10The Roman Empire Invented Jesus Although we’ve already discussed the considerable evidence backing up the existence of Jesus, doubts as to whether He lived at all persist. In one of these Christ Myth theories, the controversial biblical academic Joseph Atwill claims that the Roman Empire created Jesus in the first century to quell Jewish insurrections. According to Atwill, the Roman Empire knew that the Jews were waiting for their prophesied messiah to lead them in revolt against their rulers....

When a death is caused by a police officer, the officer responsible is rarely charged with a crime. Even when they are charged, they are unlikely to be convicted, especially of something like second-degree murder. One reason is that a jury of 12 people needs to agree, beyond reasonable doubt, that the officer used excessive force or did something illegal that caused the death. Also, everyone knows that police work can be fast-paced and highly stressful; people tend to give officers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to those life-and-death moments....

10Sydney’s Dog Day Afternoon In 1984, Hakki Bahadir Atahan took a page out of the Al Pacino playbook and started his own little “Dog Day Afternoon” standoff with the cops. Atahan was a Turkish immigrant who’d moved to Australia in 1970, and for a while, life wasn’t so great. He’d tried starting his own bar, but the business soon collapsed. Atahan found himself divorced and driving cabs to pay the bills....

The places on this list are the kinds of places you see people obliviously waltzing into in horror movies, knowing full well that most or all of them will never make it out alive. But these are no movie sets, and if you were to find yourself in one of these places, you’d better hope that a terminal case of the willies isn’t the only thing that could potentially spell your doom....

Little is recorded of how Samhain was celebrated, and so we’ve had to gather what we know from legends and secondhand accounts. The details paint the picture of some dark and unnerving rituals and of something very different from the holiday we celebrate today. 10The Ritualistic Murder Of Kings In the bogs of Ireland, dead bodies have been found, still perfectly preserved. Their skin is covered in a thick layer of black peat that has kept the flesh from decomposing....

10 Notable Fan Theories About Popular Children’s Stories 10 Mufasa was the bad guy “Can you feel the love tonight?” That phrase will probably make you think of The Lion King first and then Elton John. The Lion King is known for catchy tunes and perhaps the saddest death scene in any kids movie, barring the demise of Bambi’s mother. This beloved movie also has a host of fan theories surrounding it, some weird and some fairly dark....

But what if these myths were not so mythical after all? If you were to happen across such a demonic creature on your travels, would you be prepared for its trickery, or would you fall prey to its evil ways? Whether or not you consider yourself a believer, perhaps it’s a good idea to hedge your bets and stay up-to-date with the beasts of the night. 10 Jinn/Jinni Also sometimes referred to as djinn, the jinn are ancient demons from Arabic and Islamic traditions....

But just because they’re murderers doesn’t mean they should have to give up their way of living and go to jail, right? Well, they certainly seem to agree with this sentiment. And so here below is a list of ladies who have killed and the sneaky methods that they used. I’d highly recommend that you don’t cross them . . . 10 Leigh Ann SabineMethod Of Murder: A Stone Frog The woman with the perfect murder....

However, what we can do is observe black holes and then theorize on what they’re capable of. Henceforth comes the inevitable question: What would happen if someone jumped into a black hole? Well, here are 10 of the most eerie theories on what would happen if you entered a black hole. 10 Cloning The black hole information paradox is an enigma that has eluded physicists for centuries now. It has been the trigger for endless debates on what actually happens once you enter a black hole....

10DEA Agents Seize $16,000 From Amtrak Traveler After saving up enough money to pursue a career in the music industry, Joseph Rivers, 22, bought a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles. For DEA agents, that act alone—along with the fact that he was traveling with such a large amount of cash—was enough to suspect that Rivers was involved in drug trafficking or some other “narcotic activity.” Other passengers traveling on the Amtrak train noted that Rivers, a young African-American man, was the only passenger to be singled out by the DEA....

Ten to the eightieth power – a 1 with 80 zeros after it – is quite massive but somewhat tangible at least from a relatively concrete point of view. This is the estimated number of fundamental particles in the known universe, and with fundamental particles we’re not talking about microscopic particles, we’re talking about much smaller things like Quarks and Leptons – subatomic particles. The name for this number in U....

10 Bread During the 1800s, England’s population was growing faster than ever before. In fact, by 1850, London had become the largest city in history. But this sudden, enormous growth led to serious shortages of day-to-day items, and profiteering manufacturers were quick to respond . . . by packing their products with whatever they could find lying around their garage. Plaster of Paris and even chalk were used to stretch out actual ingredients, but the worst was the use of toxic alum....

SEE ALSO: 10 Innocent Words And Their Unbelievably Dirty Origins 10 Treadmills Started As A Punishment For Criminals If you’ve ever been running in a gym and thought, “this is torture,” you’re more right than you know. Treadmills were originally built to make people suffer. The first treadmill was built in 1818 by William Cubit. It was a wooden cylinder equipped with a handrail that worked like a hamster wheel, making the users walk without ever getting anywhere....

10Hiccups Everyone has hiccuped at some point in their life. However, the involuntary action usually comes and goes relatively quickly for the vast majority of people, meaning it is more of a nuisance than anything else. Although for some, it can become something of an issue. Charles Osborne, for example, had the hiccups for 68 years. Scientists have never been able to completely understand why people hiccup, but they have proposed several theories....

Ever drive down the road and notice most of the cars you see are colored in four colors (mostly black, white, silver, or gray)? Part of the reason why is resale value – people who want to resell their car later know they are far more likely to find a buyer if the car is one of these common colors. Though other colors are out there, (mostly brightly colored new small cars and new muscle cars), we have lost some of the variety of colors we used to see on cars....

10 Florence Wolfson For her 14th birthday on August 11, 1929, Florence Wolfson received a red leather diary. She wrote in it daily for the next five years until the little book got pushed aside in favor of other important things. In 2003, her old apartment building started to clean out their storage area. Along with a stash of steamer trunks and dressers filled with flapper dresses and sweaters, the diary was carted off to await the dumpster....

That all sounds pretty nuts, right? Despite the ongoing criticism of Scientology, these following celebrities are all dedicated followers and have spoken out about their true devotion for the church. 10 John Travolta Hollywood star John Travolta has been a follower of the Church of Scientology since 1975 and is one of their most high-profile members. Alongside his wife, Kelly Preston, he credits the church for standing beside them when they lost their son after he suffered a seizure at age 16....

Whittier sums up their remorse at the lost opportunity: For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’ That quotation may also describe the world’s loss when famous artists fail to complete their creations. Of course, the reasons vary. Sometimes, the creators die too soon. Other times, the artists move on to different endeavors. In some instances, we may never know why these works were not completed....

As is often the case, this event came about as much through chance as by any careful planning. If a few different choices had been made by either the Soviet Union or the United States, the history books could have looked very different. 10 Khrushchev Just Wanted A Missile When Nikita Khrushchev became the Russian leader in 1953, he had a problem. The Cold War was at its height, and the Soviet Union felt very vulnerable....

10 The Daily Temple Ritual To keep the universe running smoothly, a small army of holy men tended to the gods’ every whim with daily offerings across Egypt’s many temples. Each temple housed a particular god in the form of an enshrined statue that had gone through an “opening of the mouth” ritual to imbue it with the quintessence of a deity’s spiritual entity. These gods received the rock star treatment from priests of varying rank and allegiance who made daily offerings of food, drink, and gifts....