Pablo Escobar was a family man, a giver to the poor, and one of the wealthiest and most feared criminals ever to have lived. In less than two decades, he became more than just the head of the Medellin Cartel; he was also known as Don Pablo, El Padrino, (“The Godfather”), and El Zar de

With water covering over 70 percent of the Earth, the contents and inhabitants of our oceans, rivers, and lakes can be mysterious. Many large creatures living in the ocean or in fresh water have become popular with the public and are even featured on various television shows. However, small aquatic creatures are not as well-known

It is an understatement to say that horses have influenced human history. Certain empires could not have existed without them. Apart from these animals lending their power to armies, horse bones and tack have other stories to tell. Some reveal the secrets of the earliest breeders, riders, and veterinarians. Fossils and mummies give unprecedented insight

We all know that bananas are good for you, but for the most part, that is all we know about this popular fruit. In fact, there is a wealth of fascinating information about the banana, from when it was first grown to what the future holds for it. Simply put, there’s more to bananas than

Humans need food, water, air, and to an almost equal degree, artistic expression. Sometimes that art is silly, but sometimes it reveals awesome secrets, as with the following pieces of ancient art. Among the amazing discoveries, archaeologists have found that the Neanderthals had a surprising fashion sense, that ancient artists risked their lives for their

Waterboarding is a form of torture that is as unbearable as it is cruel. It is the act of forcing water into the sinuses, pharynx, larynx, and trachea to simulate the feeling of drowning.[1] When it came to light that the Bush Administration of the United States was using waterboarding to torture terrorists—and even suspected

The Kings County Insane Asylum had a reputation for being one of the worst, most crowded, insane asylums in the United States. Established in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1845, the asylum’s history is storied, to say the least, featuring all the horrors you’d expect from a old-timey insane asylum. In the late 1800s and early 1900s,

Researchers regularly conduct studies to find answers to our problems or just to make our lives better. However, there are several things we believe that have been contradicted and claimed to be false by these same studies. Some research has sparked controversy and criticism. Sometimes, large corporations are also found to be funding these studies

By donating a lot of money to hospitals and universities to have their names emblazoned on buildings, the wealthy can ensure that the public remembers them in a generous and shining light. But most of us don’t get to decide what our legacy will be after we’re gone. Certain people are not remembered for their

We have depended on dogs to protect us for millennia. But judging from recent developments, it seems like they are not the only animals capable of protecting us. Other animals have proven to be better than or on a par with dogs in providing security. Sometimes, these critters are trained to become guards, and at

Nothing in space beats the strangeness of a black hole. The most educated scholars struggle to explain why normal physics fails around them or what happens inside these all-consuming monsters. Every year, the enigmatic phenomenon reveals weird and frightening clues about its true nature. Time reversal, black holes from a dead universe, and the first

Eating the bodies of relatives, marrying the spirit of the dead to dolls, or dying after having bitten a corpse sounds to us like completely incomprehensible actions. Yet, for more than a century, anthropologists have been living in close contact with populations all across the world, studying their attitudes toward death, and trying to understand

Christianity thrives around the world. People devote their entire lives to a being they cannot see, touch, or feel. They run purely on faith. There are some faithful servants, however, who endure the ultimate mark of their religion. Seen as blessed, these people bear the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion—the stigmata. Many believe stigmata to be

Death can be devastating, both to the dying person and his loved ones. But how about someone actually documenting his death? Believe it or not, a number of people have done this throughout history. Some knew they were dying and documented their deaths, taking notes, or sometimes photos and videos, of their slow end. Others

Dowries and bride prices have long been a feature of human civilization, utilized in virtually every culture. Dowries often served as protection for the wife, as she would be right to leave her husband and take the dowry back if he or his family treated her badly, an all too common occurrence.[1] Dowries are now

In the Anglophone world, the name Patrice Alegre is far from well known. This monster spent almost a decade preying on women in the southern French city of Toulouse. Alegre would have just been another psychopathic killer in France if not for his supposed links to a conspiracy involving the European elite, drugs, and accusations

Venezuela recently introduced a new currency to replace its already battered money.[1] For some years now, the nation has been experiencing serious hyperinflation that has totally rubbished the value of its currency, the bolivar. The government introduced the new currency, the sovereign bolivar, hoping it will curb the effects of the inflation. Judging from what

Some criminals are not very clever, and they spectacularly fail to pull off their crimes. We’ve certainly published a lot of stories about crazy criminals whose antics defy rational explanation. But the criminals on this list take “stupid” to a whole new level. Each of them managed to find themselves in so much trouble that

For roughly a century, bank robberies have been glorified in the media and on the silver screen. (Think Bonnie and Clyde, Public Enemies, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to name a few.) The extent to which they have been romanticized in movies, however, can dull one’s sense of the sheer terror of such

Between 1976 and 1977, the sleepy suburbs of Oakland County, Michigan, were invaded by a demonic presence. This demon would eventually be known as the Oakland County Child Killer. Despite a massive manhunt and hours upon hours burned by Oakland County investigators, the killer remains at large to this day. Was the Oakland County Child

Depending on the grave, ancient lives continue to evoke respect and horror. In recent years, human remains have sewn together colorful new facts, ripped up old beliefs, and dangled tantalizing new riddles for experts to solve. From the earliest ancestors, strange human hybrids, massacres, and memorial monuments, the dead can show unexpected rituals, DNA, and

There is a lot that goes into serial killing, such as choosing a victim, selecting the weapon of choice, and also deciding where to carry out the bloody crime. Some serial killers, for example, are more attracted to certain areas within cities than others. We could call this a coincidence or just agree there is

Christian churches have a long history of making joint decisions about matters of faith. Since the first century, gatherings of Christian leaders (usually called councils or synods) have formed to answer concerns about doctrine. Some of the most momentous councils are the most well-known. The First Council of Nicaea set out a creed stating fundamental

Other than possibly cannabis, we have been advised to stay away from drugs because of their negative consequences. As is often said, once you start, it is difficult to stop. What many of us do not know is that drugs are not the only things that are habit-forming. Certain foods can also be addictive, with

When one thinks about serial killers, one tends to think about darkness. The gaslit and rain-swept streets of Whitechapel in 1888, the gray days of Ted Bundy’s Pacific Northwest, or the the industrial gloom of Chicago during the reign of H.H. Holmes all come to mind. Hawaii, America’s island paradise, is the opposite of dreary.

Skepticism is an extremely healthy habit to have, encouraging critical thinking among its proponents. However, much of the public would rather believe in something astonishing, usually in relation to life after death. Aside from religious reasons, many of us are obsessed with the concept of life after death in an attempt to make our passing

Being a real estate agent is a taxing occupation with no guarantee of financial success. The unpredictability of housing markets often weighs heavily on the minds of realtors, whose livelihood can drastically change overnight. Sometimes, their methods of coping with that stress are less than ideal. The following ten entries examine unscrupulous and depraved characters

Ever wished you had a superpower of some sort? There are entire tribes of people who have seemingly superhuman abilities that we can only dream of. Sometimes, these people do not even realize that they are exceptional until it is pointed out to them. These tribes got their superpowers due to various factors, including their

There are certain things that have become targets of criminals lately, items some of us might consider ridiculous or wouldn’t expect thieves to go after. But these criminals are targeting them for a reason, and they’re even killing people and endangering the lives of thousands of others in the process. Most of the time, these

In the past, anything capable of holding a doodle was used in the way of a page. Papyrus, rock, and wood all contain valuable information and provide regular discoveries in this fascinating field. Unusual authors or unknown works by famous figures are just the beginning. Recent finds also included books that kill, Bible stories with