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Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck bilked at least three women out of their life savings before gruesomely murdering them in the late 1940s — after luring them in with “lonely hearts” ads. Getty ImagesMartha Beck and Raymond Fernandez with their attorney in 1949. On March 8, 1951, Raymond Martinez Fernandez and Martha Jule Beck, better known as the Lonely Hearts Killers, were executed at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. They had been on death row after being convicted of one murder, though they are believed to have killed as many as 20 people — all of whom were lured through responses to singles ads in their local newspapers....

“We made a pact that, if we died, we would be happy to put our bodies to the service of the rest of the team.” How far could you go to survive? Would you do whatever it takes? Would you even eat human flesh? It’s something many people have asked themselves when they hear tales of survival in extreme circumstances. But Roberto Canessa doesn’t have to wonder. He’s done it....

You might think that it doesn’t get much better than the Ritz, but these five incredible hotels will leave you feeling otherwise! Source: Blogspot The World’s Most Incredible Hotels: Hotel Jested Sitting atop Jested Mountain in the Czech Republic, this unique hotel and restaurant is also a television transmitter. Built to withstand the harsh weather and emphasize the mountain’s silhouette, it has been a major attraction ever since it was built in the late 60’s....

Al Capone’s sunken party boat photographed in Michigan, fourth-century sword uncovered in Japan, ancient Hercules statue unearthed in Rome. Photos Reveal The Sunken Ship Where Al Capone Allegedly Threw Booze-Fueled Parties During Prohibition Chris RoxburghA Prohibition-era party boat allegedly operated by Al Capone, the Keuka mysteriously sank in 1932 and now sits 50 feet below the waters of Michigan’s Lake Charlevoix. Originally built as a lumber barge in 1889, the Keuka operated in Michigan for decades without incident — until it changed hands in 1928....

In 2008, Vince Li killed Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound bus in Canada and ate from his corpse. Today, he is a free man. ViceVince Li during his trial. On July 30, 2008, Tim McLean boarded Greyhound bus 1170, bound for Winnipeg, Canada. He had been working a carnival in Alberta and was napping with his head against the window, exhausted after a long night out. He’d been sleeping for almost six hours when the bus made a rest stop in Erickson, Manitoba....

In the summer of 2008, locals in the New York hamlet of Montauk were shaken by the discovery of a bloated and bloodless creature they couldn’t identify. It was dubbed the “Montauk Monster” — then it mysteriously vanished. In July 2008, a strange creature washed ashore in Long Island, New York. Lying dead on the beaches of Ditch Plains, the bloated, bloodless beast looked like a monster out of a storybook, which inspired the public to dub it the “Montauk Monster....

The macabre spectacle of the Cadaver Synod was one of the more noteworthy events of the papacy in the Middle Ages. In 897 a trial was held in the Basilica San Giovanni Laterano in Rome that would become known as the Cadaver Synod. With a name like that, you may guessed that it was not like other trials. You would be right. Pope Stephen VI despised his predecessor — Pope Formosus, who reigned from 891 to 896 — because he felt Formosus had assumed the papacy illegally....

Charles Manson’s son, Charles Manson Jr., couldn’t stand the story behind his name. He tried changing it — but still found no solace. Find A GraveCharles Manson’s son, Charles Manson Jr., who changed his name to Jay White in order to distance himself from his father. Even after Charles Manson died of natural causes at 83 in Bakersfield, California, his horrific legacy of violence lived on — as did his progeny....

Just days before the Tate-LaBianca murders, a musician named Gary Hinman opened his home to members of the Manson Family — and was brutally murdered for it. Public DomainGary Hinman was just a “lost artistic soul” before he became the first murder at the hands of the Manson Family. “Fear is not a rational emotion and when it sets in. Things get out of control — as they certainly did with Charlie and me....

Under Hideki Tōjō’s leadership during WWII, Japan conducted brutal humans experiments, enslaved thousands of “comfort women,” and routinely cannibalized POWs. He would pay for these crimes with his life. The Japanese leader during World War II, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō is often painted as a warmongering hater of the West bent on world dominion. He was to be prosecuted and executed as a Class-A war criminal with much of the guilt of the conflict laid on him....

In 1929, Al Capone was sentenced to a year in this Philadelphia prison. A life of crime doesn’t seem all that bad. Featured above is Al Capone’s prison cell at the now-closed Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Capone spent nine months of his life there starting in May 1929, after he was convicted of carrying a concealed, deadly weapon. An August 1929 issue of the Public Ledger implied that Capone received special status in his oriental rug and armchair-filled cell, but to this day ESP challenges that claim....

The devoted mother of Adolf Hitler, Klara Pölzl Hitler died of cancer in 1907 while in the care of a Jewish doctor, leading some to speculate that this tragedy set the future dictator on his deadly path. Ever since Adolf Hitler’s genocidal reign over Germany, many have puzzled over where the dictator’s violent bigotry and single-minded power hungriness came from — what was the root of his evil? And many have searched his parents — Adolf and Klara Hitler — for answers....

The Church’s “sexual abuse survivor compensation fund” has already drawn hundreds of claimants. In recent months, more than 100 victims of sexual abuse by priests have settled their claims with the Archdiocese of New York. Though the cases have remained largely confidential until now, seven men revealed details of their experiences on Thursday in hopes of encouraging other victims to come forward. The men — who each received a settlement between $150,000 and $350,000 — named their abusers, all of whom had been mentioned in connection with abuse cases in the past....

Concerns over racism are about to bring this centuries-old practice to an end. An ancient tradition is ending next year in the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England, after political pressure forced local folk festival organizers to stop booking an act that a social justice group considers racist. The group calls itself Fairness, Respect, Equality Shropshire (FRESh), and their complaint against the annual Shrewsbury Folk Festival is that the age-old practice of Morris dancing potentially offends people of color because of the dancers’ habit of blackening their faces....

The rescued boy’s mother now claims that she only sought to “protect the boy, who had mental health problems.” Police in the Israeli city of Hadera thought that they would find a dead body when they responded to complaints of a stench coming from an apartment. Instead, they discovered a 14-year-old boy in “a severe state of neglect,” who seems to have been kept in the building his entire life....

The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the deadliest of its kind in history, affected one in four people worldwide and claimed 50 million lives. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: A Republic Collapsed: Inside The Spanish Civil War Hart Island Is Home To Over One Million Dead Bodies — And Is Just Miles From Manhattan The Disappeared, The Dead, And The Damned: Inside The Church Of Scientology...

Blending urban legend with gruesome fact, Christian Patterson’s “Redheaded Peckerwood” is the stuff of photo book legend. Chronicling the bloody chain of events surrounding 1950’s teen serial-killing duo Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, Christian Patterson’s “Redheaded Peckerwood” has proven so popular that the first edition sold out soon after its publication, leaving many photo book lovers eagerly anticipating the release of the third edition earlier this year–along with a few additional macabre goodies....

In Pentecost Land diving, a traditional community ritual, men leap from massive wooden towers with just tree vines tied around their legs. Long before thrill seekers flocked to amusement parks and adventure centers to catch the rush of jumping with elastic bungee cords strapped to their legs, the men of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu were practicing the ancient ritual of land diving. An early precursor to bungee jumping, the island men construct wooden towers to leap off with just tree vines tied around their legs in a traditional community ritual and an important rite of passage for young men....

Lewis Anthony Rath, 52, and Jerry Chris Van Dyke, 67, have both been charged with misrepresentation of Indian-produced goods. Wikimedia CommonsOne of the artists sold their wares at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, which opened in Seattle in 1899. The city of Seattle has a rich indigenous history. Even its name is an homage to Chief Sealth. But two local artists allegedly took advantage of this fact by faking Native American heritage to sell art....

Everyone knows the biggies: Darwin, Newton, Mendeleev, Watson and Crick. But what about the lesser known scientific heroes? Scientific Heroes: Rosalind Franklin We all know the scientific greats; Darwin and his theory of evolution, Newton and his laws of gravity. But there are droves of unsung heroes of the scientific world whose works deserve much recognition. Rosalind Franklin is one of them. As a molecular biologist, Franklin was responsible for the original research behind the discovery of DNA’s structure....