10Walter Keane The talent behind those big-eyed-kid paintings hanging up in your grandma’s home, Walter Keane lived a life of debauchery, alcoholism, and group sex. At least, the second half of that sentence is true. In reality, the person responsible for the paintings was Keane’s wife, Margaret. In the early 1950s, Margaret was making ends meet selling her paintings outside one of San Francisco’s many beatnik clubs. At some point, she started up a relationship with Walter....

Hotel Attraction was to be the tallest building in New York at the time and was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi. The planned total height was 360 meters / 1181 ft and was probably unrealistic for its time. Little is known about the origins of Hotel Attraction and was unknown until 1956, when a report called “The New World Called Gaudí” was published. Interesting Fact: The drawings by Gaudi of the Attraction Hotel had actually been proposed as a basis for the rebuilding of the Ground Zero project in Manhattan....

The 1,300-pound (590-kilogram) manatee spent his lifetime helping scientists unlock the mysteries of manatees, showing beyond doubt just how intelligent and magnificent these marine mammals are. From birth to death, the circumstances surrounding his life and achievements were truly remarkable. From being the official mascot of Manatee County, Florida, to appearing on the Captain Kangaroo show, as well as having his own line of stuffed animals, Snooty demonstrated that he was a celebrity in his own right....

The project was extremely complex and dangerous, even causing the deaths of some of its own scientists. Nevertheless, its story is fascinating, and it is one of the most significant human achievements in the history of our world. Our list today looks at ten interesting facts from the Manhattan Project and the people who helped to make it happen. 10 Einstein Was Integral To The Project Happening The history of the Manhattan Project is often told as beginning with the Einstein-Szilard letter....

The medical and pharmaceutical industries are at the heart of the problem, along with an influx of cheap heroin from Mexico and US-controlled Afghanistan, dealer access to synthetic super-opioids like fentanyl, and fatal despair in many parts of the country. Here are ten facts about the United States’ opioid crisis. 10 Making A Killing In May 2007, the makers of prescription opioid OxyContin pleaded guilty to misleading doctors, patients, and regulators about the risks of the drug....

10The Hot/Cold Effect Without realizing it, our thoughts and behavior can be affected by whether we feel hot or cold. Two of the most interesting and potentially important research findings concern temperature and criminal behavior. When asked to judge a criminal’s behavior, a person in a hot room was more likely to characterize the criminal as hot-tempered and his behavior as spontaneous. A person in a cold room would probably see the same criminal as cold-blooded and his behavior as premeditated....

10Ian Malcolm Voices Michael Crichton’s Views Chaos theory–spouting Dr. Ian Malcolm, played quite memorably by Jeff Goldblum, is a fan favorite from Jurassic Park. From flirting with Dr. Sattler to warning Hammond repeatedly that the park was a bad idea, it often seemed like Malcolm was channeling the thoughts of the moviegoers. What many don’t know, however, was that he is really channeling the thoughts of Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton....

In addition, to maintain the reputation of its stars, studios have always hired fixers, double dealers, and outright shysters to do the dirty work for them. Here are 10 scandals from the Golden Age of Hollywood that they tried to cover up. 10 Loretta Young Adopted Her Own Child Loretta Young had it all. She was beautiful. She was successful. She was recognized, even winning an Oscar for her 1947 performance in The Farmer’s Daughter....

10 Kokusai Ki-105 The war in the Pacific was characterized by large distances which required complex military logistics to move men and machines across the theater. In 1942, the Japanese military realized that it needed heavier aircraft to lift the supplies needed for a mobile war against Allied forces. Responding to an army request for a large glider airplane, the Kokusai company developed the Ku-7. This large twin-boom glider was big enough to carry light tanks and was one of the heaviest gliders designed during World War II....

Fortunately, it’s easy to get out of this frame of mind and back to reality. There are some great kids out there doing some great things. Submitted for your approval are 10 Young Philanthropists, and they deserve the spotlight more than Britney or Lindsay’s latest rehab stint. Abby Miller is a 12-year-old musician who collects donations for 4-year-old Taylor Love, who suffers from neuroblastoma, a form of cancer affecting the nervous system....

Captain Stann was awarded the Silver Star for coordinating air and tank support that eventually allowed his ambushed platoon to be relieved, in May 2005, in Iraq. He was subsequently featured in an episode of a History Channel show called Shootout! for this incident. He later went on to become the World Extreme Cagefighting Light Heavyweight champion, in 2008, and currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, for which he won Fight of the Night honors, in 2010....

This book makes the list primarily for mixing science and Christianity in a favorable way. The two subjects are often seen as being at odds with each other, but in L’Engle’s book, the protagonist, Meg Murry, and her scientist family, all very intelligent, discover a way to fold space-time and travel anywhere in the Universe, instantly. They go to the planet Uriel, which is like Heaven, where everything is good and winged centaurs sing praises....

The Butcher of Mons may be the worst serial killer in the history of Belgium. Making matters even worse is the fact that this demon remains uncaught, although two tantalizing suspects have been caught and convicted of other murders. Did one of them do it? Or is the Butcher of Mons still out there, living life with a name that nobody knows? 10 The Bodies Are Discovered In March 1997, the city of Mons, which is close to Belgium’s border with France, was rocked by the news that a police officer had discovered several plastic trash bags that contained human body parts....

SEE ALSO: 10 Of The Most Gruesome Serial Killer Murders Gein’s mother, Augusta—a psychotic, manipulative, domineering, religious fanatic—became a single mother after the 1940 heart attack and death of her alcoholic, improvident husband, George. After Gein’s brother, Henry, died in 1944—some say at Ed Gein’s own hands—he had his mother all to himself. Her world revolved around him, just as she was the center of his existence. After she died in late 1945, Gein, 39, lived alone for the first time in his life....

Provenance can also ensure that the seller has ownership of the piece and thus the legal right to sell it. Auction houses will usually require extensive documentation of provenance before agreeing to facilitate a sale. Still, there have been several auctions that ended in sales—and lingering controversy over the origin and history of an item. Here we take a look at 10 high-dollar auction items of questionable origin. 10 The Tutankhamen Head In July 2019, the prestigious London auction house Christie’s held an event called The Exceptional Sale, and the item at the center of the event was an “Egyptian Brown Quartzite Head of the God Amen with the features of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen....

10Texas Judge Channels The Big LebowskiKinney v. Barnes, 2014 The Coen Brothers’ cult classic The Big Lebowski is rife with quotable lines that inevitably find their way into everyday conversation. Walter Sobchak, the Vietnam veteran and Jewish convert played by the Falstaffian John Goodman, delivers many of these memorable one-liners with extraordinary vigor. Whether he is politely reminding Donny to choose his words more carefully (“Shut the f—k up, Donny”), musing politically (“say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it’s an ethos”), or speculating with regard to a Korean War veteran’s ambulatory capabilities (“I’ve seen a lot of spinals, Dude....

In some cases, their inspiration came from horrific real-life murders. In others, from devastating diseases. In still others, from historic events or personal experiences. In several cases, their inspiration was based on the work of their colleagues or other artists. Whatever the sources of their inspirations, all 10 are truly horrific in one way or another. 10 Manson Murders And Rabies Epidemic The members of the evil cult of hippie Satanists featured in David Durston’s 1970 exploitation film, I Drink Your Blood, take LSD and worship the Devil after setting up camp near a small, isolated town....

The following stories demonstrate the weird ways that people have been killed by snakes. Some of them shockingly chose their own death-by-snake, which begs the question: “Why’d it have to be snakes?” 10 John David Brock In the Bible, snakes represent the Devil. At a Pentecostal church in Jensen, Kentucky, pastors use deadly rattlesnakes as part of a performance to try to prove that God will protect them from harm....

While the Christian Bible is used by hundreds of millions of people across the planet for peace and love, it has been used to justify some of the most horrific injustices committed against some of the weakest people in society. Even though the people using the Bible in this manner represent a minority of believers, those who succeeded in such a practice are responsible for some of the worst atrocities ever committed....

10 The Village Of Twins The distant village of Kodinhi, Kerala has a secret. Not a particularly hidden secret, mind you—it’s actually pretty hard to miss. The village’s claim to fame is the abnormal amount of twins born there. Kodinhi only has around 2,000 families, yet there are 250 sets of twins officially registered there. In fact, there could be many more—experts estimate there could be as many as 350 sets of twins in the area....