If you grew up in the United States, you're familiar with a certain elementary school narrative regarding World War II, about how the U.S. triumphantly "ended the war" by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The truth? Well, it's a bit more complex, as usual.
Read MoreThe Sedlec Ossuary houses chalices, ornate wall ornaments, and even a chandelier that are all built from the bones of more than 40,000 skeletons. About 30,000 of those skeletons belonged to people who succumbed to the Black Death.
Read MoreAuthor Ronald Kessler lauds FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's decision to declare John Dillinger "Public Enemy Number One" as "a stroke of public relations genius." Back when Hoover made that famous pronouncement in 1934, though, much of the public might have begged to differ ...
Read MoreKing Tut. The name captures the imagination. Just ask Steve Martin, who did a famous musical number about Tutankhamen for Saturday Night Live. Like a lot of history, though, the details often get lost in the translation ... until science steps in and gives the low-down.
Read MoreMarvin Gaye gifted the world with so much in his short tenure on Earth. Most would say he owed us nothing else -- but maybe not the IRS.
Read MoreNCIS boasts some seriously impressive longevity — it still draws some impressive ratings and brings in huge guest stars. Much of the appeal comes from its impressive cast, as actors like Mark Harmon, David McCallum, and Pauley Perrette have done a great job of creating rounded, dynamic characters.
Read MoreWe live in a world that seems to equate fame and wealth with the worth of a person. Perhaps that's why, despite the fact that Andrew Cunanan murdered five people in a still-mysterious killing spree, he's primarily remembered for his final victim: world-renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace.
Read MoreDuring the a meeting with Donald Trump, Bill Gates reportedly asked the commander in chief why he hadn't yet appointed a science advisor, and claims that Trump offered him the job on the spot.
Read More"Space," as it was expertly described by Douglas Adams, "is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
Read MoreThe mighty Persian Empire was born in the cradle of civilization, ancient Mesopotamia. Also known as the Achaemenid Empire, it emerged as "the world's first superpower" in the 6th century B.C., and under the leadership of King Cyrus the Great, the Persians toppled Babylon, Media, and Lydia ...
Read MoreAlexander Hamilton. Brilliant, but also arrogant; witty, but also dismissive; married, and the father of seven, but also a cheater. Consensus is, it's this last part that kept him out of the White House himself.
Read MoreUp until the 18th century, Ireland had itself a wolf problem. Their solution: make bigger wolves.
Read MoreDonnie Yen and Jackie Chan appeared together on screen, in 2003's pseudo-western comedy Shanghai Knights. But which of them would win in a fist and foot shootout?
Read MoreLet's just say for the sake of argument that your cat will find itself in the position to be eaten by a bear. Could your cat outrun the bear? How fast would your cat have to be to avoid being eaten by a bear?
Read MoreEven Charles Darwin acknowledged that zebras have sexy stripes, and occasionally, donkeys can't hold their horses around those striped seducers. Love is blind, but it doesn't need to be when zebras are involved.
Read MoreBefore the world knew Bruce Lee as the legend who raised the bar for martial arts movies to nigh unreachable heights, his siblings knew him as a little hellraiser named "Jun Fan." The father of Jeet Kune Do was the brother of four siblings: brothers Peter and Robert and sisters Phoebe and Agnes.
Read MoreDisney has a knack for making bankable, kid-friendly animated movies based on seriously dark source material. However, Victor Hugo originally pulled an anti-Disney, by taking the life of a real person and turning it into a tear-soaked nightmare.
Read MoreThe groovy Jefferson Airplane became the spacey Jefferson Starship, which became the overproduced Starship. But no matter what the group called itself, it was always stacked with rock legends. Here's a look back at the long, strange trip of Jefferson Starship (or whatever you want to call it).
Read MoreAlexander Hamilton, many enemies included some of the country's most celebrated Founding Fathers. And from the sound of things, the hate isn't wholly unfounded.
Read MoreGlenn Miller boarded a plane for the flight in bad weather across the English Channel to France on December 15, 1944. It simply disappeared.
Read MoreLet's cover the basics: the dhole, or Cuon alpinus, is a species of wild dog that hangs its hat in the forests of Central and Southeast Asia. Here's where things get crazy.
Read MoreWhat does the Liberty Bell sound like? Does it whisper like wind washing over amber waves of grain? Not quite. It seems that American freedom rings in E-flat. Or at least it used to.
Read MoreFrom assassinations to natural disasters, here are the most tragic reasons why sports events have been canceled.
Read MoreScientists working off the coast of Australia have found "seemingly the largest animal ever discovered." And yes, it's funky.
Read MoreMister Rogers was a paragon of parenting-done-right. Whether or not your own parents always lived up to the ideal, Mr. Rogers sure did. So what happened to his actual children? How did they turn out?
Read MoreRebellion has a rock and roll soul. Little Richard, who has a legitimate claim to being the architect of rock and roll, was basically the original Prince plus a bunch of cocaine. In the world of Southern rock, though, it doesn't get much more rebellious than Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Read MoreWitness Edward, eldest son of England's King Edward III, born in 1330 and made Prince of Wales a mere 13 years later. At least one legend has it that Edward was known as the Black Prince (though only after his death) because he favored black armor. But the truth may be much darker.
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