From cannibalistic snakes to sexually frustrated dolphins, here are the animal news stories that caught your attention the most in the past year. Facebook/Reptile HunterA king cobra and python in the aftermath of their lethal battle. This year has seen its share of depressing news — so much so that it’s become difficult to even pay attention to the news at the risk of exposing yourself to yet another devastating headline....
Hours after the meteorite crashed near the remote Peruvian village in 2007, hundreds of people began reporting unexplained symptoms. Naturkundemuseum BerlinThe Carancas meteorite crater several weeks after impact. The Carancas meteorite has puzzled space experts ever since it first landed in the high alps of Peru in 2007. How the meteorite was able to reach Earth without burning up and the mass illness that inexplicably swept a nearby village afterward both remain mysteries over a decade later....
A new analysis suggests that more and more money accumulates in fewer and fewer hands. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The incredible chasm between the top one percent of the world’s wealth-holders and everybody else is widening so quickly that, in the past six months alone, the number of people who hold the equivalent of half world population’s wealth has shrunk from eight, to six, to five....
Donald Trump is officially the president-elect of the United States. And politics aside, many pundits are thoroughly surprised that it happened. The New York Times, as recently as the day of the election, placed Trump’s chances of winning at just 15 percent. Even GOP insiders yesterday stated on the record that they believed that Hillary Clinton would win. So, how did this happen? And, perhaps even more intriguingly, what might have happened if Trump had faced Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton?...
The devastating story of John Edward Jones, trapped for more than a day inside Nutty Putty Cave before dying there in 2009. John Edward Jones loved spelunking with this family. His father frequently took him and his brother, Josh, on caving expeditions in Utah when they were kids. The boys learned to love the underground depths and their dark beauty. Jones family via Deseret NewsJohn Edward Jones, the man who died inside Nutty Putty Cave in 2009....
These interesting facts about William Shakespeare will change everything you thought you knew about the infamous bard. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 1 of 28His parents were illiterate. Nevertheless, Shakespeare apparently learned how to read and write just fine. Wikimedia Commons 2 of 28He was a tax evader and illegal food hoarder. He was prosecuted for amassing food and selling it at inflated prices to his neighbors and tradesmen during food shortages of late 16th and early 17th century....
The 118 silver coins were found buried in a farmer’s field in the Polish town of Biskupiec, and are believed to have been connected to the Siege of Paris in 845 A.D. Museum of OstródaNo markings specify where the coins were minted, but it’s clear by the Latin inscriptions and cross in the center they hail from the Carolingian Empire. Archaeologists in the Polish town of Biskupiec have just uncovered 118 silver coins from the ninth century....
Andy Carter spent the last 20 years scanning British soil for treasure. And on a cloudy October day in 2019, he quite literally struck gold — and found one of only five leopard coins known to exist. Dix Noonan WebbThis leopard coin from 1344 A.D. was worth three shillings at the time. A metal detectorist named Andy Carter of Norfolk, England has unearthed a 14th-century leopard coin expected to fetch nearly $200,000 at auction....
Though it may seem like these people have nothing in common, here are a few famous figures you had no idea were related to each other. Occasionally, people surprise you. Take these historical figures for example. Though some of them seem like they could never be more different, it may surprise you that former President Bush and former President Obama have something in common. And, it may surprise you, that a famous actress and an Italian dictator have a lot in common — certain family members, for instance....
July Fourth may be the day Americans celebrate their independence, but this cherished national holiday is plagued by misconceptions. Tetra Images/Getty July Fourth is a day for cookouts, pool parties, and patriotism. Though Americans also take this day to appreciate their country’s history, that very history is replete with stubborn, longstanding myths. And when you debunk those myths — especially the four below — you realize that we’ve long been celebrating Independence Day all wrong....
Some of history’s most fiery “revolutionaries” were anything but, and some of them even seem to have been working the opposing side. Revolutionaries fire the popular imagination, filling people with a wild hope. Indeed, many of these figures have left behind a legacy cherished by millions today who dream of a better future, or at the very least imagine that the life of a revolutionary is more exciting and romantic than the one they’re living now....
Few places are as bizarre and spectacular as Cappadocia, Turkey. This ancient land was once a thriving underground community of people who lived in caves. Source: Photofreak.us If visiting Cappadocia, Turkey isn’t on your bucket list, it should be. Here, history and nature collide in a landscape covered by natural columns and pinnacles that poke more than one hundred feet into the air. This bizarre yet beautiful landscape offers something for everyone, from spectacular hot air balloon flights to prehistoric caves to well-preserved Byzantine art....
A local man found Elizabeth Stride’s body so soon after the murder that he suspected Jack the Ripper was still hiding there in the pitch-black backyard with him. By the end of September 1888, London’s so-called Autumn of Terror had reached its peak. People inside and outside of the poverty-stricken Whitechapel neighborhood were frozen with fear, looking around every street corner for the monstrous Jack the Ripper. Illustrated Police NewsElizabeth Stride’s murder by the notorious Jack the Ripper was well-reported to the horror of Whitechapel’s citizens....
General Tom Thumb, the 25-inch man, became P.T. Barnum’s most popular attraction with his unparalleled charisma and charm. Wellcome Library, London/Wikimedia CommonsTom Thumb in 1844 at the age of six. General Tom Thumb brought unparalleled joy to at least 50 million people in his lifetime. The man, once known as Charles Stratton, rarely knew a life away from the stage thanks to P.T. Barnum’s combination of shrewd marketing and timely performances....
Born out of England’s need to quickly rebuild after World War II, Brutalist architecture is characterized by its divisive use of raw concrete and clunky design. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 33 Stunning Photos Of Old Penn Station, Once An Architectural Marvel Before It Was Demolished Old New York Before The Skyscrapers In 39 Vintage Photos...
In 1917, Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by the French for working with the Germans. But her apparent role as a double agent remains unclear to this day. Many have heard of Mata Hari, the famous exotic dancer who supposedly became a lethal wartime spy. But few know exactly which parts of her fascinating story are fact and which parts are fiction. What we do know is that Hari was well-traveled and fluent in several different languages....
On April Fools’ Day 1957, BBC viewers watched a program about a “spaghetti tree” in Switzerland, and many were so convinced it was real that they wanted to grow their own. Wikimedia CommonsA colorized still from the BBC’s infamous 1957 “spaghetti tree” broadcast. In 1957, the BBC pulled off what is arguably one of the greatest April Fools’ joke of all time. The “spaghetti tree” hoax was so good and so believable, in fact, that even BBC staff members were convinced, and had to research the topic to confirm that it was a hoax....
In the 1960s, the Dixie Mafia emerged as a loose confederation of crooks and con artists based in Biloxi, Mississippi. But years later, it became a terrifying criminal organization. Often described as the “Cornbread Cosa Nostra,” the Dixie Mafia first emerged in the American South in the 1960s. Unlike the traditional Mafia, this group was not united by ethnic heritage and had no known hierarchy or oath. Instead, the Dixie Mafia was a rag-tag band of crooks — who were willing to do just about any crime if there was money involved....
On Nov. 3, 2016, police discovered 30-year-old Kala Brown chained inside a shipping container on the property of successful South Carolina realtor Todd Kohlhepp. She’d gone missing along with her boyfriend, Charlie Carver, more than two months prior, and investigators had been working hard to determine what could have possibly happened to them. Detectives eventually determined that Brown and Carver had been planning to do some work on Kohlhepp’s land the day they disappeared....
Much of what is known about Khutulun comes from the written historical accounts of Marco Polo and the Persian historian Rashad al-Din. Wikimedia CommonsKhutulun wrestling a suitor. Khutulun, the only daughter of Kaidu, and the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, was a Mongolian princess and feared warrior. Kaidu ruled over the Changatai Khanate in Xinjiang and Central Asia, and Khutulun was his favorite child. Her physical strength and skill in archery, horseback riding, and warfare made her the ideal right-hand companion during battle....
