Mao Zedong: The Communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China. The man who dragged "The Middle Kingdom" kicking and screaming into his particular brand of The Future, which involved plenty of actual kicking and screaming. This the messed up truth of Mao Zedong.
Read MorePoison has had a major impact on history. It's taken out world leaders, caused massive casualties, and changed government policies. From ancient Rome to 1980s Chicago, here are the most extreme poisoning cases in history.
Read MorePer a 2017 report by Forbes, an estimated five million cubic miles of ice blanket the planet. If it all melted, the sea level would elevate by 216 feet. Here's what that would look like.
Read MoreImagine what walking through Ellis Island must have been like—a chaotic hustle and bustle of people feeling equal parts fear and hope, the chatter in different languages. But it didn't always look like that: Ellis Island has changed a lot over the years. This is the bizarre history of Ellis Island.
Read MoreThomas Edison is one of the most prolific inventors who ever lived, if not the most prolific one. But how much did this prolific entrepreneur and inventor make over his lifetime?
Read MoreMt. Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 AD, wiping out the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii as it spilled an estimated 1.5 million tons of volcano bits into the air per second. Apparently, it also turned one man's brain into glass.
Read MoreThe Bible describes a variety of fantastical creatures, including dragons and a seven-headed beast, so it would be weird if ghosts got snubbed from the good book. But what does the Bible say about them?
Read MoreComedy fans across the world are mourning the death of Monty Python star Terry Jones, who CNN reports passed away on January 21st, 2020 at age 77.
Read MoreScientists at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub have observed a new form of inherited biological adaptation rooted not in DNA, but in the molecules attached to its surface. Now we'll explain what that means.
Read MoreRecently published scientific findings indicating that a newly discovered part of the immune system has the potential to treat all forms of cancer.
Read MoreThere are some things that could potentially happen in the next decade that would thrust humans into uncharted territory. Climate change is probably the biggest example.There are other things looming on the horizon, though. These are the scariest predictions that may come true in the next decade.
Read MoreBiopics are based on a true story, but they're rarely (if ever) entirely a true story. Screenwriters and filmmakers have to take a life story and juice it up. They just can't let facts get in the way of telling a good story. Here are the biggest lies these biopics told you in the past decade.
Read MoreLike some three-second Rick and Morty background sight gag or the idea for a Weather Girls parody that an 8-year old would send to Weird Al after eating too many Lucky Charms ... for the first time in history, it's gonna start raining iguanas.
Read MoreGet ready, kids and parents: there's a new dinosaur name to memorize! It has often been speculated that a great deal of dragon mythology was originally inspired by dinosaur bones, so it's only fitting that a new species discovered in China has been named Wulong bohaiensis, or "the dancing dragon."
Read MoreThe Lewis and Clark expedition! A perilous journey! The road was long, the terrain was treacherous. How many of the men on the Lewis and Clark expedition lost their lives so that we, generations later, would have a passable idea of the shape of Montana?
Read MoreYou've seen chocolate labs and butterscotch beagles, grey hounds and golden doodle breeds ... but what about a lime-green German Shepherd? While it may sound like an ASPCA and Marvel mashup, it's a real thing, and it just happened to German Shepherd owner Shana Stamey.
Read MoreAlejandrina Guzman Salazar, the daughter of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, decided to go an unexpected route -- even less expected than the underground tunnel El Chapo used to escape from a Mexican prison. Instead of selling El Chapo Coke, she's pushing for approval to sell beer.
Read MoreThe lights are up. The studio audience has taken their seats. Who's ready for another round of "Guess which beloved corner of your childhood is steeped in thick, syrupy racism?" Today, we turn our loving gaze to L. Frank Baum, the creator of the magical land of Oz.
Read MoreIn a classic case of "your scientists were so busy wondering if they could, they didn't bother to ask if they should," Spotify has released a number of playlists and podcasts for dogs who are left alone at home all day.
Read MoreConsider the belly button. It's one of your torso's defining features, but what do you really know about it?
Read More"Portrait of a Lady," by Gustav Klimt, features a brown-haired woman against a green background. Her face is a graceful contradiction, almost dead-eyed yet expressive. But it vanished in February 1997. That is, until the lady turned up nearly 23 years later.
Read MoreThere are two kinds of people in the world: those who lick the Cheeto dust from their fingers, and those who coat the underside of their gaming chairs in hues of vaporized safety cone orange. But Cheetos wants you to know: that fine mist of flavor has a name, and it's Cheetle.
Read MoreMoney might be the last thing one associates with a laid back Rastafari musician, but then again, Marley very much was a global superstar. So, out of academic curiosity, let's ask: How much was Bob Marley worth when he died?
Read MoreMarina Chapman, by her own account, has had a roller coaster of a life. Hers is the sort of story that one might point a cynical finger towards -- a tale of a woman that really was raised by capuchin monkeys.
Read MoreA Super Bowl halftime is more than double the length of a regular-season halftime, which lasts about 12 minutes. That must feel like an eternity for the teams in the locker room waiting to to complete their date with destiny. What do they do with all that extra time?
Read MoreGosh, wouldn't it be nifty if modern people created better, more environmentally conscious concrete without having to rip off the ancient Romans? A group of Colorado researchers seem to think so. In fact, they created concrete so green that it's actually alive.
Read MoreAs we all know, a fish is pretty much useless if you can't ride it on the freeway. If you, like many of us, can't feel alive without the adrenaline rush that comes from watching fish go real fast, we've got great news for you. We've tracked down the fastest fish in the world.
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