If you've ever seen a nativity scene outside of a church during Christmas service, then you no doubt know what it looks like, but nativity scenes are actually much older than you may think. The first-ever nativity scene was put together by St. Francis of Assisi in 1233.

As long as there has been government there has been protesting.

We all know that Santa Claus has supernatural abilities, and the origin of Santa Claus' powers are explained by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum in his story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This is the surprising connection between Oz and Santa.

Genes are complex and responsible for such things as health and susceptibility to certain diseases, body type, height, eye color, intelligence, and more. Genes can also cause quirks among us. Here's a look at some of the genetic quirks that are perceived to be normal occurrences but aren't.

In the final month of 1988, Armenia was struck by an earthquake that absolutely devastated the northern region of the country and displaced thousands of people.

Jayne Mansfield dominated headlines in the 1950s, but her wild ride came to a terrible end in 1967. This is the the tragic real-life story of Jayne Mansfield.

Whether it be at the dawn of the Roman empire in the B.C. era or the heights of the Cold War a few generations back, powerful states have attempted and failed many times to conquer land. The reasons vary on why these invasions may have failed. Here is a list of invasions that went horribly wrong.

On the afternoon of May 13th, 1985, the city of Philadelphia did the unthinkable and dropped a bomb on one of its own residential neighborhoods.

While modern Christmas traditions are nearly universal thanks to pop culture, they used to be very different. If you look back at the 19th and early 20th centuries, you'll see unexpected holiday celebrations. Here are some strange Christmas traditions that were considered normal 100 years ago.

After Simon Wiesenthal was liberated, he brought escaped Nazis brought to justice. This is the crazy, real-life story of Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi hunter.

You might know him by one of his many gimmicks: Papa Shango, The Godfather, Kama, The Goodfather ... the list of Charles Wright's characters goes on and on.

Dennis Frederiksen served as the lead singer for acts such as Trillion, Angel, LeRoux, and Toto, and provided backing vocals for Survivor. Occasionally credited as Fergie Frederiksen or just Fergie, the Michigan native was credited with three big hit singles in three consecutive years.

Hillel Slovak was a founding member of the groundbreaking funk-metal group the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a talented guitarist who used heavy guitars in what would become a major influence in honing the group's signature sound.

Although it's a sport that involves two highly athletic competitors going at each other with swords, fencing is actually much safer than many other popular sports. A five-year study by sports science professor Dr. Peter Harmer found that it is especially safe for children and youth.

There was a time when Pat Smear wasn't part of the Foo Fighters.

Blue is one of the most soothing colors. But, if you lived during ancient times, you might not have the chance even to choose that color.

Huge crowds gathered through the late '90s and early 2000s to listen to Hedberg's signature comedy style, which could be described as a stoner Jerry Seinfield calmly blasting the audience with disconnected one-liners without ever removing his shades.

Clemente was one of the best players in baseball history, both on and off the field. Aside from the 3,000 hits he racked up before his death, his 12 All Star appearances, and 12 Gold Glove awards, he was well known as an honest man of his word who had a great desire to help people.

Which brings us to the 2008 production 10,000 BC, where things get even less accurate. Monumentally inaccurate, really. Think of it this way: The film puts history in a tumbler, shakes it up, and pours a tall glass of annoyance for a metaphorical bar full of historians. Honestly, it's almost sci-fi.

For all the Foo Fighters' success, they've had some troubles as well, particularly in the guitar department. The lineage is a little hard to follow, but coming in second was lead guitarist Franz Stahl, a man who seemed to disappear as just quickly as he appeared.

Yes, you're probably thinking, "Wait, Billy Corgan and kittens?" Sure, it sounds incongruous. Exactly how do fuzzy little felines fit into the infinite sadness?

It's hard to imagine that a sketch comedy television show like Saturday Night Live would ever want to pass up a talent like John Belushi, but not everyone from the production was eager to have him join their ranks.

The history of how nutmeg came to be a staple in our kitchens is not really in line with the whole "Peace on Earth, good will to men" business we like to tell ourselves. The notions of reunion, comfort, and human connection we now get from a hint of nutmeg actually came at a terrible human cost.

Being a rockstar, it would make sense to most of us if Eddie Vedder's brush with death was the result of a drug overdose or something, but Vedder has never had a known drug problem. No, Vedder's near-death incident was a terrifying close call that had nothing to do with the rock and roll lifestyle.

Overnight, Clark became a force in pop music. By 1964, Clark moved production of American Bandstand closer to the artists in Los Angeles.

Lucille Ball's life was filled with tragedy. Her father died when she was young, she was abused by her mother, her marriage to Desi Arnaz was frequently difficult -- the list goes on. But, there was one incident in particular that tragically changed young Lucille's family forever.

All in all, being a president has to be rough, and some of the rules surrounding the job make it even more so. At least the silly rules end when a president's time in office is up, right? Actually, only some of them do.