When it comes to food, there are generally two types of people. Some like to stick with what they know, ordering the same food from the same places every time, while others like to seek adventure and try new things.

Part of that adventure is the fact that you can end up with some strange, sometimes just downright scary, dishes. Below are examples of live animals you could find in front of you if you let yourself venture into the dining extremes.

10 San Zhi Er

While you might be inclined to run and call the health inspector if you were to spot mice in a restaurant, not everyone feels the same way. For some, those mice are exactly the reason they went there in the first place.

Although it’s not a particularly common dish, some residents of the Guangdong province in China like to indulge in a relatively unknown specialty: newborn mice.^[1]San zhi er, which translates as “three squeaks,” is a meal where baby mice are served live with a dipping sauce. The name derives from the three squeaks the mice will make during the meal: the first when they are picked up, the second when they are dipped, and the third when the diner bites down.

9 Fish Bucket Soup

If mice aren’t your cup of tea, don’t worry. There are other animals you can dip in sauce and eat alive. Another option that is easier to make and more suitable for social occasions is to grab a bucket of live fish and a bowl of soup.^[2]

This technique made a bit of a stir last year, when a video surfaced showing several people sitting around a bowl of soup. Using chopsticks, they lean over to pluck a live fish out of the bucket, before tossing it in the soup, where it splashes around before being eaten. The video is believed to have been shot in Southern China, based on the Cantonese that can be heard in the background.

8 Monkey

You may not think of monkeys as a source of food, but for many people around the world, eating monkey is akin to eating chicken. Most of these people can be found in isolated forest communities, such as those in the Amazon rain forest, where monkeys are just as common as any other animal. But even if a community sees no problem with eating monkeys, you’d think the vast majority of people would have a problem with eating them alive. But not all.

Macaques are extremely common in Cambodia, with the lowest possible conservation status ranking (least concern). This may explain why people have no problem eating them, but it does little to explain why they feel the need to eat the brains out of the still-living animal’s skull.^[3]

Macaque brain is a delicacy in Cambodia, and the fresher the meat, the better. For this reason, macaques can be drugged or tied up, before having the tops of their heads cut off. They are then placed beneath a table with a specially carved hole for the monkey’s head, which acts as a bowl for the brains. As well as guaranteeing freshness, this is done out of a belief that the fear will make the animal’s meat taste better.

7 Shrimp

We’ve spoken before about the different types of live shrimp you can order in Japan or China, but if you’re living stateside and looking for something a little closer to home, just head on down to Slow Fish in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles.^[4] Here, you can pick yourself up a portion of dancing shrimp, so called because of the way their legs, antennae, and body convulse when they are served.

The dish is prepared by chopping off the shrimps’ heads, removing the shells, and bringing them immediately to the diner. With both the bodies and the heads still moving, the main part of the shrimp is eaten straight away. The heads are then brought back to the kitchen, where they are deep-fried before being served again, this time motionless.

6 Lobster Sashimi

Despite all the evidence we have seen for the wide variety of unnecessarily cruel dishes around the world, lobster remains one of the most famously controversial dishes in Western society. The idea of picking them out and then placing them in water to be brought to boil just doesn’t sit well with some people. However you may feel about that practice, it has certainly overshadowed the controversy in how many other foods are prepared, including another lobster dish.

Sashimi is a Japanese dish where meat or fish, as fresh as humanly possible, is thinly sliced and served raw. And if you live in the Houston area, you can experience a lobster sashimi so fresh, it’s still moving.^[5] The dish is made by cutting the lobster in half, scooping out the flesh in the back, slicing it, and putting it back in. With the back half of the lobster made into a little display, the dish is served on a bed of cold rocks, with the front half of the lobster struggling around for effect. One critic described the dish as “awe-inspiring” and “utterly delicious.”

5 Cockroaches

There have been many suggestions in recent years that thanks to skyrocketing global population figures, we may have to turn to eating insects to meet our demand for food. Certain insects are already a common snack in some countries, with celebrities like Salma Hayek admitting they adore the little creepy candies.

But while cooked bugs may be a good source of protein for some people, live cockroaches were intended to be a good source of pythons for others.^[6] In 2012, over 30 people competed in a cockroach eating contest in Florida, where the winner would be rewarded with a new pet python. Unfortunately, the competition did not go well, and a 32-year-old participant choked to death as he reportedly ate dozens of the creatures.

4 Bats

The Mariana flying fox is a species of fruit bat found on the Mariana Islands. Although they once numbered about 60,000, their population has dwindled to several hundred after decades of being hunted by humans. With thousands of them all over the islands, the bats soon became a reliable source of food for both humans and farm animals.

Usually reserved for special occasions, ka’ka’du fanihidu fanihi is a dish where the bat is caught and washed before being placed in a pot of boiling water.^[7] It is then served whole in a bowl of coconut milk and eaten more or less in its entirety (save for bones and teeth).

But unlike most of the entries on this list, this dish is one that may actually be lethal. After World War II, scientists noticed that a large number of the residents of Guam were dying of a mystery illness. We now know that between a quarter and a third of were dying of ALS, which they were developing as a result of their batty diet. The bats feed mainly on cycad seeds, which results in high levels of dangerous toxins that can lead to ALS when consumed by humans in the long term. Fortunately and unfortunately, the bat population in Guam has dwindled so much that this is now, for the first time, a dying dish.

3 Eels

Raymond Blanc is a French chef who runs some of the most well-respected restaurants in Britain. As you might expect from a chef of his stature, Blanc has traveled the world and tried all sorts of rare and unusual dishes. Of these, he says the strangest meal he has ever eaten is a bowl of live eels.

Blanc says that while dining in Japan, a large glass bowl filled with thousands of tiny eels was brought to the table.^[8] The bowl was placed in the middle of the table, and the eels would jump out, hopefully landing in your bowl. At less than an inch long, the eels are intended to be swallowed whole so you can experience them wriggling down your throat. Despite trying the dish himself, Blanc said it was an example of how “perverse” Japanese cuisine can get.

2 Cobra

Whether you eat lobster or not, we’re all familiar with the tradition of customers choosing which lobster they want out of the tank. In Vietnam, diners can have a similar experience by choosing which cobra they want out of a cage of angry snakes.

When you have picked out your snake, the chef will grab it with a stick and throw it on the floor. They’ll usually antagonize the snakes as well, either by shaking the cage before you make your choice or poking your snake afterward. This is possibly done to make sure the snake’s heart beats faster to magnify your experience.

The snake will be sliced down the middle and held above a half-full glass of rice wine, allowing all the blood to drain into the wine.^[9] The still-beating heart of the snake is then removed and put into the same drink, while the appetizing juices of the gallbladder are drained into a second glass of rice wine. The idea is that you down the first glass, beating heart and all, and follow it up with the second glass to cleanse your palate as the snake meat is taken away and made into slightly more normal dishes, such as spring rolls or soup.

1 Witchetty Grubs

It may seem unfair to include insects in a list made up primarily of more complex life-forms, but the size and ubiquity of these grubs warrants them a place. Encompassing the larvae of several different types of moths, witchetty grubs are native to Australia and have been a staple of the aboriginal diet for centuries. The grubs are high in protein and contain lots of other nutrients and vitamins, making them one of the best sources of food in the Outback.

Witchetty grubs can grow up to 12 centimeters (4.7 in) and are usually eaten live, in which case they have an almond taste and a gooey center.^[10] However, they can also be lightly toasted either on a barbecue or in a mix of hot ash and sand, which is said to give them a chicken and fried egg taste.

You can follow Simon as he tweets living creatures.

History is full of faked deaths and re-appearances of people long thought dead, but there are also a small number of people who did most likely die, but become the center of theories that claim they live. This list looks at ten of the most well know deaths that have fueled the fires in the minds of conspiracy theorists.

Tupac, was a rapper who was killed in a drive-by shooting. The murder remains unsolved, inspiring many theories over who was responsible. In addition, many fans insisted that Tupac was still alive. The rumors were partly fueled by Tupac’s release of eight albums in the decade after his death. In a strange coincidence, the first of those albums included the song “Blasphemy” on which Tupac raps “Brother’s getting shot and coming back resurrected.”

The offbeat comedian, best known for playing Latka on the TV series Taxi, died from lung cancer at age 35. Partly because he had kept his illness a secret almost until the day he died, many fans thought the death announcement had been staged as an elaborate prank. Kaufman’s frequent collaborator, fellow comedian Bob Zmuda, admitted that he and Kaufman had discussed faking his death and he seemed “obsessed with the idea.” However, in a 1999 interview Zmuda declared, “Andy Kaufman is dead. He’s not in some truck stop with Elvis.” Just in case, Kaufman’s friends held a “Welcome Home Andy” party on the 20th anniversary of his death. The guest of honor failed to appear.

There have been thousands of sightings of the King since his death. At the funeral, Elvis’ father Vernon allegedly acknowledged that the corpse in the coffin did not look like his son. He said that Elvis was “upstairs,” adding, “We had to show the people something.” Presley was also said to have been fascinated with The Passover Plot by Hugh Schoenfield, who speculated that Jesus’ resurrection was faked with a drug that temporarily made him appear dead. Presley, no stranger to prescription drugs, may have had the knowledge to pull off a similar scheme.

In March of 1971, Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, moved to Paris to write poetry. On Friday, July 2, Morrison left his apartment, telling his girlfriend, Pamela Courson, that he was going to see a movie. On Monday, Courson called Elektra Records representative Bill Siddons and told him to come to Paris. When he arrived, Siddons found Courson, a sealed coffin and a death certificate saying that Morrison had died from a heart attack. Exactly what had happened that weekend remained a mystery. Despite the claim on the death certificate, rumors suggested that an overdose of drugs or alcohol had killed Morrison. Unconfirmed reports that the singer had been spotted boarding a plane that weekend fueled speculation that he was still alive. Even Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek said in a 1973 interview, “I don’t know to this day how the man died and in fact I don’t even know if he’s dead. Nobody ever saw Jim Morrison’s body … it was a sealed coffin. So who knows, who knows how Jim died.”

Hitler and his bride of one day, Eva Braun, committed suicide in the bunker under the Reich Chancellery on April 30, 1945. The next day, German radio announced that the fuehrer had died leading his troops in battle. The Soviet news service Tass picked up the report but added that “by spreading the news of Hitler’s death, the German Fascists apparently wish to give Hitler the means of leaving the stage and going underground.” During the Potsdam Conference in July, Joseph Stalin insisted that Hitler had escaped to either Spain or Argentina. In fact, by this time the Russians possessed the remains of Hitler and Braun, having recovered them from the bomb crater they had been buried in. When Soviet autopsy reports on the pair were released in 1968, they showed that the bodies had been positively identified as Hitler and Braun from dental records. Despite this evidence, alleged sightings of Hitler continued.

The youngest daughter of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, was shot with the rest of the royal family by a Communist firing squad. Over the years, several women declared themselves to be Anastasia. The most famous was Anna Anderson, who began making her claims after being rescued from a Berlin canal in 1920. She later lost a lawsuit in which she sought to be recognized as a Romanov heir, married Jack Manahan and settled in Virginia, where she died in 1984. A decade after her death, DNA testing established that Anna Anderson Manahan was not related to the Romanovs but instead came from a Polish family, the Schanzowskis, as her detractors had long claimed.

In 1948, a 100-year-old Oklahoma man named J. Frank Dalton announced that he was Jesse James, who officially had been killed by Robert Ford 66 years earlier. Dalton convinced writer Robert Ruark and Rudy Turilli, an acknowledged expert on James, of his claims. The man allegedly killed in James’ stead was another outlaw, Charlie Bigelow. Reportedly, when James’ mother was first shown the body of the man Ford had shot, she blurted out, ‘No, gentlemen, that is not my son.’ However, in 1995, the body buried in Jesse James’ grave was exhumed for DNA testing. The results confirmed that it was the famed outlaw.

Towards the end of his reign, the Russian tsar expressed to his family and close friends a desire to give up his throne. During an inspection tour of the Crimea in the winter of 1825, Alexander died suddenly of either malaria or pneumonia. He was buried in a closed casket. The hazy circumstances of his death fed rumors that Alexander had faked his death and secretly abdicated. Feodor Kuzmich, a wandering holy man who died in Siberia in 1864, was rumored to have been the former emperor. Further enhancing the mystery around the Tsar, in 1925 the Soviets opened Alexander’s tomb and did not find a body.

The dauphin, heir to the throne of France, died in prison of tuberculosis during the French Revolution. Even before the death was announced, rumors circulated that royalist sympathizers had freed him and replaced him with a double. Madame Simon, the wife of the jailer, asserted that Louis had been smuggled out of prison in a basket of dirty laundry and replaced by a child with rickets. Eventually, over a hundred royal pretenders claimed his identity, a situation Mark Twain satirized in the duke and “dolphin” sections of Huckleberry Finn.

Obviously this is a complicated item as many people (over 1 billion in fact) believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But we are not talking about the resurrection aspect of Christ – we are talking about what happened later. According to Christianity, Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection – and was henceforth gone from the world. But some people believe that he continued to live for a longer period of time and, believe it or not, went to America and taught the people there a new gospel. It is, of course, the Mormons who believe this. There are even some people who believe that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and lived a long life bearing many children.

Human history has been quite violent. From devastating pandemics to consistent war, our ancestors saw more action in a single week than most of us will see in our lifetimes.

SEE ALSO: 10 History Myths Still Taught As Fact

Even if we have the numbers, it’s still difficult to imagine exactly how violent some of our history has been. Our most tumultuous times are now only remembered as statistics, even if they were a living nightmare for anyone unlucky enough to be there. If you were a civilian just minding your own business, these are the worst times in history you could find yourselves in.

10 16th And 17th Century: Catholic Persecution In Britain

Britain has been trying to rebrand its historical image with tea and monocles, though it’s hard to do given how violent its history has been. We’re not even talking about the colonies here. A civilian in old Britain may die in a variety of ways depending on the time period. The worst, however, would probably have to be during the Catholic rebellion and their eventual persecution.

It was generally a time of upheaval in Europe, largely over the question of which kind of Christianity is the best one. The situation was especially bad in England, as the ruling Protestants really did not like the Catholic population.

If you were suspected of being a Catholic or harboring one, there were a number of creatively horrifying ways you could die. One woman was slowly and publicly crushed to death simply for refusing to talk when she was questioned for supporting the Catholics. You could be drawn and quartered, hung, or just lynched by a mob. The mob thing was rare, as the central authorities made sure to intervene and kill you themselves before the situation got so out of hands.^[1]

9 1992 – 1996: The Siege Of Sarajevo

Sieges are an overall bad time to be in, and we highly recommend not being in one if it could be helped. Some of the most prolonged sieges in history – like the Siege of Leningrad – have been huge humanitarian disasters, too, as sieges primarily affect the citizens.

One particularly horrifying siege that isn’t mentioned that often is the Siege of Sarajevo by the Serbs, which is also the longest siege of a capital city in modern history. It went on for almost four years, and close to 14 thousand people ended up dying.

If the incessant shelling on primarily civilian areas (like the market) didn’t get you, you could die in many other ways. People were dying just from the harsh cold – as there were no fuel supplies in many parts of the city. Quite a few of them had to move into shared spaces with other families without any amenities, turning an otherwise functioning city into a giant refugee camp. Many people were killed by the snipers, who deliberately targeted kids.^[2]

8 1918 – 1919: The Spanish Flu

There were so many things going on around 1918 that it’s difficult to say which one was the most horrifying. From widespread rebellions around the world to the First World War to revolutions across Asia and Europe, it was a pretty bad time to be alive in general.

What’s not mentioned in the same tone, however, is the Spanish Flu, even if it was by far the most devastating event among everything happening around the time – at least in terms of death count. At its peak, it infected around one-third of the entire human population, and total casualties are somewhere in the ballpark of 20 million to 50 million.

All of those may just sound like numbers, though imagine the odds of your body not slowly rotting off being as low as 1 in 3. It was a public health nightmare around the world, and anyone alive back then would have seen bodies lying around the street like it’s nothing. That’s if they were lucky enough to not have been infected themselves. The virus acted so fast that in many cases, victims would die within a few hours of getting infected. Making matters worse was rudimentary medical technology of the time, as most of the times, doctors simply had no idea what to give their patients.^[3]

7 1983 – 2009: Sri Lankan Civil War

As far as civil wars go, we’ve had quite a few. While we’ve enjoyed some of them – like the American one – we’re not fans of some of the others – like the Spanish one. Regardless, civil wars have played a crucial role in shaping up the modern world.

While civil war is not the best time for civilians anywhere, one of them was especially bad for the bystanders. The Sri Lankan Civil War was fought by the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil rebels, and was especially devastating for its civilians. A major problem fueling the conflict was sectarianism, as the majority-Sinhalese government forces were regularly committing atrocities on the Tamil population.

The most horrifying part of the war was around its end, when tens of thousands of civilians were sandwiched between approaching government forces and rebels (who had been using them as a buffer). Many civilians were massacred in the oncoming artillery barrage, though only if they weren’t already killed in the earlier military-aided pogroms across the country. It remains a forgotten-yet-brutal part of Sri Lanka’s history (if ten years ago could be called ‘history’), and has even been called a genocide by many.^[4]

6 17th Century: The Thirty Years’ War

War has been a part of European history for a long time, though few of those were as devastating for the people of Europe as the Thirty Years’ War. If we consider the proportion of the casualties to Europe’s total population, it was far deadlier than events like the Black Plague or the Second World War. Around eight million people were killed, making it one of the most lethal events in history.

It was the focal point of the larger Catholics vs Protestant conflict in Europe at the time, and absolutely devastated the countryside throughout Europe. Almost all of the big powers were involved, making the conflict widespread. The war was accompanied by a severe famine and disease outbreaks, as well as regular pillaging and looting of small villages by mercenary army units. It doesn’t get as much credit as more popular recent catastrophes in Europe, though anyone who was alive and in Europe at the time during the Thirty years’ War would have seen some things for sure.^[5]

5 1942: Firebombing Raids During WW2

Being anywhere in the world during the Second World War would be a bad time for most people, though that was especially true for the countries that lost. The main areas of both Germany and Japan were levelled to the ground, mostly to send a message than any real military objective.

While it’s the nukes that get the most coverage, the firebombing raids of Tokyo are still known as the bloodiest bombing raid in military history, and possibly killed many more than both the nukes combined. Military-grade incendiary material—like napalm and petroleum jelly—was indiscriminately used on civilian areas (especially civilian areas, actually). For anyone living in Tokyo (or Dresden to a lesser extent), it would have been a scene right out of a horror movie. Charred remains of people on the streets, wooden houses set on fire in every direction, and the sound of bombers continuously prowling the air. As many as 100,000 civilians were burnt to death in just one night of bombing, with over a million maimed.^[6]

4 1947: The Partition Of India

As most of us have realized by now, the British Empire had a partition problem. Many modern world issues exist because the Brits decided to have fun with their borders before leaving their colonies, making things even more complicated for the independent countries.

Nowhere is that more visible than in the partition of India into the countries of India and Pakistan on religious lines. Overnight, millions of people embarked on one of the biggest and most perilous mass migrations in history. That is, of course, if they could leave at all.

Many of the Muslims in India, and conversely Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan, weren’t that lucky. Around 1 million died in the ensuing riots that included horrors like literal trains full of dead bodies. They were one of the bloodiest riots in history, and true numbers of the casualties would probably never be known due to lack of records.^[7]

3 Being A Miner In Ancient Rome

Everyone knows that slavery was big during Roman times. Slave labor made the empire possible, as building all those aqueducts and other advanced architecture across a vast territory isn’t easy. Slavery took a lot of diverse forms in the ancient Roman Republic according to what they did, and slaves were mostly taken from conquered territories.

If you’re looking for having the worst time of your life in Roman times, you could opt for being a slave in the mines. Reserved for the slaves the Romans particularly hated, it was just about the worst thing that could happen to you. The working conditions were horrible, and whoever was sent to the mines was expected to die there. There was rampant disease and deaths due to the harsh conditions, as mining wasn’t the most developed technology back then. Mind you, this is not an exclusive punishment. You could also be mutilated and beaten for no reason, too, or just thrown into a pit with a wild animal. Anything goes in the mines, and all you needed to find yourself in there was simply existing anywhere around the Roman empire.^[8]

2 1467 – 1600: The Sengoku Period

The Sengoku Period – lasting over a hundred years—was one of the most defining parts of Japanese history, as well as one of the most influential. A lot of historical Japanese pop culture is set in that period, as it was a time of consistent war and rapidly-shifting political climate. There were more warlords fighting for territory than you could count, as the central power of the Shogun had weakened in recent times.

For someone living in that period, war and suffering would have been a part of daily life. Apart from opposing factions regularly raiding villages and towns for supplies, civilians were often caught between battles they had nothing to do with. Of course, that wasn’t the case in every village across Japan, as many of them thrived due to the shifting landscape, too. For those caught between the battles or the just lost in vast swathes of ungoverned Japanese terrain, though, it was a dangerous time to be in. The period was noteworthy for its brutality and general disregard for human life, and gave way to some of the most fearsome samurai warriors in Japanese history.^[9]

1 The Year 536

When us laymen talk about the worst times in history, we’re thinking of stuff like violence and proximity to cannibalism. We don’t have any scientific parameters to measure how bad a time is for the people living in it, though we can make educated guesses.

When it comes to scientists, though, they don’t bother with guesses or estimates, and have calculated the exact year it was the worst time to be alive in history; the year 536.

Apart from the falling empires the world over and general political chaos, the year 536 also marked one of the worst global famines in human history. The famine was due to ash in the air blocking the sunlight, which isn’t surprising as there were also quite a few humongous volcanic eruptions around that time for good measure. The ‘foggy eclipse of the Sun’, as it was described then, was visible everywhere in the world, giving the whole thing an even creepier vibe. Combine that with brutal conflicts in many places around the world, and you know why the researchers chose the year 536 to be the absolute worst one in history.^[10]

About The Author: You can check out Himanshu’s stuff at Cracked (www.cracked.com/members/RudeRidingRomeo/) and Screen Rant (https://screenrant.com/author/hshar/), or get in touch with him for writing gigs ([email protected]).

Dead is dead unless you’re talking about zombies, right? Well, there are people out there who believe some celebrities may have faked their death. Everyone who thought Elvis Presley, Tupac Shakur, and Michael Jackson were gone for good—think again. Some have set out to prove that these and other famous figures didn’t actually die but instead staged their deaths to escape the public eye.

Whether you buy into these theories or not, they’re definitely interesting to consider. Here are 10 of the most famous “dead” people that conspiracy theorists say are actually alive.

Related: 10 Dark Conspiracy Theories That Actually Turned Out To Be True

10 Michael Jackson

The King of Pop famously passed away in 2009 from cardiac arrest. Despite there being a very public investigation into his death, some people believe that he’s still alive, moonwalking to “Billie Jean.” Even his family and fans that believe he is dead think that his death is shrouded in mystery. Here are some of the most prevalent theories.

• MJ faked his own death to escape the public eye.
• Michael faked his death to get out of debt and boost his sales again.
• He faked his death so he could live the life of a normal person.
• He didn’t fake his own death; instead, he was murdered, and the investigation was a coverup.
• MJ had to fake his death to avoid more child sexual abuse allegations.

What’s the Proof?

Like any conspiracy, the proof is what you make of it. In this case, there are poor-quality pictures where he’s been “seen” in the background at family events. Jackson’s stylist also made a series of cryptic texts, and some fans think that MJ looks too similar to one of his friends.

Even with his family’s insistence that he was murdered, it all boils down to a he-said-she-said situation, with them claiming that he didn’t sign his will and wanted his executors removed from it.

No matter what you believe, there’s one thing no one can deny—Michael Jackson was an incredible artist that changed the music industry forever.

9 Princess Diana

Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in 1997, but there are people still holding their candles in the wind—positive that she’s still alive. There have been hundreds of theories about what really happened to Diana. These theories spread so far and so quickly that an official investigation was opened and lasted for years.

Naturally, the investigation agreed with the original death report. She was in a car accident, and her driver was drunk. But the prevailing theory is that she staged her death to escape the public media circus surrounding her life and is currently living on a small island with her Egyptian husband.

What’s the Proof?

The majority of proof is just hearsay, but many of the theories stem from small bits of truth. Diana had expressed concern about her safety and had spoken about her fears that Prince Charles was planning something sinister shortly before her death. Maybe she really did plan ahead?

8 JFK Jr

This conspiracy has been making ripples in the media recently, so much so that some groups are calling for former President Donald Trump to run again with JFK Jr. as vice president. So obviously, there are people that believe JFK Jr. didn’t actually die in 1999 when his plane crashed. According to them, he’s still alive and well.

There are numerous theories about what really happened to JFK Jr., some believing that he was killed by the government or that he simply went into hiding. Whatever the real story is, almost none of the theories mention his wife or sister-in-law, both of whom were in the plane when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean… So I’m sensing a plot hole here.

What’s the proof?

There is no actual proof that he’s alive. But according to the Dallas Observer, that questioned people who believe he is alive, the answer is in Home Alone 2. That’s right, the classic family Christmas film.

Let’s follow the logic according to one interviewee: JFK was shot at Dealey PLAZA, so JFK Jr. is coming back at Discovery PLAZA. Kevin stayed at the PLAZA Hotel in the movie, where he ran into…Donald Trump!

So if you followed that, there’s your proof. And if you got lost, you’re not alone.

7 Elvis Presley

We’re all shook up. Seriously though, this addition to the list should come as no surprise. Conspiracies surrounding Elvis’s death are so far spread that one even made it into a Men in Black movie.

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll died in 1977 from a heart attack, but not before his rubber legs reinvented the music industry. There are numerous theories about Elvis’s death, with some believing that he was killed, others that his death was faked so he could get out of the public view. Still others that think he was an alien and went back to his home planet.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the solar system.

What’s the proof?

Once again, there is nothing concrete—if there was, this wouldn’t be conspiracy anymore. There have been sightings and pictures taken where people swear that Elvis is present. What suspicious minds? And, if you can believe it, there have been claims that he was an extra in the original Home Alone. It seems like Macaulay Culkin has a lot of explaining to do.

6 Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996 in a drive-by shooting while in his own car. Theories about what really happened to Tupac vary widely, and some believe that he staged his own death. Others think that his death was staged by the government. And both of these assume that he is living under a new identity. The real question is, why would one of the most influential rappers of all time fake his own death?

What’s the proof?

American music exec Suge Knight says he doesn’t know if he’s dead. And Suge Knight Jr. says the rapper is living in Malaysia. Fans think that Tupac left clues about his death in his song lyrics and music videos.

Mr. Tupac…holler if ya’ hear me!

5 Paul Walker

Paul Walker died in a car accident in 2013, leading to the most emotional moment in the Fast and the Furious franchise. But that didn’t stop some fans from believing that he faked his own death. The most common theory is that Walker was working with the government to investigate a certain type of fuel. When he died in the accident, supposedly, it was all part of the plan.

What’s the proof?

People have pointed to the fact that Walker didn’t have a public funeral. And his autopsy was placed on “security hold”—whatever that means. Fans also think that the color of his car changes in photographs before and after the accident between orange and red. Could it be true, or is this like the “what color is the dress” challenge?

4 Steve Jobs

The father of Apple died in 2011, but some people refuse to believe that the turtlenecked-tech giant is really gone. One theory is that Jobs faked his death because he disagreed with where the company was headed. Another says he faked his death so he could retire and live in Egypt.

Apparently, he was interested in ancient Egyptian culture and visited the country frequently. Some people believe that he even has a tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

What’s the proof?

There is a photo making the rounds on the internet that shows a man in Egypt drinking coffee that kinda looks like him. Wherever you are, Steve, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

3 Jeffrey Epstein

Everyone has heard the phrase “Epstein didn’t kill himself.” Half the world thinks he was killed by the Clintons or other powerful people he might have named after his arrest. But while everyone is focused on one conspiracy theory, what if there was another one playing out right under our nose?

“Epstein’s still alive” is much less common since he was found dead in his cell in 2019. But some people are dedicated to the idea that he’s still alive. There are numerous theories about what really happened to Epstein. Some believe that he staged his own death and went into hiding to avoid convictions. Is he watching Maxwell take the fall while he sips Mai Tai’s on a private island somewhere?

What’s the proof?

There are numerous pictures of “Epstein” after his death that have been circulated online, but they are all pretty inconclusive. Some believe he’s hanging out at a ranch in New Mexico based on a news report written before his demise.

2 Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn is one of the most popular sex symbols in modern history. So it’s no wonder that fans don’t want to believe that she died in 1962. Some conspiracy theorists believe that she was killed by the government because of her affairs with JFK and his brother Robert Kennedy. Others think she faked her own death and is living under a new identity because she knew too many state secrets.

What’s the proof?

With the number of organizations that wanted her dead to cover up secrets, it isn’t likely that she is alive. But there are pictures of Monroe after her death that have been circulated online. Author John Baker claims she’s in a Canadian mental institution. Hopefully, they let her keep her bottle of Chanel No. 5.

1 Osama Bin Laden

When a SEAL Team says, “We got him.” that’s usually a closed book on what happened. But when it comes to Bin Laden, some people feel there are unanswered questions.

Why was he buried at sea? Why is there a lack of physical evidence of his death? Some believe that when the SEALs raided his compound, they killed a body double. They think he was really taken alive and is being used as a confidential informant. A few even think that the raid and death were faked to boost former President Obama’s approval rating.

What’s the proof?

There isn’t any definitive proof that Bin Laden is still alive. However, some people have pointed to videos of “him” after his death as evidence. Others say that because he was initially armed by America to fight Russia in the 1980s that he has always been a CI. Wherever you are, Bin Laden, stay there.

We can all agree that 2020 was a pretty crappy year for a lot of people around the world, and 2021 wasn’t much better. However, while 2020–2021 were undoubtedly bad years for the people experiencing them, they are hardly the worst years in history.

Human history is filled with absolutely horrible years that saw natural disasters, wars, and other issues cause so much pain and chaos, it’s hard to imagine how humanity survived through them.

Sure, the pandemic is terrible, but the majority of people didn’t have to also endure a worldwide conflict, a far deadlier disease without medicine to treat it, or a global drop in temperature that destroyed the annual harvests. Those are the issues that make for a terrible year, and these ten (presented in no particular order because they all suck) are the worst.

Related: 10 Shocking Man-Made Disasters

10 536: Insane Changes in Global Weather Result in Widespread Starvation

The sixth century wasn’t a great time to be a human for several reasons that all came together to create a year that no time traveler would ever visit. Not only was 536 one of the worst years in history, but it also kicked off a decade of darkness, the likes of which haven’t been seen since.

The darkness was literal, thanks to the eruption of a volcano in Iceland. The resulting ash cloud created a fog of blackness that blanketed most of Europe. In addition, the eruption was so large, it affected global climate change, making it almost impossible to successfully grow crops. This resulted in widespread famine, pestilence, and death.

The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that “the Sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the Moon during this whole year.” Another impact of the volcano was a lowering of summer temperatures by some 1.6–2.7°C (35–37°F), resulting in summer snow in China.

AD 536 kicked off the coldest decade recorded over the past 2,300 years. The year was truly the beginning of a dark era that lasted for most of the middle of the century. Subsequent volcanic eruptions, failed harvests, and the onset of the plague caused deaths all over the planet.^[1]

9 1945: WWII Atomic Bombs, Incendiary Bombs & the Holocaust

There’s no denying that World War II was one of the darkest and deadliest conflicts in world history. More people died in that global conflict than in any other war. Any year the fighting raged on could be considered for this list, but 1945 takes the prize as the worst of them all.

WWII came to a bloody conclusion in ’45, and that victory came at a high cost. The U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, resulting in more than 400,000 casualties. On top of that, the firebombing of Tokyo saw 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs fall on the city, resulting in the deaths of between 80,000 and 130,000 civilians.

Beginning in 1943, the Nazis began to destroy as much evidence as possible that detailed the mass extermination of Jews and other populations. The Holocaust resulted in the deaths of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others. Toward the end, the Nazis increased exterminations to try and cover up their crimes.

The Second World War finally came to an end in mid-August of 1945, but the victory didn’t mean an end to global suffering. An estimated 3% of the worldwide population was dead, with an estimated death toll of between 70 and 85 million people. Reconstruction was difficult, and years of suffering followed in many parts of the world.^[2]

8 1816: The Year Without a Summer

An ice age is defined as an extended period of glaciation, so we’re technically in one now. That said, most people think of an ice age as a time when the majority of the globe is covered by continental ice sheets. But another way to look at it is a year where the winter snow doesn’t melt—and that happened in 1816.

Many historians refer to 1816 as “The Year Without a Summer” due to the average decline in global temperatures. A drop of 0.4–0.7°C (0.7–1.2°F) may not sound like a big difference, but fluctuations in global temperature don’t need to be massive to cause serious problems. The temperature drop resulted from the Mount Tambora eruption the previous year.

That eruption occurred in what is now Indonesia, and it was the largest volcanic eruption in some 1,300 years, blanketing the planet with ash. The resulting volcanic winter caused “the last great subsistence crisis in the Western World,” affecting Western Europe and Eastern North America.

People experienced extreme frosts and snowfall in June, and rivers remained frozen well into August. The people affected by the changes in the weather saw no summer in 1816, and the resulting crop failures led to widespread famine and deaths across the northern hemisphere.^[3]

7 1918: WWI & the Spanish Flu Pandemic

When WWI came to an end, what appeared to be the darkest time in humanity finally came to an end. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the end of suffering because the conflict’s conclusion brought forth disease and death that quickly swept across the world. The Spanish Flu was caused by the H1N1 Influenza A virus. Its first recorded case popped up in returning military members in Kansas in 1918.

The virus was believed to have been carried over to the United States via troops returning from the war, and it spread fast. Within two years of the first case, some 500 million people across the world were infected, which was nearly a third of the global population at the time.

The lethality of the Influenza strain was much different than the typical flu that spreads each year. Instead of killing the young, infirmed, and old, the Spanish Flu infected and killed an unprecedented number of young adults. This was due to the way it attacked the immune system. A person infected with H1N1 Influenza A would often succumb within 24 hours, making treatment incredibly difficult. Of course, it didn’t help that there wasn’t a treatment or flu vaccine.

The virus caused the most lethal flu pandemic to date, but it wasn’t simply the virus that was lethal. The combination of the virus and years of malnourishment, poor hygiene, and dozens of other factors brought on by the Great War ultimately resulted in the deadliest plague of the 20th century. When it was over, between 25 and 50 million people were dead.^[4]

6 1929: The Stock Market Crash

The 20th century wasn’t easy for many people around the world. A lot of problems that weren’t related to wars and plagues centered around finances. On October 29, 1929, the world was stunned to see the U.S. stock market take a massive dive. Across the nation, people were left with nothing as factories, banks, and other institutions closed their doors.

The U.S. Stock Market Crash of ’29 came only a month after the London Stock Exchange crashed, obliterating two of the largest economies. Unfortunately, surviving Black Tuesday was only the beginning of an awful year because the rest of 1929 didn’t offer much in the way of improvement.

In fact, 1929 was simply the first year in many that saw the Great Depression completely devastate the U.S. economy and numerous economies around the world. Banks failed, and they took the peoples’ money with them. This was due to speculative banking investments in the stock market, and the banks used deposited money for this venture.

Once the banks failed, all that money was gone, leaving people without their life savings in an economy that remained in the red for the next decade. The world economies wouldn’t begin to recover until after WWII, though the U.S. economy wouldn’t fully recover until 1954.^[5]

5 541: The Plague of Justinian

While most people know of the Black Death that swept across Europe in the 14th century, it wasn’t the first or only time the bubonic plague threatened humanity. The first recorded instance of the plague came in 541 during the reign of Emperor Justinian, and history knows him best because of a massive pandemic that took on his name.

The first recorded pandemic of the bubonic plague affected the Sassanian and Byzantine Empires. The latter was led by Emperor Justinian I. The emperor was infected but survived, which is one of the reasons the plague bears his name. The plague first hit Constantinople in 541. From there, it spread throughout the Mediterranean Sea, affecting many coastal cities.

It then made its way across Europe and into Asia. The first wave of the plague, the Plague of Justinian, lasted from 541 until 549, but it wasn’t the end. The contagion actually lasted for hundreds of years. This was a plague people had to live with, off and on, from one wave to another, for their entire lives. It didn’t come to an end until the mid-eighth century.

It’s difficult to estimate how many people died during the Plague of Justinian, though some numbers have been recorded. Constantinople suffered greatly from the pandemic, losing 55–60% of the population. Between five and ten thousand people died each day throughout the plague, which ultimately killed millions of people.^[6]

4 1783: The Laki Volcanic Eruption

Volcanic eruptions always cause a great deal of disruption in their immediate area, but some affect a much larger area than others. Laki is a volcanic fissure in Iceland, and while it’s safe today, in 1783, it erupted violently. The fissure erupted for eight months, ending in February 1784 after an estimated 42 billion tons of hydrofluoric acid, sulfur dioxide, and basalt lava poured out.

When it erupted, it was explosive, but that didn’t last the whole eight months. After a few days, the lava flow continued, but without the volatile nature of its initial eruption. It became more like the Hawaiian eruptions that happen today, but the lava wasn’t really the problem.

For eight months, the fissure spewed sulfuric aerosols into the atmosphere, resulting in devastating climate change that impacted the rest of the world. Iceland suffered the most from a catastrophic famine. Nearly a quarter of the population died, as did more than half the cattle, horses, and sheep.

The eruption weakened the African and Indian monsoon seasons, resulting in a famine in Egypt and other locations. Europe suffered a deadly haze that lasted through the winter of 1784, and that’s just the beginning. Ultimately, the Laki volcanic eruption devastated the global climate and resulted in thousands of deaths.^[7]

3 1520: Europeans Bring Diseases to the Americas

When Europeans made their way to the Americas en masse, they opened up new territories, increased trade, and brought deadly pathogens to the Indigenous population. The people of the Americas were generally isolated from the diseases that had been killing people in Europe, Asia, and Africa for millennia.

In 1520, Europeans brought smallpox to the Indigenous people of the Americas, and it did not go well. That is to say, it didn’t go well for the people living there, but it worked out splendidly for Europeans, seeing as it opened up two continents for colonial expansion. For the people of North, Central, and South America, it was an absolute catastrophe.

Without any means of fighting off smallpox, as many as 95% of all indigenous people perished in the years that followed its introduction. It’s difficult to say precisely how many people died from smallpox after it came to the Americas, but some estimates put the number as high as 20 million.

Before Columbus “discovered” the Americas in 1492, the estimated population of the continents was some 60 million people. That number dropped significantly due to the 1520 smallpox epidemic. It continued to decline via measles, influenza, diphtheria, and the bubonic plague to around only six million. This left the continents largely empty and open to European colonization.^[8]

2 1347: The Black Death Spreads Across Europe

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic is terrible, but it pales in comparison to the Black Death. Beginning in 1346, the bubonic plague spread across Eurasia and North Africa, killing more people than any other pandemic in human history. The plague was first identified in Crimea in 1347, and from there, it spread like wildfire.

The plague is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, spread by fleas. In the 14th century, fleas were a much bigger problem than they are today, so the pestilence spread quickly. Unfortunately, it was also transmitted via person-to-person contact, making it hazardous to care for anyone stricken with the disease.

It’s difficult to pick a specific year as the very worst of the pandemic, as records aren’t as forthcoming with data as they would be today. The estimated death toll from the Black Death is between 75 and 200 million people over the course of eight years.

That makes the Black Death the most fatal pandemic ever recorded, and it had lasting impacts. When the plague finally ended in 1353, as much as 60% of the European population was dead. This left huge gaps in a largely agrarian society, making a recovery difficult and slow.^[9]

1 73,000 BC: The Toba Catastrophe

The Toba catastrophe is a theorized supervolcanic eruption that took place some 75,000 years ago (+/- 900 years) in what is now Indonesia. The exact date is unknown, but research into human DNA and geologic evidence of the time suggests that a massive eruption caused the deaths of most of the human population at the time.

While it’s impossible to say exactly how many humans succumbed to the volcanic winter that lasted around a decade, scientists have come up with a number of how many survived. It’s believed that the human population was reduced to as little as 3,000–10,000 people, suggesting that humanity nearly went extinct long ago.

Technically, the Toba catastrophe didn’t occur within recorded history. Still, its significance lands it on this list because of the destruction it caused. The eruption was so massive, it caused a volcanic winter that persisted for years, cooling the planet an estimated 3–5°C (5.4–9°F).

The humans living in Africa were largely spared. At the same time, those in Europe and Asia bore the brunt of the impacts of the Toba volcanic eruption. The theory is somewhat controversial among climatologists, geneticists, and archaeologists, all coming to close but different conclusions. Regardless, if the Toba catastrophe was as bad as many theorize, it may have been the worst year in the history of the human species.^[10]

We usually tend to focus on only the dark and gruesome parts of history, though it’s not been all bad. Among all the wars, diseases, and other tragedies of history, there have also been quite a few times of unprecedented peace and prosperity. These are sometimes referred to as a ‘golden age’ by historians, when cultures around the world achieved new heights in science, medicine, literature, economics, philosophy, and a slew of other fields. 

10. 14th-16th Century, Mali

Timbuktu was established as a seasonal trading camp on the southern edge of the Sahara desert some time in the 12th century, providing a way for West African kingdoms to trade with the salt-rich kingdoms in the east and beyond. By the early 1300s, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Mali, Timbuktu had already turned into the most important trading center in West Africa. According to a legendary tale, the city was so rich in gold that when the emperor, Mansa Musa, donated a bunch of it to Egypt in 1324, it tanked the price of the precious metal across the country for 12 years! 

It wasn’t just the riches – during Mansa Musa’s reign that began in 1312, Mali was also one of the most important centers of culture and learning in the African Islamic world. Scholars, architects, doctors, and other experts were invited from across the known world – at its peak, the city could house more than 25,000 students, with over 800,000 manuscripts stored in its archives. This period lasted roughly until the end of the 16th century, when Timbuktu was occupied by Moroccan forces. 

9. New Kingdom, Ancient Egypt

The New Kingdom of Egypt was a period between the 16th and 11th centuries BC. This nearly-500-year-long era is remembered as the most prosperous time in ancient Egyptian history, when pharaohs belonging to Dynasty 18, 19 and 20 turned the Egyptian kingdom into the most advanced civilization of the ancient world. 

This growth was powered by multiple factors. While the fertile Nile river delta provided a rich source of food and other natural resources, the gold mines of the Nubian desert made the pharaohs rich beyond imagination. That flowed down to the rest of Egyptian society in the form of expansive architectural projects like temples and tombs, as Egyptian architecture got more complex and elaborate than ever before. This was also when Egypt reached the peak of its territorial expanse, both by conquest and diplomacy by now-famous pharaohs like Tutankhamun, Ramses II, and Hatshepsut. 

8. Tang Dynasty, China

The Chinese Tang dynasty succeeded the Sui dynasty during the early 7th century. Under its rule, China reached the peak of its territorial and cultural influence in the region, lasting over three centuries until its fall in 907 AD. It was one of the greatest civilizations of its time, known far and wide for its ethnically-diverse and cosmopolitan urban settlements. During the seventh and eighth centuries, many Chinese cities grew into large, bustling metropolises – the capital, Chang’an, was easily the most populous city in the world at its peak, with a population of over one million residents. 

The Tang era saw many far-reaching achievements in fields like arts, literature, architecture, city planning, and many others. This was when woodblock printing was first invented in China, giving scholars and thinkers a new way to produce and distribute knowledge. This period is particularly noteworthy for its contribution to ancient Chinese poetry, especially during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, who established a separate institution dedicated to poetry called the Academy of Letters. 

7. Pax Romana, Ancient Rome

Pax Romana – or ‘Roman peace’ – was a period of relative calm across the Roman world. Beginning with the reign of Augustus Caesar in 27 BC and ending with the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 BC, these two centuries saw the relatively small Roman republic turn into one of the largest empires in history. Despite the tumultuous early years of Augustus’s reign, Rome prospered immensely during this time, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity for many of its citizens, especially in the capital. 

The empire reached its territorial peak during this time, with a population of over 70 million. Roman scientists made new advances in various fields, especially in architecture and city infrastructure. An intricate network of roads and aqueducts was built across the territory, which further boosted trade among far-off provinces. 

While it’s debatable that it was a good time for everyone involved – as the empire still went through multiple conflicts in its border regions throughout this time – Pax Romana was by and large a peaceful era for most citizens. It would come to an abrupt end with the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius, followed by the disastrous reign of his son, Commodus. 

6. Gupta Empire, India

The Gupta empire was a Hindu empire founded in 320 AD, after almost five centuries of chaos and fighting among smaller kingdoms and principalities across India. The first Gupta ruler, Chandragupta I, expanded it into a formidable geo-political entity, stretching across vast parts of northern, eastern, and central India. 

From its foundation to its fall in the 6th century, the Gupta period remained a high point in the history of Indian civilization. This was when the modern, decimal number system was developed – now known as Arabic numerals – along with other fundamental discoveries by thinkers like Aryabhata and Sushruta. Indian architecture also reached new heights during this time, as Gupta rulers – especially Chandragupta II – commissioned massive palaces and temples across the empire. 

5. Post-WW2, USA

When the Second World War concluded in 1945, America found itself in an exceptionally-advantageous position. While pre-war powers like Britain and France lay in ruins, with large parts of their populations dead, the US economy was about to experience some of its most productive years ever. 

Also sometimes known as the Golden Age of Capitalism, it was a period of rapid growth and reindustrialization across the country, particularly in the western and south-western states. Cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Albuquerque, Phoenix and others expanded rapidly, as more and more Americans moved out of dense inner city areas to the suburbs, thanks to higher wages and standards of living. Massive infrastructure projects were undertaken during this time, like the Highway Act of 1956 that built close to 40,000 miles of roads and highways to connect different parts of the country. The gross national product grew from $200 billion in 1940 to $500 billion in 1960 in this period, as the American worker moved to high-skilled, service-based jobs. 

4. The Golden Age Of Islam

The Islamic golden age began in the 8th century with the foundation of the Abbasid Caliphate. Centered in the capital of Baghdad, Islamic scholars – funded and supported by the Caliph and other members of royalty – made many fundamental discoveries in the fields of science, technology, medicine, theology, warfare, and others. Building on knowledge from ancient cultures like India, China, and Greece, many of those discoveries would lay the foundation for the scientific revolution in Europe.

Unfortunately, all that would come to an abrupt end in 1258, when Bahghdad was overrun and brutally sacked by Mongol forces in 1258, with a majority of its population put to the sword. That included the House of Wisdom, or the Grand Library of Baghdad, where hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were burned or tossed into the river. 

3. 5th Century, Athens

The golden age of Athens lasted almost throughout the 5th century BC, particularly during the reign of Pericles from roughly 461 to 429 BC. Back then, Athens was only one of the many city states in Greece, ruling over an alliance of more than a dozen other states called the Delian League. In effect, it operated more like an Athenian empire than an alliance, making the city wealthier and more powerful than ever before.

Throughout this time, Athenians made so many advances in fields like philosophy, science, logic, mathematics, theater, and arts that it’s often referred to as the foundation of western democracy. In mathematics, Athenian thinkers like Euclid and Pythagoras laid down the first laws of modern geometry. Playwrights like Sophocles and Euripides lived in Athens around this time, along with physicians like Hippocrates, philosophers like Plato and Socrates, and historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. 

2. Timurid Renaissance

The Timurid dynasty was founded by Timur – a Turko-Mongol warlord that conquered and carved out a vast empire across Central Asia and Persia in the 14th century. It was a golden age of Persian culture – from the late 14th century to roughly early 16th century, the Timurid empire made unforeseen advances in astronomy, architecture, poetry, performing arts, metalworking, military science, and others. 

Now known as the Timurid Renaissance, this period is particularly known for the development of a technique known as Persian miniature painting – an abstract style of colorful art practiced in cities across Iran and Central Asia. Calligraphy was developed as a separate art form throughout this period, as artists from around the world flocked to the rapidly-developing cities to practice their craft. Many members of the dynasty were artists themselves, as they funded and encouraged large-scale architecture and art projects across the empire. 

1. Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began during the early 15th century. Centered in the Republic of Florence – then one of the many separately-governed city states on the Italian peninsula – this period would soon come to be known as the zenith of European arts and sciences, triggering other renaissances in countries like Britain, Spain, France, Germany, and others. 

By the late 14th century, Florentine was an important center of banking and other commercial activity in Europe. As the wealth flowed in, the hard, toil-based lifestyle of the Middle ages was replaced by a more individualistic, freer approach to life, also known as ‘humanism’. Wealthy Florentine citizens were now more willing to invest time and money into arts and culture, which had a profound impact on Florentine society. 

This shift in popular outlook – combined with advances in technology – gave birth to many exceptional artists, thinkers, writers, scientists, and engineers across Florentine, including names like Filippo Brunelleschi, Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and others.