Zhu took on the name Hongwu and claimed he had the divine right to rule, becoming an absolute monarch. Wary of losing his throne to violence -- after all, he took it by violence -- he stamped down rebellions and even established secret police.
Read MoreBeich was drawn to the band's potential. He'd already proved his mettle with Mercyful Fate and other bands. As the the sound and style of Guns N' Roses evolved, however, the bassist found himself struggling to be happy. He didn't want to stick to hard rock.
Read MoreEileen and Jamie met in 1984 and the two dated for five years, sharing a deep love for science, scuba, and big, bushy mustaches, before tying the knot in 1989. She was by his side when he returned to the mainland.
Read MoreThey're classified as pyrophyllites, a layered silicate formed by hydrothermal alteration (i.e., they dried out). Despite their names, they're not, in fact, spheres, but somewhat flat, oval, and some have three parallel lines across their length. The kicker? They're about 3 billion years old.
Read MoreMenza's career came to a tragic halt in May 2016 when he passed away due to a cardiac arrest while performing in California. He was 51.
Read MoreWhen they fished his body out of his pool, "[there] were traces of pep pills, sleeping tablets and alcohol in his bloodstream" which had led "drowning by immersion in fresh water associated with severe liver disfunction caused by fatty degeneration and ingestion of alcohol and drugs."
Read MoreYou might have some Neanderthal DNA of your very own. Think of them as cousins. Just like you and your cousins, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had some key differences.
Read MoreThe fish is native to Southeast Asian peat swamp forests and is found in the waters of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Bintan Island. A mature female Paedocypris progenetica measures only 7.9 millimeters, or just over 0.3 of an inch.
Read MoreAll serial killers are evil, but the Golden State Killer was particularly terrible. In early 2020, the four-decade-old case came to a close and it gave a lot of people a lot of hope — hope that there's always still a chance for justice. Here's how the Golden State Killer was finally caught.
Read MoreEinstein was the world's smallest horse when he was born in 2010, measuring up at a pint-sized 14 inches tall, and weighing only six pounds. He's never going to pull a beer wagon or round up longhorns, but he still wins the cute sweepstakes.
Read MoreThis legendary swordsman, like all samurai, began his training when he was a wee one, and he wasn't much bigger when he attained his first victory. As The Karate Lifestyle relates, Musashi fought his first sword duel at the age of 13, defeating a fully trained, adult samurai in single combat.
Read MoreThe fanfare and fantasies surrounding rock stars often produce rumors that aren't remotely true. But The Who's late drummer and Dionysian spirit animal, Keith Moon, might have been the rare exception where the man outdid the myth.
Read MoreThink of a sundial, which catches the light and deploys a shadow to tell the viewer what time it was. In practical terms, this meant each village operated under its own solar time, because their relative position to the sun was unique, which in turn produces an individualized time.
Read MoreMilgram believed his experiment proved that ordinary people, when directed by an authority figure, would behave in ways that ran counter to their own moral or ethical beliefs. In October 1963, he published his findings in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
Read MoreThe United States has had a long, sad history of racial violence, and shockingly, few of these incidents are widely remembered. There are the U.S. race riots history forgot.
Read MoreOne of the most advanced civilizations outside of Greece is also one of the most mysterious. The Etruscans lived in Italy, in what is now Tuscany, but researchers are only now starting to piece their history together.
Read MoreWhen news came that George Michael had died at home at the age of 53, our collective sadness was highlighted by a cruel irony. As part of '80s power duo Wham! (with Andrew Ridgeley), Michael brought us one of the all-time beloved Christmas pop songs, "Last Christmas" -- and he died on Christmas Day.
Read MoreBilly Corgan doesn't seem like the type to make many friends. Some might say he's a "meanie," while others might say he's genuinely and completely confused about the people he seems to hate.
Read MoreOne candidate for the most expensive Mythbusters episode was the time they accidentally shot a stone cannonball straight through a neighbor's home.
Read MoreWhile the third season of popular TV series Yellowstone dropped on August 24, the final episode left many fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. (Caution: Spoilers ahead.)
Read MoreAndre the Giant is a force to reckon with in the wrestling world. In terms of his career's iconic moments, WrestleMania III was one of the most important ones. Unfortunately, his only daughter couldn't be there to watch her father at his finest.
Read More'Wake Me Up When September Ends' appeared on their 2004 album American Idiot and reached its peak at Number 7 on Billboard charts this past May for two weeks.
Read MoreWriter and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, was called "the Dean of American literature" and "the greatest American humorist of his age" and his books are still widely read today. Here's a look at some of his famous friendships.
Read MoreAikido is a really neat martial art. As far as fighting arts go, Aikido is the only one known to have no attacks. It's purely defensive.
Read MoreHeroin is now considered to be a dangerous drug that is extremely addictive. However, this wasn't always the case.
Read More"I don't give a damn about my reputation," shrieks rocker Joan Jett on her hit single "Bad Reputation." And she meant it in more ways than one.
Read MoreBob Ross spent years and years as one of the most famous PBS faces around, so at least The Joy of Painting must have made him a fortune. Right?
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