It wasn't until after Rasputin seemed to improve the Tsar's son's hemophiliac condition that the country would embrace his reputation. He became a favorite in Tsar Nicholas II's court, until his personality turned certain important people against him.
Read MoreThe Boston Common Christmas tree has been a gift from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia for 48 years. Per the Boston Globe, the gift is thanks for the assistance Boston offered to Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
Read MoreLiberace defined glitz and glamour. However, when the stage lights dimmed and the curtain closed, Liberace was a man at war with himself. Here's his story.
Read MoreIt was even more common to blame animals for the spread of the disease, and 14th century Europeans became completely fixated on the wrong animal. Instead of trying to eradicate the disease-filled vermin that were ravaging the cities, some decided black cats were to blame for all their problems.
Read MoreThe Laurel Canyon mansion/studio is a popular stop for rock and roll sight-seers exploring LA, and it's popular for reasons beyond the music industry as well. The Mansion is said to be home to spiritual entities, and many of those who've spent time at the studio have left with ghost stories to tell.
Read MoreWomen in ancient China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) up until the early 20th century, bound their feet as a means to attract better marriage prospects. This made their feet incredibly small, but it also meant their feet become gnarled, broken, and painful.
Read MoreThe M60 is not the sort of vehicle the military wants citizens driving around the streets, and chances are you aren't going to find one with the keys in it unless you're desperate enough to grab one from a military base. Which, oddly enough, is exactly what happened in 1995 in San Diego.
Read MoreFor the longest time, it was believed that we killed off Neanderthals, since they seem to have disappeared shortly after we traveled out of Africa. The takeover was thought to be a gradual one. All the evidence suggested we were smarter, with more advanced weapons, hunting techniques, and language.
Read MoreBetween 1929 and 1939, the entire industrialized world was caught in the grip of the biggest financial crisis in history -- the Great Depression. While the Great Depression was horrible for those who lived through it, the U.S. would look very different today if it hadn't happened.
Read MoreThe Japanese temple at Sanjūsangen-dō is home to 1,001 statues of the Kannon Bodhisattva, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. But this shrine holds more than just an impressive statuary; it's home to an important rite of passage.
Read MoreAs Elton John described his early career, "The word 'celebrity' didn't exist, you were either successful or not." But Sir Elton has a very specific reason for the disdain he has for reality TV and its stars.
Read MoreAlice in Chains were among the pioneers of the sonic sounds coming out of Seattle, Washington, when grunge took over rock n' roll in the 1990s. But the band was plagued by demons that were all too common among their contemporaries and reached the point of breaking up.
Read MoreWhile it might seem pretty straightforward that after the end of WWII, the Nazi party needed to pay the price for their crimes, it didn't exactly work that way. Many fled Europe in the aftermath of the war and ended up in South America. How they got there is both bizarre and terrifying.
Read MoreSonny & Cher rode a rollercoaster of successes and failures. Together they topped the charts, danced on the edge of bankruptcy and became a television sensation. But they eventually split, effectively ending Sonny Bono's time as a star. After a rebirth in politics, his life was cut short by tragedy.
Read MoreWhile we know that humans are led by senses such as sight and sound, a recent study has found that humans are also led by their noses and their senses of smell. Here's what you probably didn't know about humans' sense of smell according to science.
Read MoreWhile guitarist Jimi Hendrix's death came unexpectedly in 1970, the 27-year-old's fame continued to blossom posthumously, with the rocker gaining legendary status years after his passing at a young age. This is the eerie way Jimi Hendrix foreshadowed his own death in a song.
Read MoreMank tells how screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz or "Mank," wrote Citizen Kane, a thinly veiled attack on newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. As with all real-life stories turned into film, liberties had to be taken. Here are the times Mank lied to you.
Read MoreThe world of the Neanderthals was a near-endless winter and there were many ways to die, as the unluckiest Neanderthal in history once found out. Some deaths, and this still holds true today, are simply the result of an unfortunate circumstance. This was the unluckiest Neanderthal in history.
Read MoreVince McMahon built the WWE into a global sports entertainment empire worth billions. But all that success came at a cost, as the use of steroids became rampant among wrestlers. In 1993, McMahon's chickens almost came home to roost. Here's how a steroid trial almost led to Vince McMahon's downfall.
Read MoreSandoval, in the Refinery 29 interview, describes a highly sensitive, artistic process of crafting stories and music, saying, "We like to take our time experimenting with different ideas and creating new sounds until we feel satisfied that we've accomplished something mind-expanding."
Read MoreWhich 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.
Read MoreWhen Wisconsin University researchers examined a Stone-Age butchery site in Tanzania, they found that the site's animal remains indicated that those animals had been specifically targeted and killed by human hunters. Hunting is apparently far older than we realized.
Read MoreNeanderthals existed from roughly 400,000 years ago until 40,000 years ago. Though they lived in the Stone Age, they didn't have rocks for brains. Here's what life was like for our Stone Age relatives.
Read MoreGum is generally a one and done piece of entertainment. So it's surprising that a 5,700 year-old form of 'chewing gum' remembers its owner well enough that scientists were able to recreate her entire genome, and also see what she had just eaten. You deserve an explanation.
Read MoreThere were always two kinds of people: Those who loved The Dave Matthews Band and those who loved to make fun of those who loved them. After the 2000s, both types went quiet. The Dave Matthews Band's popularity has waned in what could be argued as a "natural course," but they didn't disappear.
Read MoreThe band then returned to England for two performances at the V Festival, which received awful reviews, with NME (per Dedece Blog) reporting, "where songs used to spiral upwards and outwards, they now simply fizzle tamely." In April 1999, it was announced that The Verve had split up.
Read MoreAs MTV reported, Manson and the other members felt they'd had enough. Manson unequivocally said the band was on a hiatus, though many thought they had broken up. Manson said recording and touring for Bleed Like Me had been difficult for all band members. They just needed time away from each other.
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