In speculative fiction, H.P. Lovecraft’s name elicits fanaticism second only to Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. But not for surpassing the bar set by these undisputed giants of the dark and macabre but for the sub-genre he carved out for himself. Credited with creating “cosmic” horror, Lovecraft shifted the genre from stories that reflect […]
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Cuneiform, the world’s first writing system, is a fascinating window into the lives of our ancestors. Developed over 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, cuneiform was used to record everything – including everyday transactions, personal letters, and epic poems, like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Today, it leaves historians and archaeologists with an invaluable source of information
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When you close your eyes and imagine Jesus, what comes to mind? Most likely, it’s a white man with long brown hair, a beard, and bright blue eyes. Maybe his arms are outstretched with the sleeves of his white robe hanging down. Maybe there’s a halo around his head. This is more or less the
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Gilles de Rais was a French nobleman who murdered over 100 children before being imprisoned and executed on October 26, 1440. His evil deeds made him the inspiration for the dark French fairytale Bluebeard, a story about a nobleman who uses his power and privilege to seduce and kill a series of wives. In the fairytale,
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Marilyn Vos Savant may be the world’s smartest person. With an IQ of 228, she remains the Guinness world record-holder for the highest score ever. She’s led an extraordinary life, worked at an investment business, written screenplays, and married a world-famous inventor and surgeon. But her extremely high IQ has also made her the target
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Nikola Tesla may not have gained the wealth and recognition of Thomas Edison, but his work on alternating current technology has earned him a spot among America’s most renowned inventors. Near the end of his life, he began working on a project that came to be known as the “death ray.” He claimed it was
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Nearly a century ago, a dog named Hachiko won over the hearts of the Japanese nation through his steadfast loyalty to his owner. To this day, he is a beloved national icon whose story provides a touching example of just how strong the bond between dog and human can be. Adopted by a university professor
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Most of us know that infants are highly impressionable. Their brains are like sponges, and their experiences during this formative period can stay with them for years or even decades. Unfortunately for a little toddler named Albert, the researchers who experimented on him weren’t thinking about long-term damage. Instead, they decided to test Albert’s response
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Frankenstein may have had a kindred spirit with Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov. In 1954, Demikhov successfully grafted the head of a smaller dog onto the neck of a larger one, essentially creating a two-headed dog. A few years later, in 1959, LIFE magazine visited Demikhov to document what would be the 24th of his creative experiments on
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Also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam War was a long and bloody conflict, spanning 20 years from 1955 to 1975. The war was primarily a clash of ideologies between the communist government of North Vietnam and the capitalist government of South Vietnam. Throughout the war and the events leading up to it,
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