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John Favara Accidentally Killed John Gotti's 12-Year-Old Son — Then Disappeared Four Months Later

On July 28, 1980, a man named John Favara disappeared after leaving his job at a factory in Long Island, New York. He was declared legally dead three years later. To this day, his body has never been found — but to many, it’s clear what happened to him.

Four months before he went missing, John Favara accidentally ran over his 12-year-old neighbor, Frank Gotti, with his car. Unfortunately for Favara, Frank Gotti just so happened to be the son of infamous mob boss John Gotti — and Gotti wasn’t th...
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Fossils Unearthed In Spain Reveal A New Species Of Dinosaur That Roamed Europe 73 Million Years Ago

More than a decade after paleontologists unearthed a trove of prehistoric skeletons in Spain, researchers have identified a new species of dinosaur — and believe there may be more to come.

Based on their findings, scientists believe this newly identified dinosaur, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, represents one of the “last giants” to have roamed Europe before the mass extinction event that occurred 66 million years ago.

While carrying out excavations near the mountainous Spanish town of Cuenca in...
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Roman Military Camp Discovered In The Swiss Alps At 7,200 Feet

During archaeological excavations in the Swiss Alps, one volunteer decided to set off and explore a nearby peak on their own. Little did they know that they would discover the remains of an ancient Roman military camp buried just beneath the surface — and more than 7,200 feet above sea level.

Researchers were initially investigating the site of an ancient battlefield in Oberhalbstein when the discovery of the camp was made, providing the team with even greater insight into the Roman military’s...
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33 Photos Of 1980s Miami That Reveal The Grit And Glamour Of 'Vice City'

In the 1950s and 1960s, Miami, Florida was a popular tourist destination teeming with life. But by the 1970s, much of the Miami Beach area was in decline, especially its iconic Art Deco buildings, and infrastructure issues were widespread. It almost seemed as if Miami’s heyday was over — until the 1980s, when new life was breathed into the city, bringing with it an explosion of culture and also a heightened level of danger.

1980s Miami saw a major influx of Cuban immigrants after the Mariel Boa...
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The Los Angeles Mafia Infiltrated Golden Age Hollywood And Terrorized The West Coast — Then It Virtually Vanished

While New York and Chicago may be the first cities to come to mind when thinking of the mob, the Los Angeles Mafia also played a major role in the history of the criminal organization. The L.A. crime family infiltrated the Hollywood film industry, rubbed elbows with corrupt California government officials, and even helped bring about the rise of Las Vegas.

The group reached its peak in the 1940s and '50s under the rule of mob boss Jack Dragna, who put the L.A. Mafia on the national stage. In fa...
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The Life And Crimes Of Johnny Torrio, The Mob Boss Who Taught Al Capone Everything He Knew

While his name may not be as widely known as Al Capone’s, without Johnny Torrio, there would have never been a Scarface. Torrio was considered a mastermind in the world of organized crime, a mentor to Al Capone and one of the mobsters responsible for building the Chicago Outfit.

In the 1910s, when the Chicago Outfit was in its earliest stages, Torrio became underboss to “Big Jim” Colosimo. However, it wouldn’t be until Prohibition — and Colosimo’s murder — that Torrio would take over as boss, w...
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Greg Giraldo, The Legendary Roast Comedian Who Died Of An Accidental Overdose In 2010

Most people would scoff at the idea of pivoting from a stable career as a lawyer to a career in stand-up comedy. But Greg Giraldo wasn’t most people.

An incredibly intelligent child, Giraldo attended the prestigious Regis High School in Manhattan, and from there went on to Columbia and Harvard. Eventually, he passed the bar exam and started practicing law. But through it all, he never lost his love of curse words or off-color humor.

Then, one day, he found a notebook of old jokes he’d written...
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The Little-Known Story Of Vincent Asaro, 'The Last Goodfella' Who Was Acquitted In The Lufthansa Heist Case

Although the so-called golden age of the Mafia had seemingly faded as the 21st century approached, mobster Vincent Asaro would continue making headlines well into the 2020s. Asaro was a prominent member of New York City’s Bonanno crime family, allegedly overseeing much of the family’s operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Sometimes called “The Last Goodfella,” Asaro faced numerous charges throughout his life in the mob, but only a handful of convictions, including the theft of an...
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Researchers Decode 3,800-Year-Old Babylonian Astrological Tablets And Find Ominous Warnings

A series of nearly 4,000-year-old Babylonian tablets have long held eerie warnings that went undeciphered. But now, archaeologists have revealed what these ominous messages say, including dire pronouncements like, “When the Moon fully slips into Earth’s shadow, a king shall die.”

Four of these ancient clay tablets sat at the British Museum for more than a century. Until now, however, their messages were unknown. It is only thanks to archaeologists Andrew George and Junko Taniguchi that these ap...
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Archaeologists Just Stumbled Upon An Elite Mongolian Burial At A Fortress That Predates Genghis Khan

Hidden away inside an abandoned 1,000-year-old fortress in northeastern Mongolia, researchers recently made a shocking discovery. There, buried in the fortress walls, were the remains of an elite woman dressed in a yellow silk cloak — a woman whose remains pre-date even the rise of the Mongolian Empire’s founder, Genghis Khan.

Even more remarkably, researchers stumbled upon the burial by accident while surveying the fortress. The discovery of this burial could offer new insights into a relative...
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Virginia Hill Was Bugsy Siegel's Girlfriend — But She Was Also A Powerful Organized Crime Figure In Her Own Right

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.

It’s not often that women are the focus of a mob story. The American Mafia was, at its core, a business run by men, with women often relegated to roles as sex workers, waitresses, or shills. Women, unlike men, could never be “made.” Despite this, Virginia Hill made a name for herself in organized crime — and even came to be known as the “Queen of the Mob.”

Born...
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Archaeologists Discover A Possible Animal Toy Carved From Volcanic Rock At A Medieval Site In Iceland

Archaeologists working at a medieval site in the Icelandic village of Seyðisfjörður recently announced the discovery of an artifact that may have been a toy. Carved from volcanic rock, the small figurine resembles an animal, possibly a bear or a boar, and is incredibly well preserved.

Researchers noted that it’s rare for toys to be found at archaeological sites — and even rarer for them to be found in such good condition.

The discovery of the small artifact was announced via a statement to loc...
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Three Shipwrecks From World War II’s Battle Of Attu Discovered Off The Coast Of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands

During an underwater expedition near Alaska’s Attu Island, researchers discovered the wrecks of three ships involved in a “forgotten battle” during World War II. Over the course of just five days, a team of 14 researchers located the wreckage of two Japanese freighters, as well as the American cable ship SS Dellwood, which laid undersea cables during the war.

The discovery marks the first time any of these vessels have been seen since they sank more than 80 years ago as part of the Battle of At...
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'The Devil Is Afraid Of Me': Inside The Chilling True Story Of The 'Pope's Exorcist' Gabriele Amorth

Father Gabriele Amorth once claimed to have conducted over 60,000 exorcisms over the course of his life. That’s a staggering number by any stretch of the imagination, but the story became even wilder when, just before his death in 2016, Amorth said the number was actually more than 100,000 — and that he did not fear the Devil; the Devil feared him.

There was perhaps no better expert on exorcisms than Father Amorth. He started as an assistant to the former chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome,...
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The Grisly Death Of Robert Pickton, The ‘Pig Farmer Killer’ Who Murdered Dozens Of People Near Vancouver

Robert Pickton, a Canadian serial killer who murdered dozens of victims on his pig farm near Vancouver, mostly in the late 1990s and early 2000s, died in May 2024 at age 74 after being assaulted by a fellow inmate.

After he was arrested in 2002, Pickton infamously bragged about killing 49 women, saying that his only regret was not being able to get to an even 50. However, in 2007, he was found guilty of the murders of just six women.

To the families of the victims, Robert Pickton’s death on Ma...
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Centuries-Old Tunnels Linked To Secret Freemason Rituals Excavated Underneath Poland’s Wilanów Palace

Archaeologists recently excavated part of a mysterious tunnel system located beneath Gucin Gaj, an historic park complex located in Warsaw, Poland’s Mokotów district. Found near Wilanów Palace and St. Catherine’s Church, this barrel-vaulted U-shaped tunnel extends for more than 200 feet, but until now, much of its history has remained shrouded in mystery.

However, initial excavations suggest that the corridor may have once been used as a Freemason meeting spot and perhaps used as catacombs as w...
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New Study Suggests Stonehenge's Six-Ton Altar Stone Was Transported To The Site All The Way From Scotland

Stonehenge is one of the world’s most enduring mysteries. Though it’s stood for nearly 5,000 years, much about its construction has remained elusive, as has its purpose. However, a recent study is shedding some light on the origins of this ancient wonder.

According to new research, Stonehenge’s Altar Stone, which lies at the heart of the monument, was likely transported more than 450 miles from northeastern Scotland thousands of years ago. This would have been quite a feat, as the Altar Stone w...
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Amateur Fossil Hunter Stumbles Upon Seven-Foot Mammoth Tusk In A Mississippi Stream

In rural Madison County, Mississippi, amateur fossil hunter Eddie Templeton just made a mammoth discovery. As he was walking along a creek earlier this month, looking for fossils and other artifacts, he stumbled upon a massive tusk.

Though he initially believed it to be a mastodon tusk, Templeton later learned it was actually a fully intact tusk from a Columbian mammoth — the first ever found in the state.

Eddie Templeton often goes out on fossil hunts, walking along the rural creeks of Missis...
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Previously-Unseen Files From The Jack The Ripper Case Are Being Made Public For The First Time

In March 2024, the case files kept by Inspector Joseph Henry Helson regarding the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper were made public for the first time ever. Helson’s great-grandson made the decision to release the case files after the archive was passed down through four generations of his family.

This previously-unseen archive of Jack the Ripper case files includes a number of fascinating pieces, including suspect photographs and a copy of the “Saucy Jack” postcard that the Ripper purpo...
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Message In A Bottle Discovered On A New Jersey Beach Could Be The Oldest Ever Found

Over the Fourth of July weekend, a New Jersey woman discovered a bottle washed ashore at Corson’s Inlet, sealed with a cork and with papers inside. She took the bottle back to her beach house to see what the message read, only to be hit with an intense odor as soon as she uncorked it, described as “the bay smell times one million.”

Moving past the smell, she pulled the paper from inside. What she found appeared to be a business card and a handwritten note from 1876. If that date can be confirme...
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Inside The Headline-Grabbing History Of The Gambino Family, From Carlo Gambino To John Gotti

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.

If any organized crime group were to embody the core tenets of the mob, the Gambino family would be a sure bet. As one of the “Five Families” of New York City, the Gambino crime family played a critical role in shaping the Big Apple throughout the 20th century, and they’re still active to this day.

The Gambino family has overseen countless racketeering, gamblin...
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The Real Donnie Brasco: Inside The Deadly Undercover Mission Of The FBI Agent Who Infiltrated The Mob

The 1997 film Donnie Brasco, starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, recounts the story of the real “Donnie Brasco,” an FBI undercover agent by the name of Joseph Pistone.

In the 1970s, Pistone infiltrated the Bonanno crime family under the alias Donnie Brasco. He claimed to be a low-level jewel thief, and his own Sicilian heritage and knowledge about the Mafia helped him avoid too much suspicion. The job was only supposed to last a few months, but Pistone ended up remaining undercover for five yea...
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BTK Killer Dennis Rader Linked To More Cold Cases As His Daughter Helps Investigators

From the outside, Dennis Rader seemed like the perfect family man. He was an active member of the local church, a Boy Scout troop leader, and a friendly neighbor. In truth, however, Dennis Rader was the notorious BTK Killer, meaning “Bind, Torture, Kill.”

Rader operated in Kansas under this pseudonym for decades as he eluded investigators and even hid his secret from his own family. From his first murder in 1974 to his arrest in 2005, Rader’s horrific crimes destroyed the lives of dozens of peo...
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Gold Miners In Russia Just Stumbled Upon A Mummified Woolly Rhino — And Its Horn Is Still Intact

Gold miners in Russia were recently excavating a site for a new quarry when they unearthed a mummified woolly rhino carcass. However, the most surprising part of the discovery was that its horn and soft tissues were still intact.

Officials from North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) now plan to excavate the rest of the rhino in the coming months — and they hope they can extract DNA from the preserved tissue.

The discovery of the woolly rhino carcass was announced in a press release from NEFU...
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