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While Jesses James preferred the spotlight, his brother Frank James preferred a good book and the company of his family. Still, his gun was always at the ready. Wikimedia CommonsAn older Frank James at 55-years-old. Frank James was the older brother to the now-legendary American outlaw Jesse. Although on the surface they seemed very similar, in truth the siblings were quite different. Jesse was showy, daring to the point of recklessness, and had a thirst for fame that would eventually be his downfall....

Even as an adult, Schlitzie had the mental aptitude of a three- or four-year-old and could only speak in short sentences and phrases. And they turned him into a sideshow “freak.” MGMSchliztie in the 1932 film Freaks. They billed him as “The Monkey Girl” and “The Last of the Aztecs” when they weren’t simply referring to him as a “pinhead” or a “freak.” Otherwise, this famous sideshow performer of the early 1900s — most famous for starring in a notorious 1932 film actually called Freaks — was known only as Schlitzie....

While some of the octopuses appeared to throw objects to clean their dens or discard food, more than half were recorded throwing objects after fighting, mating, or grappling with another octopus. John Turnbull/FlickrThe scientists studied the behavior of the gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus). While observing hours of video taken near octopus dens in Jervis Bay, Australia, scientists noted a strange phenomenon: Sometimes, the octopuses gathered objects and flung them at other octopuses....

Also known as the robber crab and terrestrial hermit crab, the Indo-Pacific coconut crab reigns supreme as the largest arthropod on Earth. “Monstrous.” That was the only word Charles Darwin could find to describe the coconut crab when he first saw one for himself. Of course, anyone who’s ever seen this animal can tell right away that it’s no ordinary crustacean. As the largest land crab in the world, the coconut crab’s size alone is intimidating....

After crossing the Mason-Dixon line on foot, Harriet Tubman went back to guide dozens of slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad — and freed hundreds more as a spy for the Union Army. In the wee hours of June 2, 1863, Harriet Tubman — already world-weary from rescuing dozens of slaves in Maryland — guided Union boats around “torpedo” mines along South Carolina’s Combahee River. It was a difficult time for the Union Army, to say the least....

Traudl Junge thought of Adolf Hitler as a father figure and a friend — claiming she had no idea about the Holocaust until after World War II ended and the Führer was dead. Public DomainTraudl Junge moved to Berlin to pursue a career in the arts, but the need for a job found her in Hitler’s office as a secretary. As the Allied forces closed in on the Nazi regime and its occupied territory, Hitler surrounded himself with only his closest colleagues....

They met over asparagus at a dinner party in 1952: future commander-in-chief John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy, a 35-year-old congressman from Boston, asked Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier, a 23-year-old photographer from Newport, out on a date while leaning across the table, ostensibly in search of the vegetable. Share Flipboard Email She thought he was “charming [and] handsome[,] but a hopeless flirt.” But John didn’t give up hope in his pursuit of Bouvier, and ultimately proposed a year later....

Every winter for the past three decades, Icehotel in Sweden has reinvented itself as a hotel and art exhibition made of ice and snow. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: This Arctic Hotel in Norway Is The Frozen Hideaway Of An Introvert’s Dreams Inside Mount Kumgang Resort, North Korea’s Largely Abandoned Resort Explore The Fairy Glen, The Scottish Valley So Magical That Legend Says Fairies Created It...

You may know classic Beatles songs like “Hey Jude” or “Yesterday” by heart, but you’ll still be surprised to learn the incredible stories behind how they were written. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs DivisionThe Beatles arrive at New York’s Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964. As the 1960s came to an end, so did the impressive reign of The Beatles. The band broke up in 1970, but the fascination with Beatles songs continues to this day....

After bragging about the killings at a bar, local gold miners have been questioned about the murders. Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into the alleged murders after a group of gold miners bragged about them in a local bar. According to villagers, the group visited a bar near the Colombian border last month and boasted about the murders. They even possessed a hand-carved paddle they said had come from the tribe....

Beck Weathers was left for dead and fellow climbers had already called his wife to tell her he was gone — then he somehow made it down the mountain and walked back into camp. On May 11, 1996, Beck Weathers died on Mount Everest. At least, that’s what everyone was sure had happened. The truth was even more incredible. Over a harrowing period of eighteen hours, Everest would do its best to devour Beck Weathers and his fellow climbers....

Inside Club 33, visitors can sit at opulent tables from classic movie sets and drink the park’s only craft cocktails – all for a hefty price. Tim Rue/Corbis via Getty ImagesDisneyland’s elite private Club 33 is a luxurious dining experience within the Magic Kingdom and patrons often bring home keepsakes as reminders of their visit. Disneyland is supposed to be the “most magical place on Earth,” a place for families to enjoy and for children to get the chance to meet their favorite Disney characters....

After secretly selling off a body, they would give the deceased’s family the cremated remains of an entirely unrelated person and say that they were from their loved one. William Woody/Colorado SunAn FBI investigator unloads equipment at the Sunset Mesa funeral home where Megan Hess and Shirley Koch ran their illegal business of selling body parts. While the recent arrests of Megan Hess and Shirley Koch for mail fraud and transportation of hazardous materials may sound relatively innocent, the truth is far more macabre....

The doctor offered to change, but the parents opted for the “unique” experience of the Joker delivering their baby. Giving birth is stressful enough, even if your doctor is perfect. So, you’d think if your doctor was the Joker, you’d totally lose your mind, right? Not Britanny and Justin Selph. When the parents-to-be arrived at the Henry County Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., they found their obstetrician, Dr. Paul Locus, dressed in his Halloween costume — an extremely good interpretation of Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight....

The alleged perpetrator denied that he methodically farted on his employee as a conspiratorial plot to have him quit, but he did admit that he farted on him “once or twice, maybe.” Public Domain PicturesDavid Hingst probably wished his boss, “Mr. Stinky,” attended such an orientation before becoming his supervisor. In an era patiently asking a generation to understand the nuances of racial, sexual, and physical harassment, most people don’t find it that difficult to distinguish between humor and abuse....

In case you had forgotten about Gangnam Style, allow us to remind you of it. The song went viral in the United States in 2012, but in truth Psy’s tune was just one of many carefully engineered Korean Pop — or K-pop — mega hits. Not unlike pop music in the West, K-pop has an aesthetic, a formula and a flavor. The difference is that in South Korea, almost all of these young music moguls are managed by the same label–and from a very early age....

The nearly 10-foot stone statue was discovered near Ak-Bulun village in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty ImagesThe stone statues known as Balbal served as memorials and were often used as grave markers by early inhabitants of Central Asia. On Oct. 15, 2022, potato farmer Erkin Turbaev was working his field near the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan when he came upon what he believed to be a large rock that broke his plow....

The guilty verdict follows closely on the heels of Pope Francis confirming clergymen had used nuns as sex slaves in the past. ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKE/AFP/Getty ImagesGeorge Pell leaving the County Court of Victoria court after prosecutors decided not to proceed with a second trial, Feb. 26, 2019. Cardinal George Pell has just officially become the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of sexual child abuse in the history of the church....

“It is impossible to regulate the fur trade and somehow make it kinder. It is not farming at all. The mink are gassed at six months and their skins are pulled off.” Flickr/Dzīvnieku brīvībaMink in Irish fur farms are gassed to death when they are six months old. They then have their skin pulled off, for fashion. Fur farming is common practice in all corners of the world. The confinement of animals to tiny cages, only to gas them to death for their fur, has sadly been a standardized component of the fashion industry....

These habitable-zone planets could very well have oceans of liquid water on their surfaces and support life. NASA just announced the discovery of seven Earth-like planets within a star’s habitable zone about 40 light years away. The planets in question could very well contain oceans of water on their surfaces and have other Earth-like conditions, according to an ESA news release. In fact, this star’s system contains more Earth-sized planets than any other system ever found, as well as the highest number of planets that may have liquid surface water....