Here are ten stones and rocks that have played a major role in religions. 10 Omphalos of Delphi When the Greek god Zeus wished to ascertain where the center of the world was, so the legend goes, he sent out two eagles. One traveled from the west and one from the east. The point at which they met was judged to be the “navel of the world”—the Omphalos. As luck would have it, the center of the world happened to be in Greece, at Delphi....
However, many people don’t realize that this winged wonder has a lot more to offer us than simple visual appeal. Here are 10 reasons why we should appreciate butterflies for more than just their looks. 10 Pollinating Flowers We all know that bees help to pollinate flowers, but most people do not realize that butterflies also perform this task. They are less suited to the job than bees because butterflies have to balance on thin legs and do not have the bodily structures that bees have evolved specifically to aid them....
According to historians, Henry VIII allegedly executed between 57,000 and 72,000 people. Although these numbers may be an exaggeration, his three children—Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I—also had the blood of many victims on their hands. Some notable women lost their lives due to their politics, their beliefs, and their hearts. 10 Margaret Ward1588 The early life of Margaret Ward was always a mystery because there is little information about her upbringing....
10Anti-Gadhafi Insurgents In 2011, riots and protests in Libya escalated into a full-scale rebellion against Muammar Gadhafi’s rule. The rebels quickly attracted support from the international community, which vowed to lend its support against the deranged dictator and his brutal, oppressive regime. The United States froze Gadhafi’s assets while the French sent military aid. A coalition of nations later conducted bombing raids, one of which reportedly killed Gadhafi’s youngest son and three of his grandchildren....
Today, we will talk about the sadists, the bullies, and the killers with badges and the authority to do whatever they want to you. We will also hear the stories of the people who were treated with cruelty as their voices deserve to be heard. Some of these stories occurred due to malice, while others were simple accidents. But they are all tragic, and each deserves to be remembered....
10Sikorsky X-Wing Famous helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky came the closest to giving the world a real version of the X-wing fighter from Star Wars. In the mid-1970s, Sikorsky began playing with experimental helicopter designs, combining new power plants with leading aerodynamics. The key airframe for these experiments was the S-72 Rotor Systems Research Aircraft. Originally, the S-72 just tested out the possibilities of a mixed airplane/helicopter design, but in the ’80s, the government provided funding for the X-wing modification of the S-72....
Millions of people walked out of the movie theaters in 1999 wondering if the world they were living in was truly the real world. And all of this comes from some deep philosophical questions that brilliant people have been pondering for thousands of years. But what if all of the mind-boggling concepts were nothing new? It turns out The Matrix used a lot of ideas from philosophers, both modern and ancient....
But not every crazy theory can be dismissed so easily. Because of clues in the background, some are eerily plausible. Occasionally, they even wind up improving the movie. 10The Big Lebowski Is Based Around The Tarot Deck Originally released in 1997 to unanimous disappointment, the Coen Brothers’ film-noir pastiche The Big Lebowski is now considered a masterpiece. A large part of its status is due to the multiple ways it can be interpreted....
10Proto-Indo-European English, Russian, Farsi, Bengali, Albanian, and Kurdish, among many others, all have roots in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language, which has been reconstructed by tracing the history of its descendants. It helps that those descendants comprise the most prolific linguistic family in the world. The only problem is that PIE is so ancient that it predates writing, so much of our knowledge about its phonetics and lexicon are based on educated guesses....
Flavor, satisfaction, hops, molasses, and yeast are not the only thing the beautiful beverage is full of, however. It is also chock full of history. While a lot of beer history is fairly well-known, there are still a myriad of fun facts that remain hidden from the casual beer buff. From beer worshipers to healthy diets and George Washington’s legendary liver, here are ten fun facts every beer drinker needs to know....
10Winning The Lottery Will Suck The Joy From Your Life The lottery has such a low chance of winning that it’s often called a tax on stupid people, yet millions of us still play, hoping for that golden ticket. But we’ve got some bad news for you. Getting that golden ticket could ruin your ability to get any pleasure from life. In a famous 1970s study, psychologists interviewed Illinois state lottery winners and non-winners and found that the winners were not significantly happier than the ordinary Joes....
10Taming Sari Translated as “flower shield,” Taming Sari was the fabled weapon of the legendary Melakan warrior Hang Tuah. It was a kris, an asymmetrical dagger with a specific blade pattern. Legend says that it was also the first kris ever created. The best of the sultan’s Laksamana (admirals), Hang Tuah was given the weapon after being recognized by the sultan for his skills. The weapon was said to have supernatural powers....
There’s always more to learn about space, and this year was no exception. We’ve made a few discoveries, solved a few mysteries, and corrected a few mistakes. Now it’s time to take a look back at some of the biggest breakthroughs of 2017. 10 Uncovering A Moon Cave Suitable For A Lunar Base A recent discovery by Japanese scientists has renewed interest in a human colony on the Moon. In October, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that they’d found a cave on the Moon measuring 100 meters (328 feet) wide and over 50 kilometers (31 miles) long....
Casinos keep their guests entertained and comfortable while subtly sending you subliminal messages to stay seated and gamble. The house usually wins thanks to their dirty little tricks. Here are ten menacing ways casinos keep you gambling. 10 Crazy Carpets Ever noticed the psychedelic carpets at a casino? They are usually gaudy and ugly, but they look that way for a reason. Bright colors, trippy designs, and swirling patterns are all strategically used to keep you gambling....
As we marched toward Christmas, the world seemed to be just itching to give us some major news. A terrorist nearly caused untold chaos in New York. An interstellar asteroid may have been a piece of alien technology. North Korea might have hit the brink of collapse. Each of those stories hovered on the cusp of being major news and then ultimately fell short (thankfully, in the case of the attempted NYC attack)....
After two weeks’ absence, Morris M. is back to guide you through the news leading to September’s midpoint. From tropical storms to groundbreaking elections to further escalation on the Korean peninsula, here’s what’s been happening in the world. 10 Mexico Was Hit By The Biggest Earthquake In A Century Last Friday, as most of us were awakening to a normal day of work and reading list-based websites, Southern Mexico was waking up to a nightmare....
10Antidepressants When Aldous Huxley published Brave New World in 1933, he predicted both genetic engineering and an invention developed in only the last few years—antidepressants. In the novel, characters have free access to a drug called “soma.” They self-medicate based on how difficult the day is. It makes people happier, so much that no one notices how unsatisfied they are with their predestined lot in life. Yet the novel portrays the drug negatively, as a tool to placate the masses rather than a solution for illness....
So there was this young girl, right? She bites it, probably from getting jilted by her husband. Well, a husband, not necessarily hers. She’s pretty down in the dumps, now she hates men, and she either gets sick and dies or takes the ghosts’ favorite way out, suicide by hanging. Either way, she is dead, but it wouldn’t be a ghost story if she didn’t remain to haunt (pick one of the following: her old residence, her burial site, a favorite location of her and her lover, or the place where she died)....
This list is partially, but not exclusively, in chronological order, because many of the most important changes in the vice-presidential office have occurred more recently. It also shows the progression of the vice-presidency from a mostly powerless, ceremonial office to its current form today. In 1789, the electoral college met for the first time ever to choose a President of the United States. One of the presidential hopefuls that year was John Adams, the ambitious lawyer and diplomat from Massachusetts....
This isn’t just limited to punk bands; a more recent example involves the controversy surrounding Nicki Minaj and her usage of imagery which bears a similarity to SS symbols. However, this list focuses more on the overt usage of Nazi iconography and memorabilia as well as the artists’ rationale or motivation for doing so. Bands that are openly neo-Nazi or have real ties to neo-Nazis are excluded, like Ace of Base, whose founding member Ulf Ekberg started out his career as a neo-Nazi skinhead....
