In 2018, the AV Club published the scrumptious headline, "The young Pope John XII died as he lived: Fornicating." It simultaneously raises eyebrows and stokes lowbrow thoughts, thoughts that might normally make a pious man feel guilty as sin. Luckily, it's hard to sin as much as Pope John XII.
Read MoreMozart died at just 35 years of age. His physicians blamed a "severe military fever," per the BBC. There was no autopsy. Ever since, theories -- conspiracy and otherwise have swirled. But what really killed him?
Read MoreThe economy and industry ministry of Japan this week proposed that the radioactive water accumulating at the Fukushima nuclear plant be released into the sea or evaporated and allowed to fly free like a beautiful carcinogenic bird, according to the Associated Press.
Read MoreWild Bill Hickok found his expert marksmanship superpower early, and went on to have all sorts of adventures. Here's the truth about his death.
Read MoreManifest destiny was the idea God gave white American settler permission to commit genocide. Here's the messed up truth of manifest destiny.
Read MoreGeorge Foreman, who packed "one of the most powerful right hands in boxing history," had zero desire to have Mike Tyson all up in his grill. "I call him Mike 'Nightmare' Tyson," said Foreman. "I didn't want to have anything to do with that guy." How powerful was Iron Mike's punch?
Read MoreFootball. The sweet science. America's pastime. The long awaited answer to the question "how hard do you think we could get those big guys to run into each other?" For decades, American football players were paid on a low, per-game basis, but that's all changed. Who's the highest paid player now?
Read MoreIn "How a Fart Killed 10,000 People," famed philosopher Pythagoras abstained from eating beans because he worried a person might "fart out" their soul while breaking wind. Back in the days when people took toots seriously, farting could indeed mean you were about to breathe your last breath.
Read MoreFor ages, men have had it hammered into their skulls that physical strength is integral to their identity. Nowadays, men wrestle with pickle jars just to get them open. Even so, some men lament their comparative lack of strength. But just how strong is the average man?
Read MoreIf you've ever seen a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig, you might have wondered why Will Ferrell is sitting behind the drums. The RHCP drummer Chad Smith and comedy legend Ferrell share an uncanny resemblance. Are Ferrell and Smith related? Identical twins? Here's the story behind their relationship.
Read MoreFew armed forces have a more Orwellian origin story than the People's Liberation Army of China. Initially known as the Red Army, it first served under communist dictator Mao Zedong and mostly consisted of "poorly armed but fanatical peasants." Here's what happens if you quit the Chinese military.
Read MoreThe UFC was purchased in 2016 for $4.025 billion, and if you believe the UFC president Dana White, its value has only gone up: In 2018, White stated it was worth no less than $7 billion. With that kind of money floating around, it makes sense that White is also making himself a pretty penny, right?
Read MoreSome of the tools and contraptions you have used every day have been around longer than your great-great-great-grandparents. The ancients had some ideas so perfect that even now, nobody has thought of a better way to do it. Here are ancient inventions you didn't realize we still use today.
Read MoreIn 1689, Johann Weikhard von Valvasor went to press with astonishing news: he'd found baby dragons in Slovenia. Von Valvasor was describing an olm, a species of highly specialized salamanders which live in the cave formations in Eastern Europe. And friend, they're weird to the bone.
Read MoreWe live in an age of role reversals, where traditional domestic and workplace norms are rapidly shifting to accommodate cultural changes. Now we may also be living in an age of rapid pole reversals -- because scientists are reporting the Earth's magnetic poles are shifting faster than ever, via MNN.
Read MoreThe development of eugenics is definitely one of the darkest parts of modern human history. Here's the messed up history of eugenics.
Read MoreThe atlas moth is sort of the Andre the Giant of the moth community. It's a remarkable species with a wingspan that can reach nearly thirty centimeters, or large enough to make anyone shudder when imagining what it would feel like to have one crawl across their face. Here is its tragic life's tale.
Read MoreWho knows why you're hellbent on nabbing the world's biggest flower? Maybe you need to apologize to your significant other for making the world's biggest mistake. But here it is. Meet Rafflesia arnoldii, heavyweight champion of the world of flowers.
Read MoreChances are if you just searched "Mediterranean booty" or "Roman jugs," you weren't expecting to read about one of the largest Roman shipwrecks ever discovered. But much like the discovery itself, it's a story worth diving into and exploring.
Read MoreOdiferous underarms, moldy cheese feet, rancid roadkill and acrid eggs -- there's a lot of stank out there, and generally we want nothing to do with it. But now scientists have identified one of the stinkiest molecules of all as a sign of potential alien life.
Read MoreHeartbreaking occurrences rock the sports world each year. Here are some of the biggest sports tragedies from the past decade.
Read MoreThe United States trades with a lot of countries. It's the nature of the world. One country that it doesn't do trade with, though, is Wakanda...
Read MoreWe've made a big mess of our once pristine planet, treating it the way rocker GG Allin treated his body -- poisoning it with all sorts of noxious concoctions.
Read MoreBack in 1992, as most people tell it, a woman ordered a hot coffee at McDonald's, spilled it, and suffered some minor burns — only to turn around, sue the popular chain restaurant, and get rich. In reality? That is the version of the story that the McDonald's PR team has taught you.
Read MoreBands break up all the time, and the 2010s was no exception. Some bands break up in a manner that's so strange, dramatic, high-profile, or just plain shocking to the fans that the mere memory makes them cringe. Let's take a look at some of the most devastating band break ups of the past decade.
Read MoreTruffle is brewing throughout North America as feral hogs rampage through billions of dollars of crops. Now they've taken to living in hideouts like "pigloos."
Read MoreOutlaw Jesse James attained a folkloric air through a series of brutal robberies and gunfights across the midwest. But there's a bullet out there for every cop killing racist bandit from the 1800s, and James found his on April 3rd, 1882, when it came out of the front of his face.
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