What It Was Really Like Being A Rat Catcher
Besides such a lovely pedigree, Victorian England was also home to some of the most disgusting lines of work possible -- including being a "rat catcher."
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Why Sylvester Stallone Turned Down A Star Wars Role
If the stars had aligned slightly differently, the muscle-bedecked action star would have portrayed one of most important roles in the franchise. But, in the end, he joined the ranks of other "almost" Star Wars stars, which in turn kept the franchise from becoming something akin to Judge Dredd.
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The Highest Falls That People Have Survived
Falling from any great height is terrifying. The feeling of plummeting toward earth in free-fall, sure, some people love it, but not others. So, what's the farthest someone's fallen, without the safety of a parachute, and lived to tell about? These are the highest falls that people have survived.
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There's Proof That An Iceberg May Not Have Sunk The Titanic
The sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912 is remembered more than a century later as one of the biggest disasters in history: the hubris of the vessel nick-named "The Unsinkable" burst by a collision with an iceberg, and the deaths of 1,496 people on board. But there's more to the story.
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The Truth About The Mormon Handcart Tragedy
We're all taught the details of the Donner Party,: the California-bound pioneers who ended up eating each other along the way. But few are aware of an even bigger tragedy, the Mormon Handcart Tragedy, in the westward migration of the devotees of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
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The Shady Side Of Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is one of the most famous inventors in history, after all, he created the lightbulb. But as brilliant Edison is, he was also a man after fame and glory.
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The Myth Of The Whipping Boy Explained
You're a Renaissance-era European child who happens to be friends with a prince. You get educated alongside the prince, and the two of you form a close bond. But when the prince disobeys the rules, your instructor proceeds to punish you — not the prince — by beating or even whipping.
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The Incredible Story Of Otzi The Iceman
Ice mummies are rare. Only a few of them have ever been discovered. The conditions have to be perfect. Such was the case for Otzi, the Iceman.
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The Messed Up History Of The Kent State Massacre
The Kent State massacre was the killing of four and wounding of nine students at Kent State in Ohio on May 4, 1970 by National Guardsmen. Student protests had emerged on campus over conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Ohio National Guard shot unarmed students in the process.
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Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down A Star Wars Role
Leonardo DiCaprio: owner of Hollywood's most increasingly wizened boy face, as well as non-hirsute dad bod role model for the rest of us. And, of course, he's also a world-renowned, award-winning actor who finally garnered his first Oscar in 2016 for being mauled by a bear.
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The Truth About Who Actually Created The Guillotine
One of the most iconic execution methods in history would have to be the guillotine. The guillotine was famously used in France during the Revolutionary period, and continued to be used to execute criminals in that country until 1977. This is the truth about who actually created the guillotine.
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The Grim Story Behind The Attica Prison Uprising
On September 9, 1971, inmates seized and took control of the maximum security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York. They had demands and hostages, but within a few days, dozens of prisoners and hostages would be dead. This is the grim story behind the Attica prison uprising.
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The Rise And Fall Of The Hindenburg
The era of zeppelins coming into their own as a luxurious and coveted form of air travel came to an end on May 6, 1937 when the Hindenburg burst into flames during its landing in Lakehurst, New Jersey. But the reasons it happened are pretty shocking. This is the rise and fall of the Hindenburg.
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Inside The First Sighting Of The Black Knight Satellite
it wasn't until 1923 that he would come forward to claim, in an interview with the Albany Telegram, "I have a deep conviction that highly intelligent beings exist on Mars." He recounted his story of developing a "wireless receiver of extraordinary sensitiveness."
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The Ugly Truth About The Stanford Prison Experiment
What started out as a rather interesting, if extreme, LARP transformed into an horrific display of humiliation, brutality, and subservience. What was originally planned to be a two-week study was cut short at six days.
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The 10th Century English Warrior Queen Who Crushed The Vikings
England has many famous queens, from its reigning monarch Elizabeth II, to Gloriana herself, Elizabeth I, to Victoria, the grandmother of Europe. But we don't often talk about the queen of ancient times who ruled England and fought back Viking invaders.
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The Surprising Truth About The World's Deepest Sinkhole
Some sinkholes, such as those in Guatemala City, caved in after a week of strange sounds and left the landscape pockmarked with holes. One sinkhole, however, is so huge and stunning that it looks like a portal into another world, hewn into a mountainside.
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The Surprising Thing Norman Reedus Keeps In His Freezer From The Walking Dead
Reedus has a thing for collecting hair as keepsakes. Maybe not from every show or movie he's worked on, but we know he has more than one person's hair from The Walking Dead. We also know he's a bit of a weird dude.
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The Truth About The First President To Be Impeached
Andrew Johnson was Abraham Lincoln's vice-president and assumed the United States presidency after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln on April 15, 1865. Less than three years later, Johnson was facing impeachment. Here's the truth about the first president to be impeached.
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The Untold Story Of Typhoid Mary
It's a story where one person's individual actions endangered thousands of lives and how personal freedom fought against the public's health. Typhoid Mary is the subject of many ethical debates and is the original case study for the asymptomatic spread of disease.
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The Mysterious Truth About Queen Nefertiti
One of the more fascinating things about Nefertiti is the mystery of what happened to her. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, Nefertiti disappeared from historical records despite her years as one of Egypt's most important women.
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The Truth About Al Capone's Brother James
Born Vincenzo Capone, Al's oldest brother took on the American name James after the family immigrated to New York and settled in Brooklyn. The Capone brother who took the side of law and order would go on to garner fame for his own daring exploits.
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The Real Reason Jerry Lewis Stopped Working With Dean Martin
Although they were both sad to see it happen, Martin and Lewis knew that, in Jerry's words, "there was no getting around it: The time had come to call it a day."
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Inside The Final Days Of Russia's Last Czar
Emperor Alexander III, Nicholas's father, had died at age 49 of kidney disease, says Biography, but apparently had not taken the time (or made the effort) to teach his son a thing or two about governance. Or, at least, how not to upset your entire country to the point of rebellion.
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What You Don't Know About Helen Keller's Famous Friendships
To better understand Helen Keller's fascinating story, it can be helpful to look at the people she chose to befriend. From inventors to authors to actors, Keller was buddies with many unique individuals over her 87-year lifespan. Here's what you don't know about Helen Keller's famous friendships.
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How Gigantic Ships Ended Up In The Middle Of The Uzbekistan Desert
Wanderers in the Aralkum Desert, a stretch of sand between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, may find themselves stumbling upon a strange sight: the rusted corpses of boats strewn far away from any apparent sea. But why? Here's how gigantic ships ended up in the middle of the Uzbekistan desert.
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Upsetting Historical Facts You Wish You Hadn't Learned
Some facts about history you just wish you never knew, like that people used to sit in dead whales to cure arthritis or that human fat was an old cure for gout. These upsetting historical facts will make you question everything you knew about Bull Run, Peru, and Ivy League schools.
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