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A construction worker recently stumbled across an incredibly well-preserved 600-year-old sword in a Polish swamp. Don’t you hate it when you drop your sword into a swamp? About 600 years ago, one knight apparently couldn’t have been bothered to retrieve his weapon when it fell into a peat-filled bog near Mircze, Poland. The remarkably well-preserved sword was recently found by a construction worker, who donated the rare treasure to the local Stanislaw Staszic Museum....

“My gift is going to be bigger than their annual budget. It’s going to blow them away.” Susan E. Madsen via AP NewsAlan Naiman in 2013. A Washington state social worker left the majority of his $11 million estate to children’s charities after leading a comically frugal lifestyle. Social worker Alan Naiman is recalled by those closest to him as an extraordinarily thrifty sort. He patched worn shoes with duct tape, drove old cars, shopped for food and clothing both at grocery stores, and chose cheap restaurants on the rare occasions that he ate out....

At the close of the Persian Gulf War, American forces carried out a 10-hour bombardment on Highway 80 that left hundreds dead and destroyed up to 2,700 vehicles. Public DomainAbandoned vehicles line the “Highway of Death” in Iraq. 1991. In the waning days of the Gulf War, thousands of Iraqi soldiers attempted to flee from Kuwait along Highway 80. But U.S.-led coalition forces were waiting — and they turned the route into the so-called “Highway of Death....

Some of the California wildfires started earlier this year, but have only gotten worse and sparked more burns as time goes on. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: Inmates In California Are Fighting Wildfires For $1 Per Hour YouTubers Accused Of Faking An Evacuation Video From The California Wildfires 15 Photos Of Awe-Inspiring Fire Tornadoes That Show What An Angry Mother Nature Looks Like...

The American research ship was attacked by Israeli forces from both the sky and sea. But why the disaster occurred in the first place remains to be understood. Wikimedia CommonsAssistance hovers over the damaged USS Liberty after the attack. It was June 8, 1967, when the U.S. Navy research ship USS Liberty was attacked by the Israeli Air Force and Navy. The unforeseen carnage resulted in some 200 deaths and injuries to American sailors....

Each year, Indian’s poorest transform into rich, burnt orange oracles in Theyyam. But modernization might spell the festival’s end. Source: Wikimedia Commons The gods of Malabar, India come out in December, and they gyrate among villages until the beginning of spring. In long, ornate dances, these sunset-orange apparitions swirl and sing and prophesy and condemn the wrongs of worldly rulers. This is Theyyam — and its days may very well be numbered....

Trepanation, the practice of drilling a hole in your head to let your brain “breath”, was used to treat ailments like headaches, epilepsy, or possession by evil spirits. Oil on panel depiction of a trepanation by artist Hieronymus Bosch. The bone of the skull would be pierced or scraped down to expose the brain matter of the subject to the open air. Typically, this was done without any numbing techniques....

What are subliminal messages? Do subliminal messages work? Though everyone from Coca-Cola to Disney has been accused of using these tactics, few of us seem to know the truth about what these messages are and whether or not they’re effective. Walter Daran/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesStill image from the study that first put subliminal messages on the map in 1957. The researchers claimed to have flashed the words “EAT POPCORN” during a movie showing in hopes of getting people to buy popcorn....

Many Americans are taught that the Pilgrims and Indians gathered for a historic feast at Plymouth in 1621, but the true story of the first Thanksgiving is far more complicated. For as long as anyone can remember, the story of the first Thanksgiving has been revered in America as a peaceful celebratory meal between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in 1621, a year after the Pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower....

Some of the tiniest, cutest, and most fascinating creatures on the planet – a look at the world’s smallest mammals! Source: Bush Warriors The World’s Smallest Mammals: Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat Source: Blogspot Depending on whether you measure by weight or size, Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat (aka the Bumblebee Bat) is one of the two top contenders for world’s smallest mammal. At an average of 2g (0.071oz), this diminutive species is found in limestone caves along rivers in western Thailand and southeast Burma....

Two human skulls were found in the Andalusian cave — with one showing signs of decapitation and trepanation. University of SevilleThe entrance to the Cueva de la Dehesilla in Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. Researchers excavating Spain’s Cueva da la Dehesilla cave site in Andalusia have unearthed two human skulls, a goat skeleton, and a stone altar. The finds dating to between 4800 and 4000 B.C. may point to human sacrifice. According to Archaeology, a wall within the caves separated the skulls and goat skeleton from the altar....

German Federal Criminal Police Office via Getty ImagesBeate Zschaepe. Now more than three years into her trial, accused German murderess and terrorist Beate Zschaepe, dubbed the “Nazi Bride” by local media, has finally broken her silence. Until today, Zschaepe stood in silence as the state accused her of complicity in the National Socialist Underground (NSU) — a neo-Nazi terrorist group especially opposed to any kind of foreign immigration — believed to have carried out at least ten murders, two bombings, and 15 bank robberies between 2000 and 2007....

In 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer shot up an elementary school in San Diego — then said she did it because she didn’t like Mondays. On Monday, January 29, 1979, a journalist from The San Diego Union-Tribune got the quote of a lifetime from 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer. “I don’t like Mondays,” she said. “This livens up the day.” By “this,” she was referring to the fact that she had just fired 30 rounds of ammunition into a San Diego elementary school, using a semiautomatic rifle....

Source: NASA The world’s first pictures of Pluto and its icy mountains arrived just days before the 46th anniversary of what is surely history’s most momentous outer space occasion. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history as the first humans to land on the moon. The mission’s third astronaut, Michael Collins, continued in lunar orbit while his comrades made history. Even though the moon landing was a profound technological and scientific achievement as well as an unparalleled symbol of national pride, there are still plenty of details that most people don’t know…...

Giacomo Casanova’s memoirs are celebrated for their thorough depiction of life in 18th-century Europe, but they also detail the escapades of a serial rapist. Eighteenth century Venice was a city of twisting canals, deceptive masks, seductive music, mysterious fog, cutthroat politics, and dreaded prisons. For a place nicknamed La Serenissima, or serene, the Republic of Venice conjured a fair amount of unease. Like any good offspring, her favorite son shared these selfsame traits....

Whitney Curtis/Getty ImagesA prospective gun buyer looks at a display during the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits on April 13, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. A mere three percent of U.S. adults own approximately half of all the nation’s guns, according to a new study from Harvard and Northeastern universities. That three percent of American gun owners, a group of 7.7 million people known as “gun super-owners,” possess an average of 17 guns apiece, with some hoarding as many as 140....

South Korean observers say that the North Korean village of Kijong-dong is nothing more than a fake town built to spread propaganda. The buildings are believed to be empty shells with painted-on windows. Kijong-dong looks like a typical village from afar, with a water tower, power lines, clean streets, and lights in the windows of its plentiful buildings. But a closer look at “Peace Village” reveals that it doesn’t have a single resident — and it never has....

As a powerful man in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar probably had sex with both men and women, but it was his taste in partners that threatened to ruin his reputation. Wikimedia CommonsJulius Caesar was known for being a lover and a fighter. Julius Caesar claimed godly blood as a descendant of Venus. His divine ancestor is often depicted in the throes of passion, entrancing suitors far and wide. Is it any wonder that her illustrious heir, a man whose last name would be a title for emperors millennia after his death, was said to have a similar sway with both sexes?...

Had the family of Khalil Wheeler-Weaver’s third victim not lured him into a sting operation via social media, the Tagged Killer’s murder streak may have continued. Public Domain Khalil Wheeler-Weaver went on a three-month killing spree that only ended when his final victim’s family used the Tagged app to trap him. Fifty-three minutes before he killed her, 20-year-old Sarah Butler texted Khalil Wheeler-Weaver: “You’re not a serial killer, right?” Tragically, he was....

Though Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin never officially married, they were engaged for six years before he joined Queen and became a superstar. Mary Austin was never legally Freddie Mercury’s wife, but she was the only true love in the short and turbulent life of the famous Queen frontman. Although the rockstar ended his romantic relationship with Austin in 1976 and was famously rumored to be gay, he always spoke of Austin with the kindest words....