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A Fisherman Stumbled Upon Pre-Columbian Funeral Urns In The Middle Of The Brazilian Amazon

A fisherman in the Brazilian Amazon recently came across a fallen tree and found something unexpected within its roots. Buried in the dirt were seven ceramic urns — and they contained human remains.

While it’s not clear which culture these ceramic vessels belonged to, scientists believe they’re pre-Columbian. Now, the artifacts are providing new insight into the lives of the people who once inhabited Lago do Cochila, a site that is part of a group of artificial islands built by Indigenous Amazo...
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Inside The Untimely Death Of Luther Vandross, The Renowned 'Velvet Voice' Of R&B

Like many musicians, Luther Vandross had his vices. While other performers often turned to drugs or alcohol, however, Vandross’ Achilles’ heel was junk food. Tragically, his self-proclaimed “obsession” with food likely led to Luther Vandross’ death at the age of just 54.

In his short life, Vandross had eight Grammy awards and nearly a dozen platinum albums behind him, but with that success came lots of stress to continue creating the best music for his fans. To cope with his perfectionist natur...
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An 1,800-Year-Old Bronze Wrist Purse That Once Belonged To A Roman Soldier Has Been Unearthed In The Czech Republic

Archaeologists in the Czech Republic’s South Moravia region made a rare discovery earlier this year: an 1,800-year-old bronze wrist purse once worn by a Roman soldier, believed to be the oldest artifact of its kind ever found in the country.

The purse fragment was found in January 2025 on Hradisko Hill, where a fortified camp had been occupied by the 10th Roman Legion during the Marcomannic Wars in the late second century C.E. Although just a small fragment of the purse was found, experts insta...
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Canopic Jars, The Ancient Egyptian Vessels That Held Human Organs Removed During Mummification

Mummification is one of the most well known ancient burial practices — most commonly tied to ancient Egypt. The practice of preserving and ritually treating a body in preparation for the afterlife serves as a fascinating glimpse into the customs of the ancient Egyptians, allowing modern researchers to unpack that culture and share their findings.

But mummification involved more than just wrapping a body in bandages, especially for royal and elite citizens. It was a multi-step process that invol...
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Liviu Librescu, The Holocaust Survivor Who Gave His Life To Save His Students During The Virginia Tech Shooting

Liviu Librescu’s life was bookended by tragedy. As a Jewish child in Romania during World War II, Librescu was forced to grow up in a labor camp and a ghetto at the height of the Holocaust.

He survived, however, and went on to study aerospace engineering. When he refused to swear allegiance to the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, a communist leader of Romania, it nearly ended Librescu’s career. Luckily, a smuggled manuscript that he published in the Netherlands garnered international attention, and...
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Ball's Pyramid, The Prehistoric Volcanic Tower That Looms 1,877 Feet Above The Pacific

About 12 miles southeast of Lord Howe Island, a 1,877-foot basalt monolith juts out of the Tasman Sea. This uninhabited, solitary sentinel is known as Ball's Pyramid, an intimidating and jagged structure that has captivated explorers, scientists, and adventurers for centuries.

Ball's Pyramid is the tallest volcanic stack in the world, the remnant of a shield volcano based on the Lord Howe Rise, part of the submerged continent of Zealandia. It was named after the Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Lidg...
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How Jayne Marie Mansfield Watched Her Mother Skyrocket To Fame — Then Decided To Live A Private Life

“Because my mother was a very beautiful, well-known lady, I’ve had hassles all my life — jokes and kidding. So I grew up very fast and wanted no part of show business.” That’s what Jayne Marie Mansfield, the eldest daughter of Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield, told Playboy in a July 1976 interview.

Her appearance in the magazine marked the only time in the history of Playboy that a model and her mother had both been featured in nude photographs. Despite the obvious comparisons between the tw...
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The Remains Of A Mammoth Were Just Uncovered During Construction Of A New Highway In Poland

In the village of Łabunie, Poland, archaeologists have unearthed the tusk of a mammoth as well as a pelvis bone believed to have come from either a mammoth or a forest elephant. These finds came amid excavations ahead of the construction of a new highway.

The prehistoric remains are now in the possession of experts from Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin for analysis. Initially, the discovery was kept under wraps so as not to attract unwanted visitors to the site, but now some d...
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Who Invented Beer? Inside The Surprising History Of The Beloved Alcoholic Beverage

Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the world, and it has been consumed by people across the globe for millennia. But who invented beer?

That question isn’t as simple as it may seem. Hunter-gatherers who were beginning to settle into agrarian societies around 12,000 years ago likely discovered alcohol independently as food they stored fermented. Evidence of a mead-like beverage made of water, rice, honey, and fruit was discovered in Jiahu, China, that dated back to 7000 B.C.E. T...
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From Flappers To Streetcars, See 44 Incredible Photos Of New York City In The 1920s

New York City in the 1920s was an exciting place to be. The Roaring Twenties were in full swing: The postwar economy was booming, the rising popularity of jazz forever changed the course of music and dance, and modern advancements in technology were ushering in a new age of scientific discovery, industrial development, and social progressivism.

But with the widespread optimism brought about by these changes, the flaws of old American society became more apparent than ever before. Women and mino...
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The Remarkable Life Of Mickey Hargitay, From His Bodybuilding Career To His Marriage To Jayne Mansfield

“Bodybuilding was dominated by American champions; there was no hope for anyone else,” Arnold Schwarzenegger once said. Schwarzenegger, who first rose to fame as a bodybuilder, was from Austria himself, but he may very well not have reached the heights he did in America if it weren’t for the man who paved the way for him: Mickey Hargitay.

When Hargitay won the Mr. Universe competition in 1955, it didn’t just change his life — it changed the entire sport of bodybuilding. Yet, somehow, it was not...
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55 Colorized Photos Of Iconic Actresses From The Golden Age Of Hollywood

Although it's called the Golden Age of Hollywood, the harsh reality is that, for many actresses, life behind the glitz and glamour of the silver screen was difficult and rife with hardship. Some of Old Hollywood's most famous stars dealt with severe mistreatment from the studios, public scrutiny, exploitation, and abuse that often went unnoticed or ignored.

While the films produced during this period are hailed as classics, there was a very real human cost behind the making of them. Actresses o...
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Archaeologists In Greece May Have Just Found The Ancient Temple Of Odysseus, Hero Of The Trojan War And Homer’s ‘Odyssey’

New discoveries at the “School of Homer” archaeological site on the Greek island of Ithaca have just revealed that it may have once hosted the ancient Sanctuary of Odysseus, the sacred venue dedicated to this storied king of Greek myth.

Also known as the Odysseion, this new discovery was made by researchers from the University of Ioannina with backing from the Greek Ministry of Culture, which announced the findings earlier this month. This find may now reignite old debates about whether this Ho...
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Duke Kahanamoku: Inside The Extraordinary Life Of The Hawaiian Surfing Icon

If anyone should be credited with introducing the Hawaiian tradition of surfing to the masses, it’s Duke Kahanamoku. He grew up on the outskirts of Waikiki, where he first fell in love with surfing. Eventually, he popularized the sport from the California coast to Australia and New Zealand, inspiring generations of surfers to follow in his footsteps.

But Kahanamoku wasn’t just a renowned surfer. He was also a champion swimmer who broke several world records. Between 1912 and 1924, he won three...
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Workers Dredging A River In The Netherlands Happened Upon This Medieval Sword Inscribed With A Viking Symbol

Routine dredging work in the Netherlands’ Korte Linschoten River in March 2024 led to the discovery of a rare, 1,000-year-old sword with an “endless knot” motif engraved on its blade.

The symbol is associated with Viking and early Germanic traditions, representing unbreakable bonds, spiritual unity, and the interconnectedness of all things. Despite the sword’s age, the pattern is still clearly visible — poetic, given what the symbol represents.

In the year since it was found, experts have care...
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What Life Is Like In Edinburgh Of The Seven Seas, The Most Remote Settlement In The World

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the sole settlement on the tiny island of Tristan da Cunha. With a population of just around 250 people, life there is quiet and isolated.

The island is in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is considered the most remote settlement in the world because it’s located about 1,600 miles from mainland South Africa and nearly 1,500 miles from the next populated area, Saint Helena.

Residents of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas rely o...
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Inside The 1815 Eruption Of Mount Tambora, The Most Powerful Volcanic Blast In History

The Mount Tambora eruption in April 1815 was the most powerful volcanic blast in recorded human history. The stratovolcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa had been dormant for centuries — and then it suddenly exploded, sparking a worldwide disaster that ultimately killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The eruption was so ferocious that it caused Mount Tambora to lose more than 4,000 feet in height, collapsing into a caldera about 3.7 miles wide. Nearby villages on Sumbawa and the neighbor...
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Inside The Bloody History Of The NKVD — And How They Helped Joseph Stalin Carry Out The Great Purge

Although many in the modern day associate the Soviet Union with Russia, it was one of the world’s largest multi-ethnic states, comprised of 15 republics. The Soviet Union’s first census, conducted in 1926, showed that there were 188 different ethnic groups in the country.

The collapse of the Tsarist regime and rise of the Bolsheviks initially seemed to signal an era of new support for ethnic minorities within the Soviet Union. The first Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, had taken an interest in th...
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Amateur Archaeologists Just Happened Upon A 4,500-Year-Old Flint Blade In Northern Germany

Archaeologists in Altenberge, Germany recently unearthed a piece of a 4,500-year-old flint blade as well as residue from arrowhead production that could be as much as 5,000 years older than that.

Experts say the discovery is a rarity for the Münsterland region, which has clay-heavy soil that keeps artifacts from surviving intact. Thus there are very few Bronze Age archaeological sites in the region, making this find all the more remarkable.

Archaeologists from the Regional Association of Westp...
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Inside The Battle Of Thermopylae That Saw 7,000 Greeks Hold Off Up To 300,000 Persians For Three Days

Zack Snyder’s 2006 film 300 was a major box office success and a cultural touchstone, largely thanks to the film’s iconic line, “This is Sparta!” While the real King Leonidas never shouted those words — and certainly not in English — the story of how 300 Spartan soldiers held off the invading Persian army of Xerxes I at the Battle of Thermopylae was at least somewhat grounded in fact.

In 480 B.C.E., Xerxes I’s army advanced southward through the mountain pass at Thermopylae. In a way, it was hi...
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Archaeologists In France Just Found A Massive, Luxurious Roman Villa Complete With Thermal Baths And Heated Floors

Archaeologists have now fully unearthed the remains of one of the largest Roman villas that ever stood in ancient Gaul. This comes decades after a portion of the site, near Auxerre in central France, was initially discovered in 1966. Though a villa was known to have existed ever since, it was long assumed to be a relatively modest structure and not the massive complex that’s now been uncovered.

The new excavation has revealed the full extent of the villa, and it’s even more vast than archaeolog...
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Haunting Photos Of The Halifax Explosion, History's Largest Man-Made Explosion Of The Pre-Nuclear Age

"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode." These were the last words of Vince Coleman, a train dispatcher who met his end during the Halifax Explosion.

At the time the disaster occured on Dec. 6, 1917, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a bustling port town and a key departure point for convoys heading to Europe during World War I. That morning, the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc, heavily laden with explosives — including TNT, picric acid, and benzol — was...
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The Wild Story Of Dennis Hof, From His Network Of Nevada Brothels To His Political Victory — Three Weeks After His Death

Dennis Hof viewed himself as an anti-establishment hero. He likened himself, in many ways, to Donald Trump, even going as far as to refer to himself as the “Trump of Pahrump.” Whether Trump would find the comparison favorable, though, is an entirely different matter.

Hof did certainly have some things in common with the president. He was never a part of the Washington D.C. establishment, he starred on a reality television show, he spent most of his adult life as a businessman, and somehow he ma...
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The 1,100-Year-Old Boat Burial Of An Elite Viking Woman And Her Dog Was Just Uncovered In Norway

On the remote Norwegian island of Senja, archaeologists have unearthed a Viking boat grave that dates back to 900 C.E. and holds the remains of an elite woman and her canine companion.

The burial was initially discovered by metal detectorists two years ago, but it was only excavated in May 2025, and researchers were shocked by how well-preserved the skeletons and grave goods were. Now, the burial is providing rare insight into the personal lives of the Vikings who lived in Norway more than 1,00...
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