Often, history holds a strange sense of fascination for all of us. Looking at old photographs, forgotten places, and moments frozen in time can feel almost magical, like peeking into lives that existed long before ours. But not every part of history is inspiring or beautiful. Sometimes, history can be unsettling, heartbreaking, mysterious, or even deeply disturbing. And yet, those darker moments are just as important because they remind us of what humanity has survived, learned from, and sometimes repeated.
Today, we dived into an Instagram account that shares historical photos offering glimpses into the past—from chilling moments and forgotten tragedies to bizarre snapshots that almost don’t feel real. Some pictures may leave you shocked, others emotional, and a few might simply stay in your head longer than expected. So scroll carefully, Pandas… history can be fascinating, but it can also send chills down your spine.
#1
In May 1845, the Franklin expedition set sail from England with 129 men aboard two ships in search of the Northwest Passage. Two months later, a passing vessel saw the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus off the coast of northern Canada — then they vanished. For 150 years, no one had any idea what happened, until a series of terrifying "ice mummies" began to be pulled from the snow in and around King William Island. Ever since, researchers have worked to determine who these grisly remains belong to — and whether any were victims of the cannibalism that took place as options grew thin.
Now, scientists have just used DNA analysis to identify four sailors from the doomed Franklin expedition - read more at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#2
Emperor Nero is perhaps most famous for allegedly playing the fiddle while Rome burned, but few people remember Sporus, the boy who became Nero's last empress. A teenager with the bad luck of resembling Nero's dead wife Sabina, Sporus was castrated and paraded before all of Rome as the emperor's new bride. Even after Nero's death, Sporus was passed around as a wife to three other powerful Roman men.
This is the story of how a eunuch became the empress of Rome - read more at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#3
Researchers in Portugal recently stumbled across a fossil containing the mummified remains of hundreds of bees, perfectly preserved in their cocoons for 3,000 years. The insects were Eucera bees, which spend most of their lives gestating underground and feeding on pollen left by their mothers and only emerge from their subterranean homes for a few weeks, when their favorite flowers bloom. Unfortunately for these particular bees, some unknown catastrophic event kept them from emerging from their cocoons.
Because bee exoskeletons are made of chitin, a fibrous substance that decomposes rather quickly after the animal dies, finding bee exoskeletons preserved for so long is incredibly rare. However, these bees had been sealed within a silk-like waterproof thread created by the mother bee, and over the course of millennia, this casing protected the bees' cells from the outside environment, preventing their decomposition.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
The world is filled with incredible kindness, generosity, and uplifting moments, but it also contains its fair share of hardship, tragedy, and negativity. The problem is that negative stories often grab our attention much more quickly than positive ones. When we constantly read about disasters, conflicts, crimes, or other distressing events, it can leave us feeling emotionally drained and overwhelmed. Of course, these events are real and deserve coverage, especially when they affect people's lives.
However, repeatedly consuming difficult news can take a toll on our mental well-being. Many people walk away from their news feeds feeling anxious, helpless, or discouraged about the state of the world. That's why it's important to recognize how the information we consume affects our mood. While staying informed matters, so does protecting our emotional health.
#4
Metal detectorists were recently exploring areas along the Vistula River in Ryki County, Poland when they came across a wealth of artifacts from World War II. This spot was likely used as a campsite for the Polish Army's cavalry regiments during the September Campaign of 1939, which unfolded just as the war began. Metal detectorists came across everything from dog tags to coins to a spearhead to a dagger.
But their most treasured find was an intact cavalry sabre known as a Ludwikówka - see more at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#5
"Each time the ritual was performed, the final violent reaction would come from the boy when the words were spoken, 'I cast thee out' — a reaction of profanity and screaming and the astounding use of Latin phrases."
On August 20, 1949, The Washington Post reported on a priest who had recently performed 20 to 30 exorcisms on a teenager from suburban Washington, D.C., over the course of several months. Throughout these intense rituals, the boy erupted in fits of cursing and screaming every time the priest invoked the name of God. And once, a heavy armchair that the boy was sitting in slowly tilted to one side until it fell over and threw the boy to the floor.
But the story lay largely forgotten for 20 years — until a psychologist's extensive notes from the incident were discovered and turned into "The Exorcist."
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#6
Just blocks from the boutiques of Rodeo Drive in the heart of the coveted 90210 zip code, a seemingly dilapidated cottage is nestled among rows of modern homes and swanky mansions. Known as the "Witch's House" of Beverly Hills, this unusual structure stands out with its pointed roof, tiny windows, and hand-painted "No Trespassing" signs as the epitome of the storybook architecture style that gripped California in the 1920s and '30s. A rickety picket fence surrounds a garden full of thorny plants and gnarled trees, making the home appear run-down and vacant, but Spadena House is happily inhabited — and meticulously maintained to look like a centuries-old fairy tale cottage. The current owner has even furnished the interior to match, complete with a dining room table with a tree-trunk base.
Go inside the famous Spadena House with 25 whimsical photos by clicking the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
If you've noticed that many modern news headlines seem unusually dramatic, alarming, or negative, you're not imagining it. The way people consume news has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Earlier generations often relied on physical newspapers, where readers might spend considerable time engaging with articles.
Today, a large portion of global news consumption happens online. In the United States alone, 89% of adults get at least some of their news from the internet, and reliance on digital news sources continues to grow. At the same time, research shows that most users spend less than five minutes per month across all of the top 25 news websites combined. This means news organizations are competing fiercely for an extremely limited amount of reader attention. As a result, many outlets feel pressured to publish eye-catching, emotionally charged, and often negative headlines designed to encourage clicks—a phenomenon commonly known as clickbait.
#7
While exploring the ancient Egyptian necropolis at Oxyrhynchus, archaeologists recently uncovered several mummies dating back 1,600 years. Some had bandages adorned with ornate patterns while others had golden tongues placed in their mouths. Researchers even found a jar filled with the cremated remains of an infant as well as the skull of a cat wrapped up in a cloth. However, the most striking discovery was the mummy that had been wrapped up with a papyrus excerpt of Homer's "The Iliad" tucked inside its bandages. Archaeologists were able to remove and read this excerpt, identifying it as a section from Book 2 in which Homer lists the many Greek ships sent to attack Troy.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#8
In 1936, photographer Dorothea Lange spotted a young mother named Florence Owens sitting with her children in a temporary shelter near a migrants' camp in Nipomo, California. Owens was waiting for her boyfriend, Jim, and two older children to return from an adjacent town to fix their car's radiator.
Lange asked Owens for a photograph as part of a series she was doing for the federal government to document the plight of migrant laborers. Allegedly, Lange promised Owens she would not distribute the photos, even though these "Migrant Mother" images would become part of history for decades to come.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#9
"I don't have any friends and don't have any intention of making any. People will stab you in the back, mistreat you, talk about you behind your back, steal from you. And they're not really your friends."
In his later years, legendary "Diff'rent Strokes' actor Gary Coleman had grown so disillusioned with people using him for his money and fame that he wrote in his will that he didn't want anyone who had a financial stake in him present at his funeral. Indeed, people had been taking advantage of the former child star from the moment he started acting. When he was 20, Coleman successfully sued his parents for $1 million of the roughly $3 million they misappropriated from him.
Later, his marriage to actress Shannon Price proved to be even more fraught. Coleman accused her of using him for his money, abusing him, and carrying on affairs behind his back. And even though the couple divorced less than a year after they were married, they lived together right up until Coleman's sudden death in 2010 — after which a bitter battle over Coleman's assets ensued. Learn more about the tragic life of Gary Coleman by following the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Mental health experts have increasingly begun examining how constant exposure to troubling news affects people emotionally. Don Grant, PhD, who has worked with teenagers and young adults through both Newport Academy and his private practice in Los Angeles, has observed this impact firsthand. He explains that young people may read a story about an endangered animal species, climate change, or another distressing global issue and not immediately realize how deeply it affects them.
However, the information often lingers in the background of their minds throughout the day. They continue thinking about it, worrying about it, and feeling unsettled by it. As Grant points out, they may find themselves perseverating on the story without fully recognizing why their mood has shifted. The emotional impact can be subtle at first, but it often accumulates over time.
#10
In 1995, DHL co-founder Larry Hillblom died in a plane crash near the Northern Mariana Islands. In the aftermath, a number of s*x workers came forward claiming that he had fathered their children. But proving their claim was tricky. Not only had Hillblom's body never been found, but his live-in girlfriend had destroyed all possible DNA evidence — including his toothbrush, comb, and clothing — by burying it in their backyard. Ultimately, lawyers for the women decided to test the children against each other.
They found that four of the children shared a father, and Hillblom's mother ultimately relented and gave blood after she was promised $1 million. The four children were thus proven to be Hillblom's, and because he died without adding a disinheritance clause to his will, the children inherited a huge share of his $600 million estate - read more at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#11
For more than 20 years, Helen Ackley and her family lived in this stately Victorian home perched along the Hudson River in Nyack, New York. Though the house was spacious and charming, the family soon came to believe that it was also haunted. Their terrifying accounts included everything from beds rocking on their own to spirits floating through the living room to a lieutenant from the Revolutionary War lurking in the basement.
But after a man named Jeffrey Stambovsky signed a contract to purchase the house in 1989, Ackley wanted him to know that it was haunted, prompting Stambovsky to pull out of the sale. His refusal to honor the signed contract went to trial and eventually made its way to New York's Supreme Court, which decided in Stambovsky's favor, allowing him out of the sale and declaring, "As a matter of law, the house is haunted."
Learn more about the only house in America to ever be legally declared haunted at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#12
Just a few months before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his son Robert was preparing to board a train in New Jersey when he had a terrifying near-death experience. While standing on the narrow platform, Lincoln was jostled by a crowd and pushed against a train car just as it started to move. The force of the train threw him off balance, and as he began to fall toward the tracks, feet-first into the empty space between the moving train cars, someone grabbed him by the coat collar and yanked him back to safety. Lincoln looked up to thank his rescuer — and was amazed to see that it was none other than Edwin Booth, one of the most famous actors of the day.
In an eerie twist of fate, it was Edwin's brother, John Wilkes Booth, who would go on to a***ssinate Robert's father just a few months later. And while Edwin was devastated over the president's death, he found comfort in the knowledge that he had once saved the life of Lincoln's son.
Click the link in our profile to learn more about the life of Edwin Booth, the famous actor who became a footnote in history after his brother k**led the president.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Grant refers to this growing phenomenon as "media saturation overload," a term that captures the emotional exhaustion many people experience after consuming large amounts of news and online content. He is far from the only mental health professional noticing this trend. In recent years, several new phrases have entered public conversation to describe similar experiences. Terms such as "doomscrolling," "headline anxiety," and "headline stress disorder" have become increasingly common as people struggle to manage a nonstop stream of information.
Thanks to smartphones and social media, troubling news is no longer limited to a morning newspaper or evening broadcast. Instead, it follows people throughout the day, arriving through notifications, social feeds, videos, and conversations. While technology keeps us connected, it can also make it difficult to mentally disconnect from upsetting events.
#13
Like many tribes in the United States, the Osage people were forced to vacate their native land to make room for white settlers. But much to the disdain of settlers, this move led the Osage to incredible wealth in the 1920s, as oil was discovered on their new land in Oklahoma. This soon put a target on the Osage people's backs, and before long, dozens of tribe members were turning up dead — the victims of sh**tings, brutal beatings, and st**bings.
Since local authorities were no help, the m*rder spree soon became the first big case for the future FBI, which turned the case over to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White, who was willing to work with a Native American agent to investigate the crimes properly. Because of this, a wealthy cattleman named William Hale was later revealed to be one of the masterminds behind the Osage Indian M*rders, along with Hale's nephew Ernest Burkhart, who had married an Osage woman named Mollie solely to steal her fortune after brutally k**ling off a number of her family members. But they weren't the only ones behind this vicious crime spree.
Learn more about the Osage Indian M*rders — and how the FBI investigation only scratched the surface of this deadly conspiracy — at the link in our profile.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#14
Born in 1898, William James Sidis could read “The New York Times” by 18 months, spoke English, French, German, Russian, Hebrew, and Turkish by age six, and even invented his own language. With an estimated IQ between 250 and 300 — far above that of Einstein and Newton — he was accepted to Harvard at the age of 11 and began lecturing to his peers on four-dimensional bodies by age 12. Despite his extraordinary abilities, Sidis shied away from fame, working in low-level office jobs and retreating from public attention. He died on July 17, 1944, at age 46, living in seclusion as a penniless office clerk.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#15
"The thought of having s*x with her husband made her physically ill, and she would fly into a panic."
Jordan Graham grew up in Kalispell, Montana, a small city just outside Glacier National Park. Her family was deeply religious, attending weekly worship and other events at Faith Baptist Church. Graham likewise met most of her friends through church, and she often told them about her dreams of getting married and starting a family.
When she met Cody Johnson, it seemed like that dream was coming true. The couple began dating in 2011 and on June 29, 2013, they were married. It was then, however, that Graham was overwhelmed with terror at the prospect of having s*x with her new husband. The very day after the wedding, she texted her friends saying she had "totally had a meltdown" and didn't know why she'd decided to marry Johnson.
All these emotions came to a head when Graham and Johnson were having an argument while hiking along a cliff in Glacier National Park eight days after the wedding. Graham said that Johnson grabbed her arm — then she, not thinking about where they were, "just pushed," sending her husband to his death.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Research has repeatedly shown a connection between frequent news consumption and emotional distress. One study examining news-seeking behaviors and emotional responses found that increased exposure to current headlines (whether through traditional media outlets or social media platforms) can negatively affect mental well-being. Researchers surveyed 2,251 adults during the spring of 2020 and discovered a clear pattern.
The more frequently participants sought information about COVID-19 through television, newspapers, websites, and social media, the more likely they were to report experiencing emotional distress. While staying informed can help people feel prepared, constantly checking for updates can have the opposite effect. Instead of providing reassurance, excessive news consumption may heighten feelings of fear, uncertainty, and worry. This highlights the importance of finding a healthy balance between staying informed and becoming overwhelmed.
#16
In 1962, Marilyn Monroe died inside her Los Angeles home at the age of just 36. Discovered naked in her bed and surrounded by empty pill bottles, the legendary actress was found with an enormous amount of barbiturates in her system. On the surface, it appeared to be a s**cide — but further examination suggested foul play. Despite the high levels of dr*gs in her system, there were no pills found in her stomach. And a mysterious bruise hinted that she may have been injected with a deadly dose of Nembutal.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#17
On the morning of July 3, 1988, 290 passengers and crew, including 65 children, boarded Iran Air Flight 655 at Bandar Abbas airport in Iran. Their flight, a short trip to Dubai, was popular among Iranians, who sometimes shopped for luxury goods there on the weekends. But on that morning, things would take a terrible, tragic turn.
Just moments after the flight took off, it was detected by the USS Vincennes, a U.S. Navy warship patrolling the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq War. The Vincennes had just engaged Iranian g*nboats, and it mistook the civilian aircraft for an Iranian fighter jet heading in its direction. With minutes to react, the ship's captain gave the order to fire — and the warship sh*t Iran Air Flight 655 out of the sky, k**ling everyone onboard.
In the aftermath, the U.S. called the incident a "terrible tragedy" but also blamed Iran for letting its civilian aircraft fly near an active military zone. Iran, meanwhile, called the downing of the aircraft a "barbaric m**sacre," and sued the U.S. in the International Court of Justice. Without admitting liability, the U.S. settled the case and agreed to pay $61.8 million (more than $100 million today) to the victims' families.
But the memory of Iran Air Flight 655 is far from forgotten in Iran today
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#18
While married to his first wife, Albert Einstein had two sons: Hans Albert and Eduard. But when the boys were still young, he left them to be with his second wife. Though living apart, Albert frequently worried about Eduard, who was a sickly child with innumerable health problems. In one letter to a friend, Albert even mused about the practice of leaving ill children on a mountainside to die, but ultimately stated that he would do whatever it took to help Eduard, and even accompanied the boy to sanitariums.
Eduard, however, purportedly never forgave his father for abandoning the family. Interested in psychiatry, he also mused about the impact of having a famous father, once writing to a friend, "People who fill their time with intellectual work bring into the world sickly, nervous at times even completely idiotic children (for example...me)." Meanwhile, Eduard's behavior became increasingly erratic, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1930s. Shortly thereafter, Albert left Europe for the U.S.
Though father and son initially stayed in touch, they would never see each other again. Albert became more distant as Eduard's mental health problems deepened, and by the end of Albert's life, he was estranged from his son, who remained in psychiatric hospitals until his death in the 1960s.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Studies have also linked prolonged exposure to negative news with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. In fact, one study found measurable increases in these symptoms after just 14 minutes of news consumption. While that may sound surprising, psychologists explain that repeated exposure to distressing information can trigger feelings of helplessness, particularly when the problems being reported feel beyond an individual's control.
Whether it's a natural disaster on the other side of the world or a major global crisis, people often feel emotionally invested but powerless to change the outcome. This combination of concern and lack of control can amplify stress levels. Over time, constant exposure to difficult news stories may contribute to emotional fatigue, making it harder for individuals to maintain a positive outlook and sense of well-being.
#19
During a time when Times Square was one of the most dangerous places in New York, a group called the Guardian Angels stepped onto the scene. In 1979, the group was formed, and volunteers were recruited to help patrol the New York City subway to prevent crime. Adorned with their distinctive red berets, this group still operates today. To see more vintage images from Times Square
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#20
In 1823, a fur trapper named Hugh Glass was traveling with other frontiersmen in modern-day South Dakota when he was attacked by a grizzly bear. Though Glass survived, the bear had broken Glass' leg and left such deep wounds in his torso that some of his ribs were exposed. His fellow fur trappers assumed he would die soon and assigned two men in the group to stay with him. But the men ended up stealing Glass' weapons and survival tools, cruelly leaving him to die alone on the frontier. Glass was so furious that his desire for revenge gave him the energy he needed to survive his ordeal, and before long, he had miraculously stumbled more than 200 miles to the nearest fort. And then he began seeking his vengeance.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#21
Marguerite de la Rocque was sailing to the New World with her relative in 1542 when she met a man on board and began a love affair with him. Her relative was so scandalized that he abandoned them, alongside a servant, on the remote Isle of Demons near Newfoundland. Though de la Rocque gave birth to a baby, the infant died, as did her two companions, leaving her isolated and surrounded by hostile wildlife.
Armed with a knife, a gun, and a Bible, de la Rocque reportedly survived by fighting off wild animals — including polar bears. She was finally rescued two years later in 1544, and her story sparked such interest that the queen of France included it in her short story collection.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#22
The Roaring Twenties is one of the most iconic eras in American history, but you may be surprised to hear that much of the culture from the time period was actually brought about by Prohibition. When the 18th Amendment banned the sale and transport of alcohol in 1920, illegal saloons called speakeasies appeared across the United States.
Since these new bars weren't regulated by law, women could enter and drink right alongside men. They soon began smoking and dancing, and the "flapper" was born. And with the rise of speakeasies, drinking became more of a social pastime, and venues started bringing in jazz musicians to entertain the crowds, helping to bring about the Jazz Age. Prohibition was ultimately repealed in 1933, but the drinking culture it inspired is still popular today.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Clearly, the news we consume has a significant impact on our thoughts, emotions, and overall mental health. While staying informed is an important part of being an engaged citizen, it's equally important to pay attention to how that information affects us personally. Taking breaks from the news, setting boundaries around media consumption, and intentionally seeking out positive or inspiring stories can help create a healthier balance. The goal isn't to ignore difficult realities but to ensure that they don't completely overshadow the good that exists in the world.
#23
Mutsuhiro Watanabe was born into a wealthy family and attended a prestigious university, so when World War II broke out, he expected that he would immediately be made an officer. Instead, Watanabe was assigned the rank of corporal and assigned to a series of POW camps. Bitter and jealous, Watanabe was unpopular even among his fellow soldiers — and he took out his resentment on the prisoners. Not only did Watanabe beat them, but he also tortured them psychologically by destroying photographs they had of their families or burning their unopened letters from home.
After the conflict ended, Watanabe was declared one of the most wanted war criminals in Japan. But he went into hiding — even his mother thought he had died — and the charges against him were dropped in 1952. Afterward, Watanabe had a lucrative career as a life insurance salesman and exhibited no remorse for his actions during the war. In a rare interview, he stated: "Beating and kicking in Caucasian society are considered cruel behavior. However, there were some occasions in the prison camp in which beating and kicking were unavoidable… I treated them strictly as enemies of Japan."
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#24
On May 13, 1983, millionaire vaudeville promoter Roy Radin got into a limo with Hollywood producer Karen Greenberger — and was never seen alive again. Radin was in Los Angeles to meet with Robert Evans, the legendary studio head behind "The Godfather," about financing the upcoming film "The Cotton Club." Evans was reportedly in a relationship with Greenberger at the time and she was involved in deal-making discussions for the movie. But just days after Radin and Greenberger were seen together in the limo, he was reported missing.
A month later, his body was found 65 miles away in Gorman, California, with a single g*nsh*t wound behind his left ear. When questioned, Greenberger first said that Radin had kicked her out of the limo after they got into an argument. However, she then changed her story and claimed that Radin had climbed out of the vehicle and told the driver to take her home. It wasn't until four years later that police discovered that Greenberger had hired a hitman to m*rder Radin — all because she felt she wasn't getting a fair cut in "The Cotton Club" deal.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#25
Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a 2,500-year-old mass grave filled with the remains of dozens of infants and children. For decades, people in the ancient city of Azekah used this repurposed cistern as a burial plot for as many as 89 children, most of them under the age of two. Though researchers do know that the children were buried here just after they died, experts remain unsure what k**led the children in the first place. Now, this haunting discovery may shed more light on life in ancient Azekah, located in the valley outside Jerusalem where David is said to have k**led Goliath.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#26
In the late 1980s, Mexican singer Chalino Sánchez rose to fame as the "King of Corrido," referring to the genre of music made up of ballads about dr*g lords and associated g*ngsters. Sánchez performed songs about c*rtels, dr*g trafficking, and true crime, and his sincere lyrics resonated with fans who understood the struggles of life in some of the poorest and most violence-plagued areas of Mexico.
But on May 15, 1992, Sánchez took the stage at the Salón Bugambilias in Culiacán. While his band played the first notes of a song, someone in the crowd handed Sánchez a note. Nobody knows what it said, but Sánchez was visibly shaken by its contents. Still, he continued the concert, and he left the club with two of his brothers, his cousin, and several women at the end of the night. As the group was driving through Culiacán, they were pulled over by armed men who identified themselves as police officers. They told Sánchez that their commander wanted to speak to him, so the singer got into their car. He was never seen alive again.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
Being aware of what's happening around us helps us make informed decisions, participate in our communities, and better understand the world. The key is consuming news mindfully rather than endlessly scrolling through alarming headlines. The world contains both challenges and acts of kindness, both setbacks and progress. By making room for both perspectives, we can stay informed without becoming overwhelmed, and remain hopeful without becoming uninformed.
#27
"He was a hero. He was not some psycho on the corner. He was not. He was a gentle giant until you pushed him. If you pushed him to the max, then you'd see a different person. But it took an awful lot. It took a lot."
Brian Brown-Easley had been a shy, gentle young man before enlisting in the U.S. Marines. But after his dishonorable discharge, his family noticed a marked change in the man who'd been known as "Easy." He showed signs of paranoia, sometimes flew into fits of rage, and briefly broke off contact with his wife and daughter when he checked himself into a mental hospital. Eventually diagnosed with PTSD, schizophrenia, and paranoia, Brown-Easley seemed to be pulling his life together after his release from the hospital, forming a strong bond with his daughter and supporting himself on his monthly disability payments from the VA. Then, these payments suddenly stopped — and he "just snapped."
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#28
In December of 1900, three lighthouse keepers stationed in Scotland's Flannan Isles suddenly disappeared. Investigators found that the island, Eilean Mòr, had been brutally ravaged by a recent storm. Inside the lighthouse, it was as if no one had left, with proper upkeep continued up until the moment the keepers vanished. The official story was that the men had been attempting to secure a box from the storm when they were swept out to sea by a massive wave, but speculation remained.
Outlandish explanations spread in the media: perhaps the men had been carried away by a sea serpent, or they had conspired to abandon the lighthouse together and sailed off to a new life. Maybe they had been kidnapped by foreign agents — or maybe it was a ghost. Over time, another seemingly more plausible theory emerged. Rumored logbook entries from one of the keepers reported one man crying and another irritable amid the storm. Many soon began to wonder if the men had not been k**led by a wave, but had instead m**dered one another.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#29
On April 2, 1801, with the Napoleonic Wars tearing Europe apart, the British Navy attacked Danish ships in Copenhagen Harbor. Hoping to force Denmark out of its alliance with Russia, Prussia, and Sweden, British ships under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson b*mbarded the Danish Navy mercilessly. Atop Nelson's hit list was the 157-foot Danish flagship Dannebroge, which he a**aulted with cannonballs that tore through its upper deck and sparked a fire that crippled this imposing vessel. Soon enough, Denmark surrendered and the Dannebroge sank to the bottom of the harbor, though all but 72 of its 357 crew members were able to survive.
Now, in preparation for a massive housing construction project in the harbor, divers have located the wreck of the Dannebroge. Though the vessel itself can't be recovered, marine archaeologists have collected a wealth of remains, including grape sh*t, a cannonball, uniforms, insignia, one sailor's shoe, and another sailor's jawbone.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#30
To many Americans, George Washington has long been the epitome of dignity. Not only did he lead the United States to victory during the Revolutionary War, but he also served two terms as the country's first president before giving up power to prevent future undemocratic executive branches. But Washington had another side that remains little-known to this day.
Though you'd never know it from the dour expressions in his iconic portraits, Washington absolutely loved to drink. Two days before he signed the U.S. Constitution, shortly before he became president, Washington threw a party for 55 guests in Philadelphia and racked up a bar tab of over $17,000 — plus another $300 for all the glasses they broke. The soon-to-be president and his guests drank 54 bottles of Madeira wine, 60 bottles of Bordeaux, eight bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of ale, eight bottles of hard cider, 12 jugs of beer, and seven large bowls of punch. And Washington didn't slow down after he ascended to the presidency — when he spent an eyebrow-raising 7 percent of his presidential income on alcohol. He apparently liked to end each night with a full bottle of Madeira, plus some rum or beer.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#31
In the wake of World War II and the advent of the nuclear b*mb, the specter of world-ending warfare became a stunningly immediate fear for many Americans — one that tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union amplified. Among the many potential answers to a worst-case scenario was the creation of the Boeing E-4B, an American aircraft built to withstand nuclear radiation and fly in the air for days. In the event of a nuclear war, the President of the United States could escape to one of these planes, safely commanding a response from the air.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#32
Perhaps no survivor of the Titanic was more fearless than "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." Famously portrayed in the classic 1997 film, Brown was even more formidable in real life. When the ship began to sink on the night of April 14, 1912, Brown sprang into action, tirelessly helping others board lifeboats before she was finally persuaded to board one herself. Once aboard, she grabbed an oar and rowed her fellow passengers toward safety — before stopping to insist that the vessel's crewman turn around so that they could save more people. When he told her that they could be sucked into the frozen depths of the North Atlantic, she refused to back down and threatened to toss him overboard if he didn't turn back.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#33
The Boston Strangler terrorized the women of Boston from 1962 to 1964, k**ling 13 and sparking one of the largest investigations in the city's history. The main suspect at the time was Albert DeSalvo, an inmate at a mental hospital who actually confessed to the k**lings.
However, there was no physical evidence linking him to any of the crime scenes, and he was never charged with the m*rders. Decades later, DNA evidence did link DeSalvo to the scene of the final r*pe and m*rder that's commonly attributed to the Boston Strangler — but many were skeptical. From the ages of the victims to the way they were k**led, there are several discrepancies that suggest there was more than one strangler, and the case remains a mystery to this day.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#34
"It still haunts me. It always will."
In October 1969, a cab driver named Paul Stine was m*rdered in San Francisco. The Zodiac k**ler, an anonymous m**derer who'd k**led several young couples in the Bay Area already, claimed credit for Stine's m**der and even sent a bloody piece of Stine's shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle. Stine was the first of the Zodiac victims to be k**led within San Francisco, and so the case landed on the desk of a San Francisco Police Department detective named Dave Toschi.
For the next decade, Toschi doggedly investigated the case, interviewing up to 5,000 people in his quest to unmask the Zodiac k**ler. He personally came to believe that the most likely suspect was Arthur Leigh Allen, a man who was reportedly writing a "novel" about a k**ler called "Zodiac" who k**led couples. But Toschi was never able to find enough evidence to connect Allen to any of the crimes.
Even after he left the case in the 1970s, Toschi continued to wonder about the identity of the Zodiac K**ler. But the perpetrator remains unknown to this day.
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#35
When Sajida Talfah was a child, her parents arranged her marriage with her first cousin, a younger boy named Saddam Hussein. They didn't meet until they were in their early 20s, shortly before their wedding, but their relationship ultimately lasted 43 years and produced five children. It wasn't always a happy union, however. In the 1980s, Hussein took a second wife, a woman named Samira Shahbandar. Samira was furious, and she wasn't the only one. Her eldest son with Hussein, Uday, m**dered the man who purportedly introduced his father to Samira.
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#36
André René Roussimoff, better known as André the Giant, was born in 1946 with a condition known as gigantism. This caused his pituitary gland to produce too much growth hormone, causing him to be 6'3" and 240 pounds by the age of 12. By the time he was an adult, André stood at 7'4" and 520 pounds. In fact, his fingers were so big that a silver dollar could fit inside one of his rings.
Unfortunately, his condition led to him experiencing congestive heart failure at the age of just 46. The crematoriums in Paris, where he passed, were not big enough to accommodate a body of his size. After his body was sent back to the United States, he was cremated, and his ashes ultimately weighed 17 pounds.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#37
In the final weeks of the Vietnam War, the U.S. government organized the mass evacuation of Vietnamese orphans from Saigon to be placed with families across America. Known as Operation Babylift, the mission was a joint effort between the Air Force, private airlines, and philanthropic businessmen — including U.S. Army veteran and Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner.
On April 9, 1975, Hefner sent his private plane "Big Bunny" to Saigon to help carry dozens of Vietnamese orphans to New York City, with Playboy Bunnies caring for the babies during the entire flight until they reached LaGuardia. Follow the link in our profile to see more of the astonishing rescue mission that helped save over 3,300 South Vietnamese babies before the fall of Saigon.
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#38
"She is the first feline astronaut in the world."
On October 18, 1963, French scientists in the Sahara Desert launched a rocket with an unusual passenger: a tuxedo cat named Félicette. A stray feline found on the streets of Paris, Félicette had undergone special "training" alongside 13 other cats to determine her fitness for space travel. Because Félicette was the calmest cat of the whole group — and didn't gain weight during the study — she was chosen as the first feline to ever go to space.
Félicette spent 15 minutes in spaceflight before her rocket plummeted back down to Earth. But even though she survived the trip, her story would soon come to a tragic end. Not long after Félicette returned from her journey, French scientists euthanized her so that they could study the effects that the trip had on her brain.
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#39
“I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes. And those hopes never left me.”
A fraudster from the early 20th century, Charles Ponzi has since become the most notorious con man in United States history. In fact, the term "Ponzi scheme" for an illegitimate operation was coined for him. The international postal coupon system caught his eye when he realized he could buy massive quantities of postal coupons from countries with weak economies and redeem them in countries with stronger ones. With the promise of a return on investment, Ponzi used trained sales agents to pitch to potential investors. However, Ponzi just pocketed the money.
In just six months, he had over 40,000 investors, making him a millionaire who could afford a mansion, multiple cars, and a gold-handled cane. While he was eventually caught and deported back to Italy, Charles Ponzi's name lives on in infamy.
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#40
"Everybody in that situation... you would have arrived at the same thought. And it's easier than you think."
In December 1972, three farmers in Chile came upon two skeletal men shouting for help. They said they'd been in a plane crash two months earlier and 14 other passengers were still stranded up in the Andes Mountains. The men had spent the last 10 days hiking nearly 40 miles through the steep slopes in search of rescue, and their bravery had paid off. When the 16 survivors returned to Uruguay, everyone wanted to know how they'd managed to live in the extreme conditions for 72 days, and the disturbing truth soon came out: They had eaten the dead bodies of their fellow passengers to avoid starvation.
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#41
Known around the world as the ruthless Mongol conqueror who built the largest contiguous land empire in history, Genghis Khan is likewise famous for his countless wives and concubines who birthed him as many as 1,000 children. In fact, he was so prolific that a 2003 study concluded that roughly 1 in 200 modern men are direct descendants of his.
However, new research just disproved this astonishing claim. Scientists analyzed DNA from four corpses interred in mausoleums in Kazakhstan that are believed to belong to Genghis Khan's relatives, with one of them perhaps belonging to his eldest son, Jochi. Researchers found that their DNA contains a specific signature that's different from the supposed Genghis Khan signature identified in the 2003 study. It's thus likely that far fewer men today are related to Genghis Khan than previously thought
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#42
"It's incredible to imagine how this tiny piece of history created by an ancient civilization thousands of years ago has somehow made its way to Leeds."
A coin that someone used for bus fare in Leeds, England in the 1950s has been identified as a 2,000-year-old Phoenician relic. When the city's chief cashier, James Edwards, later plucked it out from the pile, he took it home to his young son, Peter. For 70 years, Peter kept his "treasure" in a small wooden chest — before investigating and eventually discovering its origins. Experts have now confirmed that the coin, featuring the god Melqart on one side and a pair of tuna on the other, was minted by Phoenicians in the Spanish city of Cadiz in the first century B.C.E.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#43
While preparing for hospital construction in Romania, excavators recently happened upon a perfectly-preserved ancient staircase — leading down into vast Roman catacombs containing 34 graves. This enormous necropolis from the ancient city of Tomis also held a wealth of rare relics, including jewelry, coins, amphorae, and glass vessels. But perhaps the two most remarkable finds were a ceremonial shield and a stone tablet emblazoned with a Greek inscription wishing good health and fortune to the emperor.
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#44
In the Victorian era, going to the beach wasn’t as simple as laying out a towel. Because it was considered scandalous for a "proper" lady to be seen in a swimsuit — even one that covered her from neck to ankle — the "Bathing Machine" was invented. These were essentially wooden huts on wheels that functioned as mobile dressing rooms.
A woman would enter the hut on dry land, change into her swimwear, and then wait as a horse pulled the entire structure into the surf. Once deep enough, she would emerge from a door facing the open ocean, shielded from the gaze of men on the shore. To ensure she actually got into the water, strong attendants known as "dippers" would often stand by to literally dunk the bathers into the waves.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#45
Ninety-eight years ago today, Fred McFeely Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Better known as Mister Rogers, he would eventually become the most beloved broadcaster in the history of children's television. From 1968 to 2001, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" taught children across America about everything from family and friendship to love and death.
Never afraid of tackling weighty topics, Rogers centered some of his most enduring episodes on subjects like divorce, the loss of a family pet, and racial harmony. In fact, perhaps the series' most iconic scene came in 1969 when Rogers broke barriers by sharing a pool with a Black policeman character named Officer Clemmons. Likewise unafraid to take up important causes in real life, Rogers also remains famous for testifying before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications in 1969 in order to stop proposed budget cuts that would have gutted funding for PBS. As he delivered a heartfelt speech on the importance of children's programming, he brought Committee Chairman John Pastore to tears — and convinced Congress to halt the budget cuts.
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#46
A public works project in southern Italy's Salerno province just turned up an ancient Samnite necropolis filled with 34 burials, including 15 children. Found in the seaside town of Pontecagnano Faiano, this 2,300-year-old burial ground was uncovered at the site of a former tobacco factory.
Archaeologists unearthed jewelry, ceramics, and weapons including spearheads and javelin points, but perhaps most astonishing were the two children interred with massive bronze belts. Known as warrior belts, these were usually reserved for the burials of adult men who had seen combat, leaving experts baffled as to why they were found on children
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#47
After he was k**led in the early morning hours of May 2nd, 2011, Osama bin Laden's body was disposed of at sea that same night.
Since then, a single DNA test has been released confirming the body was that of bin Laden, but no other supporting evidence has since been provided.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#48
Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered graffiti on the walls of several ancient tombs in the Valley of the Kings — left there by tourists from India 2,000 years ago. Researchers ultimately discovered 30 inscriptions written in three different Indian languages and spread across six tombs built for pharaohs like Tausert, Setnakhte, and Ramesses IX. Most remarkable was the fact that one man left eight inscriptions inside five different tombs, all of them reading, "Cikai Korran came here and saw." More noteworthy still is that he somehow managed to leave his etchings 16 to 20 feet off the ground each time out, and even got inside one tomb that was completely sealed off.
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#49
"Finds like this highlight the rich history beneath our city."
While excavating for storm drain tank construction at Queen's Gardens in Hull, England, workers recently happened upon a massive cannon that could be as much as 400 years old. Measuring 8.5 feet long and weighing 2,200 pounds, the cannon is believed to come from either the 17th or 18th century. It had likely been moved to Queen's Garden during the 1920s or '30s and repurposed as fodder for dockside backfill or as a mooring post for ships.
© Photo: realhistoryuncovered
#50
On this day 170 years ago, one congressman almost beat another to death right on the floor of the chamber. Two days earlier on May 20, 1856, abolitionist Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave a fiery speech in which he criticized slavery and slaveholders, including South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler. So, on May 22, Butler's cousin, South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks, walked up to Sumner as he sat at his desk and began beating him mercilessly with a metal-tipped walking cane. Brooks didn't stop when Sumner fell unconscious, nor did he stop when his cane broke in two.
Eventually, other senators were able to intervene and restrain Brooks, who never apologized for the attack and never faced any charges. As for Sumner, it would be more than three years before he could return to the Senate, but the state of Massachusetts insisted on not replacing him, instead leaving his chair empty as a reminder of the attack — while an increasingly divided nation inched ever closer to civil war.
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#51
In July 1975, labor leader Jimmy Hoffa went to lunch at the Machus Red Fox restaurant outside of Detroit — and was never seen or heard from again. He ran the most powerful union in America, gave Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy the middle finger during a Congressional hearing, and made both friends and enemies at the highest echelons of organized crime. Then, on July 30, 1975, he simply vanished into thin air.
Some say he was executed, dismembered, frozen, and buried under Giants Stadium. Others say he was betrayed by his friends and run through a meat grinder. Still others believe he was abducted by federal agents and pushed out of an airplane thousands of feet above the Great Lakes.
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#52
Travis Walton was working as a logger in Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest on November 5, 1975 when he and his crew noticed a glowing light in the forest. Walton got out of the car to take a closer look, and to the horror of the others, the light seemed to grab him, fling him into the air, and slam him back down again. The loggers fled, and when they returned a few minutes later, Walton was gone.
The loggers, who reported Walton missing, were suspected of m*rdering him. But they were adamant about what they had witnessed — and five days later, Walton reappeared in the town of Heber, about 12 miles from where he'd last been seen. Not only did Walton confirm the others' stories, he also claimed that the light had come from an alien craft and that he'd spent the last five days being examined by extraterrestrials.
Go inside the alleged alien abduction of Travis Walton, which later inspired the 1993 movie "Fire In The Sky."
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#53
Shortly before he died in 2010, a scholar named Zecharia Sitchin described himself as "the most controversial 89-year-old man in New York." Known for spearheading a theory that early humans were genetically modified by aliens called Anunnaki, Sitchin was dismissed by countless scientists, historians, and archaeologists. And yet his 13 books sold millions of copies around the world.
Up until his final days, Sitchin insisted that the Anunnaki were behind the creation of early humans, one of the first civilizations, and the incredible advances that the ancient Sumerians made thousands of years ago. He said, "This is in the texts; I'm not making it up. [The aliens] wanted to create primitive workers from the homo erectus and give him the genes to allow him to think and use tools."
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#54
On February 16, 1981, 19-year-old Arne Cheyenne Johnson m*rdered his landlord in Bridgeport, Connecticut. And although he had no criminal history, Johnson had started to exhibit strange behavior months earlier. According to his fiancée, he would frequently fall into a trance-like state and begin growling before returning to normal and having no recollection of what happened.
This was around the same time that his fiancée's 11-year-old brother, David Glatzel, underwent an exorcism while Johnson was present. David's symptoms of possession aligned nearly perfectly with Johnson's, leading his lawyer and several priests to make the conclusion that Johnson himself had become possessed by one of David's demons. It was the first time in the history of the United States that a defendant tried to plead not guilty by reason of possession.
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#55
The only legal wife of polygamous cult leader David Koresh, Rachel Jones was ordered to marry him when she was just 14 years old. At the time, David was known as Vernon Howell and was already in his mid-20s. He was quickly taking control of the Branch Davidians, a religious offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventists. Despite Rachel's young age, it was reportedly her own father who pushed her into the marriage, saying, "You're going to go with Vernon, and you do whatever he tells you to do. He's gonna be your husband now." And as David's power grew among the Branch Davidians, he took several other "spiritual" wives, some of whom were as young as 12 years old, and even eventually wed Rachel's younger sister.
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#56
On April 14, 1912, Titanic lookout Frederick Fleet was sitting in the ship's crow's nest when he spotted a "black mass" directly ahead. Though Fleet acted quickly and warned the bridge, the ship hit the iceberg — and quickly began to sink.
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#57
"It's a perfectly scripted Game of Thrones-style epic. All the romance, all the blood, all the gore, all the bling."
At 105.6 carats, the Koh-i-Noor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world — and the most sought-after. Originally mined in India, the gem has a long and bloody history, having passed through the hands of countless emperors and kings over the centuries through violent means, leading to rumors that the diamond may be cursed. Today, the diamond is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. However, many view the Koh-i-Noor as a "symbol of conquest" and a token of colonial violence. Countries like India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have all laid claim to the diamond, demanding that Britain return it. But despite all of the controversy surrounding the Koh-i-Noor, it continues to sit on display in the Tower of London to this day
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#58
The Holocaust brought a tragic end to more than 11 million lives. One 12-year-old Polish girl named Józefa Głazowska was sent to Auschwitz in 1942 as part of a plot to remove the occupied country's native population and settle ethnic Germans there instead. Józefa's mother was e**cuted in a gas chamber, and her father also died at the concentration camp. The young girl herself was subjected to medical experiments that likely infected her with malaria or typhus. She managed to survive until the camps were liberated — but many other children didn't.
Czesława Kwoka, another girl from Poland, was sent to Auschwitz when she was 14. Upon her arrival, she was photographed by Wilhelm Brasse, a fellow inmate who was ordered to take portraits for each prisoner's file. Czesława couldn't understand the instructions from the German guards, so they brutally beat her just before her turn in front of the camera. Brasse later recalled, "She was so young and terrified... To tell you the truth, I felt as if I was being hit myself." Czesława was m**dered just a few months later, likely from a phenol injection to the heart.
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#59
Just after midnight on February 5, 2007, Charity Bennett was finishing her shift at Buffalo Wild Wings when the police arrived to deliver unthinkable news: Her four-year-old daughter was dead. Ella Bennett had been at their home in Abilene, Texas, with a babysitter and her 13-year-old brother, Paris Lee Bennett, while Charity worked that Super Bowl Sunday. Around 10 p.m., however, Paris had convinced the sitter to leave — and then m**dered his little sister, st**bing her 17 times. Paris, who received the maximum juvenile sentence of 40 years in prison for this horrific crime, later stated that he'd wanted to hurt his mother and that Ella was his easiest target.
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#60
In August 2015, construction workers demolishing an abandoned cabin in Woodland Park, Colorado, came across a disturbing sight: a partly mummified body stuffed into the chimney. It was Joshua Maddux, an 18-year-old who had vanished seven years earlier. A coroner determined that Maddux's death was an accident, likely occurring after he got stuck while trying to climb into the house from the roof. But evidence found inside suggested that something far more sinister had happened
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#61
On April 18, 2016, a 45-year-old Texas mom named Missy Bevers was murdered by an unknown assailant while setting up a fitness class at a church in Midlothian. But authorities think that her k**ler, who was dressed in head-to-toe police gear, may have been someone she knew. Bevers' cellphone records from March 1st to April 24th revealed that she was having "an ongoing financial and marital struggle as well as intimate/personal relationships external to the marriage." And three days before her m*rder, Bevers had shown her friend a LinkedIn message from an unknown man that they both agreed was "creepy and strange," leading investigators to believe that Bevers' k**ler had contacted her before her death.
Police investigated a number of suspects, including Bevers' husband, whose alibi checked out, and her father-in-law Randy Bevers, who loosely matched the description of the suspect seen in the church's security footage — and who had gone to a local dry cleaner just days after Bevers' death with a woman's blood-soaked shirt. But a forensic analysis found that the blood was a dog's, seemingly confirming Randy's claim that it had come from an injured dog that he'd rescued from a fight. And years later, in 2019, detectives followed a tip regarding former police officer Bobby Wayne Henry, who, like the suspect in the church's security footage, owned tactical police gear and walked with a limp. But Henry's alibi also checked out, and he actually turned out to be taller than the person in the video.
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#62
The village of Pień, Poland, is home to a mysterious graveyard thought to have been made to hold those who were "feared not only during life but also after death." Over the last few years, archaeologists have been working to excavate this 17th-century site that holds at least 30 bodies. In 2022, they found a woman buried with a blade above her neck and a padlock on her ankles. Now they've discovered the body of a "vampire child" buried face down and padlocked to prevent its return.
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#63
While repairing loose floor tiles at St. Peter and Paul Church in the Dutch town of Maastricht, workers recently came upon a centuries-old skeleton — that may belong to one of the real-life Three Musketeers.
Experts believe that these remains belong to D'Artagnan, also known as Charles de Batz de Castelmore, a 17th-century French soldier who was captain of the Musketeers of the Guard, elite soldiers who served the royal household for 200 years starting in the early 1600s. D'Artagnan himself died while fighting the Dutch at Maastricht on June 25, 1673. Nearly two centuries later, his exploits inspired Alexandre Dumas to write his famous novel "The Three Musketeers."
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#64
While hiking on the Spanish island of Mallorca, a man happened upon a Bronze Age figurine depicting the head of a bull. Made sometime between 550 and 123 B.C.E. and measuring just 1.2 inches in length, this tiny relic was likely a product of the post-Talaiotic culture, named for the roughly 300 enormous stone towers known as talaiots that dot the landscapes of Mallorca. Though the purpose of the newly-uncovered figurine remains mysterious, experts note that bulls were common symbols of strength and fertility for various cults throughout the ancient Mediterranean.
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#65
On June 30, 1999, a passerby happened upon the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick in a cornfield 20 miles out of St. Louis. As police grappled with the baffling mystery of how McCormick died and why he ended up in that field, the case only grew more bizarre when investigators discovered several pages of notes in his pockets. They were written in a code so complex that it stumped local police and elite FBI codebreakers alike. And after failing to crack the code for 12 years, the FBI even turned to the public for help, posting the notes online to see if anyone could decipher them. But to this day, both the meaning behind the notes and the cause of McCormick's death remains a mystery.
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#66
Mictlantecuhtli, or Mictlāntēcutli, translates to "Lord of the Land of the Dead," and this menacing Aztec god of death was said to rule over the underworld, Mictlan. Often compared to the Greek god of the dead, Hades, Mictlantecuhtli was thought to be a keeper of the underworld who greeted nearly all who died, as the Aztecs believed that almost everyone faced the same destiny in the afterlife. Those who perished in childbirth, suffered an especially violent end, or met their demise in a storm or flood had their own path after death, but everyone else descended into the underworld and faced a four-year journey full of obstacles through the nine layers of Mictlan. When they reached the deepest level, they finally met Mictlantecuhtli — and were rewarded with eternal rest.
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#67
In the early 1980s, Doreen Lioy lived a successful life as a magazine editor in California. Working for "Tiger Beat," she was a respected journalist who helped launch the careers of stars like John Stamos. However, her life took a baffling turn in 1985 after she saw a mugshot of serial k**ler Richard Ramirez on the news.
Almost immediately after Ramirez was arrested, Doreen Lioy realized she was attracted to him. Despite the horrific details of his 14 m*rders and his open devotion to Satanism during his trial, Lioy became his most persistent advocate. Over the next 11 years, she sent him 75 love letters and visited him at San Quentin State Prison about four times a week. By 1996, she had given up her career and her relationships with her family to marry the "Night Stalker" in a prison visiting room.
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#68
On March 28, 1941, Virginia Woolf, the 59-year-old author who redefined the modern novel, walked out of her Sussex home for the last time. A central figure in the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals, Woolf authored novels like “Mrs. Dalloway” and the essay “A Room of One’s Own,” which explored themes of feminism and mental illness. On that morning in 1941, her husband, Leonard, noticed that she seemed unwell and suggested she rest. Instead, Woolf went to her writing lodge and composed two s**cide notes. In the note left for Leonard, she wrote, “I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do.”
After leaving, she filled her pockets with heavy stones and walked into the cold water. Her walking stick and footprints were found on the bank shortly after, but her body wouldn't be recovered for another three weeks.
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#69
In 1981, Janis Miranda fell for Randy Roth’s charm at a social event for single parents. To Janis, Randy seemed like a devoted father who shared her deep love for family — but just weeks after their whirlwind wedding, she fell to her death during a hike at Beacon Rock. Roth, the only witness, collected a $100,000 life insurance policy just months later. For a decade, it was treated as a freak accident, but in 1991, history repeated itself. His fourth wife, Cynthia Baumgartner, drowned during a trip to Lake Sammamish while alone on a raft with Roth. Once again, he was the sole witness, and once again, a massive insurance policy was involved. These parallel "accidents" eventually forced investigators to look past the coincidences and into the shrouded history of a man who appeared to view marriage as a financial investment.
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#70
Originally named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., legendary boxer Muhammad Ali changed his name after converting to Islam, saying, "Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it and I don't want it."
In fact, Ali's distant relative, Cassius Marcellus Clay, had been a slaveholder — before emancipating his family's slaves and becoming one of the country's most prominent abolitionists.
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#71
Over the years, countless people have embarked on the hunt for Mel's Hole, a mythical bottomless pit said to be hiding somewhere in Washington State's rural Kittitas County. Originally reported in 1997 by a man who called himself Mel Waters, the hole is supposedly over 80,000 feet deep and boasts a range of magical properties, like the ability to bring dead animals back to life. Portable radios held near the hole allegedly play programs and music from years past, and metals held close to the opening reportedly transform into other substances. Waters also claimed to have seen black beams emitting from the pit, and he said that his dogs were terrified to go near it. So far, no such hole has ever been found, though one geologist with the State Department of Natural Resource claims that it was likely a hoax inspired by an abandoned gold mine shaft in Washington State.
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#72
Arguably, the most famous photo in North Dakota history was taken during the 1966 winter storm, showing Department of Transportation employee Bill Koch standing next to power lines that had been almost entirely buried in snow during the blizzard.
Koch said he never expected to be the "poster boy" of North Dakota winters, with the image now featured in countless publications. He recalled, "Not far from where we were standing there by that utility pole, there was a railroad track. And there was a train stuck in there, and we took pictures of that too. The train came along and I'm just assuming they didn't think it was that deep. They drove into that thing thinking they were going to go through it, but they didn't."
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#73
An ace navigator, Fred Noonan got the opportunity of a lifetime in the 1930s when he was tapped to serve as navigator for Amelia Earhart's historic attempt to fly around the globe. At first, Noonan was supposed to be one of two navigators, but the other man dropped out of the mission after he purportedly got spooked by a minor crash. Then, Earhart and Noonan continued on their own. Though their flight went smoothly at first, they infamously vanished over the Pacific while trying to reach Howland Island in July 1937.
In the years since, some have laid the blame at Noonan's feet, suggesting that he was an alcoholic. Though allegations of his alcoholism didn't emerge until the 1960s, and seem to be based on a police report which has since disappeared, it is possible that Noonan made a fatal error during the flight. Later studies found that it was possible he was working with a faulty map that put Howland Island miles away from its actual location.
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#74
On January 7, 2011, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner of Tucson, Arizona left a cryptic message on a friend's voicemail saying, "Hey man, it's Jared. Me and you had good times. Peace out. Later."
The next day, he went out to buy ammunition at a local Walmart before heading to a political gathering hosted by Rep. Gabby Giffords in the parking lot of a nearby Safeway. On his way there, he was pulled over by an officer for running a red light — but he was allowed to proceed when the officer found no warrants for him and saw nothing suspicious in the vehicle. Finally, Loughner arrived at the event — and opened fire.
Soon, six innocent people lay dead: 63-year-old Chief U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, 30-year-old community outreach director Gabe Zimmerman, 76-year-old retired secretary Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 79-year-old homemaker Phyllis Schneck, 76-year-old retired construction worker Dorwan Stoddard, and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Thirteen more people were injured, including Loughner's original target, Giffords, who suffered a critical head injury but narrowly escaped death.
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#75
In May 1939, Gerardo Medina was born in Peru. He was one of many babies born in Peru that day, which happened to be Mother's Day. But Gerardo's birth had been attended by dozens of doctors because his mother, Lina, was just five years old.
Doctors quickly determined that Lina had a condition known as precocious puberty that caused her body to develop far earlier than normal, which made it possible for her to get pregnant just before the age of five. But though she had given birth, Lina was still just a little girl, and after Gerardo was born she was more interested in playing with her dolls than with him. Lina was too young to understand that he was her baby, and too young to explain how she had gotten pregnant. As such, the identity of Gerardo's father remains a mystery to this day.
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#76
One of modern history's more popular conspiracy theories claims that the 1969 Moon landing was all a hoax. Skeptics point to several photos to prove their point, such as the famous image of Buzz Aldrin standing next to an American flag that's seemingly blowing in the wind. Because there is no wind on the lunar surface, proponents say that fans were used to make the flag wave. However, upon closer inspection, it's clear that there's a horizontal pole inserted along the top of the fabric to make it stand out.
In another photo, Aldrin stands against an inky black background with no stars, sparking debate about the authenticity of the setting. But it was daytime on the Moon when the picture was taken, so the sunlight made the stars too dim to be seen on camera. Nevertheless, these rumors have continued to circulate, and as many as six percent of Americans still believe the lunar landing was a hoax. Some have even harassed the Apollo 11 astronauts about the conspiracy — and Buzz Aldrin famously punched a heckler in 2002.
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#77
In May 1972, an Italian magazine stunned the public with a headline that seemed straight out of science fiction: "A Machine That Photographs The Past Has Finally Been Invented." The article centered on Father Pellegrino Ernetti, a Benedictine monk and scientist who claimed to have developed the "Chronovisor." According to Ernetti, the device didn't transport people through time but rather acted as a window that captured light and sound echoes from the past.
Made of cathode rays, antennae, and metals that received sound and light signals on all wavelengths, the Chronovisor purportedly allowed the team of scientists to document events of the past, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Ernetti even provided a photograph he claimed was captured by the device — “evidence” that fueled a decades-long debate over what the Vatican might be hiding in its archives.
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