History vs. Myth
You don’t need fiction when history provides you with tales as crazy as the ones we’ve collected for you. Read up while your jaw drops.
'Acoustic Kitty': The CIA's Not-so-purrfect Plan to Make a Cat a Spy
The World's Shortest War Lasted Just 38 Minutes
The Byford Dolphin Accident: How 5 Deep-Sea Divers Met Grisly Deaths
England's Eccentric 'Camberley Kate' Never Turned Away a Stray
Queen Elizabeth II Steered the British Monarchy Into the 21st Century
Meet the Conman Who Sold the Brooklyn Bridge — Many Times Over
Emergence of Hunger Stones Signals Worst European Drought in 500 Years
What Kind of King Will Charles III Be?
In 19th-century Paris, the Morgue Was the Best Show in Town
Reign of Terror: The Forgotten Story of the Osage Tribe Murders
New York City's Iconic Dakota Helped Gild the Gilded Age
America's Black Holocaust Museum Reopens After 14-Year Closure
Who Were the Real Women Warriors of Dahomey?
The Order of Assassins Was Very Real and Very Deadly
How Did Ancient Aztecs Use the Haunting Aztec Death Whistle?
The French Resistance Took Many Forms During WWII
Inside Unit 731, Japan's Gruesome WWII Human Experiment Program
Incredible History: When WWII POWs Held an Olympics in a Nazi Camp
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Scientists and treasure hunters have searched for the fabled Nazi Gold Train for decades, but efforts have stepped up recently, thanks to new technology. A new group of searchers think they have a unique angle.
By Dave Roos
A small area of West Yellowstone National Park has no residents, which opens it up to a strange loophole: lawlessness.
By Diana Brown
End-of-days predictions have come and gone for, well, centuries. So, will the Sept. 23, 2017 prophecy be the first to come true?
By Sarah Gleim
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Were Japanese fishermen visited by a beautiful Russian spy in 1803 — or was it an alien?
By Diana Brown
Why do we call it a grandfather clock — instead of maybe grandmother clock?
By Mark Mancini
His mysterious vanishing sparked tons of speculation and one of the biggest missing person cases in U.S. history.
The biblical flood myth has captivated millions, some so much that they go out looking to prove it actually happened, or build their own replica arks.
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What's the relationship between Guinness beer and the Guinness Book of World Records? How did it start?
A crumbling brick fortress in New York state proves that it's not so easy to keep up with the Joneses after all.
Bathrooms have been a social battleground in the U.S., from the civil rights' movement of the 1960s to the contemporary struggles for equality. What's the big deal?
Some stories are easy to spot as fakes: "Lindsay Lohan Gives Birth to Two-headed Monster!" Others are harder: "The President Suffered a Heart Attack!" So how can you tell the fake news from the real?
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The ballad and folktale of John Henry, the tireless railroad worker, is the stuff of American legend. An amazing story of the human spirit and work ethic, yes, but was John Henry a real person?
By Debra Ronca
The story of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack, is one of the most enduring tall tales in North America. Most of us assume that the character is a fictional creation, but was he actually based on a real person?
You can immediately recognize Viking warriors by their helmets, with impressive horns protruding from either side. Doesn't seem very practical, though.
William Tell is associated with the Lone Ranger thanks to the music of Rossini's opera, but he's also a legendary figure in Swiss history.
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The women's liberation movement conjures up an image that endures today: angry women burning their bras. So how often did undergarments get set aflame?
The iconic Greek temple known as the Parthenon was thought to have been built following a mathematical concept called the golden ratio. Did it really?
The story of Newton discovering gravity by getting hit in the head with an apple is a classic. Is there any truth to it?
If someone of small stature exhibits bullying behavior, that person is sometimes said to have a Napoleon complex. Did Napoleon himself have one, though?
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Imagine that one vital piece of equipment could've saved the Titanic ... if only one person hadn't forgotten to pass along the key to where it was stored.
The infamous Salem witch trials show what mass hysteria can do. But were those falsely accused witches really burned at the stake?
The Druids certainly used Stonehenge, but it appears that building the monument was more of a multi-group effort.
More people died during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 than during World War I, but is it unfair to associate this strain of flu with Spain?
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Mussolini's dictatorship was brutal, but supposedly efficient. The saying is that he kept the trains running on time, but did he really?
The ancient Romans were so decadent in their feasting that it's said they'd vomit mid-feast in a special room just so they could eat more.