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From the “vampire killer” to the “Nut Cases,” some people not only get the wrong ideas from fictional works, they then bring those ideas to life. ATI Composite Fiction offers its consumers a vehicle to other worlds — but what happens when people wish to bring elements from these worlds into the real world? The result is often harmless. Occasionally, however, individuals may commit a crime and cite a work of fiction as a motivating force behind their actions — think of the Slenderman murders, for example....

Of the 7,500 patients infected, 4,800 of them had the blood clotting disorder hemophilia and contracted hepatitis C or HIV. Youtube screengrabA family member of one of the late victims of the UK blood scandal. In 1985, then 23-year-old Derek Martindale, a severe hemophiliac, contracted HIV and hepatitis C from contaminated blood products issued by the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS). But his horrifying story is only one of 1,200 victims, many of whom were hemophiliacs like Martindale, that will be brought in front of a judge as investigations into the medical scandal commence....

Decades after Amelia Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, we still don’t know what happened to this trailblazing female pilot. When Amelia Earhart set off from Oakland, California, on March 17, 1937, in a Lockheed Electra 10E plane, it was with great fanfare. The trailblazing female pilot had already set several aviation records, and she was looking to set another by becoming the first woman to fly around the world....

It’s 180 feet long, more than 1,000 years old, and might just be one of the most striking finds in all of Mayan archaeology. Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and HistoryThe exterior of the 1,000-year-old Mayan palace recently found in the Mexican jungle. The Mayans built one of the most storied civilizations in history, with their remarkable architecture and craftsmanship remaining incredible to this day. And now, researchers have found one of the most stunning examples of that craftsmanship in recent memory....

Each March, the people of Valencia, Spain, set their city streets ablaze. In the lead up to Las Fallas, “the fires,” neighborhood teams spend months creating massive wooden and polystyrene sculptures whose raucous characters – some life-size, some 50-feet tall – look like a cross between My Little Ponies and the tortured souls of a Hieronymous Bosch painting. Once complete, the teams spend a few days marching their works through the streets like parade floats....

“I’ve never seen this. I’ve been in practice for almost 24 years and she was actually caked in ice, like those ice balls were caked on her all the way around her—360 degrees all the way around her.” Animal Clinic of Kalispell/FacebookFluffy in her frozen state before being thawed out. When temperatures dropped below zero and Fluffy the cat couldn’t make it indoors, it looked like she was a goner. But after her owners took the frozen feline to the vet, Fluffy was thawed out and got a second chance at life....

Take a photographic tour of the Harlem Renaissance, when Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and W.E.B. DuBois revitalized Black America. In the early twentieth century, Harlem was primed to become the hub of New York’s African American community. Abandoned by the white middle class in the late 1800s, the revitalized neighborhood was a safe haven for those escaping the south during the Great Migration, a destination for black immigrants, and a magnet for African American intellectuals....

What really happened to the Führer? These Hitler death conspiracy theories, from the plausible to the outlandish, claim to have the answers. Wikimedia Commons On May 1, 1945, with world war ii about to end, the Red Army was fighting its way into the central district of Berlin. Meanwhile, American and British forces were beginning the mammoth task of processing the thousands of German prisoners taken in the fighting in Nuremberg, where an entire SS division had made its last stand, and of cataloging the vast treasures they had captured there....

Hattie McDaniel believed she was making new opportunities for people of color in the industry, but civil rights activists criticized her for the stereotypical roles she accepted. In 1940s Hollywood, Hattie McDaniel had made history. She appeared in more than 300 films and starred in her own radio series, Beulah, and became the first black person ever to receive an Oscar. But McDaniel was also a controversial figure in her time and often on the receiving end of a series of criticisms for her participation in films that depicted racist caricatures of African Americans....

The all-female members of the Soviet’s 588th Night Bomber Regiment painted their planes with flowers and attacked Nazi forces across the Eastern Front. The women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces — better known as the Night Witches — had no radar, no machine guns, no radios, and no parachutes. All they had onboard was a map, a compass, rulers, stopwatches, flashlights, and pencils. Wikimedia CommonsMmbers of the Night Witches, all of whom became heroes of the Soviet Union....

At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet submarine commander Vasili Arkhipov had the power to decide whether or not World War III would begin. He chose wisely. Wikimedia CommonsVasili Arkhipov in 1960. With the United States and the Soviet Union on the brink of nuclear war, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the tensest moments in modern history. But at the peak of the crisis, one Soviet naval officer managed to keep a cool head and avert nuclear devastation....

The Mawé believe that any boy who wants to become a man must experience the worst pain the jungle has to offer and stick their arm inside the bullet ant glove. While many cultures have ceremonies to commemorate a boy’s entrance to manhood, none are quite like the unique practice of the Mawé. The Mawé believe that any boy who wants to become a man must experience the worst pain the jungle has to offer: the sting of Paraponera clavata, the bullet ant....

This screaming mummy was behind a murderous plot carried out over 3,000 years ago. G. Elliott Smith/Wikimedia Commons This mummy, frozen in an eternal scream, was the result of a murderous plot carried out over 3,000 years ago. When archaeologists first discovered the “Screaming Mummy” in June of 1886, they were perplexed. Entombed among the great pharaohs buried in the Deir El Bahri valley, like Rameses the Great, Seti I and Tuthmosis III, this mummy was held in a plain, undecorated cedar coffin that had been crudely hacked open to accommodate the corpse....

The transmissions were released to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allies’ victory in Europe. GCHQTranscripts of the Nazi messages are being digitized by the Bletchley Park Trust. As Allied troops drew nearer, on May 7, 1945, a Nazi military radio network sent out its final message before the war’s end: “Closing down for ever — all the best — goodbye.” The next day, the Allies declared victory against the surrendered Germans....

The Pink and White Terraces of New Zealand were buried in a volcanic eruption 130 years ago. Now, researchers think they’ve found them again. Charles Blomfield/Wikimedia CommonsPink and White Terraces of New Zealand (1886). The Pink and White Terraces were stunningly beautiful mineral formations that cascaded down the banks of Lake Rotomahana in New Zealand’s North Island. They were the pride of the country and a major tourist attraction for thousands of well-to-do people in Victorian times....

Rafael Caro Quintero was one of Mexico’s first and most powerful cartel leaders until he was suspected of orchestrating the brutal torture and murder of a DEA agent. Rafael Caro Quintero was considered the “Narco of Narcos.” The bloodthirsty drug lord thought he was untouchable, but he overstepped his bounds when he brutally murdered an American agent. Let out of jail on a technicality, the trafficker is still at large — and wanted by the FBI....

Ancient mummy unearthed in stunning condition, lost Da Vinci painting possibly uncovered, extinct gibbon found in ancient Chinese tomb. Accidentally-Preserved Russian Mummy Found In Stunning Condition After 2,000 Years The Siberian Times Archaeologists working near the Yenisei River in Siberia have found a 2,000-year-old Russian mummy so well-preserved that the soft tissues, skin, and clothing are still intact. And all this from remains that were only mummified accidentally. Learn more about how this mummification happened and what else the researchers found — including the funereal meal found in a pouch on her chest — at The Siberian Times....

The boy was hospitalized for eight weeks. It took an entire month for the child to be able to walk without assistance. PixabayTetanus cases in the United States had dropped by 95 percent since the 1940s. When a six-year-old Oregon boy injured his head while playing outside, his parents cleaned and stitched up the wound at home. The family assumed the danger had passed but since the child hadn’t been vaccinated, he contracted tetanus and nearly died....

The study proved what you’ve been worried about all along… your phone may connect you to the world, but it wont help you connect to your dinner date. Being on your smartphone during dinner could actually increase your boredom. A new study is confirming what your parents have told you all along – your smartphone has no place at the dinner table. The study, performed at the University of British Colombia, claims that while smartphones make people feel more connected, they’re detracting from the enjoyment of a dinner with friends....

This Higgins boat was used for amphibious landings and has a well-documented military history — but it remains unclear how it wound up at the bottom of Lake Shasta. U.S. Forest ServiceRoughly 23,000 Higgins boats were made during World War II, and many historians claim they changed the way that naval battles were fought. As many regions in the western United States face ongoing droughts, a number of objects that once lurked beneath the surfaces of lakes and rivers are revealing themselves to the world....