worth (about 20 shares) of stock....

Renee Zellweger after cosmetic surgery. Source: Mario Anzuoni (Reuters) Since the beginning of human history, we as a species have made concerted efforts to change our outward appearances for the better. Scarification, tattooing, and piercing have existed longer than agriculture. Perhaps the most violent and shocking form of human self-beautification is cosmetic surgery: snipping, ripping, stitching, and injecting your body parts to make them bigger, smaller or smoother. Cosmetic surgery tools described by Sushruta....

“Good people of Arkansas and supporters of religious liberty, I present to you Baphomet — the symbol of pluralism, legal equality, tolerance, free inquiry, freedom of conscious, and reconciliation.” Arkansas Times/FacebookThe eight-foot Satanist monument being erected in front of the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. Members of the Satanic Temple in Arkansas made a bold statement to state lawmakers when they built a monument of Baphomet — an idol worshipped by the religion — onto the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol on August 17....

New research has revealed that royal blood descended through a mother’s bloodline in ancient America. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 1 of 5Pottery and wooden flute found in Room 33 of Pueblo Bonito.Roderick Mickens / American Museum of Natural History 2 of 5Pueblo Bonito as seen from the northern rim of Chaco Canyon.Douglas Kennett / Penn State University 3 of 5Photo of room blocks at Pueblo Bonito....

As an author, Karen Blixen was considered several times for the Nobel Prize in literature. Portrait of Danish writer Karen Blixen. Karen Blixen was born into wealth. The daughter of Wilhelm Dinesen, an army officer, and Ingeborg Westenholz, who came from a family of wealthy bourgeois merchants, she had a relatively comfortable and relaxed home life. However, that changed when she was ten years old. Her father had a child outside of wedlock with his maid and then committed suicide....

Tired of letting the Italians have all the fun, Pope Clement V ushered in an era of French papal corruption. Source: Facts About Armenia The story of Pope Clement V really begins with his patron, Philip IV (the Fair) of France. Philip spent the first 20 years of his reign, during the late 13th century, overspending on war with the English and court finery back at home. By the early 1300s, his treasury was in trouble and some solution needed to be found....

In a pinch, 19-year-old party girl Caresse Crosby invented the bra and changed women’s wear forever. It’s the turn of the 20th century and you’re getting ready for a formal party. If you’re like most women, you’d suck it up and don a corset. If you’re Polly Crosby, however, you’d muster up some nearby fabric and create an article of clothing that would go on to change women’s fashion. A Party Girl Invention Wikimedia Commons...