The place to learn about the past and present,
How on earth did Greenpeace get mixed up in the seedy world of covert operations to result in one of its ships getting mined? Read about how the world-renowned conservation group annoyed the French so much they launched 'Operation Satanique' against them. Sticking to the shadows, sheathed in black and deadly with any weapon, the... Continue Reading →
When investigators found the bodies of nine missing trekkers in the Artic tundra half-dressed and away from their tent for no apparent reason, it began perhaps the spookiest mystery in Russian history. It was the depths of winter and 23-year-old Igor Alekseyevich Dyatlov with eight other fit, young men and women arrived at the town... Continue Reading →
The oceans have always proved bountiful for coastal communities, providing not only sustenance but valuables lost in the sand or washed ashore from shipwrecks. For the people of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in 2015, however, the sea gifted a hoard of 'Baltic Gold'. Amber is hard, transparent fossilised tree resin, the sort famous for... Continue Reading →
To fly is a dream, and every kid at some point imagines acquiring enough helium balloons for a little aerial adventure. Big kid Larry Walters actually pulled off this stunt for real in an epic flight over Los Angeles. Who hasn’t held a bunch of helium balloons as a kid and imagined the fun they... Continue Reading →
Among the phenomena on the fringes of scientific understanding is the propensity for the human body to set itself alight. The explanation, apparently, is Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC). Read here about one famous case and how it discombobulated investigators. On the morning of July 2, 1951, Mary Reeser’s landlady arrived at her door with a... Continue Reading →
Although you expect police officers to be pillars of the community, they're not all perfect. Some are occasionally corrupt, but disorderly and out of control? Never! That is until one day Officer Kadlec of Prague City Police Dept. decided to have a few drinks and get his fifteen minutes of fame. Find out the chaos... Continue Reading →
Find out how one woman survived a 10,000 metre freefall when her plane was blown out of the sky by terrorists. It was 2:30pm on the 26 of January, 1972 and Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was at Copenhagen Airport waiting to board a DC 9 aircraft of JAT Flight 367 “I saw all the... Continue Reading →
Unlike the hundreds before and after, one woman survived jumping into the chasm of Avon Gorge from the bridge that spans it. Find out what quirk of fashion saved Ms Henley from her attempt to end her life. The city of Bristol, UK, is a charming place in England’s West Country. It’s famous for a... Continue Reading →
You know the rule; 'you break it, you buy it'. But what happens when you break something worth over £30,000? Read on to find out. The late evening breeze kept the humidity a notch above oppressive in Ruili city which is located in the Chinese Yunnan Province on the Myanmar border. A slim, middle-aged woman... Continue Reading →
The tale of the Japanese soldier's WW2 tour of duty that did not end in 1945, instead went on for an epic 20 years longer. Find out why Lieutenant Onoda refused to surrender and how he was finally coaxed out of hiding. It was a surreal moment for book store owner Yoshimi Taniguchi; it was... Continue Reading →
History and Things 