But many of us don’t know that medieval towns were havens for runaway serfs, a place where they could become free by law if they laid low long enough. Or that medieval people frequently ate fast food—probably even more so than we do now. Today, we’re bringing you 10 misconceptions about medieval town life. 10 Rich Innkeepers We all think the stereotypical medieval innkeeper was a big, burly man with a dirty apron who was wiping a mug with a stained rag....

In the 1890s, the Prince of Wales gave a gift of a golden matchbox to a friend and fellow fox hunter Edward Southern. On a hunt one day, Southern fell from his horse and the matchbox broke from the chain and was lost. Southern had a duplicate made which he left to his son, Sam, upon his death. While traveling in Australia, Sam gave the matchbox to a friend: Mr Labertouche....

An anti-rape device is a product used for preventing, or deterring, rape. In the 15th century, chastity belts were designed for this purpose. In the last ten years, a collection of anti-rape devices have been marketed in areas of the world that have high rates of sexual abuse, such as South Africa. One such device is the rape-axe, or anti-rape female condom. The rape-axe was invented by a South African woman named Sonnet Ehlers....

It’s amazing to think that one of the most mysterious monuments in the United States was built in 1979. After all, people must have had time to consult the man who built the Georgia Guidestones, right? Yet somehow, no one is entirely sure what exactly they mean. That’s probably due—in part—to the fact that this monument, often referred to as America’s Stonehenge, has a cryptic message engraved on it in eight different languages....

10 “Easy Lovin’” In addition to being a popular duo who collaborated on many hit songs during the 1970s and early ’80s, country music artists Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty had so much chemistry and such a friendly rapport that a lot of fans believed there was an off-stage romance between them. However, Lynn and Twitty were both married to other people at the time. In the PBS documentary Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl, Lynn set the record straight, denying these rumors while professing her love for Twitty as a friend....

First of all, almost no one uses real tin foil these days. The stuff we all call “tin foil” is actually aluminium foil. Originally foil was made of tin but it gave (not surprisingly) a tin flavor to whatever it touched. It was heavier than modern aluminium foil, which has its benefits but not enough to keep it going strong in our kitchens. Aluminium foil began to surpass tin foil after World War II but it had been available since 1910 when it was first produced by “Dr....

-273.15 This is the temperature (in centigrade) known as absolute zero (0 Kelvin) which describes a theoretical system that neither emits nor absorbs energy. It is the point at which particles have a minimum energy, determined by quantum mechanical effects, which is called the zero-point energy. Absolute zero is also precisely equivalent to 0 °R on the Rankine scale (also a thermodynamic temperature scale), and –459.67 °F on the Fahrenheit scale....

See Also: 10 Things Rich People Do That You Don’t It’s a world where you are able to indulge every whim, no matter how fanciful, where you can fulfill every dream, no matter how dumb, and, if you can’t actually climb every mountain yourself, you can pay someone to climb it for you. So, on the off-chance that you become super-rich overnight, here are 10 ridiculous and obscene things you might want to spend your money on....

This week’s list is a globetrotting affair that takes us for a ride. We start in North America and then travel to Australia and Japan, with a layover in Antarctica for a bit of attempted murder. From there, we move on to Mars and reach our final destination in the center of the Milky Way. 10 AI Painting Breaks The Bank A few months ago, we talked about the first-ever work of art made by artificial intelligence going on sale at a major auction....

10 Game Of 72 A 13-year-old girl named Emma from France who disappeared for three days told police she had been playing the “Game of 72” (or “12, 24, 72”), a social media challenge in which participants try to disappear and stay out of contact with friends and family for either 12, 24, or 72 hours. The story was published in the English-language French newspaper The Local and soon spread to the hysterical British tabloid media and the United States....

Still, there are some people who just do not want to go. Despite their ominous circumstances, they survive when others would certainly perish—whether by luck or the sheer will to carry on. Here are 10 people who refused to go gentle into that good night. 10 The Woman Who Was Hanged (And Then Some) In 1650, housemaid Anne Greene was seduced by the grandson of her employer and became pregnant....

10 The Kumari Devi The Kumari Devi, a young Nepalese girl who is recognized and worshiped as the Hindu goddess Durga, isn’t a goddess forever—only until she reaches puberty. Only one girl at a time holds this title. Many are little older than toddlers when they’re selected, and when they reach puberty, their status is transferred to another. There are a couple of different stories about how Durga’s mortal incarnations began, including one in which the goddess visits a king and become furious when he makes some rather inappropriate comments to her....

10 Green River The Green River in Washington State is 105 kilometers (65 mi) long. With the beautiful scenery surrounding it, the river attracts visitors who join in white-water rafting to see the boulders, waterfalls, and cliffs that make the area so visually stunning. Unfortunately, the Green River is also an infamous place to dump dead bodies. If you were around during the 1980s and ’90s, you probably remember the traumatic events that eventually led to the capture of the Green River killer in 2001....

10Frescoes Of Camposanto Monumentale When the MFAA was formed by President Franklin Roosevelt in the summer of 1943, the Allies had already driven the Nazis out of North Africa and had invaded Sicily. Initially, MFAA provided maps of towns and cities about to be attacked or bombed, indicating where significant monuments and religious sites were located. But as the Allies moved into Italy, the art historians, architects, archaeologists, and artists who made up MFAA followed close behind....

Sure, you would cringe. Well! It used to be the norm a few centuries ago—at a time when products did not have ingredient labels. Many people unwittingly turned cannibal after ingesting food items made from human remains. Others just used regular products that contained human remains without being aware of it. More products containing human secretions and body parts are still being developed today. But fear not! You will probably not be ingesting food made from human body parts without knowing about it....

It is true that for skeptics, these stories are hard to believe. But remember that the books of the Bible were written in ancient times, when knowledge about universal phenomena was very limited. So if we look for solid, logical explanations of the angelic accounts and compare them with scientific and empirical discoveries, the resulting conclusion might surprise us. In this list, we will see that, in fact, angels could be actual life-forms living out there, right now, beyond our current knowledge....

10What They’re Giving Us The Apple Live Event began with a promise of the biggest event in iPhone history. That was invariably going to be true, but it says nothing about the impact on the mobile industry as a whole. After all, every product is supposed to be better than its predecessor, regardless of brand. What they did unveil were the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus, and the Apple Watch—one new phone, a bigger version of it, and one new phone accessory....

10You’re Probably In The One Percent We’ve all heard of the One Percent: the guys who take our bailouts, pay no taxes, and generally act like the sort of supervillains Walt Disney would reject as “too cartoonish.” And here’s the kicker—you’re probably one of them. See, there’s a couple of ways of looking at the One Percent. The first, most common one, is as the top-earners of developed Western economies—the guys with mega yachts and offshore tax havens....

10 The Helots’ Rebellion464–462 BC It’s not clear where the helots (ancient Spartan slaves) came from, but they were most likely ancient Laconians and Messenians. They were eventually subjugated by the Spartans and were kept as slaves since at least the eighth century BC. However, a massive earthquake hit in 464 BC and killed an extremely large number of Spartans. Seeing an opportunity, the helots rebelled, fighting against their masters for two years....

Elsewhere, scientists from Japan have fired explosives at an asteroid, and in Germany, they have discovered a prehistoric molecule from the early years of universe. Setting aside the negative headlines—like the Israeli spacecraft that crash-landed on the Moon or the Indian missile test that might have endangered the International Space Station—here are ten of the most fascinating breakthroughs to have made recent headlines. 10 Astronomers Have Bombed An Asteroid A group of Japanese astronomers has decided to bomb the asteroid Ryugu, hoping it can answer some fundamental questions about the origins of life on Earth....