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His death is shrouded in mystery, as are the events that appear to have taken place in the hours and days following his demise. Somewhere between the denials and the extreme, outrageous theories lies the truth as to what happened to the 39-year-old father of two. Until that truth surfaces, however, here are ten strange facts and conspiracies within conspiracies that make up one of the most interesting, if grim, accounts of recent times....

They might have been looking through rose-tinted glasses, though. The era had problems. Most of the prosperity and decadence were only experienced by Parisian bourgeoisie, while the working class and the poor had it rough, as always. The period wasn’t free from scandal, either, as evidenced by the Dreyfus Affair. And, as we are about to see, La Belle Epoque saw its fair share of gruesome crimes, as well....

10 Bladed Vengeance In June 2016, a Minnesota man decapitated a friend who was accused of raping his girlfriend. Joseph Thoresen, age 35, was arrested fleeing from a vehicle belonging to 20-year-old David Haiman, whom he murdered. Haiman was reported missing after failing to show for work. Five days later, authorities discovered his torso at 9:30 AM. An hour and a half later, they located his head. Thoresen confessed that he had invited Haiman to his home....

Chemical warfare was an everyday horror of war. Men huddled in the trenches, watching for the creep of gas clouds or the telling smells that meant a toxic chemical was starting to choke their lungs. The calls of “Gas! Gas!” that filled the air made World War I unlike any war that had come before it. It was a threat that there was a fate waiting for you that could be worse than death....

During this time, the people of London lived through one unimaginable horror after another. Families died, dead bodies were often dumped onto the streets until they were picked up by the buriers, and the smell of death was everywhere. It was Hell on Earth, and many people thought it would be the end of all times. 10 Hush-Hush At the start of the plague, when the deaths started to noticeably increase, the outbreak was publicly minimized....

Since then, NASA has conducted just under 200 missions, both manned and unmanned. In 2010, however, the administration took a blow when the shuttle program was retired and the replacement Constellation program, which would have sent astronauts back to the Moon, was cut by the Obama administration. Despite this setback, NASA did not stop exploring the universe, as shown by missions involving the International Space Station and the ever-fascinating Hubble telescope....

Space has also inspired numerous visions of the future. We’ve conjured up scenarios of interplanetary travel, alien communication, and even time travel via wormholes. The items on this list look like they have been taken from an old science fiction book. However, numerous scientists believe these objects could exist somewhere in the vastness of space. Here are the top ten hypothetical astronomical objects that could actually exist. 10 Zombie Star As the name suggests, this type of star is one that, in a way, comes back from the dead....

10 Nigel The Parrot A British man named Darren Chick was living in California with his parrot, Nigel. The bird was learning to talk and even adopted Darren’s British accent when it spoke. In 2010, Nigel managed to fly away, and Darren never found him. Four years later, someone else found Nigel and brought him to a veterinarian. They scanned his microchip and returned him to Darren, but the parrot no longer spoke with a British accent....

The Battle of Bir Hakeim is now considered one of the greatest sieges of the African war. Although the battle took place a continent away, it became a symbol of defiance and courage for the scattered Resistance clinging to the embers of life in occupied France. Despair that had gripped French souls with steel hooks was shaken off, and hope finally emerged from its long slumber. In no small part, it was thanks to a British socialite named Susan Travers....

Discovered in 1996, researchers have concluded that the ruins were originally an island until volcanic activity or a landslide sunk it 1700 years ago. The buildings were drowned before the era of Mayan rule and artifacts discovered have left the impression that the area was abandoned in a hurry. Several ceremonial monuments have been uncovered as well as altars, incense burners, ceramics and other artifacts. Excavations are extremely demanding as the visibility is close to none and everything is covered with a very thick layer of silt....

This list isn’t meant to determine the worth of offender profiling. Instead, we will explore its history by looking at 10 landmark cases. 10 George MeteskyThe Mad Bomber We cannot talk about notorious profiles without mentioning the one that launched the trend—that of the Mad Bomber. George Metesky terrorized New York City for 16 years, planting at least 33 bombs and injuring 15 people. At a loss for leads, the police turned to psychiatrist James Brussel who assembled what he called a “portrait” of the criminal....

Just because that item is banal doesn’t mean that its history is. The people behind even the most mundane things lived lives that were anything but. Here’s hoping these dark and disturbing backstories can bring some excitement to these commonplace things. 10 A Stagecoach Accident Created Movies And A Murder In 1860, Eadweard Muybridge was traveling through Texas on a stagecoach. When it crashed, he and the other passengers were thrown out....

Other people might recall the time when 4chan posters convinced the media that teenagers were huffing poop. The prank even worked enough to result in intervention by a Florida county sheriff’s office, which issued a report about the danger of the drug. But the truth is that pranks have been around much longer than either television or the Internet. As that might seem hard to believe, this list will review 10 legendary pranksters whose most memorable antics occurred before TV became popular in the 1950s....

10 He Was Possibly Sterile The Copper Age citizen’s genes have revealed much, but perhaps one of the most surprising is that Otzi was likely infertile. Without traveling back in time, one cannot say for certain if he had a family or not, but researchers found indicators of infertility in his genes in the mid-2000s. While investigating his intestines, researchers extracted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Passed on exclusively by the mother, mtDNA sequences contain two areas that have been connected to male infertility....

As interesting as these classic cases are, however, there are plenty of other historical British mysteries that deserve a second look—from the strange death of a medieval king to a handful of unsolved Victorian murders. 10 The Assassination Of Robert Pakington Robert Pakington has the unfortunate distinction of possibly being the earliest victim killed by a handgun in London. Pakington was a merchant with political ambitions, becoming a member of Parliament in 1533 and again in 1536....

Not only can the origins of this thoroughly modern outfit be traced back much further than we might expect, the road to its current status was a long and bumpy one. This list details some of the obscure facts about the bikini’s creation and development. 10 They Were Wearing Them In Ancient Times The bikini is commonly considered to have been invented in France shortly after the end of World War II....

10 Groundhog Day Initially Involved Cooking The Animals February 2 is Groundhog Day in the United States. On that day, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow, sees its shadow, and scurries back to its den, then residents claim they can expect six more weeks of winter. If not, then spring will come early. Regardless of the outcome, the festivities have become quite popular, especially thanks to the eponymous 1993 movie starring Bill Murray....

[Watch the Clip] Legendary method actor Marlon Brando was no stranger to controversy, but it still came as quite a shock at the 45th annual Academy Awards show when he boycotted the ceremony and sent American Indian Rights activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, in his stead. When Brando’s name was called as winner of the coveted Best Actor award, Littlefeather took to the stage dressed in traditional Apache clothing, refused the proffered Oscar trophy with a polite wave of her hand, and read a brief statement explaining that Brando would not accept the award in order to protest the manner in which Native Americans were portrayed in the entertainment industry....

This week was marked by a real political nail-biter. Ohio’s 12th Congressional district special election went right down to the wire with only a tiny fraction of votes separating the Republican and Democratic candidates. Soothsayers took to their crystal balls to pour over what this might all mean for the November midterms, while elsewhere, disasters and international tiffs collided to create a remarkably varied news week. 10 Ohio’s Special Election Went Down To The Wire Gosh, that was close....

The big story this week happened in Italy, where a culmination of human errors led to tragedy when a bridge collapsed, killing scores. Awful as this was, the rest of the week was largely less awful—with one glaring exception we’ll come to later. LGBT rights made strides, US politics got interesting again, and an attempted terrorist attack in London happily turned into a gigantic flop. Here’s what the world’s been up to these last seven days....