In the winter of 1887, Parisian journalists gathered at a curious construction site on the Champ de Mars. There, amid wooden scaffolding and the rhythmic clang of hammers, they witnessed what one reporter would describe as men "reaping lightning bolts in the clouds."
For over 30 years, one name appeared again and again as the director of some of the worst movies ever made -Â Alan Smithee. But Alan Smithee wasn't a real person. He was a pseudonym used by Hollywood directors who wanted to disavow their finished films.
In the late 1990s, a brazen fraudster named Emmanuel Nwude pulled off one of history's most outrageous cons - selling a fictional airport to a gullible Brazilian bank director for a whopping $242 million.
The next time you find yourself composing an angry email to customer service, take comfort in knowing you're participating in a tradition nearly four millennia old. Long before Yelp reviews and Twitter rants, an irate customer named Nanni etched his frustrations into clay, creating what would become the world's oldest documented customer complaint. His target? A copper merchant named Ea-Nasir...
For centuries, the phrase "burning of the Library of Alexandria" has conjured an image of mankind's greatest collection of knowledge going up in flames. It's become a metaphor for the triumph of ignorance over learning, a cautionary tale passed down through generations.
The jump scare is deeply woven into the DNA of horror cinema. Those jolting moments of popped tension, pounding scores, and flashing images make audiences jerk back and shriek instinctively.
In 1861, a determined 9-year-old boy named John Lincoln Clem set out to join the Union Army, only to be initially rejected for being too small and young. But Clem, who stood just 4 feet tall, persisted and eventually became the drummer boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry at the age of 10.
World War II swept up millions of lives, including many young men who would one day shape America at its highest levels. When duty called, seven future commanders-in-chief answered. From the Pacific to the European theater, their paths crossed with history.
The summer of 1943 - the height of World War II. A bloody battle rages at sea between American destroyers and German U-boats. At the Philadelphia Naval Yard, the newly built USS Eldridge hums with energy.
Long before hip hop and rock ruled the airwaves, jazz and blues innovators battled racial barriers to harness the power of radio and records - birthing pop music’s rise.
High in the cloud-wrapped crags of Mount Athos, an isolated community of monks has cloistered itself from the world for over 1000 years. Women, female animals, and outside influences have been banished from this autonomous Greek Orthodox enclave guarding ancient traditions.