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The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was supposed to be a place of peace and restoration, but it soon devolved into madness and mayhem — and the spirits of tormented patients allegedly still haunt its halls today. In 1858, construction began on a new mental health facility in Weston, West Virginia. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was meant to be a sharp departure from other institutions of the time. Its creators wanted patients to be comfortable, not simply imprisoned the way they were at many other facilities....

Johnny Gosch disappeared while delivering newspapers in his West Des Moines neighborhood when he was 12 years old, but his mother claims he visited her late one night in 1997 to tell her he’d been the victim of a pedophile ring. On Sept. 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch woke up early to deliver newspapers in his West Des Moines, Iowa neighborhood. His fellow paperboys spotted him at around 6 a.m. with his wagon full of deliveries not far from his house — but Gosch never made it home....

Johnny Stompanato was a bodyguard for Mickey Cohen when he was killed at the hands of teenaged Cheryl Crane. For years, Lana Turner was the movie star every aspiring actress wanted to be, in part for her magical beginnings. As the daughter of working-class parents born in rural Idaho, Turner was discovered purely by chance. Her meteoric rise in Hollywood was nothing short of a fairy tale and she quickly became known as a socialite, always seen with a dashing actor on her arm....

After finding the bomb while treasure hunting with his kids, the man put it in his truck and drove it to his home located near the village church. Duplek Police/RTV SLO It’s not unusual for a bomb scare to spark an evacuation. It is unusual, however, when the bomb in question is some seven decades old. Approximately 400 people will now have to be evacuated from the municipality of Duplek in northern Slovenia after a man found a 550-pound unexploded American bomb from World War II reports The Slovenia Times....

While on an anniversary cruise to Alaska with their three teenage daughters, this couple’s fight turned fatal. “She would not stop laughing at me,” Kenneth Mazanares reportedly told a witness after killing his wife while aboard a cruise ship earlier this week. CNN reports that this Tuesday night, Kristy Manzanares of Utah was found dead in her cabin aboard the Emerald Princess cruise ship in Alaska. Yesterday, Kenneth was charged with her murder....

“This is the first reported case of semen injection for use as a medical treatment.” Irish Medical JournalThe patient’s arm following his period of semen injections. In order to treat his chronic back pain, one man in Ireland recently took matters into his own hands. According to a bizarre case study recently published in the Irish Medical Journal, the unnamed 33-year-old patient decided to treat his back by injecting his own semen into the veins of his arm once a month for a year and a half....

“I never loved my father, but feared him.” Wikimedia CommonsAlois Hitler in 1901. One summer day in a small Austrian village, an unmarried, 42-year old peasant woman gave birth to a baby boy. Considering that this was 1837, it was certainly a minor scandal that the child was born out of wedlock, but Maria Anna Schicklgruber was certainly not the first woman to have found herself in this predicament. In fact, her story would likely been forgotten entirely had not the son she bore went on have his own son, one who would bear perhaps the most infamous name in history: Adolf Hitler....

When former Air Force intelligence officer Summer Worden noticed irregularities in her bank account, she investigated — and found that her ex-wife Anne McClain was logging on from outer space. Wikimedia CommonsDecorated astronaut Anne McClain (pictured), who’s accused of identity theft and improper access to Summer Worden’s private financial records. In a stark reminder that our earthly laws do still apply in outer space, decorated American NASA astronaut Anne McClain has become the first person in history to be investigated for an alleged crime she committed while aboard the International Space Station (ISS)....

If he was alive and still at work today, Pablo Escobar’s net worth would be more than $100 billion, making him the richest person on earth. Wikimedia CommonsPablo Escobar Pablo Escobar liked to flaunt his wealth. In addition to his multiple properties scattered throughout Central America, Escobar also owned his own zoo, complete with elephants and hippopotamuses, as well as a fleet of boats and cars, and even a submarine. He was known for buying lavish gifts, literally burning money to keep his daughter warm, and bragging about his deep pockets to everyone he knew....

In her revenge, Boudica and her army cut people up, impaled them on skewers, and crucified and hanged them. Culture Club/Getty ImagesBoudica or Boadicea, Queen of the British Iceni tribe, a Celtic tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. If Boudica, the British Celtic queen was alive today, she’d attest to that proverb. Queen Boudica is not alive — given that she was born around A....

The Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, said that he has received over 500 complaints of price gouging during this emergency. In the midst of natural disasters and other catastrophes, we expect the community around us to to pitch in to help those suffering. While many people have stepped up during Hurricane Harvey, some have used this opportunity to make money off the desperation of those victimized by the disaster. In the case of Harvey, we have seen some of the best of people, with many Houstonians going to great lengths to help their neighbors and even total strangers in this difficult time....

Some meat-eaters may think people who don’t eat animals are attempting to subvert traditional norms and culture. Wikimedia CommonsAnger between vegans and meat-eaters is often rooted in feelings of being attacked or being made to feel disgust. Though mockery of vegans has long been commonplace, the true extent of that bias still might leave you surprised. According to The Guardian, a 2015 study by Cara C. MacInnis and Gordon Hodson found that not only have vegans faced discrimination, but that it’s on par with the hatred that a number of minorities face from bigots....

During the Banana Wars of the early 20th century, the U.S. military toppled regimes and massacred thousands to keep U.S. business booming. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: Devastating Civil Wars That Make America’s Look Tiny The Horrific Case Of Central Park Jogger Trisha Meili And The Conviction Of The Central Park Five America’s Darkest Hour: 39 Haunting Photos Of The Civil War...

In the Kingdom of Bohemia, tensions between Catholics and Protestants erupted when three of the king’s officials were thrown from a window in 1618. Public DomainA woodblock print from 1662 depicting the Defenestration of Prague. Tempers ran hot in Bohemia on May 23, 1618. Then, the Defenestration of Prague saw three Catholic officials defenestrated, or tossed from a window, by local Protestants. Thanks to the grace of God or a pile of manure — depending on who you asked — the officials survived....

Some of the things found in Ed Gein’s house included a trash can and several chairs upholstered in human skin, a belt and corset of severed nipples, and human skulls made into bowls. Serial killer Ed Gein may not garner quite the same immediate name recognition as, say, Ted Bundy, but what authorities found in Ed Gein’s house upon his capture was such a shock to 1950s America that his heinous acts reverberate with horror to this day....

A physical fight between two Senate Democrats prompted the adoption of Rule 19. To make her case against Jeff Session’s candidacy for attorney general, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wanted to read two letters. They had been written by the late Coretta Scott King and the late senator Edward Kennedy in 1986 to oppose Session’s bid for a federal judgeship. King’s letter accused Sessions of using his power as an attorney to “intimidate and frighten elderly black voters....

Award-winning correspondent Marie Colvin gave an eye to tell the truth on the Sri Lankan Civil War, and when civil war broke out in Syria, she gave her life. Trunk Archive.A 2008 portrait of Colvin by the photographer and musician Bryan Adams. Marie Colvin, the larger-than-life journalist who descended into war without a blink, seemed to be more like a character out of a comic book than an American foreign affairs correspondent for a newspaper — and not just because of her eyepatch....

Gruesome Stone Age burial site baffles researchers, the Louvre hopes to return Nazi-looted art to rightful owners, unearthed bodies reveal unexpected ancient burial practices. Gruesome Stone Age Burial Site Has Researchers Baffled Sara Gummesson/Antiquity 2018One of the 8,000-year-old skulls found in Sweden. A routine archeologist survey in Sweden has resulted in the discovery of 8,000-year-old bones, skulls, and questions that likely aren’t going to be answered. Before the construction of a new railroad and bridge began, archeologists were brought in to the Kanaljorden site in eastern-central Sweden to search for any artifacts in the area....

Stone with fifth-century engravings uncovered in Scotland, Roman shipwreck found in stunning condition, descendants of enslaved man say George Washington was his father. 1,500-Year-Old Pictish Stone Engraved With Enigmatic Symbols Unearthed From A Farmer’s Field In Scotland University of AberdeenThis five-foot slab is carved with a number of enigmatic symbols including crescents and discs, but archaeologists have yet to decipher their meaning. Archaeologists were searching for ground anomalies that could be evidence of an ancient settlement on a farmer’s field near Forfar, Scotland when they happened upon a rare slab they never expected to find....

The Black Death was the deadliest pandemic in human history and scholars still struggle to map when and where it began. But some of the most compelling theories are truly disturbing. Wikimedia Commons‘The Triumph of Death’ by Pieter Bruegel from 1562 depicts the horrific consequences wrought by the Black Plague. By the end of its first decade, the Black Plague had decimated over 60 percent of Europe’s population. It would return in waves every 10 to 20 years before it finally subsided in the mid-18th century....