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“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but is somewhat beauty and poetry.” - Maria Mitchell Source: WordPress Maria Mitchell was America’s first recognized female astronomer Source: Canada.com Maria Mitchell is best known for her discovery of “Miss Mitchell’s Comet” in 1847. She was twenty-nine at the time, but that wasn’t her first contribution to the astronomical community. When we were learning one-variable equations, Maria Mitchell was calculating the exact times that an annular eclipse would occur....

Samuel Sabatino, known to authorities as the “Holiday Bandit,” is believed to have stolen $400,000 worth of jewelry and high-end watches. NYPDPretending he lived in the building usually worked well for Sabatino. When it didn’t, he’d simply feign confusion and apologize for walking into the wrong building. Samuel Sabatino seemed like just your everyday 82-year-old: plain clothing, big glasses, a nonchalant demeanor. What wasn’t clear until this Labor Day weekend was that he was the burglary suspect New York City police had been hunting for years....

After the girl was found walking along a rural road just after her escape, she led police back to her captor’s house — where he’d stashed the corpses of her family. Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s DepartmentJosé Pascual-Reyes is being charged with several counts of murder, kidnapping, and violating a corpse. Cruising along a rural roadway in Dadeville, Alabama on August 1, 2022, a driver noticed a young girl walking by herself. They picked her up and immediately called the police — then the 12-year-old led officers to a “horrendous” crime scene....

With 103 confirmed kills, Charles Benjamin Mawhinney holds the record for most enemies taken down by a sniper in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. United States Marine CorpsChuck Mawhinney in an undated photo taken during the Vietnam War. As one of the most prolific snipers of the Vietnam War, Chuck Mawhinney was a lethal sharpshooter who racked up the most confirmed kills in the history of the United States Marine Corps and the second-most confirmed kills of any American soldier in the country’s history....

Michael Valva’s eight-year-old son, Thomas, died after being forced to sleep in a garage with no heat in January 2020. Suffolk County Sheriff Michael Valva expressed remorse for his actions at his trial. In January 2020, former NYPD officer Michael Valva called 911 and reported that his son, Thomas, had fallen and hit his head. But after Thomas died, the horrifying truth came out. The 8-year-old had not fallen but had died after being forced to spend the night in a freezing garage at Valva’s Suffolk County, Long Island, home....

Dolores Hart was compared to Grace Kelly and starred opposite Elvis Presley, but she gave up fame at just 24 to live a monastic life as a nun, renouncing all earthly pleasures. It was 1963 and Dolores Hart had the world at her feet. As she nurtured a budding film career, a crowd of ardent admirers grew around her. All of Hart’s blessings were sustained by her fresh, all-American screen presence that blended Ann Margaret and Lauren Bacall....

If the prehistoric mastodon fossil hadn’t been found when it was, it might have dried out and crumbled. A teenager went looking for arrowheads on a friend’s farm in Iowa. Instead, he found the bones of a 34,000-year-old mastodon — an elephant cousin that went extinct 10,000 years ago. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the jaw bone, which measures 30 inches long, belonged to a juvenile mastodon — an elephant-like animal believed to have roamed Iowa tens of thousands of years ago....

From chain-smoking Santa to gifting guns, these vintage Christmas ads are so offensive, sexist and bizarre that it’s hard to believe they’re real. Source: Huffington Post Vintage advertisements offer a unadulterated look into the traditions and worldviews that people once believed. These vintage Christmas ads paint a picture of the past that’s not so politically correct. From constantly insinuating that women should be left working in the home to using children to sell lighters and guns, these ads wouldn’t fly today....

Despite opposition from farmers, Toledo residents voted to grant the Great Lake legal rights. Regular algae blooms had tainted the city’s drinking water. NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab/FlickrLake Erie has become the first natural resource to be granted the same legal rights as humans in U.S. history. For the first time in U.S. history, a natural resource was granted the same legal rights as humans. Voters in Toledo, Ohio recently cast ballots in favor of providing Lake Erie with rights that would allow citizens to sue polluters or any other harmful entities on behalf of the lake when its health is threatened, according to Vox....

Before the horrors of Jeffrey Dahmer came to light, Larry Eyler targeted vulnerable young homosexuals across the American Midwest. On August 3, 1978, a young man named Craig Long was stabbed in the chest. As paramedics patched him up, he told them how he’d been propositioned by the man with whom he’d hitchhiked, and when he’d refused, the man had gotten violent. Long had faked his death and crawled to a nearby farmhouse for help....

Mormonism’s relationship with polygamy is hard to shake — so just how did it all start, and why? As the United States teetered on the brink of civil war in 1856, the Republican Party panicked. At that year’s presidential convention, discussion centered largely on slavery and the crisis that would unfold if it continued to expand westward. But something else out west troubled convention goers — so much so that the party platform referred to it as one of the “twin relics of barbarism....

“Rome has been invaded by Gauls, Visigoths and vandals over the centuries. Now it’s facing a new menace: entire families of rubbish-greedy wild boars.” Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty ImagesThere are currently as many as 6,000 wild boars in the area in and around Rome. From sidewalks and storefronts to parks and playgrounds, wild boars have recently been wreaking havoc throughout the streets of Rome. Meanwhile, local authorities are scrambling to both put the minds of the citizens at ease and find a solution to the problem....

A no-bail bench warrant was issued for the parents after they failed to show up to a sentencing hearing. Two Washington parents are on the run from authorities after police found their 16-year-old son severely mistreated in their home, reports Q13 Fox. Last year, authorities found the boy after his parents sought medical advice. They claimed that their son hadn’t eaten in three weeks, and checked him into a local children’s hospital....

Rat Island may not have rats, but it does have a one-of-a-kind story. Wikimedia CommonsRat Island Rat Island is not, as the name might imply, some sort of stronghold for New York City’s infamously large population of rodents. In fact, there’s never been evidence of a single rat on the island at all. Despite its unsavory name, Rat Island actually holds the distinction of being the only privately-owned island in New York City today....

Not only did a secret formula allow Rosalia Lombardo to become one of Earth’s best-preserved mummies, but many even claim that she can open her eyes. Fabrizio Villa/Getty ImagesThe mummy of Rosalia Lombardo in the Capuchin Catacombs beneath Palermo, Sicily. In the depths of an obscure catacomb in Sicily, a young girl lies in a glass-topped casket. Her name is Rosalia Lombardo, and she died of pneumonia caused by the Spanish Flu just one week shy of her second birthday in 1920....

The ink contains a newly discovered type of blue pigment that researchers say is “in a class of its own.” Wikimedia CommonsNatural coloring extracts from plants were commonly used to dye clothing in the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, ink colors were naturally derived from plants. These naturally-colored inks fell out of style sometime around the 17th century when more vibrant mineral-based colors became available. Sadly, the knowledge needed to make many of those natural inks was also lost until now....

Many of history’s most important figures have suffered strange deaths that do not seem to befit their noble legacy. Weird Deaths In History: Harry Houdini Erik Weisz, known better by his stage name Harry Houdini, is remembered as one of the greatest magicians and escapists of all time. On October 31, 1926, Houdini was killed by a college student’s punch. The student had seen Houdini’s act where he received multiple blows to the torso without reacting and attempted to replicate the trick by viciously punching Houdini....

500-year-old skeleton with thigh-high leather boots unearthed, Einstein’s “God letter” sold at auction, Crusades-era gold coins uncovered. A 500-Year-Old Skeleton Wearing Thigh-High Leather Boots Was Unearthed In London MOLA Headland InfrastructureThe 500-year-old skeleton in thigh-high leather boots by thw river Thames. The skeleton of a man that is believed to date back 500 years was uncovered face-down in the mud by London’s river Thames. What’s remarkable about this particular discovery is that the skeleton was found wearing thigh-high leather boots that are nearly fully intact....

London’s swinging ’60s, stunning aquatic animals, vintage ’80s mall scenes, iconic Johnny Cash images, and powerful child labor photos. Hip Kids During London’s Swinging ’60s From Brigitte Bardot’s iconic beehive updo to style icon Mary Quant, many fashion trends and icons emerged from the 1960s, especially from the fashion scene of “Swinging London.” The post-World War II, youth-driven culture provided a fresh, modern approach to not only fashion, but also music and other areas as well....

From epic water fights in Thailand to a solemn Aztec ceremony in Mexico, people around the world mark the new year in many different ways. At the stroke of midnight at the end of each year, the world welcomes another loop around the Sun. Though the traditional champagne toast on December 31st is one way to celebrate, some countries ring in the new year on different dates — with celebrations that are totally unique to their culture....