The griffin -- also gryphon (says Mythology), also grypes (says Theoi) -- traditionally is a blend of an eagle's front crafted onto the body of a lion. And it may have been based on a real animal.
Read MoreRecent history has not been kind to Thomas Edison. Once remembered as a titan of creative thought, today he's become more or less synonymous with the corrupt underpinnings of American industrialism and man's capacity to dash his rivals' dreams, or go to New Jersey and electrocute an elephant.
Read MoreHistorically speaking, it's never been easy to convince Catholics and Protestants to agree on things. However, in the late 1400s, the two denominations put their differences aside and essentially started an interfaith book club.
Read MoreVikings. The word conjures a host of images in popular imagination: brutal, burly savages wielding axes and howling their way through coastal raids, clad in equal parts dirt and animal skins, and sporting questionable hygiene. However, the Vikings were a far more nuanced society than many realize.
Read MoreThe Roman Empire at its height spanned all the way through the tip of modern day Scotland, down to encompass all of Europe, out to Russia and into Turkey, and along the northern African coast. But did the Romans have any idea what that empire actually looked like?
Read MoreKraken. "Nessy," the Loch Ness Monster. Soe Orm from Scandinavia. The Great American Sea Serpent. That shark from Jaws. Ancient myths and modern stories of water-bound monsters abound in human consciousness and across cultures.
Read MoreYears after people started debating whether the final, top-spinning scene in Inception was all in Dom's head, Interstellar had fans and critics scratching their heads at not only some of the inner logic of the film, but its final sequence, as well
Read MoreSometimes even the greatest musicians need a little bit of inspiration from others. That's certainly the case for the English rock band Led Zeppelin.
Read MoreConsidering modern longevity -- 78.6 years now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- 60 just seems younger and younger, especially as an endpoint, as it was for Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett.
Read MoreThe Hoover Dam is exactly the sort of thing that a Bond villain would want to blow up. Enter the Nazis, the real-life Bond villains of the mid-20th century.
Read MoreFor a song that's been adapted into multiple children's games and musical anthologies, Johnny Cash's take on "You Are My Sunshine" is nothing short of dark.
Read MoreSteve Jobs first founded what would be one of the largest tech companies in 1976 with his business partner, Steve Wozniak. The two met on a chance occasion, and it's a good thing fate was in their favor, or we might not have had the iPhone, the MacBook, or the iPod.
Read MoreWhen Lil Nas X's management realized that the beat for his hit "Old Town Road featured the banjo from "36 Ghosts IV" by Nine Inch Nails, they grew understandably panicked.
Read MoreFleetwood Mac's second album, Rumours, dropped in 1977, and they hit the tour circuit to support it. Their opening act was none other than a now-solo Kenny Loggins.
Read MoreMùlán has served as inspiration in China for centuries, an example of self-sacrifice for the greater common good; of devotion to family; of bravery. Could she have actually existed?
Read MoreIt's been a while, but unlike a lot of comedies, Blazing Saddles holds up nearly 50 years after its release in 1974. It was the Western parody that saw not only the longest flatulence joke in cinematic history, but lined up racial stereotypes and slapped them silly.
Read MoreEvery band has its drama. Sometimes it blows over by the time they decide to go on a reunion tour. Not so for the Smashing Pumpkins, a band that's known for not only generation-defining albums but also for the infighting between its members.
Read MoreThe money you enjoy earning spends the same as the other kind. Francis Albert Sinatra certainly knew that, so he became a singer, and enjoyed it. Usually. But there was one song he couldn't stand.
Read MoreEric Clapton is responsible for a frankly disproportionate amount of bangers between the 1960s and the 1990s, and continues to be active even today.
Read MoreLong before people were tossing coins to ultra-buff witchers, they were placing them in the mouths of the dead. "Charon's Obol," as such coins have been dubbed, have been found in the graves of the once-living since the 5th century BCE, largely throughout Western European countries.
Read MoreWhile certain bands are infamously secretive about their creations, pop legend Prince has typically been frank about the meaning behind his songs. Purple Rain is an exception.
Read MoreKeyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger were all instrumental to The Doors. Here is how much Manzarek was worth when he died.
Read MoreIt would be hyperbole to declare that mathematician Alan Turing saved England and won the war against the Axis in Europe during World War II. But there's no question the war would have had a very different outcome if Turing hadn't been there during the time Churchill called "the darkest hours."
Read MoreBrothers are awesome, but spending your professional life with one can be a balancing act between sibling bickering and getting things done.
Read MoreIt was 35 years ago that Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams released his fourth studio album, Reckless.
Read MoreThe year was 1774, and German physician Franz Anton Mesmer had done the impossible: he had cured Francisca Österlin's hysteria. Supposedly
Read MoreIf you're being charitable, it'd be fair to characterize some people as having more enthusiasm than common sense. For instance, Rachel Levin wrote about the one the guy who decided it'd be cool to pick up the rattlesnake he found on the trail, and hold it in a pose. You know, for Instagram.
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