What Life Was Really Like In A Medieval Castle
While there is some variety across the different medieval castles still standing, there's a lot of similarities, too. Here's what life was like in a castle.
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The Truth About One Of The Last People Living In An Iron Lung
For many of us, the idea that people had to use an iron lung to stay alive seems like such a long time ago.
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The Accidental Origin Of The Snow Globe
Surgical instruments mechanic Erwin Perzy of Vienna, Austria, was performing experiments in order to improve the brightness of then newly invented electric light bulbs. Shoemakers at the time used the trick of putting candles in front of glass globes of water in order to create a diffused spotlight.
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How Was Christmas Celebrated During The Spanish Flu Of 1918?
The holiday season of 2020 is missing many of its traditional gatherings and celebrations due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. This is not, however, the first time in history that the holidays have been interrupted by a widespread and very contagious disease.
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The Real Reason Blue Santa Suits Exist
Artists drew St. Nicholas, a bishop, wearing red and white because that's what bishops traditionally wore. Santa Claus illustrations drew from St. Nicholas.
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The Real Reason The Winchester Mystery House Was Built
Come into a tremendous fortune under no action of her own, and bearing not only the weight of the Winchester name, but the knowledge of how many deaths her money came from. Such was the dilemma faced by Sarah Winchester.
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All The Times Rasputin Should Have Died
It wasn't until after Rasputin seemed to improve the Tsar's son's hemophiliac condition that the country would embrace his reputation. He became a favorite in Tsar Nicholas II's court, until his personality turned certain important people against him.
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Nova Scotia Gives Boston A Christmas Tree Every Year. Here's Why
The Boston Common Christmas tree has been a gift from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia for 48 years. Per the Boston Globe, the gift is thanks for the assistance Boston offered to Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
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The Truth About World War II's 'One-Man Army Of Bataan'
And then there were those otherwise ordinary folks who single-handedly inflicted enormous numbers of casualties on the enemy.
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First Man To Break The Sound Barrier Passes Away
Chuck Yeager, the first person to ever travel faster than the speed of sound, has passed away at the age of 97.
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How The Widespread Killing Of Black Cats Led To The Black Death
It was even more common to blame animals for the spread of the disease, and 14th century Europeans became completely fixated on the wrong animal. Instead of trying to eradicate the disease-filled vermin that were ravaging the cities, some decided black cats were to blame for all their problems.
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The Messed Up True Story Of "A Dingo Got My Baby"
If there's one thing pop culture has taught us, it's that Australians are exceptionally concerned about dingoes eating their babies. Here is the true story.
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The Truth About The Ancient Tradition Of Chinese Footbinding
Women in ancient China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) up until the early 20th century, bound their feet as a means to attract better marriage prospects. This made their feet incredibly small, but it also meant their feet become gnarled, broken, and painful.
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How Life Would Be Different If The Great Depression Never Happened
Between 1929 and 1939, the entire industrialized world was caught in the grip of the biggest financial crisis in history -- the Great Depression. While the Great Depression was horrible for those who lived through it, the U.S. would look very different today if it hadn't happened.
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This Japanese Hall Featuring 1,001 Statues Is More Important Than You Think
The Japanese temple at Sanjūsangen-dō is home to 1,001 statues of the Kannon Bodhisattva, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. But this shrine holds more than just an impressive statuary; it's home to an important rite of passage.
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The Mysterious Organization Behind The Escape Of Nazi War Criminals
While it might seem pretty straightforward that after the end of WWII, the Nazi party needed to pay the price for their crimes, it didn't exactly work that way. Many fled Europe in the aftermath of the war and ended up in South America. How they got there is both bizarre and terrifying.
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The Tragic Truth About The Guinness Family Curse
The name Guinness is likely to conjure up images of the legendary Irish beer, but over the years, rumors emerged of a Guinness family curse.
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The Criminal Organization Behind The American Mafia
The birth of the American Mafia started when a handful of Sicilian immigrants landed in New York in the mid-1800s to escape their crimes.
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This Was The Unluckiest Neanderthal In History
The world of the Neanderthals was a near-endless winter and there were many ways to die, as the unluckiest Neanderthal in history once found out. Some deaths, and this still holds true today, are simply the result of an unfortunate circumstance. This was the unluckiest Neanderthal in history.
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The Untold Truth Of Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate achieved instant notoriety in March of 1997, when the discovery of 39 bodies sparked a media frenzy. This is the untold truth of Heaven's Gate.
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The History Of The National Christmas Tree Explained
For a century, the National Christmas Tree has been an institution in the USA's holiday celebration.
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The Untold Truth Of Mar-A-Lago
Mar-a-Lago is President Donald Trump's primary residence, a resort club for the extremely wealthy, and an estate with more history than you might expect.
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Here's How The Civil War Changed Christmas For America
Here's how the Civil War changed Christmas for America.
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Branding: The Truth About Cattle Logos
Long before the word "branding" was used to describe the click-boosting tactics of Instacelebs, it was used by cowherds to keep track of field-roaming cattle (a funny comparison, to be sure). And we mean "long before," as in pre-written language scrawled on cave walls thousands of years ago.
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Staffer Severely Injured At Carole Baskin's Big Cat Rescue
Alleged big cat "rescuer" Carole Baskin made news again when an employee at her Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary was attacked by a tiger in December 2020.
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The Messed Up Truth About The Palm Oil Industry
The story of palm oil is a story about the difficulty in backtracking from over-dependence, especially when entire nations' economies are at risk.
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The Truth About Eastern Europe's Terrifying Version Of Santa Claus
Frau Perchta's role in Christmas, though, has changed over the years. It turns out that she tends to be most active between Christmas and the Epiphany, so people believed she's more of a holiday thing. Frau Perchta preyed on lazy people year-'round before becoming a general threat against children.
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