Many people dream of being a king or queen, but in truth, it is a hard task. While the wealth and power are an obvious boon, monarchs live their whole lives in the public gaze, their every act observed and criticized by thousands of people. Their position at the center of a state often means

Forget Mars. Swim deep enough, and you are on a different planet. Deep below, there are things older than dinosaurs and forests from ancient lands. While that makes for a great view, divers also face life-threatening situations like toxic streams and whales in a manhandling mood. Then there are the heroes who risk themselves by

For hundreds of years in Europe, all of the great works of art produced were in service of the Christian faith. Patrons were either rich nobles looking to boost their faithful credentials or the Church itself. Saints were popular subjects in art because images of their actions in life, and especially their deaths, were potent

Castles are one of the most popular remnants of the Middle Ages still standing today, but they are also some of the most misunderstood. Many of us think of them as dark, gray, cold places that must have been miserable to live in, but in their heydays, they were brightly colored, warm, and comfortable. We

Some of us will carefully check the labels on most of the products we use, scrutinizing them to see if we can find some suspicious ingredients listed. The rest of us do not care and just use these products anyway. But how would you feel if you discovered that your food or body lotion contained

Sewers and drains are more vital to civilization than many people in the modern world imagine. Before the widespread introduction of sanitation systems, human waste and other filth was often just tossed out of windows and onto the street—or the heads of passersby—below. Now we simply press a button or pull a lever and we

Prior to the breakout of World War II in 1939, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany had caused concern throughout the Western world due to its anti-Semitic and aggressive policies. However, some within other countries harbored sympathetic and understanding feelings with the Nazi Party and their leader Adolf Hitler. At the conclusion of

Ancient burials can release a lot of information about the past. However, the rare ones often highlight the incompleteness of our known history. For some reason, the ancients mummified mice, wore bird beak collars, and put horses in boats. When rare burials do reveal tangible information, the stories can range from the unexpected—like the Europeans

The Great Wall of China is a series of defensive walls that surround China. The walls were built to protect ancient China from its neighbors and other pesky invaders, who often attacked whenever they got the opportunity. Construction took several hundreds of years, during which sections were continuously added to the walls until they were

We are all aware that when traveling overseas, you need to abide by the laws and customs of the country you are visiting. Obviously, drug smuggling, spying, and other criminal activity will earn you either a hefty fine or a longer-than-planned vacation behind bars. It’s common sense that if you break the law overseas, you

Dinosaurs continue to fascinate us. Every now and then, we discover a fossil that reveals some new facts about their lives—for example, their diets, injuries, or habitats. However, some fossils also reveal evidence of diseases that affected dinosaurs. Yes, these animals had their own illnesses, too, just like every other living creature out there. The

Even though almost all of us have played with LEGO sets while growing up, not everyone is that good at it. For good reason, too, as building anything more complicated than rudimentary replicas of our favorite cars and tiny houses with just those blocks is not easy. That is, of course, if you exclude the