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Evan Andrews

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Find out more about the fascinating history behind one of antiquity’s most important legal codes.

Find out more about the lives of six adventurers who made their mark on the American frontier.

Sitting Bull born circa 1831 died 1890. Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man. Portrait on a 19th century cabinet card.UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1800: Sitting Bull born circa 1831 died 1890. Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man. Portrait on a 19th century cabinet card. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Get the facts about one of the most legendary Native Americans of the 19th century.

Find out about six prominent captives who did time in one of history’s most forbidding prisons.

Manfred von Richthofen—better known as the “Red Baron”—was the top scoring flying ace of World War I, with 80 aerial victories between September 1916 and his death in April 1918.

Zoot Suit Riots

Hostility toward minority communities fueled the L.A. Zoot Suit riots during the wartime summer of 1943.

Jackie Robinson facts

Explore 11 little-known facts about the man who integrated baseball.

l Kodak film pack, c 1890.

From an ancient optical apparatus to the advent of color film, learn the stories behind eight of the most important steps in the development of photography

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, in 1999.

As you might expect for a technology so expansive and ever-changing, it is impossible to credit the invention of the internet to a single person. The internet was the work of dozens of pioneering scientists, programmers and engineers who each developed new features and technologies that eventually merged to become the “information superhighway” we know […]

A John Dillinger wanted poster. - stock photo

Below, some surprising facts about the short and infamous life of the man the authorities branded 'Public Enemy No. 1.'

Genghis Khan (c.1158 - August 18, 1227), born Temujin, was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed the universal ruler of the Mongols, or Genghis Khan, he launched the Mongol invasions, which ultimately conquered most of Eurasia, reaching as far west as Poland and as far south as Egypt.

Explore 10 facts about a great ruler who was equal parts military genius, political statesman and bloodthirsty terror.

Percy Fawcett was an inspiration for both Indiana Jones and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World,” but his 1925 disappearance in the Amazon remains a mystery to this day.

'Barlow Cutoff', near Mount Hood, Oregon

Check out nine surprising facts about the route that once served as the gateway to the American West.

HMS Endeavour, James Cook

From Christopher Columbus’ flagship to one of the most legendary commerce raiders of the American Revolution, learn the stories behind five vessels whose watery graves are still missing in action.

The Course of Empire. Destruction, 1836. Found in the collection of New York Historical Society.

Find out why one of history's most legendary empires finally came crashing down.

Bezoars are small stones which form in the stomachs or intestines of certain animals, this one from a goat, which were used as a remedy against many diseases. (Credit: SSPL/Getty Images)

Symbols, amulets and other talismans from around the globe.

From ancient Roman bacchanalia to the Shah of Iran's $175 million birthday party, these are some of history's most epic bashes.

Greek “Alala” and “Eleleu”

From medieval knights to Japanese kamikaze pilots, soldiers throughout history have yelled out intimidating and inspiring rallying cries.

The Negro Travelers' Green Book

For nearly 30 years, a guide called the “Negro Motorist Green Book” provided African Americans with advice on safe places to eat and sleep when they traveled through the Jim Crow-era United States.

The term traces back to a derogatory minstrel routine from the 1830s.

Three men seen from the back, wearing buckskin and Indian regalia, are facing a group of Native American people loosely gathered in front of the main cell block building of Alcatraz. The island prison's water tower is in the background.

In 1969, a group of rebel activists took over America’s most notorious prison for more than 19 months.

Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities

From the infamous nuclear disaster zone near Chernobyl to Henry Ford’s doomed jungle paradise, learn the stories behind six of the world’s most famous vacant towns and villages.

George Washington, first President of the United States of America following the victory in the War of independence, pictured crossing the Delaware river on a boat en route to the Battle of Trenton.

Get the facts on seven famous historical events that fell on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

History of Seppuku

The ritual suicide originated in Japan's ancient warrior class.

American athlete Archie Hahn (1880-1955) wins the men's 60-metres event, with unspecified runners during the 1904 Summer Olympics, held at Francis Olympic Field in St Louis, Missouri, 29th August 1904. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Explore eight surprising facts about one of weirdest and wildest Summer Games in Olympic history.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

It remains one of the most perplexing mysteries in aviation history. Some blame the Bermuda Triangle.

Pitcher Leroy 'Satchel' Paige (1906-1982), July 14, 1961. Courtesy: CSU Archives/Everett Collection - Image ID: CWAPNT (RM)

Check out these facts about one of baseball’s most legendary showmen.

Three stars of the 1919 Chicago White Sox team. Infielder Fred McMullin (center) was implicated in the scandal. Credit: George Rinhart / Getty Images

In 1919, Chicago White Sox players allegedly threw the World Series. It remains one of professional baseball’s most notorious scandals.

Byzantine Empire

Explore 10 fascinating facts about the medieval empire that bridged the gap between the classical world and the Renaissance.

8 Ways Roads Helped Rome Rule the Ancient World

Explore eight reasons why this remarkable transit system helped unite the ancient world.

The Ancient Roman Pont du Gard aqueduct and viaduct bridge over the River Gardon, the highest of all ancient roman bridges, near to Nimes in the South of France. (Photo by: Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Romans were prodigious builders and expert civil engineers, and their thriving civilization produced advances in technology, culture and architecture that remained unequaled for centuries.

A bust of Roman emperor Claudius

Explore eight surprising facts about the life of Rome’s fourth emperor.

Caesar Crossing The Rubicon'Caesar Crossing the Rubicon', 1890. From "Cassell's Illustrated Universal History Vol. II - Rome", by Edmund Ollier. [Cassell and Company, Limited, London, Paris and Melbourne, 1890]. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector via Getty Images)

Ancient Rome waged many campaigns of conquest during its history, but its most influential wars may have been the ones it fought against itself.

Bear baring its teeth

Bear-baiting, dog fights and gladiatorial combat involving chimps were just a few of the popular—and grisly—animal blood sports in 16th and 17th century England.

Painting depicting the Great Fire.

Between September 2 and September 6, 1666, a massive inferno ripped through London, reducing much of the city center to a smoldering ruin.

U2 spy plane like the one Francis Powers was piloting when shot down over Russia; at Edwards Air Force Base.

1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis was not the only time the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union almost went hot.

Female members of the American ping pong team.  (Credit: Frank Fischbeck/Getty Images)

Find out how table tennis became an unlikely tool in international relations.

Manhattan's Five Points neighborhood, circa 1827.

From river pirates to knife-wielding adolescents, get the facts on seven of 19th century New York’s most notorious street gangs.

Train Robberies, Jesse James and his gang robbing a train

From high profile capers by the likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy to a raid by a gang of Indian political dissidents, find out more about six of history’s most audacious rail heists.

Regalia of Charles II.

Get the story behind how legendary rogue Thomas Blood bluffed his way into the Tower of London and nearly made off with the British crown jewels.

In 1911, a former Louvre employee perpetrated one of the greatest art heists in history: the theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s immortal painting “Mona Lisa.”

Anne Frank

Multiple people have been suspected of informing the Nazis of the Franks' hiding place, while one theory suggests it may have simply been bad luck.

Robert F. Scott and two of his four companions set out for the South Pole pulling a sled. (Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)

In the early 1910s, explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott engaged in a frantic, and ultimately tragic, race to be the first man to reach the South Pole.

Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974), American aviator. He is seen here posing by the plane in which he completed the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, the Spirit of St. Louis.

Learn 10 surprising facts about the heroic and controversial life of the aviator known as “The Lone Eagle.”

Find out about seven groups of enslaved people who risked everything for a chance at freedom.

From fitness tests for infants to state-sponsored hazing, find out why these ancient Greek warriors had a rough go of it.

Destruction of CSS Virginia during the Civil War's Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862

On March 9, 1862, the ironclad warships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia squared off in the most influential naval battle of the Civil War.

Stormy seas

It's been the site of mysterious disappearances and other bizarre activity.

The stone at the entrance to Newgrange showing the megalithic artwork in detail. (Credit: Michelle McMahon/Getty Images)

From an 11,000-year-old temple complex to a mystifying Irish megalith, here are seven lesser-known world wonders that stand as a testament to the engineering prowess of the ancients.

London Bridge at night, spanning the waters of Lake Havasu.

In 1968, an American tycoon bought London Bridge—all 10,000 tons of it—and moved it brick-by-brick to the desert town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran.

From a 'bear lunch counter' to a less-than-faithful Old Faithful, here are some surprising things to know about America’s first national park.

Little-Known Facts About the Moon Landing

Explore 10 surprising facts about the most ambitious project in the history of the space program.

By the time he was inaugurated as president, Washington only had a single natural tooth left.

Louis Armstrong plays his trumpet during a performance in Baltimore.

Check out nine little-known facts about the jazz legend nicknamed “Satchmo.”

A photo taken on April 2, 2014 at the Institut des Lettres et des Manuscrits de Paris shows the manuscript of "The 120 Days of Sodom" written by the Marquis de Sade while he was imprisoned at the Bastille in 1785. Sade wrote the manuscript in tiny script on both sides of a sheaf of narrow paper, whose sheets he attached into a single 39-foot-long roll. Fearing that his work would be confiscated, he hid the roll in a crevice in a stone wall of his cell. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU (Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)

From Martin Luther King’s immortal jailhouse letter to a classic of philosophy completed on death row, get the facts on eight of the most influential and incendiary works written from behind bars.

Alfred Hitchcock

Check out nine surprising facts about the man known as the big screen’s “Master of Suspense.”

Portrait of Winston Churchill painted by Graham Sutherland as an 80th birthday gift.

From a Russian national treasure looted by the Nazis to a da Vinci painting that no one has ever seen, find out more about eight of art history’s missing masterworks.

gilgamesh, ancient history

It likely originated in ancient Mesopotamia.

A detail from the so called Standard of Ur, side B. This panel shows a banquet, perhaps after a victory and men driving cattle and sheep.

Check out nine fascinating facts about one of the earliest sophisticated civilizations known to history.

Cleopatra

Check out 10 surprising facts about the fabled Queen of the Nile.

Egyptian labor strike

From the earliest recorded peace treaty to ancient board games, discover 11 surprising facts about the Gift of the Nile.

Gurkha troops with Khukuri knives, during a 1971 parade. (

These razor-sharp blades inspired fear and fascination and helped change the course of military campaigns.

From an ancient Sumerian bulwark to the Berlin Wall, here are seven of history’s most influential manmade barriers.

A new examination of Julius Caesar’s health has found that the Roman dictator may have suffered from a series “mini-strokes” rather than epilepsy.

ancient rome

Take a look back at six of the most damaging raids on the Eternal City.

praetorian secret police

Equal parts secret service, special forces and urban administrators, Rome’s Praetorian Guard was one of the ancient world’s most prestigious military units.

Get the facts on the enigmatic men-at-arms behind Ancient Rome’s most notorious form of entertainment.

Attila the Hun.

From Genghis Khan to Alexander the Great, get the facts on seven historical titans whose final resting places are unaccounted for.

Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot painted in the late 18th/early 19th century. (Credit: Art Media/Getty Images)

The term “Gordian knot,” commonly used to describe a complex or unsolvable problem, can be traced back to a legendary chapter in the life of Alexander the Great. As the story goes, in 333 B.C. the Macedonian conqueror marched his army into the Phrygian capital of Gordium in modern day Turkey. Upon arriving in the […]

A musical instrument is among diverse artifacts displayed together with six funerary mummy bundles belonging to the Wari Culture dug by archaeologists at a pre-Inca complex modernly known as the Cajamarquilla archeological center on the western outskirts of Lima

Music is likely as old as humanity. But when was the first song recorded in history?

Homer, the Greek epic poet who is credited with the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey', circa 850 BC.

From Britain’s most beloved outlaw to the founder of Sparta, find out more about six historical figures whose existence remains up for debate.

Reigning In Richard Nixon at the End of His Presidency

An attack by President Nixon on his own Justice Department came with grave consequences.

President LBJ receiving the Warren Commission report on the Kennedy assassination.

Find out more about this much-maligned investigation into the murder of America’s 35th president.

The Beatles arrive at New York's JFK airport on February 7, 1964.

Take a look back at how the Fab Four conquered American pop culture.

Explore 10 surprising facts about the glamorous and tragic life of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated writers.

Whisky in city abstract background

Ninety-five years after its inception, learn 10 fascinating facts about America’s nearly 14-year “noble experiment” in alcohol prohibition.

Heart shape.

History offers various explanations from an ancient species of giant fennel to anatomical drawings in medieval texts.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1632-1654.Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1632-1654. The marble mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his wife Arjumand Banu Begum. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

These people went far beyond sending cards and chocolates to demonstrate their love.

Mistletoe, Christmas traditions, Valentine 1880

Many ancient cultures prized mistletoe for its healing properties—and its romantic symbolism.

Chinese traditional dragon lantern illuminated at night during Chinese / Lunar New Year.

Get the facts on the ways 5 ancient civilizations rang in the New Year.

Clocks falling back showing Daylight Saving Time

The idea dates back to 1895—and has been controversial ever since.

On the anniversary of "Bugsy” Siegel’s birth, check out nine fascinating facts about one of American history’s most iconic gangsters.

John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy are shown on the White House lawn.

Check out 10 surprising facts about the life and work of one of America’s most iconic first ladies.

JFK and Nixon 1st Television Debate

When John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon squared off in America's first televised presidential debate in 1960, image suddenly mattered—more than ever.

James Madison

Explore 10 surprising facts about the man often called the 'Father of the Constitution.'

Gracie Allen campaigning as the "Surprise Party" candidate in 1940. (Credit: CBS via Getty Images)

Meet eight of history’s most unlikely candidates for the United States’ highest office.

the civil war, general garfield, president james garfield, 20th president of the untied states, the union army, president lincoln, 1862

On July 2, 1881, newly inaugurated President James A. Garfield was mortally wounded by a deranged gunman as he prepared to board a train in Washington, D.C.

On September 6, 1901, William McKinley became the third U.S. president to be assassinated after he was fatally shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Illustration (after a painting by Alonzo Chappel) depicts the Battle of Tippecanoe between United States forces (under William Henry Harrison) and a coalition of Native American tribes (under Tenskwatawa), Indiana, 1811. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

William Henry Harrison won a landslide victory in the presidential election in 1840, in part because of his reputation as the hero of 1811’s Battle of Tippecanoe.

USS Potomac in Oakland, California

Before there was Air Force One, there was the presidential yacht.

Warship Sailing The Sea At Dawn

Take a look back at the criminal careers of five of history’s most formidable seafaring women.

Copenhagen, Denmark

It's one of the rarest and most influential books in world history. But was it the first?

Portrait of Marco Polo

Discover fascinating facts about the life of Marco Polo and his legendary travels to the Far East.

circa 1865: American showman and circus owner Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810 - 1891), who toured the country with his entourage of 'freaks

Check out 10 surprising facts about the 19th century’s most legendary showman

Mexican-American War 1846-1848: Battle of Buena Vista. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Explore 10 fascinating facts about what has often been called America’s “forgotten war.”

Battle of the Bulge

Winston Churchill called it 'undoubtedly the greatest American battle' of World War II.

Life-sized recreation of Da Vinci's robot.

From Leonardo Da Vinci’s android to a French-made artificial duck, learn more about seven early mechanical wonders.

(GERMANY OUT) Germany Berlin (West) Kreuzberg - Berlin crisis - The construction of the wall. US tanks at the Allied border crossing point Checkpoint Charlie. - October 1961 (Photo by Herbert Maschke/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Get seven facts about the Berlin border crossing that served as an iconic symbol of the Cold War.