An atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, instantly killing 80,000 people, and days later on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. Thousands would die from radiation sickness. But that's just the beginning. Here's why the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were worse than you thought.
Read MoreAndy Kaufman was a true original, and there has never been anyone else like him. While Kaufman's life ended in tragedy, the stories he created on the way there are unforgettable.
Read MoreIf you take a moment to look around you in the short period of relative comfort before takeoff and after landing at an airport, you might notice a peculiar thing: The entire gate area is carpeted. Here's why.
Read MoreIt is an unfortunate fact that financial woes can come to any of us, no matter our level of success or our adamant stance on the subject of whether or not we can be touched. M.C. Hammer, born Stanley Kirk Burrell, came into money hard and fast when he released Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em in 1990.
Read MoreIt was not too many years ago when virtual assistants seemed like the stuff of science fiction, but today, many of us don't think twice of interacting with disembodied voices called Siri and Alexa. But hey -- how come they're all female?
Read MoreOdds are, Jeff Bezos has more money than anybody else on the block. Pick a block. Any block. The question arises, however: Just how much money will he have in the future?
Read MoreIt's been the better part of half a century since Antiques Roadshow took to the airwaves in its original British format. Yes, Antiques Roadshow started out as a BBC production. It's a show about people complimenting other people's musky possessions in moderate tones. This shouldn't be a shock.
Read MoreLack of scientific evidence aside a few folks are quite convinced that they are sharing their special quarantine time with a ghost. Perhaps more than one.
Read MoreAmong the more intriguing elements of Jet Li's personal life was his decision to renounce his American citizenship and jet off to new lands. What country could possibly propel Jet Li to just leave?
Read MoreHenry VII, the Tudor monarch who gave us Henry VIII and all of the drama and spectacle attached thereunto, is among the monarchs whose mortal remains grace the interior of Westminster. What about his son, the VII?
Read MoreKISS: a thing you shouldn't do all night or every day with strangers when faced with a highly contagious virus. And as of May, it's also a legendary band you won't catch playing on a cruise ship until at least 2021.
Read MoreFear Factor was basically about what kind of horrifying things contestants would actually try. Some people went above and beyond, and participated in some truly horrible challenges. Some did stuff you would say "no way" to, and we salute them. These are the absolute worst challenges on Fear Factor.
Read MoreIn 1540, Henry VIII gave his primary advisor, Thomas Cromwell, the axe. Well, technically the executioner gave him the axe, but the point still holds. Citing a dubious "contemporary" source, Arthur Galton describes an "ungodly" affair in which the executioner hacked at Cromwell's neck for ...
Read MoreCats bring joy to many, but if you're one of those allergic to them, it can feel like you're missing out. Don't worry, though, there are some cat breeds that won't always trigger sneezing fits.
Read MoreIn the film Bohemian Rhapsody, Jim Hutton is portrayed as romantic Yoda who, in many ways, fixes the troubled rock star. The reality of Jim and Freddie's time together was a lot less cinematic.
Read MoreBill Gates is one of those modern-day legends. Love him or not, admire him or not, the guy has an impressive string of accomplishments on his resume, going back to high school ... including a nice mugshot.
Read MoreFor most people, a tsunami isn't a near-death experience — it's an uncheatable death. Tsunami researcher and forecaster Vasily Titov called it the reverse of an earthquake in terms of casualties, because it's such a difficult disaster to survive.
Read MoreIt's been more than fifty years since the residents of Bethel, New York were outnumbered 200 to 1 by a hoard of 400,000 hippies. Final tally: only two dead. Not bad. Carlos Santana remembers it vividly.
Read MoreThe old joke is, "Where does a 500-pound gorilla sit?" And the answer is, "Anywhere he wants!" So, what kind of car does one of the world's richest men drive? Anything he wants. And what he wants, historically, is ...
Read MoreIf the X-Men say it's cool, and if Mr. SpaceX/Tesla Motors himself, Elon Musk, says it's cool, then it has to be very cool indeed. And indeed it is: It's the SR-71, sometimes referred to as the Blackbird, adapted (quite radically) for toting mutants to battle evil on behalf of all of us.
Read MoreWatches complete a wardrobe, and make a statement. The Swiss brand Patek Philippe, for instance, has been around for decades, is highly regarded, and has made some of the costliest watches ever sold.
Read MoreIn a 2008 piece written for Esquire, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained his interest in manned interstellar travel by laying out some of the most likely threats to the human race. And do you know what else would be pretty bad? A Friday without boozy creations like Jello shots.
Read MoreMary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England are forever bound in history -- especially because the Queen of England ordered her rival's death. What makes their relationship intriguing is that they never even met.
Read MoreHenry VIII is best remembered for one pastime: finding new ways to call mulligan on his panoply of marriages. His last wife was Catherine Parr, who came within spitting distance of being another notch on the king's beheading stump. This is the reason Henry VIII nearly executed Catherine Parr.
Read MoreBaby Jessica became famous on October 14th, 1987. The world got its first taste of binge-worthy cable news child endangerment when 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a 22-foot well in Midland, Texas and stayed there for 58 hours. She was eventually rescued. So whatever happened to Baby Jessica?
Read MoreFrom Jim Morrison's early days as a star in the making to his wild partying antics and ultimate, untimely demise, the singer unashamedly lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle until the very end. Unfortunately, this was not necessarily a good thing. This is the troubled history of Jim Morrison.
Read MoreOn May 10th, 2020, CNN reported that "Blue dragons are washing up on the Padre Island National Seashore." "Here be dragons -- literally," they opened, and it became clear that one of two things was happening...
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