The Empire State Building is a 1,454 feet tall 102-story skyscraper sitting between 33rd and 34th streets on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhatten. For almost four decades, from its completion in 1931 until the World Trade Center’s North Tower was completed in 1970, it was the tallest building in the …
Read More13 Amazing Photos of the Construction of the Empire State Building
Salt. Before refrigeration, when civilizations settled near rivers, and everyone praised the sun, humanity put great stock in the bane of those with high blood pressure. That is because using salt as a preservative provided the most reliable method of food preservation even into the nineteenth century when canning and …
Vikings have captured imaginations for centuries. Irish monks trembled at their sight, Early Russians fought them for Baltic water rights, and Byzantine Emperors hired their descendants as bodyguards. While much has been written about them from various contemporary and more recent sources, the Vikings themselves left few initial records. As …
Amongst the many contenders for having inspired Bram Stoker when writing his seminal work, Dracula, few have been afforded as prime a position as has the Hungarian noblewoman, Elizabeth Bathory. In the early seventeenth century, Bathory was accused of having killed as many as 650 victims. She was convicted of her …
Read MoreThe True Story of Elizabeth Bathory, The Blood Countess
To ask, ‘Who was Grady Stiles?’ opens the door to an intensely fascinating but disturbing story. On his merits, Grady Stiles was a freak show performer, famous for his talents and work on stage. Still, after the limelight on him dissipated, his life would begin taking several hellish turns, ending …
Read MoreThe Infamous Life and Death of Grady’ The Lobster Boy’ Stiles Jr.
Blanche Monnier, or the la Séquestrée de Poitiers (“The Confined Woman of Potiers”), was a French woman trapped in a tiny room for a quarter of a century by her socialite mother. Few stories scandalized French society in the early twentieth century as much as Blanche Monnier, and rightfully so. How could …
Read MoreBlanche Monnier: The French Aristocrat Held Captive for 25 Years
The character Shrek voiced by Mike Myers, is one of the most iconic animated characters of the last century. For years many have believed that a real-life man, Maurice Tillet, inspired the green ogre. Dreamworks has neither confirmed nor denied this, but the similarities are uncanny. The Early Life of …
Read MoreThe Life of Maurice Tillet, The Man Who May Have Inspired Shrek
The legendary Baba Yaga is an ambiguous creature. She is an anomaly, popularly described as a mother-nature figure and an evil creature who seeks to devour adventurers who fail the tasks she gives them. Much like her unclear purpose, the meaning of her name is contested: it is widely believed …
Read MoreThe Mystery of Baba Yaga, the Slavic Witch With Unclear Intentions
When growing up, there are certain stories children are told. These stories are typically whimsical, often magical, and sometimes, even spooky – however, almost all of the time, these stories convey a moral lesson that could prove to be useful in later life, ending on an educational but heartwarming note. …
Sometimes, we’ll all forget that celebrities are just like us. They drive, go to the post office, and even go to the DMV and wait in line. These vintage celebrity driver’s licenses and other forms of identification show us that they’re real people, just like us. 1. Alfred Hitchcock Alfred …
Read More18 Amazing Vintage Celebrity Driver’s Licenses and IDs
