The kings and queens of Great Britain are probably the best-known royals in history. But there are still some British monarchs who achieved great things in their lifetimes but are almost unknown today. Here, we’re exploring the lives of 10 British monarchs you’ve never heard of. 10 King Louis In May 1216, the heir to the French throne landed unopposed on the island of Thanet with a big army in tow....
10 Elvis Presley In April 1936, several tornadoes ripped through small towns in Georgia and Mississippi. The twisters continued on for four days, also devastating Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The whirlwinds claimed the lives of 466 people, injured thousands, and would be noted as one of the worst natural disasters in US history. In Tupelo, Mississippi, many of the victims’ bodies were found in Gum Pond. In this area alone, 216 people lost their lives....
10Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Dir. Roman Polanski This 1968 classic, based on the novel by Ira Levin and adapted for the screen by psychological horror maven Roman Polanski (his first U.S. feature), is the pinnacle film for motherhood gone wrong. Starring Mia Farrow as the suffering innocent, the story follows newly-weds Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse into a lavish but empty (and ultimately insidious) apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. When Rosemary becomes pregnant after a wild and eerily forgettable night, she begins to suspect that her husband has made a pact with the building’s religious cult residents....
10Mona Shaikh Mona Shaikh was born in Pakistan, and after moving to America at 15, she became interested in a career in standup comedy. “I grew up in a politically unstable country, so politics is weaved into my fabric,” she said. “I can’t be an artist now and not talk about things that impact people.” Her most controversial moments have been her critiques of the Muslim world. While doing standup in Dubai, she was censored from discussing human rights violations or criticizing the government of Saudi Arabia, under threat of being banned from the city....
They spot a good deal or assume good intentions, thinking that it’s just what they need to make their trip special. Suddenly, they find themselves in a subpar hotel, tipping for something they thought was free, the victim of theft, or left high and dry, money taken with no results. Now, we could blame it all on the tourist—they should know where they’re going and the possible pitfalls of going there, right?...
10Centipede Bursts Out Of A Snake In 2013, a group of biologists working in Golem Grad (also known as Snake Island) in Macedonia discovered the very bizarre scene of a dead centipede with its head protruding out of an equally deceased nose-horned viper. A closer look showed that the centipede had tried to eat and claw its way out of the snake, like the chest-burster from Alien, before finally succumbing to the venom....
10 ‘Translation: Words Will Never Hurt Me’ George Carlin had a knack for analyzing and deconstructing language. Best known for his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” Carlin also had strong opinions on euphemisms. As you’ve probably guessed, he hated them. “I don’t like words that hide the truth,” he once said. “I don’t like words that conceal reality.” Carlin believed that euphemisms were our way of dealing with the dark side of life and ignoring all the ugliness....
But what if you’ve been missing one of the best stops along the way? What if the airport itself has amenities that should make it one of your more interesting destinations? If you’re looking for a fascinating place to spend some free time, each of the top 10 airports listed below just might fit the bill. 10 Singapore Changi Airport According to the annual World Airport Award by Skytrax, Singapore’s Changi Airport has been the best airport in the world for a record six consecutive years as of 2018....
The 4-Color Theorem was first discovered in 1852 by a man named Francis Guthrie, who at the time was trying to color in a map of all the counties of England (this was before the internet was invented, there wasn’t a lot to do). He discovered something interesting—he only needed a maximum of four colors to ensure that no counties that shared a border were colored the same. Guthrie wondered whether or not this was true of any map, and the question became a mathematical curiosity that went unsolved for years....
10Mirrors And Time Travel We all know that you can travel through time in a wormhole, right? The only trouble is that wormholes have a tendency to collapse, which prevents anything from passing through them. However, help is at hand, with a simple pair of mirrors. All you need is two uncharged mirrors (or metallic plates) in a vacuum, placed a few micrometers apart—make sure there is no external electromagnetic field....
People have been burying the dead since before recorded history began. It is an essential rite shared by almost every culture. There are many unique beliefs about burial, and the human need to inter the deceased has led to many strange customs and events. 10Suicide Victims Were Buried At Crossroads With Stakes Through Their Hearts Suicide in England was once considered a heinous crime and the punishment extended even after death....
10 Tal Afar Citadel Built by the Ottoman Empire, the Tal Afar Citadel was recently used by US forces as a base of operations in the Battle of Tal Afar in 2005. Sitting atop a hill, the citadel had overlooked the city since the earliest days of the Ottoman Empire—likely to secure the city. In 2014, the citadel was taken by the Islamic State. They used it as a prison for women who were to be forcibly married to ISIL personnel or to be sold as sex slaves....
As a result, the 1800s were filled with inventions to enhance women’s natural features, but many of these ideas deformed their bodies or slowly killed them with toxic chemicals. 10 Face Bleaching Having an extremely pale, fair complexion was important to women in the 1800s. Upper-class women wanted to show that they were wealthy enough to not have to work in the hot sun. They wanted their skin to be so pale that it was “translucent,” as in you could see the veins in their faces....
Since the dawn of human religious concept, people have sought supernatural explanations for world events. This leads naturally to people coming up with various interpretations of a dark figure or figures who they’ve used to explain loss, pain, hate, agony, death, misery, depression, and all manner of negative experiences. For most of human history, these figures were shunned, and believers fled them in repulsion and horror, but over time, we began to embrace these figures as telling and representative of the very real, very natural dark side of the human existence, which wasn’t possible until the victory of science and reason over superstition....
But where the money goes, the lawsuits will follow. From shameless fraudsters to adoring fans, countless people have tried to cash in on this moneymaking machine. So from the somewhat questionable to the downright outrageous, here are 10 lawsuits involving the Harry Potter franchise. 10 Nancy Stouffer US author Nancy Stouffer first heard about Harry Potter in 1999, two years after the first book had been published. Apparently, she was immediately horrified....
Disney may have this politically correct, perfect reputation, but if you look back at their history, there are some really shocking things you can find. Disney has gotten extremely controversial multiple times that they would prefer you forget about, sometimes not even due to anything they did. Take a look at ten times Disney crossed lines that some people said shouldn’t be crossed in children’s entertainment. 10 Jessica Rabbit Who better to start with than the character you can hardly believe Disney allowed in a movie featuring their characters?...
See Also: Top 10 Bizarre Objects Commonly Found In Cabinets Of Curiosities 10Baby Cyclops Museum Vrolik, Amsterdam, Netherlands Nineteenth-century father/son anatomist duo Gerardus and Willem Vrolik had a bit of a thing for human mutants. In an 1834 medical paper, Willem explored “cyclopia.” Cyclopia is a rare birth defect in which the embryo has not properly formed two separate eye sockets, resulting in one central cavity. The chances of an embryo—human or otherwise—suffering from cyclopia is one in 16,000....
10Grandison Harris Grandison Harris was a slave who belonged to the Medical College of Georgia. Bought in 1852, he was officially the school’s porter and janitor. Unofficially, he was their body snatcher. Like others who shared his grisly profession, he was also known as a “resurrection man,” and his slave status afforded him something of an odd benefit when it came to this second job. As a slave, he couldn’t be prosecuted by the law....
Lack of funding, opposition by activists, and severity of elements are all reasons that animal parks have closed. The once-thriving locales are left empty, their structures and cages abandoned and overgrown. 10 Warner Brothers Jungle Habitat One would think an animal park run by Warner Brothers would be an instant success, but animal attacks, escapes, and opposition from locals would eventually lead to the park being shut down within four years of it opening....
10 Water Buffalo vs. Rhino The rhinoceros is known for its poor eyesight. The water buffalo, on the other hand, simply has a bad temper. In the above video, these two massive herbivores appear to be trying to prove their respective points. An adult white rhino can reach up to 3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb), whereas a fully grown male water buffalo weighs up to 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb). The buffalo is at a severe weight disadvantage compared to its opponent; the rhino actually lifts it off its feet....
