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.
Haunted Houses in Connecticut with the Darkest Histories
The Most Haunted Places in Michigan: Paranormal Hotspots to Explore
The Sewol Ferry Tragedy Started as a High School Field Trip
Remembering Marshall Brain, Founder of HowStuffWorks
22 Famous Leaders Who Changed History Forever
Heaviest Person Ever: The Legacy of Jon Brower Minnoch
Exploring the Balkan States: 10 Countries on 1 Peninsula
Norland College: Where the Royals Find Their Nannies
How the CPR Doll Developed From a Famous Parisian Death Mask
Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Failing to Treat Black Men for 40 Years
15 Largest Cities in California, Ranked by Population
The Least Populated State Is One of the Largest by Land Area
What Countries Are Communist Today? Which Ones Used to Be?
The Tallest Statue in the World and 14 Others That Come Close
Most Powerful Countries in the World: 2024 Rankings
Unit 731: Inhumane Medical Experimentation During WWII
How the Ritchie Boys, Secret Refugee Infiltrators, Took on the Nazis
The French Resistance Took Many Forms During WWII
Learn More / Page 7
The U.S. and Soviet Union fought the Cold War for 45 years via proxy wars and a near-complete polarization of the rest of the world. But did either side really win?
So much for artists being sensitive -- one Impressionist painter has been fingered as Jack the Ripper. But do the brutalized nudes on his canvases hint at actual murders?
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It's a hotly debated topic: Who found America first? One theory proposes that it was the Clovis. So will we be replacing Columbus Day with "Clovis Day" on our calendars?
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As far as famous ears go, Van Gogh, Prince Charles and Ross Perot rank near the top of the list. But Robert Jenkins' ear pitted powerful European monarchies against each other in war.
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During World War II, Nazis plundered gold from occupied countries, hiding it in caves and mines. Will modern treasure hunters finally locate the legendary Reichsbank treasure?
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For centuries, terrorists plundered European and U.S. ships in the Mediterranean. Who were the perpetrators, and how did America put an end to their kidnapping, enslavement and extortion?
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Bram Stoker's Count Dracula was inspired by a 15th-century Romanian prince. If you thought Dracula was scary, you may not want to read any further.
By Josh Clark
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The expression "remember the Alamo" is probably something you heard in school. But do you really know what this rallying war cry means?
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Elizabeth Bathory was never convicted of her crimes, but testimonies say she killed and tortured 650 people. Was that really true?
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Did you know that two other men accompanied Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride? Find out who these men were and which one actually made it to Concord.
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Did King Tut put a hex on a group of archaeologists and dignitaries? Or is a mosquito to blame for their mysterious deaths?
By Sarah Dowdey
In less than 200 years, the Inca built an empire stretching 2,500 miles. But a Spanish conquistador and 167 other men brought them down. How did they do it?
By Josh Clark
The Mesopotamians are said to have given the world irrigation, writing, organized religion, laws and the concept of time. Why were they so advanced? What makes Mesopotamia the cradle of civilization?
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The Roman emperor Nero is said to have played his fiddle while the city burned and his people suffered. Could he really be that cruel, or is it all just a story?
By Josh Clark
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The Puritans who conducted the witchcraft trials in Salem, Mass., suspected the devil was at work in their society. But could the madness have been caused by drugs?
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Though the ancient Greeks get a lot of credit for building the foundation of today's civilization, many of their ideas came from the Kemites. Who were they, and what did they teach the Greeks?
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A few Nazi leaders escaped justice after World War II. Who are they, and how are people trying to bring them to justice more than 50 years later?
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Genghis Khan is said to have killed 1,748,000 people in one hour. But is that possible? If not, what really happened?
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The first recorded murder in America was committed by someone who came over on the Mayflower. Who was it, and why did he do it?
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An Irish monk named St. Brendan may have been the first European to visit the Americas. Although there is no hard evidence to back the claim, written accounts of his voyages, petroglyphs and Viking history suggest St. Brendan may have beaten Columbus
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Did the Chinese discover America years before Christopher Columbus? Learn about the evidence that supports the claim that Asian seafarers touched down in the Americas before the famous European explorer.
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Some untrue historical events have been passed down for so many years that they have become truths. See our list of 10 historical misconceptions, including Sir Walter Raleigh's Cloak and Lady Godiva's Naked Ride.
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In November 2006, a new documentary took a look at infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper using modern profiling techniques.
By Julia Layton