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These newly-uncovered drawings show that late alterations were made to Lady Liberty’s raised arm. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique MapsNewly found sketches from Gustave Eiffel’s workshop show a different design for the Statue of Liberty. In 2018, map dealer Barry Lawrence Ruderman procured a folder containing materials that once belonged to famed architect Gustave Eiffel in an auction in Paris. Eiffel — best known for his eponymous tower structure in Paris — was commissioned to construct the skeleton of the Statue of Liberty by designer Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi....

Authorities have arrested 25 people who ordered that a 16-year-old girl be raped in front of her own family as payback for her brother’s crimes. SS MIRZA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis photograph taken on July 26, 2017 in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, shows the room where the second victim was raped. Pakistani authorities have called for the arrest of 29 people responsible for ordering the rape of a teenage girl. The inciting incident occurred on July 16, when a 16-year-old boy raped his 12 or 13-year-old female cousin in Muzaffarabad, a suburb of Multan, reports The Washington Post....

Thanks to one bored 19th century hunter, Australia has a massive rabbit problem. David Iliff/Wikimedia Commons In Queensland, Australia, it’s illegal to own a pet rabbit unless you’re a magician. Why? Because for the past 150 years, rabbits have caused immense ecological damage to Australia. Australia’s temperate conditions — general lack of seasons and little cold — and huge swaths of natural low vegetation make for an ideal rabbit home, so much so that the perennially-breeding creatures destroyed two million acres of floral lands in Victoria before they were even spotted in another state....

It may surprise you to learn that the history of the bicycle doesn’t actually begin with the penny farthing. In 1817, Karl Drais discovered that he could align two wheels and create a vehicle that could be propelled by a man’s (and they were a gentlemen-only vehicle) feet, allowing him to travel up to 14 mph. The Draisine, nicknamed the “dandy horse,” came and went fairly quickly. In 1839, Scotsman Kirkpatrick Macmillan was the first to put pedals on the dandy horse, though he never patented his invention....

Nestled within the charm of Barcelona’s Park Güell is the Gaudí House, the crowning achievement of renowned architect Antoni Gaudí. Source: Fine Art America Located in Barcelona within the architectural Park Güell garden complex is the Gaudí House, the former home of world-renown Antoni Gaudí, a Spanish Catalan architect known for his uncompromising, zany and dramatic style featured most saliently in Barcelona’s Sagrada Família cathedral. The Gaudí House, which was home to the architect from 1906 to 1925, is now open to the public, giving tourists and locals a chance for an in-depth look into one of the well-known architect’s most intimate haunts....

Much of what we know about the Picts comes from the Romans, who praised the military prowess of these ancient Celtic people. Some 2,000 years ago, Scotland was home to a group of people known as the Picts. To the Romans who controlled much of Britain at the time, they were but mere savages, men who fought completely naked, armed with little more than a spear. But the Picts were fearsome warriors....

Check out these 11 strange news stories from the past year, like an accidental nine-hour LSD trip or a Spiderman-loving kid bringing heroin to school. While the news cycle in 2019 was no doubt filled with unprecedented political developments and scientific breakthroughs, it was also filled with some of the strangest stories we’ve seen. It was a year of investigations, scientific discoveries, political undoings, and wild tales. Sometimes news can get a bit overwhelming, especially when it’s dark and dreary....

Surgeons removed almost 11 pounds of metal coins from this green sea turtle’s stomach. Surgeons have successfully removed nearly 1,000 metal coins from inside “Piggy Bank,” a Thai green sea turtle with a tremendous bellyache. Tourists searching for good fortune fed the 25-year-old sea turtle 915 coins over the course of her life, chucking the money into the pool where she lives in Sri Racha, Thailand. Seven hours and a 4-inch incision later, veterinary surgeons removed 11 pounds worth of coins from inside Piggy Bank’s belly....

Discover the most surprising medieval knights facts that go beyond the swords and the armor to reveal the truths that most people don’t know. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: Santeria: 20 Fascinating Photos That Separate Fact From Fiction 44 Ancient Egypt Facts That Separate Myth From Truth Human Sacrifice In The Pre-Columbian Americas: Separating Fact From Fiction...

Over 7,000 artifacts have been found at the site, including a 4,000-year-old braid that DNA evidence shows belonged to a direct ancestor of the indigenous people who still live in this region. Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation/GuardianA mining company destroyed a 46,000-year-old rock shelter that was sacred to Australia’s Indigenous peoples. A 46,000-year-old cultural site significant to Australia’s indigenous people was destroyed by a mining company expanding its iron ore territory....

The baby rhino is emotionally scarred by the attack, and his cries for his mother are described as “a heart-wrenching sound and one that he should never have to make.” Care for WildArthur the rhino calf lies next to his dead mother’s body after he was found by park rangers at Kruger National Park in South Africa. Conservationists in South Africa’s Kruger National Park have captured heartbreaking images of a baby rhino, sprawled beside his dead mother’s body after she was killed by poachers....

Shoshana Ovitz survived Auschwitz, where her mother was handed to Dr. Josef Mengele and never seen again. Once liberated, she met the man who became her husband and started a new life in Israel. TwitterAbout 400 relatives traveled from all over the world to celebrate Ovitz’s 104th birthday. Nonetheless, about 10 percent of the family was missing. Holocaust survivor Shoshana Ovitz celebrated her 104th birthday at the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall) in Jerusalem last Wednesday....

Baba Vanga allegedly lost her eyesight in a tornado when she was a child, became clairvoyant in the process, then went on to predict everything from the death of Princess Diana to 9/11. TwitterBlinded as a girl, Baba Vanga allegedly developed a different kind of sight. For decades, a mystic named Baba Vanga doled out predictions from her rural Bulgarian village. She prophesized about politics, natural disasters, war, and even the end of the world....

Demonstrators nationwide took to the streets with the message that Pride has marginalized people of color. All across the country, hundreds of thousands of people spent Sunday dancing, parading, and partying in glitter-filled, rainbow-covered celebrations of LGBT pride. But in such a tense and divisive political landscape, not everyone was in a festive mood. Activists involved with the Black Lives Matter and No Justice No Pride movements protested the annual commemoration of the Gay Rights Movement this year, arguing that the LGBT community has not made enough of an effort to be inclusive toward people of color and that police involvement in the festivities made it an unsafe environment for minorities....

Police arrived to discover people praying over the dead child. A Lansing, Michigan couple has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for refusing medical treatment for their newborn daughter. The Lansing State Journal reports that the couple, 30-year-old Rachel Joy Piland, and her husband, 36-year-old Joshua Barry Piland were both aware of their child’s condition of jaundice. However, the mother still refused to seek medical assistance when a midwife explained that the condition could lead to brain damage or death....

Dutch Schultz was a wealthy gangster, known for having millions of dollars. Even after his death, people are still looking for the remnants of that wealth. Dutch Schultz, born Arthur Flegenheimer to German immigrant Jews in 1902, grew up in the slums of The Bronx. After his father left the family as a teenager, the impressionable young man turned his impoverished state into a life of crime as a professional gangster....

Source: Abby Norman, VStv Albert Einstein once said that if honey bees became extinct, human society would follow in just four years. While we cannot know if that prediction is true, it gets at a larger truth: bees do far more than make honey. Bees 101 When we think of bees, the honeybee is often the first–if not only–bee to come to mind. They’re just a drop in the bee bucket: at least 20,000 bee species are known to exist in the world, but the number is probably significantly higher as many bee species have not been described by entomologists....

From the unhinged crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer to the sickening murders of Jack the Ripper, read about some of the worst serial killers in human history. If cop shows and forensic dramas have taught us one thing, it’s that serial killers are a breed apart from other human beings. They’re the monsters that hide in the shadows, the diabolical predators lurking among normal people. But what exactly are such monsters capable of?...

Look back on some of the darkest years in American history with these twenty-four humbling Great Depression photos. Without a doubt, the Great Depression was one of the darkest, most catastrophic times the United States has endured. The decade-long depression “officially” began on October 29th, 1929, when the stock market crashed, causing the Gross Domestic Product to drop a whopping 15% worldwide. To put that into perspective, during the recession of the late 2000s, the world’s GDP dropped less than 1%....

Say what you will about democracy, at least we have the option to kick crazies like King Charles VI out of office via a vote. Unlike republics, which are theoretically run by popular consent, absolute monarchies are sanctioned by God, and you don’t get a vote. Since God never makes mistakes, that means monarchies usually don’t have a mechanism for removing bad kings the way republics do for bad presidents....