10Grand Upright Music vs. Warner Bros. Records 1991 From its inception, rap relied heavily on the art of sampling—incorporating recorded passages from existing compositions to create new ones. While there was some debate within the industry about the use of samples, it wasn’t until 1991 that the issue was brought to court with an unlikely focal point from borderline novelty rapper and Juice Crew C-lister Biz Markie. At issue was Markie’s song “Alone Again,” which was heavily composed around a sample of “Alone Again (Naturally),” a 1972 track by Irish songer/songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan....

10 Isaac van Amburgh Considered to be the most popular and influential lion tamer of his time, Isaac van Amburgh was born in 1811 to American parents of Dutch descent. He began his career as a cage cleaner at the Zoological Institute of New York when he was 19. Isaac soon became prominent and caught the attention of important figures, such as Queen Victoria and the duke of Wellington. The queen became a fan of Isaac’s shows....

10 Jews Who Fought In Hitler’s Nazi Army 10 A Battle on American Soil Everybody knows that Imperial Japan attacked the US base at Pearl Harbour, thus drawing America into the war (and effectively signing their own death warrant). What not many people know is that Japan actually invaded the USA. Yes, Imperial Japan landed on the shores of the good ole’ US of A and engaged in combat. The battle of Attu off the Alaskan coast was a two week-long slugfest which saw the occupying Japanese force destroyed by the American/Canadian relief forces....

Here are 10 examples that just might make you think twice about how you answer that question. The actions of some of these scientists may just cause you to wonder how many times our lives have really been gambled with over the centuries. 10 Giovanni AldiniThe Original ‘Doctor Frankenstein’ Giovanni Aldini (1762–1834) was a professor of physics at Bologna who had a scientific interest in a variety of fields. But the one that stands out most was galvanism....

The first full week of December managed to surprise nobody with the region its biggest news was poring out of. The Middle East was once again in the headlines and once again tilting toward chaos. We’ll cover the latest twist in the region’s saga below, alongside the crazy news flowing out of Washington, Africa, and all over Europe. 10 The US Recognized Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital If anyone wants to write the definitive list of 2017’s controversial news stories, this will be a shoo-in for number one....

SEE ALSO: 10 Common Sayings That Mean The Opposite Of What You Think Common Saying: To get off scot free Many people think that this saying refers to Scottish people being tight with money – hence something being free, but in fact the word “scot” is an old Norse word which means “payment” – specifically a payment made to a landlord or sheriff. So this phrase – while meaning what most people think it means, has no connection to the Scottish people – it just means to get off without having to pay....

SEE ALSO: 10 More Fascinating Real-World Easter Eggs Well, it was so much fun last time that we decided to hunt down ten more—after all, the world has been a weird and mysterious place for as long as we’ve been on it, and it will probably give us fodder for lists like these for as long as we’re here to make them. Here are some more places of the world where the coders decided to stick in a little something special, just for you:...

Use: “Nothing beats the petrichor in the morning as the dew fades.” Petrichor is the name of the smell of rain on dry earth. The word comes from the Greek words “petros” which means rock, and “ichor” which means the fluid that runs through the veins of the gods. The smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is adsorbed (another word you probably didn’t know – definition) by clay-based soils and rocks....

Unfortunately, dreams are sometimes unrealistic. You may be able to create a slick video of your product, but the product itself may be trickier to make. Here are 10 projects that sought crowdfunding but perhaps should have stayed on the drawing board. 10 Triton When the Triton breathing apparatus was launched on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, it attracted nearly $900,000 in support from investors. Where most underwater breathing apparatuses require bulky tanks of gas to keep the diver alive, the Triton was little more than a face mask....

10 How Birds Navigate Birds undertake some of the most mind-boggling journeys in terms of scale and never seem to lose their way while doing so. Exactly how they do it is one of the most perplexing enigmas to scientists and bird-watchers alike, especially the physical processes involved in the phenomenon. However, a team of scientists from Peking University in China seems to have figured it out. The answer lies in the birds’ proteins....

10 Stoneclad Blood is an important part of the traditional Cherokee belief system, symbolizing life. Beliefs about procreation assert that a baby’s flesh and blood are contributed by the mother, while the father’s sperm becomes the basis of the skeleton. Menstrual blood was considered particularly powerful, symbolic of female strength, and could be channeled against an enemy in sorcery, warfare, and ball-game rituals. A Cherokee legend tells of a cannibalistic monster named Nun’yunu’wi, or Stoneclad....

In June 1942, German submarine U-202 carried a small group of would-be saboteurs to a position off the coast of Long Island, New York. The four spies, led by George John Dasch, were expected to perform acts of violence including blowing up bridges, railways, and factories in New York City and the East Coast over a planned two year period. Dasch and his men comprised half of the assignment known as “Operation Pastorius” (see #4 for the other half), Hitler’s pet project which his intelligence advisors told him didn’t have a chance of success....

Winner of the 1972 Newbery Medal, NIMH centers around Mrs. Frisby and her children. Her youngest son, Timothy, has come down with pneumonia and cannot be moved, but the nearby farmer is about to till up the field where she lives. Thus presenting a dilemma. Her recently departed husband belonged to a brotherhood of rats. Only two mice belonged to this order, her dead husband, and Mr. Ages. With help of the latter and a clumsy crow named Jeremy, she seeks help from the rats....

But when you tell a little white lie, you don’t expect it to alter the course of human history. However, that’s exactly what happened in the following ten cases. 10 Magic Tricks Kept Algeria A French Colony In 1856, Algeria was on the verge of rebellion. The local holy men, referred to as marabouts, had convinced the locals that they had magical powers. Obviously, the Algerian public was willing to hear out anything a sorcerer said....

SEE ALSO: 10 Moments In American History, As Seen From The Other Side 10 Maywand District Murders Near the end of 2009, a group of soldiers known as the “Kill Team” began formulating a plan to commit a war crime: they wanted to kill random unarmed civilians. Frustrated with their lack of progress against the Taliban for the previous six months, the soldiers came upon a fifteen-year-old boy walking past on his own....

10Swiss Army Man Independent films have a knack for taking an odd premise and making it both mesmerizing and sympathetic; Swiss Army Man tackles this with poise and hilarity to create one of the best films of the year. Hank is suicidal after being lost at sea, and as he is about to hang himself, he notices a corpse that has washed up on the beach. The corpse becomes his only friend as he fights for survival in an attempt to free himself from the island....

10The Last Public Execution By Guillotine1939 Public executions aren’t some ancient historical footnote. Many countries still regularly decapitated criminals publicly less than a century ago. Above, we can see the guillotine’s blade about to claim the head of Eugen Weidmann. Weidmann was a robber and a murderer before he eventually got caught and sentenced to death. On June 17, 1939, entire crowds turned up to see the gory spectacle. Why would they turn up to witness such a macabre display?...

10The Oldest Intact European Book What is the world’s oldest surviving book? Because the definition of a book has been debated since the very beginning of literature, that’s a hard question to answer and could easily encompass another whole article. However, the oldest intact, European, bound book of the sort we are all used to reading nowadays is the St. Cuthbert Gospel (also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel or the St....

10Gertrude Lythgoe Gertrude Lythgoe is one of the only women to ever operate an alcohol bootlegging ring during the male-dominated Prohibition Era. Records show that the amount of liquor being exported to the United States from the Bahamas grew from 47,300 liters (12,500 gal) in 1917 to 950,000 liters (250,000 gal) in 1923. Bootleggers like Lythgoe were a huge reason why. Lythgoe would enter the bootlegging business when she met a London liquor exporter....

10‘Chonguita The Monkey Wife’ Don’t Judge By Appearances A king commands his three sons to leave his kingdom and seek their fortunes. The youngest, Juan, ends up at a palace, where he meets a monkey whose daughter Chonguita is available for marriage. They marry, and Juan meets back up with his brothers, who each married beautiful human women. When the three brothers return home, the king accepts his youngest son’s situation....