One of the world's first superpowers, the Persian Empire was located in modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey. Compared head-to-head with other ancient world civilizations, there's something oddly endearing about Persia.
Read MoreOn the astronomically slim chance that you're not familiar with Walpurga Hausmännin, here's the inside story, which is actually horribly tragic.
Read MoreSolar eclipses are the the KISS concerts of astronomical occurrences ... and, just like a KISS concert, you'd be foolish to look directly at it without some form of eye protection. Why is that, though?
Read MoreWhile song lyrics tend to stick to an unmistakable point — usually along the lines of "Oh, I love you" — they occasionally are just ambiguous enough to leave it up to the listener to decide what's happening. Bob Marley achieves this in "I Shot the Sheriff."
Read MoreIt's officially known as the "president's emergency satchel," but realistically, that name makes it sound like it has an extra set of Oshkosh overalls and a pack of wet wipes. Maybe that's why it's more widely recognized by its bro-down-heavy, guitar-riff-worthy nickname: the nuclear football.
Read MoreIf 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.
Read MoreA full eight years before the shootings at Columbine High School resulted in the deaths of 13 students in Littleton, Colorado, well before school shootings became tragically passe, and before online bullying even existed, Pearl Jam released their 1991 masterpiece "Jeremy."
Read MoreMadonna once described her early musical training, playing instruments and writing music for the first time, as "one of the happiest times of my life."
Read MoreThrough 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.
Read MoreKris Kristofferson is one of those people, you look at his life and you think to yourself, "What can't this guy do?" But even his stellar career had its low points.
Read MoreThough they've flirted with new wave, rock, Gothic pop and even dance over the years, Depeche Mode have always sounded like themselves, thanks to singer Dave Gahan. Given their success, he must be doing pretty well, right?
Read MoreImagine you're rich and famous. Oh no, you've been kidnapped! What do you do?
Read MoreGhost is definitely a band that people either "get" or not.
Read MoreIn 1996, Anders Colsefni, the original lead singer of Slipknot, approached Jim Root with the offer of a lifetime -- would he join Slipknot? The answer, originally, was no. Multiple times.
Read MoreRecord companies are out to make money, and there's a lot of shadiness going on that proves they don't care how they do it, they're perfectly happy to get rich off the backs of the music artists with the real talent. Here are insane times music artists were screwed over by their recording companies.
Read MoreProsecutions of homosexuals increased in England after World War II, and one of the individuals so ensnared was a mathematician -- Alan Turing.
Read MoreIf 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.
Read MoreIn 2015, the world lost yet another rock star when Scott Weiland died. Yet despite his massive success, he was nearly broke.
Read MoreHawkins, Indiana is a very peculiar place. The third season of the Netflix super-hit Stranger Things raised the stakes considerably, what with huge monsters, copious body horror, and even a secret base full of angry Russians.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreJoni Mitchell, the singer that delicately traces life and love in her songs, has largely retired from the public eye. So much of her life has been documented in songs, but to many, her early life remains a mystery.
Read MoreWhere to begin? In 1906, a sixteen-year-old orphan named Clara Germana Cele confessed to having made a pact with the Devil, in her Catholic mission school uniform. How did that happen, exactly? The details are confusing.
Read MoreWhen it comes to ancient volcanic eruptions, Pompeii may have cornered the public imagination. However, Thira deserves a mention for boasting not one site preserved by volcanism, but two: Akrotiri and Thera.
Read MoreEverybody's familiar with demons. Conceptually, they are more or less universal. But what are their origins in Christianity?
Read MoreAh, Mark McGwire! The second most famous Big Mac in history is one of the greats of baseball, even though his legendary player career is somewhat tainted because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreAt the turn of the 19th century, slaves in the French colonies in Haiti pulled off an unprecedented feat.
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