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Wealthy socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland attempted to “cure” her gay son by getting him to sleep with her, then Antony Baekeland stabbed her to death. In the 1940s, Barbara Daly Baekeland had it all. She was married to the attractive and charming Brooks Baekeland, whose grandfather was chemist Leo Baekeland, the inventor of plastics. She was a prominent socialite, she had been called one of New York’s ten most beautiful girls, and was a model for esteemed magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar....

The Hellenistic fortress was destroyed by a Jewish Hasmonean army in their war to retake the region from the Seleucid Empire, which had outlawed Judaism. Israel Antiquities AuthorityConstruction of the fortress was dated to 122 B.C. Archaeologists just excavated a 2,100-year-old Greek fortress in Israel’s Lachish Forest — and they say it confirms aspects of the origin story of Hanukkah. Built by the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire in the second century B....

After a mysterious attack and to prepare for the invasion of Sicily in Operation Husky, the U.S. turned to an unlikely source for help: Lucky Luciano and the Italian Mafia. Wikimedia CommonsMugshot of Italian-American mobster Charles Lucky Luciano. February 1931. During World War II, the United States government became concerned about the significant number of American citizens with Japanese, Italian, or German heritage. They feared that these people may be sympathetic to the Axis cause and could pose a national security threat....

Peter Chiodo was a high-ranking New York gangster in the late 1980s, until he defied his bosses — then survived their attempt on his life because his weight protected him from the bullets. Wikimedia CommonsAn undated FBI surveillance photo shows the rarely-photographed Peter Chiodo, center, at a mob meeting in Brooklyn. Peter Chiodo, a 400-pound mobster better known as “Fat Pete,” was street-smart enough to survive his own crime family’s vicious internal purges in the late 1980s — but it was ultimately his massive weight that saved his life....

Though Robert Ben Rhoades is behind bars for three murders, authorities believe that the Truck Stop Killer may have killed as many as 50 women while out on the road. On April 1, 1990, a state trooper of the Arizona Highway Patrol Division spotted a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of the highway. He approached the vehicle to see if the driver needed any assistance. What the trooper stumbled upon was a scene out of a horror movie....

As interest in travel beyond our atmosphere continues to grow, what happens when you’re in need of surgery in space, miles above the Earth? Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Tom Hanks looking out ship window in a scene from the film Apollo 13, 1995. Universal/Getty WHETHER IT’S GRAVITY, The Martian or Apollo 13, it’s safe to say that people love space disaster movies. Take any emergency situation from Earth and transplant it into space and you’ve got the makings of an intense thriller....

In 1965, Sylvia Likens and her sister Jenny were left in the care of family friend Gertrude Baniszewski — who tortured Likens to death and got her own children to help. Wikimedia Commons/YouKnew?/YouTube16-year-old Sylvia Likens before staying with Gertrude Bansizewski and after being tortured to death. In 1965, 16-year-old Sylvia Likens was sent to the home of a family friend, Gertrude Baniszewski, while her parents were traveling. But Likens never made it out alive....

This disturbing sea turtle mouth video will take you inside the surprisingly scary mouth of one of the ocean’s most beloved creatures. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura C. (@la_castanon) Have you ever seen the inside of a sea turtle’s mouth? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura C. (@la_castanon) A post shared by Laura C. (@la_castanon) View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram...

Due to a murderous plot, 11-year old Terry Jo Duperrault spent 84 grueling hours alone at sea until she was rescued. In 1961, a picture was snapped of a young girl who was discovered adrift, alone, on a small lifeboat in the waters of the Bahamas. The story of how she ended up there is much more horrifying and bizarre than one can imagine. CBSThe iconic image of Terry Jo Duperrault, the “Sea Waif....

When it comes to scientific accuracy in sci-fi movies, it’s no secret that most filmmakers play it fast and loose, with audience entertainment being the ultimate goal. Luckily, a lot of moviegoers are quite adept at suspending their disbelief for the sake of preserving their fantasy, (and getting their money’s worth out of movie ticket prices) but when you add up all the scientific faux pas -even in films we consider to be groundbreaking – you start to realize why it’s named science “fiction”....

The oldest son of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Yakov Dzhugashvili’s life was marked with tragedy, ultimately culminating in his gruesome death in a German concentration camp. Wikimedia CommonsHitler attempted to exchange Stalin’s first son Yakov Dzhugashvili for a captured German field marshal, but the Soviet dictator declined. In 1907, Joseph Stalin wasn’t known as the leader of the Soviet Union. In fact, he wasn’t known as Joseph Stalin at all. He was a Marxist robber from a poor family, a would-be priest had he not rebelled and become an atheist....

World’s oldest figurative art found, astounding revelations about prehistoric megalodon sharks discovered, stories from Hitler’s one-time neighbor revealed. 45,000-Year-Old Cave Painting Of A Pig Found To Be The First Known Piece Of Figurative Art In History Maxime Aubert“When I saw the art for the first time I was blown away,” said one of the authors behind this landmark study. Experts have long held that human artistic expression — and thus abstract thought and the cognitive leaps that informed it — originated in Europe....

The woman’s husband reportedly purchased her the hunting trip for Valentine’s Day. FacebookMerelize Van der Merwe says she has paid to kill as many as 500 animals over the years. Valentine’s Day for most is a heartwarming holiday that gives people the chance to tell their loved ones how special they are. For one South African trophy huntress, celebrating Valentine’s Day meant gifting her husband a giraffe’s heart. According to The Independent, 32-year-old Merelize Van der Merwe’s husband planned for them to spend the holiday at South Africa’s Sun City game resort....

Rare Polaroids Of Pre-Fame Madonna Surface The “Material Girl” has spent several decades before the public eye — which makes glimpses of Madonna Louise Ciccone before she became simply Madonna all the more incredible. Add to it the fact that these recently-surfaced Polaroids, taken by photographer Richard Corman, were thought to have been lost forever — and, well, you’re in for a surprise. Corman shot these photos back in 1983 in Madonna’s brother’s Manhattan apartment....

Turns out that the stars above have a lot to do with the iconic red barns that dot the United States. Max Pixels Those ubiquitous red barns dotting U.S. countrysides may now be an iconic American image, but the use of that striking color isn’t simply the result of some stylistic choice. In fact, the use of red paint to cover large buildings isn’t limited to one type of structure or continent....

“Baby Louie,” the fetal dinosaur fossil discovered in the early ’90s, has finally been classified under a new species known as “baby dragon.” Darla Zelenitsky/University of Calgary The fetal fossil of the dinosaur christened “Baby Louie” was discovered in China — surrounded by its brothers’ and sisters’ humongous eggs — in the early 1990s. Since then, scientists have searched high and low for the 90-million-year-old embryo’s parents. But the species that had laid the 18-inch long, six-inch wide eggs remained a mystery....

Science Myths: McDonald’s Hamburgers Don’t Rot This “fact” has been making the internet rounds for a while now, but as with most things internet, you’re not getting the big picture. As the story goes, fast food is laden with so many preservatives and chemicals that it doesn’t physically decompose, and therefore can’t (in good conscience) be considered food. Have you seen pictures of years-old McDonald’s food still intact? Yes. Are those pictures real?...

José Franco Guerrero first began planting cypress trees in 1936. Now, the cemetery features 300 larger-than-life tree sculptures. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: Discover Vinicunca, The Remarkable “Rainbow Mountain” Of Peru Woman Learns The ‘Fake’ Renaissance Painting She Kept Over Her Stove Was Actually A 700-Year-Old Masterpiece Explore The Fairy Glen, The Scottish Valley So Magical That Legend Says Fairies Created It...

Australia’s Aborigines have a long and rich history that stretches back nearly 60,000 years. Australian News and Information Bureau, New YorkAustralian Aborigines at an event commonly called a corroboree. For thousands of years, Aboriginal Australians have lived throughout the continent. But new evidence reveals that their existence in the continent’s deserts dates back much further than previously believed. The Oldest Civilization In The World Aboriginal Australians became genetically isolated 58,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years before other ancestral groups, making them the world’s oldest civilization....

From 1943 to 1946, the whereabouts of Saturn the alligator were unknown. Many believe that during this time, the alligator belonged to Adolf Hitler’s personal collection. Moscow ZooSaturn loved being massaged with this brush, and was quite choosy about his food. An alligator purportedly once part of Adolf Hitler‘s personal collection has died at age 84 in the Moscow Zoo. According to ABC News, the reptile named Saturn not only survived the 1943 bombing of Berlin, but far outlived the average lifespan of its species — which ranges between 30 and 50 years....