Why The Moon Is Drifting Away
The Moon is not actually quite as attached to us as you'd think. In fact, it's ever so slowly inching away from Earth, like a guest at an awful party tactically maneuvering toward the exit.
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The Cabbage Farmer Who Became Emperor Of China
Zhu took on the name Hongwu and claimed he had the divine right to rule, becoming an absolute monarch. Wary of losing his throne to violence -- after all, he took it by violence -- he stamped down rebellions and even established secret police.
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The Mystery Of The Klerksdorp Spheres
They're classified as pyrophyllites, a layered silicate formed by hydrothermal alteration (i.e., they dried out). Despite their names, they're not, in fact, spheres, but somewhat flat, oval, and some have three parallel lines across their length. The kicker? They're about 3 billion years old.
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Here's How Neanderthals Differed From Homo Sapiens
You might have some Neanderthal DNA of your very own. Think of them as cousins. Just like you and your cousins, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had some key differences.
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The Japanese Swordsman Who Turned Into An Artist
This legendary swordsman, like all samurai, began his training when he was a wee one, and he wasn't much bigger when he attained his first victory. As The Karate Lifestyle relates, Musashi fought his first sword duel at the age of 13, defeating a fully trained, adult samurai in single combat.
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The Truth About The Invention Of Time Zones
Think of a sundial, which catches the light and deploys a shadow to tell the viewer what time it was. In practical terms, this meant each village operated under its own solar time, because their relative position to the sun was unique, which in turn produces an individualized time.
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What You Need To Know About The Milgram Experiment
Milgram believed his experiment proved that ordinary people, when directed by an authority figure, would behave in ways that ran counter to their own moral or ethical beliefs. In October 1963, he published his findings in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
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The U.S. Race Riots History Forgot
The United States has had a long, sad history of racial violence, and shockingly, few of these incidents are widely remembered. There are the U.S. race riots history forgot.
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The Mystery Of The Etruscans
One of the most advanced civilizations outside of Greece is also one of the most mysterious. The Etruscans lived in Italy, in what is now Tuscany, but researchers are only now starting to piece their history together.
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What You Don't Know About Mark Twain's Famous Friendships
Writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, was called "the Dean of American literature" and "the greatest American humorist of his age" and his books are still widely read today. Here's a look at some of his famous friendships.
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The Surprising Original Purpose Of Heroin
Heroin is now considered to be a dangerous drug that is extremely addictive. However, this wasn't always the case.
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The Truth About The Wild West Vigilantes Who Wore Horned Masks
Such was the case with the amazingly comically named Bald Knobbers, a band of vigilante costume-wearers who, as cited by Legends of America, prowled southwest Missouri in the years following the Civil War, taking the law into their own hands.
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Why Albert Einstein Turned Down The Presidency Of Israel
A country once wanted to make him its president, simply for being Albert Einstein. The country in question was the newly-founded Israel, and when their first president, Chaim Weizman, died in 1952, the country promptly reached out to the Jewish Einstein and offered him the presidency.
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The True Story Of The Norwegian King Who Stood Up To Hitler
King Haakon told his cabinet that, if they disagreed with his decision, he would not stand in their way. If they gave in to the Germans, however, he would have no choice but to abdicate the throne, according to the Royal House of Norway. The government unanimously took his side.
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The Secret Hiding Inside The Rock Of Gibraltar
This politically important island hides more than you can imagine. Inside the Rock of Gibraltar lies a maze of tunnels. Tunnels that became of great importance for the British during World War II and marked the Rock, as it's sometimes called, as a staging area for troops.
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The Real Reason They Stopped Putting Missing Kids On Milk Cartons
Patz's widely publicized disappearance made media headlines and grabbed the nation's attention. Concerned parents began pushing for a nationwide system to track missing kids, eventually forming the Missing Children Milk Carton Program in 1984. The program was soon adopted nationwide.
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What Life Was Like For Women In Ancient Mali
Regarding the role of women in ancient Mali, there is, unfortunately, very little firsthand information. Much can be inferred, and insight comes from Ibn Battuta, who, according to Britannica, was a traveler and author of the medieval Muslim world who traveled 120,000 kilometers during his life.
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The Weirdest Deaths From Ancient History
From domestic life to war, from private passions to public performance, the lives of ancient people have suddenly ended in the most unexpected ways. Here are some of the weirdest deaths from ancient history.
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The Crazy Real-Life Story Of History's Most Prolific Female Murderer
Countess Elizabeth Báthory was accused of murdering over 600 young women, which earned her the title of the most prolific female serial killer of all time.
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The Story Of The Bell That Was Rung At The End Of WW2
You could only imagine the excitement the people felt in 1945 when newspapers printed that fateful headline: "The War is Over." When the bell signaling the end of the war was rung, it was rung hard.
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This Is The Oldest Building In The US
According to Oldest.org, Taos Pueblo is the oldest still-standing structure in the United States, with an estimated build date of sometime within 1000 CE and 1450 CE. The Pueblo is made up of a series of homes and ceremonial buildings built from adobe, a material composed of earth, water, and straw.
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The Worst Thing FDR Ever Did As President
Despite his legacy for legislating the New Deal that enabled America's prosperity post the Second World War, Franklin Delano Roosevelt also signed the order that allowed for the internment of Japanese Americans, as well as German and Italian Americans, during the war.
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The Truth About Winston Churchill's Legendary Cigar Habit
It seems as if Winston Churchill wouldn't be caught dead without a cigar.
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The Legend Of The Mythical City Of Gold Explained
The legend of a mythical city of gold originated when 16th-century conquistadors first encountered Central and South America. Inspired by the gold-centered rituals of the Colombian Muisca people, Francisco Pizarro, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Lope de Aguirre all searched for El Dorado, the city of gold.
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What You Didn't Know About Che Guevara
Guerrilla leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has a remarkable legacy: many people look at his face and can remember who he was or simply celebrate his life with memorabilia or T-shirts that feature him. However, there are dark secrets about him that aren't as well-known or spoken about.
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The Adventures Of Dr. Livingstone Explained
Famed Scottish explorer David Livingstone a complex man who left an outsized mark on history. These are the adventures of Dr. Livingstone explained.
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Marriages That Changed The Course Of History
Marriages sometimes change more than lives. They change history. They might have started out as love affairs, political alliances, or arrangements, but they all had a major impact on the world. Here are some marriages that changed the course of history.
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