These Are The Facts About The Creepy Poem On Shakespeare's Grave
If there's one thing we know about Shakespeare, it's -- well, practically nothing. But there's plenty to talk about, including the poem on his grave.
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History Channel's Ridiculous Theory About Amelia Earhart's Disappearance
Through extensive advertisements and daytime talk show segments, the History Channel announced that they had finally solved the big one: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Boy were they wrong.
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What The Last Surviving Star Of Ben-Hur Is Doing Today
If anybody knows anything about Ben-Hur, it's chariot races. Even the film version feels pretty ancient. So it may not be a surprise that almost every cast member is no longer alive. Save for one.
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The True Story Of The Ancient Aztec Capital Of Tenochtitlan
The ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan is the source of a flood of fascinating history. Then again, it's also the source of many fascinating rumors and half-truths, thanks to repression after the Spanish conquest. This is the true story of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
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The Origin Of Demons In Christianity
Everybody's familiar with demons. Conceptually, they are more or less universal. But what are their origins in Christianity?
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The Truth About The Mysterious Toxic Lady
The life of a hospital Emergency Room staffer is never dull. And the unexpected can ratchet up the pressure even more. This was the experience of ER staffers at Riverside General Hospital one night in 1994. To this day, the mysterious Toxic Lady, Gloria Ramirez, still has not fully been explained.
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The Crazy True Story Of The Haitian Revolution
At the turn of the 19th century, slaves in the French colonies in Haiti pulled off an unprecedented feat.
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Why Travis Fimmel Didn't Return After Vikings Season 4
Vikings has been a truly massive success for the History Channel, and for the show's first four seasons, it was spearheaded by a larger-than-life main character.
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What Solomon Northup's 12 Years As A Slave Were Really Like
Solomon Northup's tale is unique because his account of slavery was from the lens of a free man. He was educated, married, and had children before he was stolen and forced into 12 years of cruel bondage. This is what Solomon Northup's 12 years as a slave were really like.
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The 1922 Riots That Were Started Because Of A Clothing Item
The year is 1922... don't get caught wearing this kind of hat.
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Here's How Much The President Of The United States Really Gets Paid
It's not the cherriest of gigs, running the free world. Still, the office is nice, and you get your own bowling alley. Maybe that's why children across the United States dream of the day when they'll grow up to be president.
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Here's How Abraham Lincoln Predicted His Own Death
Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865, an 1895 book which collects anecdotes from Ward Hill Lamon about his presidential friend, included one particularly odd note about a dream.
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The Real Reason People Used To Believe Griffins Existed
The griffin -- also gryphon (says Mythology), also grypes (says Theoi) -- traditionally is a blend of an eagle's front crafted onto the body of a lion. And it may have been based on a real animal.
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The Real Reason Thomas Edison's First Invention Failed
Recent history has not been kind to Thomas Edison. Once remembered as a titan of creative thought, today he's become more or less synonymous with the corrupt underpinnings of American industrialism and man's capacity to dash his rivals' dreams, or go to New Jersey and electrocute an elephant.
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The Real Reason So Many Women Have Been Accused Of Being Witches
Historically speaking, it's never been easy to convince Catholics and Protestants to agree on things. However, in the late 1400s, the two denominations put their differences aside and essentially started an interfaith book club.
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What Life Was Like For Viking Women
Vikings. The word conjures a host of images in popular imagination: brutal, burly savages wielding axes and howling their way through coastal raids, clad in equal parts dirt and animal skins, and sporting questionable hygiene. However, the Vikings were a far more nuanced society than many realize.
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This Is What The Ancient Romans Thought The World Looked Like
The Roman Empire at its height spanned all the way through the tip of modern day Scotland, down to encompass all of Europe, out to Russia and into Turkey, and along the northern African coast. But did the Romans have any idea what that empire actually looked like?
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Sea Serpents Might Actually Have Existed. Here's Why
Kraken. "Nessy," the Loch Ness Monster. Soe Orm from Scandinavia. The Great American Sea Serpent. That shark from Jaws. Ancient myths and modern stories of water-bound monsters abound in human consciousness and across cultures.
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The Truth About The Nazi Plot To Blow Up The Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam is exactly the sort of thing that a Bond villain would want to blow up. Enter the Nazis, the real-life Bond villains of the mid-20th century.
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Here's How The Founders Of Apple Actually Met
Steve Jobs first founded what would be one of the largest tech companies in 1976 with his business partner, Steve Wozniak. The two met on a chance occasion, and it's a good thing fate was in their favor, or we might not have had the iPhone, the MacBook, or the iPod.
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Mulan Might Actually Have Existed. Here's Why
Mùlán has served as inspiration in China for centuries, an example of self-sacrifice for the greater common good; of devotion to family; of bravery. Could she have actually existed?
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The Real Reason People Were Buried With Coins In Their Mouths
Long before people were tossing coins to ultra-buff witchers, they were placing them in the mouths of the dead. "Charon's Obol," as such coins have been dubbed, have been found in the graves of the once-living since the 5th century BCE, largely throughout Western European countries.
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The Unsolved Mystery Of Prince's Purple Rain
While certain bands are infamously secretive about their creations, pop legend Prince has typically been frank about the meaning behind his songs. Purple Rain is an exception.
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Here's How Alan Turing Helped Win World War II
It would be hyperbole to declare that mathematician Alan Turing saved England and won the war against the Axis in Europe during World War II. But there's no question the war would have had a very different outcome if Turing hadn't been there during the time Churchill called "the darkest hours."
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The Crazy True Story Behind Animal Magnetism
The year was 1774, and German physician Franz Anton Mesmer had done the impossible: he had cured Francisca Österlin's hysteria. Supposedly
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This Easter Egg Proves That Star Trek And Star Wars Take Place In The Same Universe
Too often in life, people are divided into socially reinforced groups, diametrically opposed to one another on principle. Jets versus Sharks. Montagues versus Capulets. Contemporary versus classical theater nerds. And, for a time, Star Wars fans were often pitted against Star Trek fans.
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The Truth About The Ancient Board Games You Never Knew About
One weird truth of ancient board games is that they offer a candid view into how people from a different age approached the game of life — like a quick 'n sneaky casual snapshot taken when the subjects weren't deliberately composing themselves to look good.
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