All That's Interesting • December 4 2023

This 'Garden Ornament' Used By A Welsh Couple For Decades Just Turned Out To Be A Live Explosive

The bomb was likely used in pre-World War I naval tests sometime between 1880 and 1890.

A Welsh couple were left distraught after a bomb disposal team detonated an old naval shell that had sat in their garden for an estimated 100 years.

Sian and Jeffrey Edwards of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire told the BBC that the bomb being detonated “was like the passing of an old friend.”

The naval shell weighed 64 pounds and was thought to have dated to the late 19th century. The couple had treated the bo

All That's Interesting • December 3 2023

How U.S. Troops Found Saddam Hussein In A Tiny 'Spider Hole' After A Nine-Month Manhunt In 2003

Beginning in March 2003, U.S. troops carried out a dozen missions in an effort to locate Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein — but nine months passed before they finally found him hiding in a tiny hole near a rural farmhouse.

In 2003, the United States military had one clear goal: capture Saddam Hussein. Saddam had largely disappeared from public view following the invasion of Iraq earlier that year, with the American military designating the dictator as “High Value Target Number One.”

The search fo

All That's Interesting • December 2 2023

9 Historical Family Feuds, From The Wars Of The Roses To The Real Red Wedding Seen In 'Game Of Thrones'

From Scotland's Glencoe Massacre to the Lee-Peacock rivalry of the Old West, these historical family feuds led to violent bloodshed.

Since 1976, the television gameshow Family Feud has entertained viewers by pitting two families against one another in a trivia-based standoff for a cash prize. But for centuries before the debut of the game show, family feuds were often far bloodier — with long-lasting repercussions.

Perhaps one of the most famous family feuds in history was the dispute between

All That's Interesting • December 1 2023

Excavations Of A 4th-Century Villa In Turkey Reveal The Largest Roman Mosaic Ever Found In The Region

The work is the largest floor mosaic ever uncovered in Turkey's Central Anatolia Region.

Back in 2010, archaeologists excavating a site in the Turkish city of Kayseri uncovered remnants of a late Roman and early Byzantine residence laid with an ornate mosaic floor. It was a remarkable discovery that promised more revelations with further excavations.

Unfortunately, excavation work was put on hold due to legal reasons, and remained stagnant for the better part of a decade. It wasn’t until 2020

All That's Interesting • November 30 2023

Archaeologists In Spain Unearth An Ancient Animal Sacrifice Pit Filled With Nearly 7,000 Bones

The various bones — belonging to horses, pigs, cattle, and at least one dog — date back to the Iron Age and illuminate Europe's little-known history of animal sacrifice.

Archaeologists in Spain recently uncovered incredibly rare evidence of mass, ritual animal sacrifice dating back to the 5th century B.C.E. at the Casas del Turuñuelo archaeological site.

According to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the team unearthed 6,770 ancient bones belonging to at least 52 different animals, in

All That's Interesting • November 30 2023

9 Famous Nostradamus Prophesies And The Real Historical Events They Allegedly Foretold

From the rise of Adolf Hitler to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, some of Nostradamus' predictions seem shockingly accurate.

Michel de Notredame, more commonly known as Nostradamus, was a 16th-century French astrologer, physician, apothecary, and reputed seer who famously published more than 900 prophecies written in poetic quatrains. These were collected in a book titled Les Prophéties in 1555, with each set of 100 prophecies being referred to as a “Century.”

While Nostradamus’ predictio

All That's Interesting • November 28 2023

Four 1,000-Year-Old Child Mummies Were Just Unearthed In Peru With Their Hair Still Intact

The four child mummies were buried alongside one adult and several red ceramics.

Archaeologists in Peru recently unearthed the mummified remains of four children in an ancient ceremonial space dating back at least 1,000 years.

The child mummies were found alongside one adult in one of modern-day Lima’s oldest neighborhoods. Based on the mummies’ age, researchers believe the children were part of the Pre-Incan Ychsma culture that once inhabited the central coast of Peru.

The Ychsma Kingdom, fo

All That's Interesting • November 28 2023

33 Images Of Shunga, The Erotic Art That Gripped Japan During The Edo Period

During Japan's Edo period, shunga became popular with everyone from rural peasants to the wealthy ruling class — even after it was outlawed in 1722.

The words “Japanese erotic art” may bring to mind the modern genre known as hentai, which might in turn conjure up the concept of “tentacle porn” — but as it turns out, fetishizing cephalopods is far from a new idea. In fact, the practice dates back to 17th-century Edo Japan with the art form known as shunga.

Shunga, which translates to “spring pi

All That's Interesting • November 27 2023

The Haunting Story Of Christine Chubbuck, The News Reporter Who Killed Herself Live On Air In 1974

Just before fatally shooting herself in the head during a live news broadcast on July 15, 1974, Christine Chubbuck told viewers, "TV 40 presents what is believed to be a television first: in living color, an exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide."

On July 15, 1974, 29-year-old Christine Chubbuck arrived at WXLT-TV, the local Florida news station where she worked as a reporter. Around 9:30 a.m., her daily broadcast, Suncoast Digest, began like any other. But shortly after, a technical hiccu

All That's Interesting • November 27 2023

Giant Rats That Can Crack Open Coconuts Were Just Photographed For The First Time On A Remote Pacific Island

The local community of the Solomon Islands had been aware of the Vangunu giant rat for years, but efforts to photograph it remained unsuccessful until now.

For the first time, researchers have photographed the rare and elusive Vangunu giant rat, a critically endangered species first described in 2017.

The findings, published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, detail how researchers from the University of Melbourne, Solomon Islands National University, and Zaira Village, Vangunu set up a ser

All That's Interesting • November 21 2023

Former Drug Dealer Azie Faison Was Shot Nine Times — And Survived To Tell His Story In 'Paid In Full'

Azie Faison started selling drugs to get out of poverty, but the lifestyle nearly led to his death after he was shot nine times during a robbery gone awry.

Harlem in the late 1980s and early 1990s was plagued by a sudden widespread increase in the amount of cheap crack cocaine. The effects were devastating on the local community — but dealing also made a select group of people incredibly wealthy. In particular, three of Harlem’s most notorious cocaine dealers were Alpo Martinez, Richard Porter,

All That's Interesting • November 21 2023

A Man Just Found A Massive 10,000-Year-Old Mammoth Jaw While Diving In A Florida River

The mammoth jaw was discovered in Florida's Peace River by self-proclaimed fossil junkie "Captain John" Kreastoulas.

A self-proclaimed fossil junkie in Florida made the discovery of a lifetime when he found an incredibly rare, fully intact mammoth jaw while diving in the alligator-infested waters of the Peace River.

John Kreastoulas has been interested in fossils ever since he was a little kid, and has since evolved that fascination into a career.

“As a kid, my grandmother took me to the libr

All That's Interesting • November 18 2023

Napoleon's Doctor Allegedly Removed His Penis During His Autopsy — And Now It's A Collector's Item

Following his death in 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte's penis was allegedly removed from his body — and it has since been in the possession of everyone from his chaplain to an American urologist.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a force to be reckoned with in his time. The French emperor was a military genius who seized rule of his country at an opportune moment amid the fallout of the French Revolution and spread his empire across a significant portion of Europe and beyond.

But Napoleon’s ambition led to his

All That's Interesting • November 17 2023

This 318-Year-Old Scottish Bible Was Just Found At An Iowa Retirement Home — And No One Knows How It Got There

The Scottish Bible was printed in 1705 and contained a written record of the original owners' family inside.

A bookstore owner in Indianola, Iowa made a truly remarkable discovery in the back of a local retirement home’s community library — a 318-year-old Scottish Bible.

“I started looking into it and I fell into a rabbit hole,” Kathy Magruder, owner of Pageturner Books, told Local 12 News.

Magruder had initially been invited by the Calvin Community retirement facility in Des Moines to comb t

All That's Interesting • November 16 2023

Ashley Ellerin, The Woman Who Was Murdered While Getting Ready For A Date With Ashton Kutcher

Ashley Ellerin spoke with Ashton Kutcher on the phone mere minutes before her neighbor Michael Gargiulo stabbed her 47 times inside her Hollywood home on February 21, 2001.

On the evening of Feb. 21, 2001, Ashton Kutcher was getting ready for a date. That night, he had plans to go out with a 22-year-old woman named Ashley Ellerin. But when he arrived at her Los Angeles home to pick her up, she didn’t answer the door.

Kutcher peered in the window to see if she was inside and saw what he thought

All That's Interesting • November 15 2023

Napoleon Bonaparte Wasn't Actually Short — So How Did This Pervasive Myth Begin?

Although history remembers Napoleon as an abnormally short ruler, he was actually taller than many Frenchmen of his time — so where did the misconception about Napoleon's height originate?

Napoleon Bonaparte is remembered as one of the most notorious leaders in world history. The celebrated general crowned himself emperor of France in 1804 and went on to conquer nearly the entire European continent. Yet, today, he is remembered for something else entirely: his supposedly short stature. So, just

All That's Interesting • November 14 2023

Inside The Shocking History Of Fanta, Nazi Germany's Answer To Coca-Cola

The German businessman who invented Fanta marketed it to Nazi Germany as an alternative to Coca-Cola during World War II.

Fanta is one of the most popular soft drinks in the world. For over 80 years, the Coca-Cola Company beverage has delighted consumers with its bold, fruity flavors. But it wouldn’t exist today if not for a man named Max Keith, his unwavering allegiance to Coca-Cola, and the economy of Nazi Germany.

It may sound strange, but it’s true: Fanta only came into existence because A

All That's Interesting • November 14 2023

155 Million Years Ago, A Continent Vanished Without A Trace. Now, Scientists Say They've Found It

The continent known as Argoland broke off from northwestern Australia 155 million years ago.

New research may have just solved the 155 million-year-old mystery of what happened to a small, lost continent that once broke off from northwestern Australia.

Scientists have suspected for some time that this landmass, known as Argoland, divorced itself from the Australian continent, thanks to evidence of a deep ocean void off the northwest coast of Australia. But after that, the trail went cold.

Wha

All That's Interesting • November 14 2023

Inside Beloved Movie Star Michael Clarke Duncan's Early Death — And The Bitter Legal Fight That Followed

Michael Clarke Duncan shot to fame after receiving acclaim for his Oscar-nominated role in 1998's The Green Mile. But his life and career would tragically be cut short.

In the early 2000s, it was almost difficult to see a film without Michael Clarke Duncan. Once relegated to smaller roles or roles that suited his musculature, Duncan proved his mettle as an actor with his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, a Black man in 1953 Louisiana falsely convicted of the assault and murder of

All That's Interesting • November 10 2023

Mike Horner Died Suddenly Without Fulfilling His Dream Of Climbing Everest — So His Son Scattered His Ashes There

Mike Horner had a lifelong fascination with Everest, but he never made it to the mountain before his untimely death of an unknown neurological disease in February 2023.

Throughout his life, Mike Horner marveled at Mount Everest and the brave people who dared to scale it. But Mike Horner never got to attempt the climb himself. He died at the age of 65, after struggling with a rare neurological disease that left doctors stumped. He died on Feb. 8, 2023.

Grief hits everyone differently, and for h

All That's Interesting • November 10 2023

9 Outrageous Court Jesters Throughout History, From Roland The Farter To Jane The Fool

Jesters played an important role in entertaining royal courts throughout Europe from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance — but their lives weren't always fun and games.

Historically, royal courts were made up of the lords, ladies, clergymen, bodyguards, and other nobility who attended kings and queens. However, there were other members of the monarch’s household who played an equally important role: jesters.

Court jesters entertained royals and their guests in various ways. From slapstick

All That's Interesting • November 9 2023

'I Cannot Remember All Of Them': Inside The Brutal Crimes Of Suspected Serial Killer Larry Hall

In 1994, Larry Hall admitted to police that he'd killed dozens of women and girls across the Midwest — but he immediately recanted his confession.

The true crime miniseries Black Bird follows James “Jimmy” Keene as he goes undercover to extract a confession from suspected serial killer Larry Hall. The show is based on Keene’s 2010 memoir, In with the Devil, which recounts his very real experience with Hall, a man who may be responsible for more than 40 murders.

But just who is Larry Hall? Unli

All That's Interesting • November 9 2023

Indiana Woman On Trial For Allegedly Helping Her Mom Kill Her Step-Dad With A Poisoned Root Beer Float

Harold Allen died in December 2022, and now police say his wife Marsha Allen and stepdaughter Ashley Jones poisoned his root beer float with a chemical found in antifreeze.

In November 2022, Ashley Jones and her mother Marsha Allen allegedly put a nefarious plan into motion. According to police, the two women were plotting to kill Marsha’s husband, Harold Allen, and they started conducting research on “various poisons” that would do the job.

Their search reportedly led them to purchase foxglov

All That's Interesting • November 8 2023

A Mysterious Green Slime Is Oozing Onto New York City's Streets — And No One Knows What It Is

For the second time this year, green ooze is spilling onto the New York City streets — and no one can give an answer as to what it is.

New Yorkers were in for a strange surprise when some of the city’s streets seemed to suddenly begin to ooze green slime. But this is no Spongebob gag — and residents are completely baffled as to what the fluid might be.

The mysterious case of the green “ooze” first came to public attention via X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, when one user post