Before the Age of Enlightenment, Europe was a hotbed of bizarre paranormal belief—demons, ghosts, witches, vampires, and more. Even learned judges and priests took these reports seriously, debating and investigating the uncanny “true” stories that have survived to this day.

10 The Haunted Apple Of Annecy

In 1585 a mysterious apple hovered above a bridge in Annecy, southeastern France. For two hours the fruit floated in the air, emitting a deafening clamor that terrified anyone attempting to cross. Finally a braver traveler armed with a stick struck the apple, sending it plunging into the water beneath the bridge. The cacophony ceased, and the bridge returned to normal. Judge Henri Boguet later declared, “It cannot be doubted that this apple was full of devils and that a witch had been foiled in an attempt to give it to someone.”

Bizarre Paranormal Encounters in Old Europe

The stories that follow illustrate how deeply these eerie phenomena were woven into everyday life across the continent.

9 The Shoemaker Of Breslau

In September 1591 a Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) shoemaker slit his throat and died. Weeks after his burial, townspeople reported his phantom appearing in their homes at night, crushing sleepers with his weight and assaulting them. In April 1592 officials exhumed his corpse, only to find it astonishingly unrotted. The body was displayed for six days before being reburied elsewhere. When attacks resumed, the corpse was unearthed a final time on May 7; its head, limbs, and heart were removed, the remains set ablaze, and the ashes scattered into a river. The terror finally ended.

8 The Gandillion Werewolf Family

In 1598 a brother and sister in eastern France were attacked by a wolf bearing a human face. When peasants pursued the beast, they discovered a girl named Perrenette Gandillion, bloodstained, and killed her on the spot. Rumors already linked her family to the Devil. After her death, her brother Pierre, sister Antoinette, and nephew Georges were accused of werewolf shapeshifting. Pierre claimed he turned into a wolf when wearing wolf skin; Georges blamed an ointment. Judge Henri Boguet, who had condemned over 600 alleged witches, presided and, convinced the Gandillons were werewolves, ordered them burned at the stake.

7 Lady Fanshawe’s Banshee Encounter

In 1642 English memoirist Lady Fanshawe and her husband Sir Richard stayed at a friend’s ancestral castle in Ireland. One night Lady Fanshawe awoke to a piercing scream. Turning toward the window she saw a woman staring at her and shrieking repeatedly before vanishing. In the morning the host explained that a family member had died the night before; the banshee appeared whenever someone in the lineage passed away. The specter was said to be the drowned wife of a distant ancestor, who had been killed for her lowly origins.

6 The Resurrected Boy Of Dalheim

Medieval folklore held that demons could reanimate corpses by filling them with air or other substances. In 1581 Dalheim, Luxembourg, a succubus persuaded a man to murder his own son. Grief‑stricken, the man was offered a bargain: the succubus would revive his child if he pledged love to her. Using her magic, the boy returned to life and lived normally for a year. Then he fell ill, collapsed, and became a corpse once more. It turned out the resurrection was an illusion—the boy’s body was an empty automaton kept alive by the succubus’s limited powers.

5 The Airship Visitors Of Lyon

Early in the ninth century, three men and a woman allegedly descended from “aerial ships” onto the streets of Lyon. An angry mob accused the strangers of being malevolent magicians intent on ruining crops. The visitors claimed they were ordinary citizens abducted by sorcerers and taken to a sky realm called Magonia. Bishop Agobard intervened, dismissing their tale as fantasy. His authority quelled the crowd, and the strangers left unharmed. Modern UFO researchers sometimes cite the episode as pre‑modern alien contact.

4 The Toad Of Flanders

Around 1595 a father and his son were drinking at a tavern near Flanders when they quarreled with a waitress over the price of their drinks. As they left, the waitress warned them they would not reach home that day. When they later reached the riverbank, their boat would not move, even with soldiers’ help. A toad inside the boat was spotted; the soldiers hacked at it with swords and threw it into the river. Instantly the boat slipped free. In gratitude, the father took the soldiers to the tavern for a drink, only to learn that the same waitress had suddenly fallen gravely ill. She died that day, her neck and stomach cut open in the exact spots where the toad had been struck.

3 The Chained Ghost Of Bologna

In the mid‑16th century, Spanish law student Vasquez de Ayola and two friends searched for lodging in Bologna, Italy. They settled in a large, abandoned house rumored to be haunted. One night, while his friends slept, Ayola heard chains rattling outside his room. Investigating, he found a skeletal ghost bound in chains standing by a staircase. The apparition led him to a specific spot in the courtyard garden, then vanished. The next day authorities excavated the location and uncovered a skeleton shackled in chains. The remains were never identified, and the chained ghost was never seen again.

2 The Berkeley Witch Abduction

In the early 12th century, monk William of Malmesbury recorded a dying woman in Berkeley, England, who confessed to her children that she had been a slave of the Devil and a witch. She begged to be interred in a stone coffin wrapped in iron chains so demons could not steal her body. The church agreed to guard the coffin for three nights before burial. On the third night a demon ripped open the church’s front door, approached the coffin, tore it open, and dragged the woman’s body onto a black horse fitted with iron barbs. The horse carried her away into the night.

1 The Vrykolakas Of Mykonos

In 1700 French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort visited Mykonos and learned of a dead peasant who repeatedly rose at night. After being murdered while working the fields, the man became a vrykolakas—an undead creature akin to Eastern European vampires. Initially harmless, the vrykolakas would turn furniture upside down and hug people from behind. Annoyed, islanders dug up the corpse and removed its heart, yet the creature persisted, beating locals, smashing roofs, and stealing alcohol. Some fled, while others attacked the grave with swords during daylight. Eventually authorities moved the body to nearby Saint George’s Island, where it was burned and destroyed.

Further Reading

Mysteries and the paranormal have featured frequently over the years. Here are some more of our best articles on the subject:
Top 10 Bizarre Modern Paranormal Phenomena
10 Disturbing Tales Of Doppelgangers
Top 10 Famous Real Ghosts

And sometimes the paranormal turns out to be not quite as preternatural as first thought:
10 Famous Photos Of The Paranormal That Aren’t
10 Scientific Explanations For Ghost Phenomena
Top 10 Prophecies of Nostradamus Debunked
Top 10 Psychic Debunkings

Tristan Shaw runs a blog called Bizarre and Grotesque, where he writes about unsolved crimes, paranormal phenomena, and other weird and creepy things.

The typical textbook paints ancient history with three big brushes—Egypt, Rome, and Greece—leaving a lot of fascinating cultures in the shadows. It’s time to shine a light on some truly forgotten ancient societies that helped shape trade, art, and empire long before Christ.

10 Aksum

Why these forgotten ancient societies still matter

The kingdom of Aksum (sometimes spelled Axum) has long haunted Western imagination, from the legendary Prester John to the Queen of Sheba’s lost realm, even the supposed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.

In reality, Aksum was a thriving Ethiopian empire that commanded both Nile and Red Sea trade routes. By the start of the Common Era, most of the Ethiopian peoples were united under Aksumite rule, and its wealth propelled an expansion into Arabia. A third‑century A.D. Persian philosopher even listed Aksum among the world’s four greatest kingdoms—alongside Rome, China, and Persia.

Aksum embraced Christianity shortly after the Roman Empire did, flourishing through the early Middle Ages. Had Islam not risen and the Arab conquest seized the Red Sea coastline, Aksum might have kept its trading edge. Ironically, an Aksumite king’s earlier grant of asylum to early followers of Muhammad helped spread the very faith that would later undermine the empire.

9 Kush

Kush, famed in Egyptian texts for its gold‑rich mines, spent nearly five centuries under Egyptian domination (c. 1500‑1000 B.C.). Yet its roots stretch back to at least 8000 B.C., when ceramic shards appear near its capital, Kerma, and by 2400 B.C. the region boasted a sophisticated, stratified urban culture supported by large‑scale agriculture.

When Egypt faltered in the ninth century B.C., Kush reclaimed independence. In a dramatic reversal, Kushite forces marched north and conquered Egypt in 750 B.C., installing a line of Kushite pharaohs who out‑shone their Egyptian predecessors. These rulers revived pyramid construction, spreading it across the Sudan.

An Assyrian invasion eventually drove the Kushites out of Egypt, sending them south to Meroë on the Nile’s southeast bank. There they broke from Egyptian influence, inventing the mysterious Meroitic script—still undeciphered—and forging a distinct cultural identity. The last Kushite king died around A.D. 300, leaving a legacy shrouded in unanswered questions.

8 Yam

The Kingdom of Yam, a trading partner and possible rival of Old Kingdom Egypt, remained as elusive as Atlantis—until recent discoveries placed it in the northern highlands of Chad. Egyptian explorer Harkhuf’s funerary inscriptions describe Yam as a land of “incense, ebony, leopard skins, elephant tusks, and boomerangs.”

For centuries scholars doubted that Egyptians could have crossed the unforgiving Sahara without wheels, but hieroglyphs found over 700 km southwest of the Nile confirm trade between Yam and Egypt, anchoring Yam’s location in Chad’s highlands.

How the ancient Egyptians traversed such a barren desert with only donkeys remains a puzzle, but the new evidence finally clears the fog surrounding Yam’s whereabouts.

7 The Xiongnu Empire

The Xiongnu Empire was a confederation of nomadic peoples that dominated the steppe north of China from the third century B.C. to the first century B.C.—think Genghis Khan’s Mongols, but a millennium earlier and with chariots.

Scholars have debated the Xiongnu’s origins; some once argued they were ancestors of the Huns. Their own records are scarce, yet their impact is clear: Xiongnu raids were so devastating that the Qin emperor began the earliest construction of the Great Wall, and the later Han dynasty expanded it further to repel the threat.

In 166 B.C., more than 100,000 Xiongnu horsemen reached within 160 km of the Chinese capital before being turned back. Internal discord, succession fights, and pressure from rival nomads eventually weakened them enough for China to regain a measure of control. Still, the Xiongnu were the first and longest‑lasting steppe empire.

6 Bactria

When Alexander the Great died, his generals tore each other apart before carving the empire into successor states. One of those splinters, the province of Bactria (now Afghanistan and Tajikistan), grew so powerful that it declared independence in the third century B.C.

Contemporary sources called Greco‑Bactria “a land of a thousand cities,” and abundant coinage shows a line of Greek kings ruling for centuries. Its position at the crossroads of Persia, India, Scythia, and various nomadic groups created a cultural melting pot.

The wealth and location also attracted enemies; by the early second century B.C., northern nomads forced the Greeks south into India. Excavations at Alexandria on the Oxus (Ai Khanoum) uncovered Corinthian columns, a gymnasium, an amphitheater, and a temple blending Greek and Zoroastrian elements—alongside Indian coins, Iranian altars, and Buddhist statues—before the site was damaged during the Soviet‑Afghan War.

5 Yuezhi

The Yuezhi were the Forrest Gump of ancient Eurasia, popping up in the background of countless pivotal events. Originating as a confederation of nomadic tribes north of China, they traded jade, silk, and horses across vast distances, inevitably clashing with the Xiongnu, who eventually drove them westward.

Pressing into Bactria, the Yuezhi defeated the Greco‑Bactrians, pushing those Greeks into India. Their westward march displaced the Saka, who in turn overran parts of the Parthian Empire, scattering Scythian and Saka groups throughout Afghanistan.

By the first and second centuries A.D., Yuezhi forces were battling Scythians, waging wars in Pakistan and even confronting Han China. Settling into a sedentary agricultural economy, the Yuezhi formed the Kushan Empire, which thrived for three centuries before being reclaimed by Persia, Pakistan, and India.

4 The Mitanni Kingdom

The Mitanni kingdom flourished from roughly 1500 B.C. to the 1200s B.C. across what is now Syria and northern Iraq. One famous figure, Egyptian queen Nefertiti, is thought to have been born a Mitannian princess before marrying Pharaoh Amenhotep IV as a diplomatic alliance.

Mitanni elites appear to have been Indo‑Aryan, carrying Hindu concepts such as karma, reincarnation, and cremation into the Near East. Their presence may have influenced Egypt’s brief religious revolution under Amenhotep IV, where Nefertiti is depicted performing feats normally reserved for the pharaoh.

Much of Mitanni’s story remains speculative, but upcoming excavations aim to locate its capital Washukanni and shed new light on this enigmatic kingdom.

3 Tuwana

When the Hittite Empire collapsed, a handful of city‑states rose to fill the power vacuum in Anatolia, and Tuwana was among the most intriguing. During the ninth and eighth centuries B.C., a series of Tuwana kings—known from a sparse set of inscriptions—leveraged the kingdom’s position between Phrygia and Assyria to become a bustling trade hub.

Tuwana’s wealth stemmed from its strategic location, and its culture thrived. The kingdom originally used the hieroglyphic Luwian script before adopting the alphabetic Phoenician alphabet, a shift that may have helped seed the Greek alphabet.By the early 700s B.C., Assyrian expansion swept westward, eventually absorbing Tuwana. Until 2012, scholars knew Tuwana only from a few inscriptions, but the recent discovery of a massive city—presumed to be its capital—has opened a new window onto its wealth and its control of the Cilician Gates, a compressed Silk Road corridor.

2 Mauryan Empire

Chandragupta Maurya was essentially India’s answer to Alexander the Great, and legend even says the two met—though Alexander’s troops were preoccupied with a mutiny. Undeterred, Chandragupta united most of the Indian subcontinent by age 20, halting Macedonian advances after Alexander’s death.

His victories over several Macedonian generals forced the Greeks to seek peace rather than risk further war. Unlike Alexander, Chandragupta left a meticulously organized bureaucracy that helped the empire endure until a coup in 185 B.C. fractured India, leaving it vulnerable to northern Greek incursions.

1 Greeks

The Indo‑Greek kingdom carried Hellenic culture into northwest India for two more centuries after the Greco‑Bactrians fell. Its most celebrated ruler, Menander, is said to have converted to Buddhism after a famed debate with philosopher Nagasena, recorded in “The Questions of King Menander.”

Greek artistic influence shines through Buddhist statues carved in unmistakably Greek style, complete with tunics. Indo‑Greek coinage reveals metallurgical techniques unique to China, suggesting robust trade between the two regions—a link confirmed by Chinese explorer Zhang Qian’s accounts from the late second century B.C.

The kingdom’s demise resulted from pressure by the Yuezhi from the north and expanding Indian powers from the south.

Ever since NASA was born over half a century ago, it has rolled out a parade of missions that have reshaped how we see the cosmos. From tiny satellites that captured the baby picture of the universe to daring lunar landings that made history, these are the most important missions that have pushed the limits of technology and curiosity.

Why These Most Important Missions Matter

10 WMAP Satellite

Did you know humanity has a baby picture of the early universe? The first few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang were a hot, opaque mess—photons couldn’t travel far, and we could only glimpse a few light‑years in any direction. About 380,000 years later, the cosmos cooled enough for the first light to break free, bathing the universe in what we now call the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation.

Scientists longed for a high‑definition map of those hot and cold spots to test their theories, but the data simply didn’t exist—until NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) lifted off. Launched on June 30, 2001, at 3:46 PM EDT aboard a Delta II‑7425‑10, WMAP delivered the first crisp images of the CMB in April 2002 and released high‑resolution maps in February 2003. The results confirmed that the universe was astonishingly uniform in temperature 14 billion years ago, matching predictions and cementing WMAP’s papers among the most cited in space science history.

9 Viking I And II

Before 1976, the United States had never successfully landed a probe on another planet. Parachutes often failed, and the pricey machines sent to the “Red Planet” tended to smash into the surface at thousands of miles per hour. Yet the Viking twins pulled off the impossible: they were launched within a month of each other on Titan IIIE/Centaur rockets, each consisting of an orbiter‑lander pair.

One half stayed in Mars orbit while the other bravely touched down. Back then, scientists thought Mars was too hostile for life, but the Viking missions proved otherwise by sending back the first clear images and experimental data. Their findings confirmed that there was no evidence of little green men or microbial life—still a cornerstone of planetary science.

8 Friendship 7

By early 1962, the United States had barely 30 minutes of space experience, and the race to the Moon was heating up. The nation had never put a man into orbit—a crucial stepping stone for lunar ambitions. That changed with Friendship 7, the third Mercury mission.

Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn, a seasoned test pilot, rode the new Atlas rocket into orbit on February 20, 1962. He orbited Earth for almost five hours before safely splashing down about 1,300 km (800 mi) south of Bermuda. The mission validated the new rocket, proved that a human could function in space, and set the stage for the Moon‑bound Apollo program.

7 Gemini IV

The Mercury missions taught us the basics of orbit; Gemini added the techniques needed for a lunar venture. A key milestone was the first American spacewalk—an essential rehearsal before stepping onto the Moon’s surface.

Edward H. White II, a USAF test pilot, became the first American to float outside a spacecraft. Launching on June 3, 1965, aboard a Titan II, White spent 36 minutes outside the capsule, while his crewmate James McDivitt kept the ship steady. The four‑day mission also evaluated long‑term spaceflight effects. Though the capsule landed about 80 km (50 mi) off target—thanks to a miscalculation that ignored Earth’s rotation—the EVA was a resounding success.

6 1

After Apollo, NASA set its sights on a reusable spacecraft that could take off like a rocket and land like a glider. The answer: the Space Shuttle. Columbia, the first shuttle, lifted off on April 12, 1981, piloted by John Young and Robert L. Crippen.

The massive rocket reached an orbit of 166 nautical miles, and the two‑day, six‑hour mission put the shuttle’s systems through their paces. Columbia glided down to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Back then the shuttle and its external tank were painted white—later the iconic black, white, and orange scheme arrived, with orange coming from the tank’s insulating foam that shaved off roughly 270 kg (600 lb) of weight.

5 The ISS Missions

The International Space Station (ISS) stands as a towering symbol of global cooperation. The Russian modules arrived in the late 1990s, and construction stretched over a decade, with NASA’s shuttles ferrying astronauts and hardware into orbit.

The first crews began arriving in the early 2000s, and NASA contributed crucial research, development, and construction techniques both in space and on Earth. Today the ISS orbits at over 350 km (220 mi) altitude, racing around Earth at more than 8 km s⁻¹ (5 mi s⁻¹). As of this writing, two Americans and one Russian call the station home.

4 Voyager I And II

Launched in late summer 1977 aboard Titan‑Centaur rockets, the twin Voyager probes set out to meet the four giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Over a decade they delivered breathtaking images and data from each world.

Now, Voyager I drifts through interstellar space, while Voyager II lingers in the heliosheath, the outer bubble of the solar wind. At over 20 billion km (12 billion mi) from Earth, Voyager I is the most distant human‑made object ever. Both carry a golden phonograph record—a message from Earth to any curious extraterrestrials that might intercept them. Even after four decades, the probes keep sending data back, though the signal will eventually fade as they wander farther from home.

3 Curiosity

Launched on an Atlas V in late 2011, the Curiosity rover carries some of the most sophisticated—and pricey—scientific instruments ever built for a planetary mission.

In August 2012, Curiosity performed a spectacular landing on Mars. After a parachute slowed its descent, the parachute was jettisoned, and rockets fired to cushion the final touchdown—an innovative “sky crane” maneuver. The rover’s mission builds on Viking’s legacy, seeking evidence of ancient microbial life. While definitive proof remains elusive, Curiosity has uncovered tantalizing hints that Mars once harbored conditions suitable for life.

2 Apollo 8

President Kennedy’s pledge to land a man on the Moon before the decade’s end was ticking down. With just over a year left, NASA surged ahead, and Apollo 8 became the first crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit and head for the Moon.

Launched on December 21, 1968, aboard the mighty Saturn V, the crew entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve. They hosted a live holiday broadcast, showing Earth rising over the Moon to viewers worldwide. After ten lunar orbits, Apollo 8 set a course home, splashing down in the Pacific on December 27.

1 Apollo 11

Arguably humanity’s greatest technological triumph, Apollo 11’s 1969 Moon landing captured the world’s imagination. Launched on July 16, 1969, the crew—Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong—embarked on a flawless journey witnessed by hundreds of millions on live TV.

The spacecraft split into two parts: Columbia, the command module that stayed in lunar orbit, and Eagle, the lunar module that descended to the surface on July 20. Armstrong’s careful navigation landed Eagle about 6.4 km (4 mi) from the planned site, with just seconds of fuel left. He famously announced, “The Eagle has landed.”

Over the next 20 hours, the astronauts collected rocks, performed experiments, chatted with the President, and planted an American flag. The crew returned safely to Earth, paving the way for five more lunar missions.

Behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, many of its biggest names once faced the harsh reality of being homeless. These ten homeless actors fought through sleepless nights, street corners, and odd jobs before stepping onto the red carpet.

How Homeless Actors Turned Struggle into Stardom

10 Christian Olivo

Christian Olivo chose an unconventional route to stardom. He deliberately embraced homelessness, bought a gym membership, and poured his savings into acting classes. Rising at 5:00 a.m., he ran on the beach daily and trekked miles across Los Angeles, trading romance for relentless rehearsal and fitness drills to prep for an action‑hero future.

His grind is finally paying off. Olivo has booked parts in FX’s Versace: American Crime Story and HBO’s Insecure. Academically, he earned a perfect SAT math score, graduated summa cum laude, attended the United States Air Force Academy, and excelled in a variety of sports. He later honed his craft at Arizona State University and with LA acting coaches Anthony Meindl and Matthew Barry. The determined Texan’s period of homelessness now reads as a stepping‑stone rather than a setback.

9 Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt ditched college after a single semester, hopping on a one‑way ticket to Maui with a friend’s money. In Maui he lived in a van, sleeping on the beach when the weather turned sour. He earned enough to cover gas, food, and fishing gear, while also indulging in a bit of marijuana.

While waiting tables at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Pratt crossed paths with actress Rae Dawn Chong, who handed him a role in her directorial project Cursed Part 3. From there his ambition grew: first he wanted to shed the “bad‑guy” image, then chase side‑kick parts, later try comedy, and finally gain the freedom to turn down offers.

Pratt’s breakout roles include Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, Peter Quill in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, and Owen Grady in Jurassic World.

8 Drew Carey

Comedian Drew Carey’s first public speech came in 2010 when he addressed a Friends of Youth assembly, urging support for organizations that helped him after his father’s death when he was eight. At 18, a suicidal Carey hopped a bus from Ohio to California, ending up homeless in Las Vegas. To buy macaroni and cheese, he sold his blood plasma for $40. Now, every time he picks up a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Deluxe, he feels like a “big shot.”

After grinding through comedy clubs nationwide, Carey landed TV spots on Star Search and The Tonight Show, which led to his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, in 1995. He later became the host of The Price Is Right, proving that the early hardships were merely a prelude to lasting success.

7 W.C. Fields

At 11, after his father stepped on a shovel (or possibly a rake) and was injured, young W.C. Fields laughed at the mishap, earning a spanking. The next day he fled home, returning only for brief visits with his mother when his father was away.

For a spell the homeless boy lodged in a hole in a vacant lot, later moving into rooms above a wheelwright’s shop furnished with “discarded chairs and stools.” Friends supplied him with food from their families’ larders. He also pilfered bakery goods and milk, and he cleverly ordered two plates at saloons—one for himself and a phantom plate for his absent father.

Fields launched his entertainment career as a juggler, touring Pennsylvania and continents across Asia, Australia, Europe, and South Africa. His big break arrived with the Ziegfeld Follies, where he performed while showgirls changed costumes. Soon after, he became an “overnight success” in movies, writing his own scripts at Paramount. Notable films include The Bank Dick, My Little Chickadee with Mae West, and a turn as Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield.

6 Charlie Chaplin

In 1899, ten‑year‑old Charlie Chaplin and his brother Sydney were forced to fend for themselves after their father, actor Charles Sr., died and their mother, singer‑comedian Hannah, was institutionalized. Chaplin first cut his teeth as a tap dancer with “The Eight Lancashire Lads,” a London troupe of boys, before landing a role in the stage production Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette.

He then migrated to the United States, joining Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company. After moving to Mutual Film Corporation and starring in a dozen two‑reel comedies, Chaplin founded his own studio and became an independent producer. Partnering with United Artists, he created classics such as The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.

The boy who once owned only the shirt on his back grew into one of Hollywood’s most enduring and successful stars.

5 Jim Carrey

When Jim Carrey was in eighth grade, his father Percy lost his accounting job, plunging the family into financial uncertainty. The Carreys took odd jobs—cleaning a wheel factory in Scarborough, Ontario—while his father worked as a security guard. After the guard job ended, the family became homeless, living in their Volkswagen camper van and parking in different spots by day while seeking work.

Eventually, Carrey’s older sister convinced the family to stash the van in her garage and set up a tent in her yard. At 15, Carrey debuted at Toronto’s Yuk Yuk’s club in a yellow suit his mother made, bombing spectacularly. Undeterred, he kept performing at comedy clubs, dropped out of school, and moved to Los Angeles in 1979.

Rodney Dangerfield spotted him at The Comedy Store and signed him as an opening act. Breakthrough roles followed, starting with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, then The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and Liar Liar. Carrey’s homelessness is now a distant memory, replaced by a legacy of box‑office hits.

4 Daniel Craig

Early in his acting career, Daniel Craig survived on wait‑staff gigs and occasional park‑bench naps. To fund his ambitions, he accepted a role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider before gaining national attention as drug pusher Geordie Peacock in the 1996 BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North. The exposure led to a flood of similar offers, which he rejected in favor of returning to the stage.

Craig later became the face of the iconic British spy, starring as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale and reprising the role in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. Despite his success, he once said in 2015 he’d rather “slash [his] wrists” than do another Bond film, though he hinted he might return for the paycheck.

3 Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone’s 1970s were marked by intermittent homelessness as he chased acting gigs. When money ran low, he even sold his beloved dog to feed himself. Stallone confessed he was “at the very end of my rope.” A chance viewing of Chuck Wepner’s upset of Muhammad Ali in 1975 inspired him to write the screenplay for Rocky in just three days.

Producers offered $350,000 for the script, but Stallone insisted on playing Rocky himself. He had only $100 in the bank, so he negotiated a $35,000 acting fee while waiving his writing fee. The film cost $1.1 million to make, grossed $225 million, and catapulted Stallone to stardom. He went on to star in multiple sequels, embodying the underdog who rose from rags to riches.

2 Halle Berry

In 1987, 21‑year‑old Halle Berry found herself down to her last dollar while living alone in New York City. When she asked her mother, Judith Ann, for assistance—something her mother had never denied before—the request was refused. As a result, Berry spent time in a homeless shelter.

The experience sparked a fierce independence. Berry vowed never to ask anyone for money again, a promise she kept. She later reflected that the episode taught her self‑reliance. Berry’s career blossomed: she became a beauty queen, model, and producer, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for 2001’s Monster’s Ball. From penniless to a celebrated star, Berry’s journey exemplifies resilience.

1 Hilary Swank

After her parents split, Hilary Swank and her mother, Judy Kay, moved to Los Angeles and made a home in a car while Swank pursued acting. They also crashed at a friend’s house, but the friend only allowed nighttime stays because the house was being sold.

Swank and her mother made the best of the cramped situation: they inflated air mattresses, slept on them, and left each morning. Their homelessness didn’t last long; a few months after arriving, Swank landed roles that secured a permanent residence for the family.

Swank’s screen debut came in 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She later appeared in The Next Karate Kid and Boys Don’t Cry, earning Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Actress. Her talent carried her from car‑sleeps to worldwide acclaim.

Welcome to a tour of the most horrifying real dungeons ever carved into stone, where power‑hungry rulers turned basements into chambers of terror for political prisoners, rebels, and even mythic villains.

What Makes These Dungeons Horrifying Real Sites?

Each location below combines brutal architecture with a dark history of torture, exile, and death—proof that the line between justice and cruelty was often razor‑thin.

10 Mamertine Prison

Below the serene 16th‑century Church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters lies the Mamertine Prison, a dank subterranean maze that once held Rome’s most dangerous foes—many of whom were political prisoners rather than common crooks.

Among its infamous inmates were the Gallic warlord Vercingetorix, the Jerusalem defender Simon Bar Jiroas, and, according to tradition, Saint Peter himself, who was said to have been locked up before his upside‑down crucifixion under Nero.

The true nightmare, however, was the Tullianum—the lowest level built directly into the city’s sewer system. Prisoners languished there until they were either strangled or starved, and their bodies were unceremoniously dumped through an iron door into the Cloaca Maxima, Rome’s massive central drain.

9 Dracula’s Dungeon

Deep beneath Tokat Castle in northern Turkey, archaeologists uncovered a tangled network of tunnels that once housed the teenage Vlad III, later known as Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who inspired the legend of Dracula.

At just twelve years old, Vlad was taken hostage by Sultan Murad II during a diplomatic meeting in 1442 and shipped to this remote Anatolian stronghold. The exact conditions of his captivity remain a mystery, but the shadows of that dungeon surely left a mark.

After escaping, Vlad perfected the art of psychological terror, famously impaling some 20,000 opponents outside Târgoviște in 1462. Whether he learned those gruesome tactics from his own father—dubbed “Dracul” for his devotion to the Order of the Dragon—or from Ottoman captors is still debated.

8 Habsburg Horrors

Spilberk Castle in Brno, Czech Republic, once guarded the most dreaded dungeon of the Habsburg Empire. Built in 1277 by King Přemysl Otakar II, its casemates were later repurposed by Emperor Joseph II into the infamous “dungeon of the nations.”

During the 19th century the stone chambers were packed with political detainees, who were chained to the walls and subjected to torment. The prison stayed operational until 1961, when the last prisoners were finally released.

Today adventurous visitors can spend a night in those damp, electricity‑free cells—no smoking, no alcohol, just the echo of centuries‑old suffering.

7 Shakespeare’s Dungeon

Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire boasts a sprawling network of dungeons that legend says were built atop an Anglo‑Saxon burial ground. The pitch‑black pits are still scarred with names scratched into the stone by desperate prisoners.

Among the most famous inmates was King Richard II, whose tragic fate Shakespeare immortalised in his play. The castle changed hands repeatedly during the English Civil War, and when Oliver Cromwell finally seized it, he ordered its destruction.

What remains today are haunting ruins that echo the cries of those who once languished in its subterranean cells.

6 Palace Of The Inquisition

In Cartagena, Colombia, the colonial‑era Palace of the Inquisition was erected as part of Spain’s campaign to root out heresy. Its most chilling feature was the denunciation window, where condemned individuals first faced their accusers.

Beyond that grim opening lay the House of Dungeons, a series of cells where prisoners awaited trial and, ultimately, execution. The palace housed an arsenal of torture implements, not to punish but to extract confessions.

The Inquisition in Cartagena especially targeted alleged witches, a wave of misogyny that some scholars link to climate‑driven crop failures and social unrest. The institution lingered until 1834 in Spain and survived as a Vatican department until the mid‑19th century.

5 Edward The Longshanks’s Hellhole

Perched in Northumberland, England, Chillingham Castle was a strategic stronghold during the Border Wars, where Edward I (Longshanks) launched campaigns against Scottish rebel William Wallace.

The castle’s dungeons were a nightmare of medieval cruelty: boiling pots, eye‑gougers, spike‑filled barrels, and cages teeming with starving rats that gnawed at their victims. Prisoners were often hurled 6 metres (20 ft) into a deep oubliette, where some reportedly survived by feeding on the flesh of the dead.

Today the site is famed for its hauntings—spectres such as John Sage, Edward’s former torturer, and the “blue boy,” a child allegedly walled up and left to die, still roam the corridors.

4 Palazzo Ducale

Venice’s Palazzo Ducale ruled half the Mediterranean, and its dungeons were as lavishly terrifying as the palace itself. One torture chamber suspended victims from the ceiling, dislocating arms and shattering ribs.

Beyond that, seven “piombi” cells held prisoners who endured endless screams from neighboring inmates. The famed libertine Giacomo Casanova was imprisoned there in 1755, a testament to the palace’s reach.

The Doge’s court encouraged citizens to slip accusations into secret letterboxes, and a hidden archive stored everything from military deployments to intimate gossip, underscoring the city’s obsession with surveillance and control.

3 Warwick’s Revenge

Built by William the Conqueror in 1068, Warwick Castle’s dungeons date back to 1345, amid the Black Death. The seven‑chamber complex witnessed torture, bloodshed, and the foul stench of plague‑era fear.

In the 1640s the castle served as a Parliamentary stronghold; Royalist prisoners were held, interrogated, and sometimes executed. By the 18th century England’s penal code was among the harshest in Europe, making even minor offenses punishable by death.

Modern tours showcase fake blood, life‑size victim models, and demonstrations of horrific methods—like tongue‑ripping—that once terrified inmates. Within a month of opening the attraction in 2009, 15 visitors fainted and four vomited from sheer terror.

2 Romantic Dungeon

Switzerland’s Chillon Castle perches on a rocky inlet of Lake Geneva, framed by the Bernese Alps. Despite its postcard scenery, the castle is notorious for its grim dungeon carved directly into the supporting rock.

Constructed in the 13th century on the site of an earlier fortress, the dungeon became famous through Lord Byron’s poem “The Prisoner of Chillon,” which dramatizes the plight of monk François Bonivard, imprisoned there from 1532 to 1536.

Strategically located at a trade chokepoint en route to Italy via the Great St. Bernard Pass, the castle served both as a tax‑collecting outpost and a prison. Today it remains Switzerland’s most visited subterranean attraction.

1 Geoffrey Portway’s Den Of Horrors

Even the 21st century can produce nightmarish dungeons. In 2012 Boston‑area resident Geoffrey Portway was arrested for plotting to kidnap, torture, and cannibalise children. Police discovered a sound‑proof chamber beneath his home, equipped with a metal cage, restraint table, bondage gear, and a child‑sized coffin.

Photographs revealed butcher knives, ropes, gags, castration tools, and a bright red onesie. While there’s no proof he ever used the space beyond grim fantasies, a search of his house uncovered thousands of child‑pornographic images, many depicting deceased victims.

Portway’s accomplice, Florida puppeteer Ronald Brown, received a 20‑year sentence for child‑pornography and conspiracy to kidnap. The case underscores that the darkest dungeons can lurk behind ordinary suburban doors.

When you think of World War II, you picture the battles we all learned about, but behind every action lay a hidden “alternative world” of plans that never saw the light of day. From daring invasions to grand‑scale operations, each of these schemes could have reshaped the globe in dramatic ways.

Exploring the Alternative World of WWII Strategies

10 The Two Japanese Proposals To Invade Australia

In 1942 the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy sat down for a series of heated meetings. Their Pacific conquests were already massive, and the next tempting prize was Australia. The navy pushed a modest strike—just enough to seize northern Australia and deny the British and Americans a forward base. The army, however, dismissed that as a recipe for a costly slog.

Army planners dreamed bigger: a full‑scale invasion that would require ten divisions—an impossible number while most of their troops were tied up in China. Supplying such a force across the vast continent would have been a logistical nightmare. Instead they cooked up Operation FS, an encirclement strategy that would have occupied eastern New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the New Caledonia‑Fiji chain, effectively blockading the continent and forcing surrender. Neither the limited invasion nor the encirclement ever materialised; the U.S. Navy’s decisive Pacific battles kept the southern flank safe.

9 An Allied Invasion One Year Earlier Than D‑Day

Back in 1942 a young Dwight Eisenhower drafted a bold scheme called Operation Round‑up. The idea was to land Allied troops in France as early as 1943, opening a second front and easing Soviet pressure. British strategists, however, warned that German defenses were still too formidable for the forces available, deeming the plan premature.

The Allies opted for Operation Torch instead, targeting the softer sands of North Africa before moving on to Italy. A year later the original concept resurfaced as the famous Operation Overlord—D‑Day—as the balance of forces finally tipped in the Allies’ favour.

8 Hitler’s Plan To Invade Switzerland

After the swift defeat of France in 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered a contingency for invading neutral Switzerland. Codenamed Operation Tannenbaum (German for “pine”), the original blueprint called for 21 German divisions, later trimmed to 11 from the north and 15 Italian divisions from the south.

Hitler’s personal disdain for the Swiss—calling them a “pimple in the face of Europe”—didn’t translate into action; his attention shifted toward the Soviet Union and Britain. Meanwhile, the Swiss were anything but passive. Every citizen was armed, and over 400,000 men had been mobilised. General Henri Guisan’s “defence du réduit” called for a strategic retreat into Alpine fortresses, where a guerrilla war would have cost the Axis dearly.

7 Germany’s Invasion Of Britain

Hitler’s next grand ambition after conquering France was Operation Seelöwe (Sea Lion). The plan called for 160,000 German soldiers crammed onto 2,000 barges to storm the English Channel. Generals warned that the Royal Navy and the RAF would crush such a venture unless air supremacy was first achieved.

The Luftwaffe’s three‑month aerial campaign, known as the Battle of Britain, failed to dominate the skies. With the RAF holding firm, the German invasion was shelved indefinitely, nudging Hitler eastward toward the Soviet Union.

6 Britain And France’s Air Strike On The Soviet Union

Even before the war officially erupted, Britain and France fretted over Soviet oil feeding Nazi Germany. Their answer? Operation Pike—a daring plan to bomb key oil installations in Soviet Azerbaijan, crippling both Soviet and German war machines.

Bombers actually reached the target zone in April 1940, but the mission was aborted. Planners feared that a full‑scale strike might push the USSR into a German alliance. When Germany’s blitz through the Low Countries and France began, the operation was quietly shelved.

5 Japan’s Own Soviet Invasion Plan

Long before Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military drafted a series of “northward advance” (hokushin‑ron) operations aimed at Soviet Siberia. In July 1941, an Imperial Conference settled on a conditional invasion: only if Germany’s own assault on the USSR was progressing well would Japan strike east.

The Japanese Army championed this two‑front nightmare for the Soviets, but a 1939 defeat at Khalkhin Gol and the slowing German advance eroded confidence. Ultimately, the Navy’s “southward advance” (nanshin‑ron) won out, steering Japan toward conflict with the United States instead.

4 Germany Planned To Invade Gibraltar And Force Spain Into The War

Stung by the failure to neutralise the RAF, the Nazis hatched Operation Felix—an audacious scheme to seize Gibraltar, the British stronghold at the Mediterranean’s mouth. Controlling Gibraltar would have choked the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean access and cut Britain’s supply line from the Suez Canal.

Executing Felix required German troops marching through neutral Spain. Hitler even personally appealed to Franco, but the Spanish dictator declined, fearing that German troops on his soil would drag Spain into the war. The plan lingered on the back‑burner even after the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.

3 Japan Intended To Strike The US With Chemical Bombs

In the war’s waning days, Unit 731—Japan’s notorious biological‑ and chemical‑warfare unit—drafted a grim scheme dubbed Operation Cherry Blossoms in the Night. The plan called for kamikaze bombers loaded with plague‑laden bombs to strike the heavily populated San Diego coast.

Because Japan’s navy was a wreck, the operation hinged on a novel submarine‑aircraft carrier: a massive sub that could surface, launch a single plane, and disappear unnoticed. The mission held no strategic value; it was a desperate gamble to scare the United States away from a mainland invasion. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki rendered the plot moot.

2 The US Would Have Invaded Japan

By April 1945 the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff had tasked General Douglas MacArthur with leading Operation Downfall—the colossal invasion of the Japanese home islands. The plan split into two phases: Operation Olympic (the capture of Kyushu) and Operation Coronet (the assault on Honshu). Together they would marshal a staggering 2.5 million troops—more than the entire Normandy invasion.

Allied planners even entertained the use of chemical weapons, anticipating fierce Japanese resistance. Fortunately, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted Japan’s surrender on August 15, sparing the world an estimated 400,000‑800,000 American casualties and millions more on both sides.

1 Churchill’s Plans For World War III

When the guns fell silent in 1945, Europe was split: the West under Allied control, the East under Soviet sway. Winston Churchill, wary of Stalin’s intentions, commissioned a secret contingency known as Operation Unthinkable. The plan envisioned a surprise attack on Soviet forces across Europe, beginning on July 1, 1945, and even called for re‑arming 100,000 German soldiers to fight alongside the Allies.

Churchill also urged the United States to consider deploying the atomic bomb against the USSR if they refused to back down. The idea never left the drawing board—President Harry Truman’s war‑wearied administration balked at another massive conflict, and the operation was quietly abandoned.

Our world is full of life, and the latest batch of crazy newly discovered species proves just how much we still have to learn about the planet’s hidden wonders.

Crazy Newly Discovered Species Overview

10 Game Of Thrones Ants

Ants are everywhere—over 12,000 species, thriving on every continent except Antarctica. Their three‑part bodies (head, thorax, abdomen) and massive colonies, some housing millions, make them a true ecological powerhouse. Queens can live up to 30 years, and ants contribute a huge slice of Earth’s biomass.

Two brand‑new members of the prolific Pheidole genus have just joined the roster: Pheidole viserion and Pheidole drogon. While Pheidole ants are already famous for their oversized heads, these newcomers sport dramatic spikes on their rear ends. Researchers thought the spikes resembled the fearsome dragons from the hit series Game of Thrones, hence the fiery names. Both species were spotted crawling through the lush rainforests of New Guinea, the world’s second‑largest island, a hotspot of biodiversity.

9 Pretty In Pink

Insects outnumber humans by a staggering 200 million to one, so it’s no surprise that they dominate recent discoveries. While trekking through Borneo’s rainforests—an island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and a sliver of Brunei—researchers unexpectedly captured a striking katydid.

The new species, Eulophophyllum kirki, is instantly recognizable by the vivid pink hue of its females. The female, photographed by Peter Kirk (hence the species name), measures about 4 cm (1.6 in) and mimics a leaf, complete with pink “veins” that echo the surrounding foliage’s patterns. Although scientists couldn’t collect a specimen due to permit restrictions, the dazzling photograph alone secured its place in the scientific record.

8 The ‘Sorting Hat’ Spider

When researchers earn naming rights, they sometimes give pop‑culture a nod. That’s exactly what happened with Eriovixia gryffindori, a tiny orb‑weaver spider discovered in Karnataka, southwestern India. Its brownish, curved top looks just like the iconic sorting hat from the Harry Potter movies, a resemblance that even earned a tweet of approval from J.K. Rowling herself.

Measuring a mere 7 mm, this nocturnal arachnid slips unnoticed among dead leaves, using masterful mimicry to evade predators. It belongs to the Eriovixia genus within the Araneidae family, famed for their circular webs.

7 The Casanova Millipede

Millipedes rarely win beauty contests, but Illacme tobini certainly wins the “most surprising” category. Discovered in California’s Sequoia National Park, this creature boasts 414 legs—far above the average millipede’s 62. Its most eyebrow‑raising feature? Four penises that double as extra legs, helping it navigate underground tunnels.

Scientists preserved the specimen in ethanol for DNA analysis, revealing a close relationship to the record‑legged Illacme plenipes. In addition, I. tobini carries 200 poison glands that secrete a novel toxin, and it’s completely blind, relying on fine hairs to sense its environment.

6 The Polka‑Dot Stingray

Freshwater stingrays of the genus Potamotrygon call South America’s rivers home. The newest addition, Potamotrygon rex, was found in Brazil’s Tocantins River, a basin that hosts many endemic fish.

This “king” of stingrays reaches a respectable 1.1 m (3.6 ft) and can weigh up to 20 kg (44 lb). Its dark brown body is splashed with bold circles of yellow and orange, giving it a striking polka‑dot pattern that inspired the species name “rex,” Latin for king. The discovery highlights just how much of the Neotropical realm remains a mystery.

5 The Furry Forager

Heading east from Borneo, we arrive at Sulawesi, an Indonesian island teeming with endemic wildlife. Among its newest residents is Gracilimus radix, a slender‑root rat that earned both a fresh species and a brand‑new genus designation.

Measuring about 30 cm (12 in) and weighing roughly 40 g, this whiskered rodent is an omnivore—unlike many of its carnivorous relatives—signaling a rare dietary reversal. Its discovery underscores how many mammals, especially on isolated islands, remain undocumented.

4 The River Rider

Dolphins are already celebrated for their intelligence, but river dolphins add a fresh twist. Inia araguaiaensis—a newly described river dolphin—was uncovered in Brazil’s Araguaia River Basin, marking the first new river‑dolphin species in a century.

Three of the four known river‑dolphin species are threatened, making this discovery especially urgent. Genetic and physiological analyses show that I. araguaiaensis diverged from its closest relatives about two million years ago, likely due to the river’s series of rapids and canals that isolated its population.

3 Jack Of All Trades: Centipede Edition

Just when you thought you’d escaped the creepy‑crawlers, along comes Scolopendra cataracta. Discovered from a handful of specimens collected in Laos, Thailand, and a long‑misidentified sample from Vietnam, this centipede is the first ever found to be amphibious.

Reaching nearly 20 cm (8 in) and equipped with a venomous bite, it hunts both on land and beneath water at night. Its ability to stretch its legs and glide through aquatic habitats makes it a true jack‑of‑all‑trades—and a reminder to stay clear of any water‑logged jungle trek.

2 Darling Of The Deep

Deep beneath the Pacific’s surface, beyond the reach of sunlight, lives Plenaster craigi, a newly identified sponge discovered at over 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Sponges are among the earliest animal groups, dating back more than 500 million years, and they even possess primitive immune systems.

Two expeditions in 2013 and 2015 retrieved these tiny but ubiquitous sponges from the Clarion‑Clipperton Zone, a metal‑rich stretch between Hawaii and Mexico. Not only does P. craigi represent a new species, it also inaugurates a new genus, highlighting how much remains unknown about deep‑sea ecosystems.

1 Going Batty

Taxonomists sometimes discover new species hiding in museum drawers. That’s exactly how Myotis attenboroughi—a bat named in honor of Sir David Attenborough—came to light. By re‑examining 377 Caribbean bat specimens, scientists identified distinct physiological and genetic traits that warranted a brand‑new species designation.

Found on the island of Tobago in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, this bat’s exact distribution remains under study, but its discovery proves that even well‑trodden locales can still hold surprises.

Ever wondered what weird jobs rock legends held before they blew up? From cleaning fish guts to tuning car horns, these ten musicians proved that a day job can be just as wild as their later hits.

Weird Jobs That Shaped Rock Legends

10 Chris Cornell (Soundgarden And Audioslave) Fish Handler

Chris Cornell, a cornerstone of Seattle’s grunge explosion, once scrubbed fish guts at a local seafood market. The job had him elbow‑deep in fish entrails, a far cry from the soaring vocals that would later echo on “Black Hole Sun.”

Even as a teen, Cornell was penning lyrics, but his adult life was plagued by depression and drug misuse, ultimately ending in his 2017 suicide. The darkness in his songs mirrors those early struggles, yet his legacy lives on alongside Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

9 Johnny Cash Military Codebreaker

Before the “Man in Black” became a country icon, Johnny Cash served in the U.S. Air Force starting in 1950, working in the cryptographic intelligence unit. He spent his nights decoding secret messages—a job that demanded serious math chops.

Codebreaking is all about translating encrypted writings when the key is unknown, a perfect fit for Cash’s disciplined mindset before he turned his voice toward outlaw country.

8 Eddie Vedder Night Security Guard

Eddie Vedder guarded the night shift at the La Valencia Hotel, wielding a flashlight instead of a microphone. Legend says he got the boot for jamming too loudly on his guitar, but the experience only sharpened his resolve.

When Pearl Jam’s debut Ten hit the shelves, it sold ten million copies in the U.S., cementing Vedder’s place among the era’s top vocalists.

7 Ozzy Osbourne Slaughterhouse Worker And Car Factory Horn Tuner

Ozzy Osbourne once wielded a knife at a slaughterhouse, a grim gig that may have inspired his infamous bat‑biting stunt. He also tuned horns on the assembly line of a car factory, perfecting that unmistakable “metal” sound.

Beyond the macabre day jobs, Ozzy headlined the Ozzfest tours starting in 1996 and remains a global rock icon, with millions of albums sold and a reality‑TV legacy via The Osbournes.

6 Mick Jagger Porter At A Mental Hospital

Before the Rolling Stones roared worldwide, Mick Jagger hustled as a porter at a mental hospital, lugging trays and supplies for a paycheck. The experience gave him a front‑row seat to humanity’s quirkiest side.

The Stones, though often labeled rock, rooted themselves in blues—borrowing their name from Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone.” Hits like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Start Me Up” prove their blues‑infused swagger endures.

5 Jonathan Davis Embalmer

Before Korn’s nu‑metal thunder, Jonathan Davis studied mortuary science and spent days embalming bodies at a California funeral home. The morbid training fed the dark aesthetic of tracks like “Freak On A Leash.”

Korn’s debut in 1993 eventually snagged a Grammy for that video, and Davis even mourned the 2002 closure of his alma mater, the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science.

4 Rod Stewart Gravedigger

Rod Stewart once dug graves, a job that literally put him in touch with life’s final chapter before he crooned “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” in 1978. The contrast between shoveling earth and belting rock‑n‑roll ballads is striking.

Even after the grave‑yard shift, Stewart’s unmistakable voice kept climbing charts, proving that a rock star’s charm can survive any past occupation.

3 Alanis Morissette Envelope Stuffer

Before her breakout “Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morissette spent hours stuffing envelopes—a repetitive office gig that left her hands as busy as her lyrical pen. The job was as mundane as it sounds, but it didn’t stop her from selling over 30 million copies.

Her raw, confessional style earned four Grammys, and songs like “Ironic” still echo in karaoke rooms worldwide.

2 Courtney Love Stripper

Courtney Love hit the stage after moonlighting as an exotic dancer in Portland, Japan, Taiwan, and Alaska. The strip‑club circuit paid the bills while she sharpened her stage presence for the band Hole.

Hole, formed in 1989, delivered grunge anthems, and Love’s notoriety was amplified by her marriage to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.

1 Jon Bon Jovi Christmas Decorations Assembler

Before the stadium‑filling anthems, Jon Bon Jovi pieced together Christmas decorations—a seasonal gig that left him tangled in tinsel rather than guitar strings.

He dropped “Runaway” in 1980, earned radio play, played New Jersey clubs, and signed with PolyGram. Bon Jovi’s blend of power ballads and slick riffs has since sold millions, proving that quitting the holiday‑decor job was the smartest move of his career.

People have been swapping monster legends since the dawn of language, and the tales show no sign of fading. Real or imagined, these stories keep us looking over our shoulders.

Monster Legends From Around the Globe

10 The Roof Walkers Of Scandinavia

The Tag Vandren, better known as Roof Walkers, are a fairly recent urban legend that sprang up in Scandinavia. Supposedly they refuse to set foot on the ground, opting instead for daring leaps from one rooftop to another.

Eyewitnesses say they look like handsome people with claw‑like hands and glowing orange eyes that resemble a dog’s. Their skin is either pitch‑black or they dress entirely in black, adding to their eerie silhouette.

The most detailed story recounts a man who, late one night, glanced out his apartment window and spotted a figure strolling along the opposite roof. The silhouette then vaulted, crashing onto the man’s window frame. The creature stared directly at him with those orange orbs, and the terrified observer bolted from the room without a second thought.

9 The Little Red Man

French folklore tells of a butcher named Jean who worked near the Tuileries during Catherine de Médicis’s reign (1547‑1559). Jean supposedly knew too many royal secrets and was executed after threatening to reveal them. At his execution he swore he would rise from the dead.

Jean’s ghost—hunchbacked, drenched in blood—reappeared to haunt Catherine for the rest of her life. The “Little Red Man” continued to haunt the Tuileries, usually appearing on the eve of a great disaster.

Napoleon himself is said to have encountered the specter twice. During the second encounter he begged the spirit to change the ominous portent it brought. The Little Red Man refused and vanished on a stairwell when no one was looking.

8 Hachishakusama

The internet‑born legend of Hachishakusama (“Eight‑Feet‑Tall”) first surfaced in Japan in 2008 and quickly migrated into comics and games. The tale tells of a young visitor to his grandparents’ village who encountered a woman of abnormal height who laughed in a haunting way.

According to the story, any child who caught Hachishakusama’s interest died within days. With the aid of a powerful exorcist, a shield of kinsmen, and three fast cars, the grandparents managed to whisk the grandson out of the area, but he never returned—not even for his grandfather’s funeral.

7 El Sacoman

In Spain, 1910, a seven‑year‑old boy was kidnapped to cure Francisco Ortega’s tuberculosis. A local healer claimed the disease could be cured by drinking the child’s blood and smearing a hot poultice made from the child’s fat across the patient’s chest. The boy was drugged, placed in a sack, killed, and used as prescribed. Both Ortega and the healer were subsequently executed.

That grim episode morphed into the legend of a man carrying a black bag who prowls the night‑time streets of Mexico and Latin America, hunting misbehaving children. Known by many names, the most recognizable to outsiders is El Sacoman—the Sackman.

6 London Oddity

In 1958, two trains collided minutes after leaving London’s Becontree Station, killing ten people. A second incident in 1992 has led some to suspect a lingering connection.

One night a station supervisor heard a door in his office rattle three times for no apparent reason. Walking toward the staircase, he felt a presence behind him. Turning, he saw a woman in a white dress with long blonde hair… and no face. The figure faded quickly. A coworker later confirmed he had also seen the faceless woman but never mentioned it before.

5 Am Fear Liath Mor

In 1925, a respected Scottish scientist and mountaineer reported fleeing an unknown entity that pursued him across the mist‑shrouded summit of Ben Macdhui. Other climbers, initially hesitant to speak out, later recounted similar experiences.

The phenomenon became known as Am Fear Liath Mor, or the Big Grey Man. Witnesses described a bipedal creature with short, grey fur that only appears when the summit is wrapped in heavy mist.

One climber, writing in 1939, recalled a midsummer ascent when he sensed something large following him a few yards behind in the mist. When the fog cleared, there was nothing living in sight, yet the feeling lingered.

4 Canberra Ghosts

On August 13, 1940, ten people—including four senior Australian officials—were killed when their plane stalled on approach and crashed into a hill. The Canberra Air Disaster site bears a memorial, yet some claim the tragedy still echoes.

Reporters have described strange flashing lights and the sound of a plane crashing. Couples driving to the memorial at night say they’ve seen ghostly figures dart across the road. Most dramatically, a teenage girl allegedly fled the woods screaming that a burning airman was pursuing her.

The story stems from a single article and lacks corroborating details, but that hasn’t stopped the legend from being retold.

3 Clawed Beast

On August 21, 1955, in Godtown, Indiana, Mrs. Darwin Johnson and her friend Mrs. Chris Lamble were swimming in the Ohio River. While Johnson was only 4.5 m from shore, a massive clawed hand seized her knee and began dragging her underwater.

She managed to kick free, only to be grabbed again from behind. After a desperate struggle, Johnson reached the surface, rescued Lamble’s inner tube, and made it to shore. Her leg bore multiple contusions and a large green palm‑print‑shaped stain that took days to wash off.

A few days later, an alleged Air Force colonel visited the Johnsons, interrogated them about the incident, and warned them never to discuss it.

2 Climber

In October 2013, a bizarre video surfaced on YouTube showing a tall, spindly creature scaling the side of an apartment building somewhere outside Moscow in broad daylight. After reaching the roof, the creature vanished behind the structure.

The clip quickly amassed millions of views and was presented on various sites as a Russian “mutant” man. In reality, the video was a prank created by Dmitry Kataev, who, unable to sleep, cobbled together the creepy footage, posted it, and went back to bed. Yet the footage still circulates as a “real” paranormal oddity.

1 The Beast Of Barmston Drain

In Hull, England, May 2015, residents began reporting a large, hairy creature near the waterway known as Barmston Drain. When the beast stood upright, it measured roughly 2.4 m (8 ft) tall. One woman saw it leap clean across the waterway and disappear on the other side. A couple witnessed a similar beast devouring what appeared to be a German Shepherd; when the animal noticed them, the creature rose on its hind legs, the dead dog hanging from its jaws, and jumped over an 8‑ft fence before vanishing.

On August 29, 2016, a woman and two friends claimed a close encounter. While driving down a country lane, they thought they saw a fox near the road. The “fox” stood up, walked toward the car, and revealed a creature covered in cream‑ and gray‑colored fur, larger than the vehicle, with a human face. The women sped away.

Anthropologist Garth Haslam, who holds a degree in folklore and religious studies, has been researching such anomalies for over three decades. He shares his findings on his website Anomalies—The Strange & Unexplained.

When death looms, people react in wildly different ways. Some freeze, some panic, but history is full of those who chose to stare death straight in the eye. Here are 10 awesome ways brave souls turned their final moments into legendary feats.

Awesome Ways Heroes Defied Death

10 Michel Ney

Michel Ney was one of France’s top marshals during the Napoleonic Wars, earning Napoleon’s nickname “Le Brave des Braves” – the bravest of the brave. After Napoleon escaped from Elba, Ney was tasked with arresting the former emperor, but instead he threw in his lot with the ex‑emperor and fought at Waterloo. Captured after the defeat, Ney faced a firing squad. He didn’t flinch; he even asked for a last request so outrageous that it had to be granted – he wanted to command his own firing squad. The final image of Ney was him ordering his former comrades to fire the very bullets that would end his life.

9 Edward “Teddy” Sheean

During World War II, Australian sailor Edward “Teddy” Sheean was aboard the HMAS Armidale when Japanese Zeroes swooped in. After a torpedo ripped the ship open, Teddy helped his shipmates scramble for life rafts. A shrapnel wound knocked him down, but instead of climbing aboard a raft, he dragged his injured body to an anti‑aircraft gun and kept firing at the planes. Witnesses say tracer rounds flashed from beneath the water as he fought on, likely pulling the trigger even as the sea pulled him under.

8 Saito Musashibo Benkei

Saito Musashibo Benkei, the towering warrior monk of Japan, is remembered for a single, jaw‑dropping last stand. Loyal to his friend Yoshitsune, Benkei vowed to protect him with his life. When Yoshitsune asked Benkei to buy him time to perform seppuku, the monk took on an entire army alone. Wielding a naginata, he sliced through wave after wave of attackers, his two‑meter frame turning the battlefield into a killing zone. Eventually the enemy resorted to a rain of arrows. Benkei stood perfectly still as arrows rained down, his statue‑like poise fooling the attackers into thinking he was still alive until a rider finally knocked his corpse over, revealing that he had died from the arrow wounds.

7 Wladyslaw Raginis

In the 1939 German invasion of Poland, young officer Wladyslaw Raginis found himself with 700 men facing an estimated 42,000 German troops. To boost morale, he swore he would never leave his post alive. After three days of ferocious fighting, the Germans offered him a grim choice: surrender or be pulverised by artillery. Determined to keep his promise, Raginis ordered his men to evacuate, then hurled himself onto a grenade, sealing the bunker entrance and sealing his own fate.

6 Constantine XI Palaiologos

Constantine XI Palaiologos was the last Byzantine emperor, and he chose to go out not as a monarch but as a common soldier. As Constantinople fell, his forces were hopelessly outnumbered. To avoid giving the Ottoman conquerors a royal trophy, Constantine stripped off his imperial robes and led a final charge among his troops. While accounts differ on the exact details of his death, the consensus is that he fell on the battlefield, buried beside the men he fought with.

5 Gurmukh Singh

In 1897, Gurmukh Singh served with the Sikh regiment of the British Indian Army. Along with 20 comrades, he defended the remote Saragarhi post against a massive Afghan force. Outnumbered 500 to one, Singh kept firing his rifle while using a helioscope—a mirror‑like device—to signal nearby forts for reinforcements. After his fellow Sikhs fell, the Afghans grew weary of his relentless shooting and finally burned the tower he occupied. Legends claim Singh felled at least 20 enemies while shouting the Sikh battle cry “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.”

4 Jan van Speyk

Jan van Speyk was a Dutch navy lieutenant during Belgium’s fight for independence. When his ship drifted into Belgian waters, the Belgians demanded he lower the Dutch flag and surrender. Speyk, a staunch opponent of Belgian independence, refused. He looked his attackers in the eye, declared he’d rather blow up, and detonated a barrel of gunpowder—some accounts even say he lit a cigar and blew up the vessel. The explosion killed everyone on board, cementing his reputation as a man who would never relinquish his ship.

3 Giles Corey

Giles Corey, an 80‑year‑old farmer in Salem during the witch trials, found himself accused of witchcraft after his wife was charged. When asked to plead, he refused, knowing that a plea would forfeit his property to the town. The magistrates resorted to “pressing”: a heavy board was placed on his chest and stones piled on top. Each time they demanded a plea, Corey simply shouted “More weight!” He endured days of crushing stones before finally succumbing to his injuries, his stubborn defiance turning him into a legend of resistance.

2 Marie Antoinette

When the French queen Marie Antoinette met the guillotine, she chose to go out with a touch of aristocratic grace. Her final words were not a rage‑filled curse but a simple apology to the executioner for stepping on his toe. Even in death, she maintained the poise expected of royalty, offering a brief, courteous note as the blade fell.

1 Benjamin Guggenheim

Benjamin Guggenheim was a first‑class passenger on the Titanic. As the ship sank, he and his valet Victor Giglio first helped women and children into lifeboats. When the crew realized the two men were missing, they reappeared on deck in their finest evening wear, having discarded their life preservers. Guggenheim explained he wanted to go down “like a gentleman,” and he even requested a message be sent to his wife. He spent his final moments sipping brandy, impeccably dressed, as the great liner slipped beneath the waves.