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The Dramatic Life and Mysterious Death of Theodosia Burr
The so-called "Nag's Head Portrait", possibly of Theodosia Burr Alston. (Photo: Public Domain)In 1869, a vacationing doctor named William Gaskins Pool was called to help an ill old woman named Polly...
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B-24 Liberator Wreck at Gunung Telapak Buruk in Kuala Klawang, Malaysia
On a rainforested mountaintop in Malaysia, not far from Kuala Lumpur, lies the wreckage of a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator. World War II had ended only a few days before the British aircraft...
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Yedi Uyurlar Mağarası (Cave of the Seven Sleepers) in Acarlar Köyü, Turkey
What started as a political protest against Roman paganism became the stuff of religious legend.In January of 250, the Roman Emperor Decius issued an edict that everyone under his reign must perform a...
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Why Presidential Debates Are Consistently Held at Obscure Colleges
Obama speaks with an advisor ahead of a debate in 2012. (Photo: Public domain)As viewers nervously tuned into the first presidential debate in September, the first question might well have been about...
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The Wide, Strange World of Modern Mummification
Mummification is, obviously, most closely linked with ancient Egypt, but it is a varied and culturally broad burial trend. Here are some examples of its more modern manifestations—from...
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The Arcane Rules That Would Kick In If Trump Drops Out
(Photo: Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 3.0)As the 1972 presidential campaign wore on, George McGovern, the Democratic candidate for president, began hearing troubling rumors about his chosen running mate,...
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Australia's Newest Beach Safety Tool is a Shark-Spotting Blimp
Don't even think about it, shark! (Photo: 4bplusme/CC0)Shark attacks don't happen very often, but when they do, they tend to be in Australia. Over the past year, down-under swimmers and surfers have...
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Marie Laveau's Tomb in New Orleans, Louisiana
Marie Laveau was a famous and powerful voodoo priestess who lived in New Orleans in the 19th century. Renowned in life and revered in death, some say she continues to work her magic from beyond the...
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9 Tombs That Prove You Don't Have to Be a Pharaoh to Be Buried Under a Pyramid
The pyramid has been a symbol for burial and the afterlife for some 5,000 years—from the ancient pharaohs to Nic Cage, who commissioned his own pyramid vault just this decade. How this particular shape...
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Melník Chapel of Bones in Melnik, Czech Republic
For the Bohemian queens and princess, it was a raw deal; for the other 15,000 skeletons in this crypt, it was an upgrade to nicer digs.The crypt under the St Peter and Paul’s church in Melník was...
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A Religious Cult Believed They Could Be Reborn Inside Mount Fuji's 'Womb Caves'
Around 1848, Japan's tallest peak, Mount Fuji, was depicted in a multicolor panoramic woodblock map. Amid the intricately illustrated trails, vegetation, and turf, this print featured an unusual paper...
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Chisinau State Circus in Chisinau, Moldova
An abandoned Communist-era circus in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, is once again coming to life. The Chişinău State Circus was officially opened in 1981 and was, at the time, a top circus...
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The Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida
In Florida, citrus orchards and an old well have been reborn as a Spanish explorer's quixotic dream come true.Created in 1904 by local entrepreneur "Diamond Lil" (aka Luella Day McConnell), the 15-acre...
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Winifred's Well in Holywell, Wales
One of the many holy wells scattered across Europe, Winifred's Well (or St. Winifride's Well) has been visited by the faithful for over a thousand years after it was created by a martyr's lopped off...
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Never Fear, Pet Owners: There's Now An Oxygen Mask For Your Cat
A demonstration of an oxygen mask fitting for a dog. (Photo: Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post/ Getty Images)When the call came in about the fire on Duff Avenue, the second that day for the Ames...
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The Incredibly Disturbing Medieval Practice of Gibbeting
Old Parr Road in Banbury, Oxfordshire is sweet: picture lush gardens, low-slung rock walls, and brick homes with brightly painted front doors. It is unlikely many who live there know that the road was...
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In 1926, Houdini Spent 4 Days Shaming Congress for Being in Thrall to...
Harry Houdini with Senator Capper on 26 February 1926, during hearings on the fortune telling bill, with mediums seated in the background. Capper was among the senators implicated as a client of...
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Museum of Vampires and Legendary Creatures in Paris, France
At the end of gravel paths in the middle of Les Lilas, a black and scarlet entrance opens up to a door leading into a creepy garden mimicking a cemetery. Plastic bats and genuine human remains attached...
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Philadelphia's Moon Tree in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia’s Washington Square Park, a block south of the more famous Independence Hall and Liberty Bell, is mostly thought of as the home of the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier. Few...
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Lazzaretto Nuovo in Venice, Italy
In 2005, while uncovering mass plague graves on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo, workers made a strange discovery: The skull of a woman, with a brick jammed into her mouth.The hundreds of...
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