Lists of famous musical instruments often focus on who played the instrument. This list is different. Here, we’ll highlight ten musical instruments that have sold for the highest prices or that are considered to be the most valuable instruments in the world. The value of a musical instrument is always tied to the compelling story behind it.

Sometimes, the instrument is crafted by a master maker whose secrets we still don’t fully understand. Other times, the value comes from the seemingly superhuman abilities of the person who played it. Another common theme stems from an instrument being one of the last remaining pieces made by a famous company or instrument maker. One final theme is when the instrument has such an original story behind it that people find it almost impossible to believe—they need to see the instrument with their own eyes.

You’ll definitely learn something new from this list. Many of these instruments are not well known to the general public. Often, the stories of these rare and expensive instruments are only known to hardcore fans of the musical genres associated with each instrument. Let’s shine some light on these ten famous musical instruments that are probably worth more than the car you’re currently driving.

Related: Top 10 Bizarre Musical Instruments You Rarely See Today

10 Paul McCartney’s $12.6 Million Hofner Bass

Paul McCartney’s 1960 Hofner bass is one of the most famous musical instruments in history. The extremely rare bass was stolen from McCartney in 1972, leading many to believe that it was lost forever. Through an incredible turn of events, the bass was returned to McCartney in late 2023. It’s worth an estimated 10 million British pounds, or about 12.6 million U.S. dollars.

Stolen from the back of a van in London’s Notting Hill on the night of October 10, 1972, McCartney’s bass changed hands several times over the years. After stealing the bass, the thief sold it to the landlord of a pub in the Notting Hill area. An English mother of two, Cathy Guest, discovered the bass in her attic many decades later. Unaware of its legendary past, she did some research and realized it belonged to the legendary Beatle. It turns out that her late husband, Rauidhri Guest, had inherited the instrument many years before when he was a 21-year-old film student.

The Hofner company verified the provenance of the bass (that it was actually the same bass stolen from McCartney) after it was returned to him. McCartney reportedly handed a six-figure reward to Cathy for her miraculous find. A team of experts is now helping McCartney to restore the bass to its original playing condition.^[1]

9 Korg’s PS-3300: The $100,000 Synthesizer

When Korg released the PS-3300 in 1977, it was a luxurious musical instrument that only the wealthiest musicians could afford. Over the decades, it became a very rare and coveted item, so much so that one sold for $100,000 in 2021. The rarity and popularity of the original Korg PS-3300 led software developers to create modern reinterpretations of the iconic instrument as computer programs called virtual synthesizers. For example, Cherry Audio created a virtual synthesizer that can run on a computer to recreate all the sounds of the original physical Korg PS-3300 synthesizer.

The original PS-3300 was extremely large, and it packed a lot of functionality into that space. It featured a semi-modular design with three independent synthesizer units, each essentially a complete polyphonic synthesizer on its own. Each unit had 12 tunable oscillators, filters, envelopes, and amplifiers for every note, allowing all 48 keys to be played simultaneously with independent articulation. This unique architecture enabled musicians to create rich, evolving sounds that were groundbreaking at the time. Synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog considered the PS-3300 “the best synthesizer for fat sounds.”

Cherry Audio carefully studied the original PS-3300 to create a virtual synthesizer with a feel and playability similar to the original instrument. Their digital PS-3300 captures the sound and unique features of the original, with each key functioning as its own synthesizer. It has 49 keys, each equipped with three oscillators, filters, envelopes, and amplifiers, for a total of 147 synth voices. They also added modern enhancements like MIDI control, integrated effects, and over 360 presets.^[2]

8 The $73,000 Platinum Flute

The William S. Haynes handmade custom flute is made of platinum, and it’s one of the most expensive flutes in the world. It costs as much as a high-end automobile. Buying one will set you back $72,799, an incredibly high price for any new musical instrument. The Haynes flute is both expensive and stunning to look at. It features a platinum body and a hand-cut headjoint that has a 14-karat rose gold lip plate and riser.

The Haynes flute is precision manufactured in the United States. Its precision-made components include soldered 14-karat gold tone holes and gold springs on the flute’s keys. The flute’s unique combination of platinum and gold might give it different tonal qualities than other lower-end professional flutes. Professional flutes are typically made of less expensive metals like silver, though some world-class flutists, like Sir James Galway, play flutes made of gold.

In May of 2019, a popular YouTube flutist who goes by the name “katieflute” published a video where she played the William S. Haynes handmade custom flute. As of September 2024, the video has over 250,000 views. When the video was recorded in 2019, the Haynes flute was actually more expensive than it is now: it came in at a cool $84,000 at that time. At either price, you could purchase a luxury car for the price of one of these high-class/high-end flutes.^[3]

7 Joey DeFancesco’s Priceless Blonde Hammond B3 Organ

Joey DeFrancesco (1971–2022) was a prominent jazz organist and considered to be a world-class virtuoso of the famed Hammond B3 organ. He was the son and grandson of jazz musicians; his grandfather was Joseph DeFrancesco, and his dad was organist “Papa” John DeFrancesco (1940–2024). Joey DeFrancesco recorded and played with a who’s who of the music industry, including Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and trumpeter Randy Brecker and his brother, Michael Brecker.

In 2003, Joey DeFrancesco sold his very rare and beloved “blonde” Hammond B3 organ on eBay to an Australian buyer named Geoff Williamson. But there was a catch: whenever Joey performed in Australia, the organ had to be made available for him to play. In 2019, Joey was headlining the Generations in Jazz festival in Mount Gambier, South Australia. True to his word, Geoff brought “Blondie” out of storage and made it available for Joey to perform on.

Now that Joey DeFrancesco has passed away, it’s hard to evaluate what his rare blonde Hammond instrument is worth, but it’s certainly worth more than other rare blonde Hammond B3s out in the wild. Joey DeFrancesco was well-known, nominated for four Grammy Awards, and signed his first recording contract with Columbia Records at the age of 16. I couldn’t find any YouTube video footage of DeFrancesco playing his blonde Hammond B3, but I found great footage of him playing a more traditional Hammond B3 organ to showcase his musical mastery.^[4]

6 The $600,000 Piano from the Movie Casablanca

In 2012, the piano featured in the 1942 classic film Casablanca was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for $602,500. The 58-key piano was expected to sell for up to $1.2 million, but selling for $600,000 was still an incredible sum for a worn-out 70-year-old instrument. The piano’s seller made an extremely large profit at the auction, having purchased the piano for $154,000 in 1988.

This historic piano is the exact same one played by actor/musician/singer Dooley Wilson in the movie. His memorable character, “Sam,” sang the song “As Time Goes By” in one of the film’s most famous scenes. Sold to an unidentified buyer, the piano was the highlight of more than 200 pieces of Hollywood memorabilia up for sale at the 2012 auction.

Interestingly, “As Time Goes By” was almost cut from the movie due to its initial lack of popularity. Had the song been removed, we would have probably never heard of this rare and historic piano that is now a permanent part of the great American film story.^[5]

5 Ringo Starr’s Ludwig Drum Kit

Ringo Starr’s original Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit is considered to be one of the most valuable and rare drum kits in the world. In the early 1960s, American instruments were rare and expensive in Britain, making them highly coveted by British musicians. Ringo, who was playing Premier drums at the time, stumbled upon the Ludwig kit in a London music store, and he instantly fell in love with the drum set. Once he saw and played it, he knew that he had to purchase it.

When purchasing the kit, the store owner went to remove the Ludwig logo, but Ringo insisted that it stay on to clearly identify the drum set as American-made. Starr’s decision was one of the best strokes of luck for the Ludwig company: the logo was prominently displayed during The Beatles’ performances. The famed drum set, perhaps the most famous drum set in the world, became an integral part of The Beatles’ image as they rose to become one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

As The Beatles’ schedule became more demanding, Ringo acquired additional Ludwig kits to keep up with their live performances, recordings, and film commitments like “A Hard Day’s Night.” Today, his original Ludwig kits are priceless pieces of music history. They are rare, highly sought after, and can definitely cost more than a luxury car if you can actually find one to buy.^[6]

4 Charlie Parker’s Rare $144,000 Grafton Acrylic Alto Saxophone

On Friday, May 15, 1953, one of the most historic jazz concerts of all time took place at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. It was the last time that the five founding members of the bebop jazz movement played together as a quintet. The five members of the group are all household names among avid jazz fans: Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums.

Another thing that made the concert historic was that it was one of the few documented recordings of Charlie Parker playing a plastic/acrylic saxophone that was given to him as a gift by a company called Grafton. According to Red Rodney, a famous trumpeter who was a member of Charlie Parker’s Quintet for three years in the early 1950s, a Grafton company representative gave Parker the plastic saxophone in Detroit, Michigan. He ended up playing this saxophone at the May 15, 1953, jazz concert.

Charlie Parker’s Grafton saxophone now resides in the American Jazz Museum in the 18th and Vine Jazz District in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. The museum won the prized saxophone in a 1994 auction at Christie’s Auction House in London. The then-mayor of Kansas City, Emanuel Cleaver II, monitored the auction remotely with city officials in hopes of winning the piece of jazz history. Kansas City won the auction at a final price of $144,000, and the saxophone is now on display in the American Jazz Museum in the same neighborhood where a very young Charlie Parker attended jazz jam sessions during his formative years in the late 1930s and early 1940s.^[7]

3 The $45 Million Stradivarius Viola

In 2014, Sotheby’s tried to auction off the extremely rare Macdonald Stradivarius viola for $45 million. The viola, constructed in 1701 by master instrument maker Antonio Stradivari, is one of only eleven surviving violas he ever made, making it even rarer than his famous violins. The auction was expected to break world records, but not a single bid came through.

The Macdonald viola has a rich and storied history. It was played by Peter Schidlof of the Amadeus Quartet until his death in 1987. After that, it spent nearly 30 years in a vault, becoming one of the best-preserved Stradivarius instruments. Its scarcity and condition make it highly valuable, yet its high price tag scared off potential buyers. It’s the only one of its kind not owned by a museum or foundation, meaning it could still potentially be sold one day.

The failed auction raised an interesting social question. Should very rare musical instruments be played or preserved? Since playing a musical instrument regularly greatly increases the risk of damage, it is very likely that this amazingly rare viola will one day end up in a museum or in the home of a wealthy collector willing to ensure that it is adequately protected.^[8]

2 Kurt Cobain’s $6 Million Guitar

Kurt Cobain (1967–1994) was, and still is, a household name among many hardcore music fans due to his fascinating time as the lead singer and guitarist of the American grunge band Nirvana. His death by suicide in April 1994 stunned the world and elevated him to such a level of fame that, in many parts of the world, it would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t heard of him.

In 1993, Nirvana performed on MTV Unplugged, and the 1959 Martin D-18E that Cobain played during the performance is considered to be one of the most famous guitars in the world. In June 2020, the guitar sold for slightly more than $6 million at auction, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold.

The winning bidder was Peter Freedman, the founder of Rode Microphones. At the time of winning the auction, Freedman planned to take the guitar on a worldwide exhibition tour to raise awareness and funds for the arts community. The staggering price paid for the guitar shows how valuable musical instruments that are considered to be part of our collective memories can be. People often see these instruments as ways to connect with their long-gone heroes in a real and visceral way.^[9]

1 The $15.3 Million Stradivarius Violin Played by Albert Einstein’s Teacher

Anything closely connected to the world’s most famous theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, is inevitably destined to sell for extremely high dollar amounts. The Stradivarius violin played by one of Einstein’s teachers is no exception. In 2022, this incredibly rare Stradivarius violin sold for $15.3 million at auction.

This particular violin was crafted in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, perhaps the world’s most well-known violin maker. It once belonged to Toscha Seidel, a Russian-American violin virtuoso. Seidel used this instrument to record the soundtrack of the 1939 American film The Wizard of Oz. More notably, Seidel also played this violin alongside Einstein while giving Einstein private music sessions.

In 1933, Seidel and Einstein played a concert together in New York to raise funds for German-Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazi regime. The violin itself was part of Stradivari’s “Golden Period,” when he created his most coveted and highly valued instruments. Of the thousands of pieces Stradivari made, only about 600 are known today, with very few from this elite period. This famous Stradivarius was previously part of the Munetsugu collection in Japan. Though its most recent buyer remains anonymous, the violin’s connection to Einstein ensures that it won’t be forgotten any time soon.^[10]

History is littered with stories and anecdotes about how seemingly insignificant details changed the world. While many of these stories are just apocryphal, strange circumstances and coincides cannot be discounted. Because in the face of extraordinary events, anything could be possible.

10Joan of Arc’s Epilepsy

Joan of Arc is famous today for using divine guidance to fight against invading English armies during the Hundred Years War. However, the fact that Joan claimed that heavenly voices inspired her actions has caused many modern researchers to suggest more organic causes. Namely, epilepsy.

Joan of Arc may have suffered from a particular type of epilepsy called idiopathic partial epilepsy with auditory features, or IPEAF. She claimed to have heard and occasionally saw saints like St. Catherine and St. Margaret, which is the sort of episode common in epileptics with IPEAF. Joan also said that many of her experiences were preceded by the “sound of bells,” which is similar to other epileptics who say that certain noises trigger episodes.

Unfortunately, this diagnosis can’t be affirmatively diagnosed. Tests could be done on Joan’s DNA, but there are currently no DNA samples from Joan known to exist.

9Moses’s Burning Bush

Moses remains one of the most important figures of all time, but the Moses of tradition may actually be quite different from the historical Moses. The acacia tree, frequently mentioned by Moses throughout the Old Testament, contains the powerful hallucinogen dimethyltriptamine, or DMT, which is used in a concoction known as ayahuasca. This could mean that Moses’s famous “burning bush” may have fueled his religious experiences through hallucinogenic drugs.

During the events at Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, he may have been high on DMT, which causes flashes of light similar to the account described in the Bible. Ayahuasca’s effects have been studied extensively in the Amazon region, where it is used as part of religious ceremonies, and most data suggests that Moses may have been tripping the whole time.

8The Hatfield And McCoy Anger Disorder

The Hatfield and McCoy family feud is so famous that it has almost permanently become part of American folklore. While the violence between the two clans has long since ended, one of its causes has lived on in the form of Von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Von Hippel-Lindau disease is a rare disorder which can cause tumors on the adrenal gland. Because of the stress on the adrenal glands, those who suffer from the disease have symptoms including high blood pressure, severe headaches, and excessive production of the “fight or flight” hormones. All of this combines to make a short temper and aggression. It is found in three-fourths of the McCoy family, and past ancestors are also textbook cases.

Could this rare disorder have caused the ferocity that fueled the Hatfield-McCoy feud? It seems likely, because many of the McCoys today display similar symptoms, even down to the tumors.

7Anthony Eden’s Sickness And The Suez Crisis

Soon after Winston Churchill’s resignation as Prime Minister of England in 1955, a crisis erupted in Egypt when Abdul Nassar seized the Suez Canal, the most important route by which oil was shipped to Europe. Anthony Eden, Churchill’s successor, was forced to take on the situation, but a lingering illness could have compromised his leadership.

In 1953, Eden had undergone an operation on his gallbladder, but there was a complication when a knife cut his bile duct. This left Eden with long-term pain that he used painkillers, barbiturates, and amphetamines to deal with. Eden’s behavior was extremely erratic during much of the Suez crisis, and he made a series of poor decisions that ultimately caused Great Britain’s decline as a world power. He was eventually forced to resign in shame in 1957.

6Fashion And Tuberculosis

During the Victorian era, attractiveness and fashion were linked to many bizarre trends, but one fad was influenced by a curious factor—tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was so romanticized during the time that many considered it the standard for feminine beauty. From 1780 to 1850, cosmetics and clothing were actually made to emulate the appearance of someone dying from the dreaded disease. Things changed after Robert Koch isolated the tuberculosis bacteria in 1881 and the germ theory began to gain traction.

Widespread hysteria took over and many trends began to radically change. The iconic flowing gowns and hoop skirts worn by women in the 19th century changed to become less regal, because it was believed that the extra fabric could hold tuberculosis microbes. The bushy beards and facial hair kept by men of the time were also said to aid the spread of tuberculosis, so by the 20th century most facial hair had all but disappeared. Whether these measures actually worked is anyone’s guess.

5The Seven Day War And Divine Intervention

When Arab forces announced their intentions to invade Israel in 1967, it was widely believed that the Israelis didn’t have a chance. Through amazing coincidences—which most Israelis attribute to spiritual influence—the war was flipped on the Arabs with Israel eventually gaining three times the territory it had possessed previously.

Before the invasion was even set to begin, the commander of the Egyptian forces in Sinai was ordered to change officers, but the replacements knew next to nothing about Israel’s terrain. Three hours before the Israeli air strike that would cripple the Egyptian Air Force, Egyptian intelligence actually tried to notify forces on the ground of the attack, but for some unknown reason, no one informed the commanding officer.

When the actual presence of an Israeli fighter jet was detected by intelligence in northern Jordan, a red alert was sent to Cairo but, again for some unknown reason, the message couldn’t be decoded. Finally, when the Israeli air strikes actually occurred, no senior officers were around to do anything about it because they had spent the previous night watching a belly dancing show.

4Charles Whitman Was Influenced By A Tumor

On August 1, 1966, ex-marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the clock tower at the University of Texas campus in Austin. He proceeded to kill 13 people and wounded 32 others. In addition, he killed his mother and his wife. What led Whitman to commit such a senseless, destructive act? During an autopsy on his brain, a possible explanation was found.

A type of tumor called a glioblastoma the size of a nickel was found growing from his thalamus, impinged on his hypothalamus and compressing his amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for regulating emotion, and his tumor no doubt played a role in Whitman’s mental deterioration. While his actions were completely reprehensible, the finding does shine some light on how biological factors could play a role in criminal actions.

3Henry VIII’s Insanity And CTE

For much of Henry VIII’s early reign, he was a highly intelligent and capable leader, but his mental state eventually fell apart and he became paranoid, tempestuous, and deranged. Henry VIII was a well-known sportsman, and this could have led to his own demise.

In 1524, Henry received a head injury during a jousting tournament that left him with migraines. In 1536, Henry was knocked unconscious for two hours after his armored horse fell on him. It was after these accidents that he began experiencing symptoms of mental instability. While there is no way to test him any longer, the recently discovered illness Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) matches many of Henry VIII’s symptoms.

CTE, common in athletes who experience repeated head injuries, cause symptoms similar to dementia and Parkinson’s. Henry became forgetful and was prone to mood swings which could explain his infamous poor treatment of his wives, along with his inability to perform sexually despite being a womanizer in his youth.

2Sir Thomas Bludworth And The Great Fire Of London

In 1666, a massive fire destroyed much of old London. At the time, Sir Thomas Bludworth was the mayor of the city, and his desire to sleep could have caused an easily preventable tragedy.

At 2:00 AM on September 2, the house of the royal baker on Pudding Lane caught fire. Located on a narrow street and surrounded by crowded wooden buildings, the fire quickly spread. When Sir Bludworth was woken up and informed of the fire, he brushed it off and went back to sleep, reportedly saying, “A woman might piss it out.” He ignored the warnings to knock down surrounding buildings until it was too late, and by the time the fire ended, London was entirely up in smoke.

Samuel Pepys was unimpressed by Bludworth, and there are even suggestions that the mayor had been drinking the night the fire broke out. Bludworth, however, remained in government positions until his death.

1The French Revolution And Ergot Mold

In 1789, word began to spread around France that brigands were hiding in the woods, causing many peasants to take up arms. This event became known as The Great Fear and served as one of the catalysts for the French Revolution. However, the reason for the Great Fear remains mostly unexplained.

In the 1980s, Mary Kilbourne Matossian of the University of Maryland proposed that a bad crop could have been the cause of the paranoia. Earlier, in 1974, a historian announced that the rye grown throughout the late 1700s was afflicted with ergot. Ergot, a mold that grows on rye, is known to cause symptoms like paranoia and hallucinations and contains the chemical by which LSD is synthesized. Around one-twelfth of all rye crops were affected due to cold winters and wet springs, so widespread ergot poisoning could have been behind the beginning of the French Revolution.

Gordon Gora is a struggling author who is desperately trying to make it. He is working on several projects but until he finishes one, he will write for for his bread and butter. You can write him at [email protected].

Right now, the phrase “Middle East” is pretty much synonymous with “gigantic clusterf—k.” But how did things get to be so monumentally bad? How did a region once famed for its tolerance, wisdom, and learning turn into one famed for bloodshed, mayhem, and chaos? To figure that out, we need to delve into the region’s history.

10 The Sunni/Shia Split

In AD 632, things must have been looking pretty rosy for Islam. The outcast sect had swept through Mecca, uniting the entire Arabian peninsula. Muhammad’s clan was strong, they had God on their side, and there were fresh lands for conquering.

Then Muhammad died without naming an heir, and everything went to hell.

Between all his conquering and religion-founding, Muhammad hadn’t found time to father a son. This meant that no one knew who took over when he died. Many of his followers thought his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, should be the first caliph. A smaller, separate bunch thought his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib should be the first Imam. From that minor disagreement arose the sectarian split that’s been haunting the region ever since—the divide between Sunnis (team Abu) and Shia (team Ali).

9 Centuries Of Disagreement

Despite their differences, the two teams rubbed along fine at first. After three Sunni-chosen caliphs, Team Abu even agreed to make Shia Ali their fourth caliph. Everyone was happy.

Then Ali died, and his son took over. Deciding that one Shia caliph was enough, the Sunnis deposed him. That event set the course for the next 1,400 years of history.

The Shia created their own hierarchy, recognizing imams descended from Ali instead of caliphs. Sometimes, these two systems got along, but when they didn’t, the Shia suffered. During the 16th century, the Ottomans mass executed 40,000 Shia. Later, the Indian Mughal emperors would burn Shia scholars alive. Later still, British colonialists would hire Sunni militias to hunt Shia rebels in Iraq.

Naturally, this led to simmering resentments. As history shows, such resentments have a tendency to eventually boil over.

8 Saudi Arabia’s Deal With The Devil

While these problems were ticking over, an 18th-century Islamic reformist named Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was getting mad.

At the time, Sunni Islam had a big list of stuff you couldn’t do (like worshiping images) that the Shia nonetheless did. Wahhab thought the restrictions should be even stricter and that those who broke them were apostates. That meant the Quran sanctioned their killing.

Wahhabism caught on big time in the Sunni world, so much so that the House of Saud decided to make an alliance with its preachers. In return for their endorsement of the fledgling Saud state, the House of Saud would promote the Wahhabists and shower them with funds.

The pact worked; the House of Saud became rulers of the powerful Saudi Arabia. But it also left them in hock to a dangerous, ultraconservative ideology. It wouldn’t be long before their alliance came back to haunt them.

7 Lines On Maps

For centuries, the Sunni Ottoman Empire was the beast of the Middle East. A superpower that styled itself as a continuation of the Caliphate, it was the glue holding the Middle East together.

Then World War I hit.

If the Great War was bad for Europe, it was a calamity for the Ottomans. Their empire disappeared overnight. The Allied powers divided it up into new nations by drawing a series of lines on a map. From the dust of Turkish rule, Syria, Iraq, and other modern nations arose.

The trouble was that these nations were made up of peoples with not much in common. Shias and Sunnis were thrown together and told to play nice. Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, and others were spread thinly between states. Essentially, a whole bunch of mini-Yugoslavias had just been created. And like Yugoslavia, it only worked so long as there was prosperity and no stoking of ethnic tensions.

6 Iran Gets The CIA Treatment

As all this was going on, there still remained one final player waiting in the wings. In 1941, Iran’s pro-Hitler shah was deposed by Allied forces. This led to a brief flirtation with democracy that would have ramifications for those ethnic tensions we just mentioned.

Although the Allies were happy to see the Iranians trying out democracy, they didn’t like who they democratically elected. Mohammad Mosaddegh was a secular, pro-democracy anti-Islamist who just happened to be a Marxist. As such, he nationalized the British-connected Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The Brits went running to the Americans, who orchestrated a coup to remove Mosaddegh and replace him with the shah’s son.

The new shah was just as corrupt and dictatorial as his daddy. Realizing that democracy had just gotten them more oppression, Iran’s masses began to look for alternative methods of revolution. They found them in the county’s marginalized hard-line Shia preachers.

5 Saudi Arabia’s Internal Problems

Back in Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud was in a worrying bind.

By the 1970s, Wahhabism had gotten very extreme. Its anti-Shia, pro-jihad ideology was attracting hate preachers who poured bile across the Middle East, stoking up Sunni-Shia tensions. It was from these teachings that Al-Qaeda would eventually emerge.

Unfortunately, the internal politics of Saudi Arabia had become so tense that pulling the plug on Wahhabism was impossible. The clerics would’ve whipped up a revolution. So the royal family kept quietly funding this poison, exporting Wahhabism to an ever bigger audience.

Like Chinese water torture, this constant drip-drip of hate was slowly taking effect. The Saudis were spending literally billions of dollars pushing an ultra-extreme version of Islam on Sunnis in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Bahrain—and people were listening. Suddenly, Sunnis and Shia were beginning to look at one another with a whole lot of distrust.

4 Iran Gets Its Revolution

January 7, 1978, marked the moment that all these little streams began to converge into one big, roaring river. It was the start of the Iranian Revolution, a revolution which would see the shah flee, the Ayatollah Khomeini take his place, and the establishment of a hard-line Shia theocracy. It was also the moment that Sunni Saudi Arabia went into panic mode.

The revolution challenged the Saud state’s very being. The Ayatollah explicitly argued that hereditary kingship was against Islam. He also declared postrevolutionary Iran to represent all Muslims, something Saudi Arabia already claimed about itself. Those old seventh-century problems about Sunni/Shia legitimacy were resurfacing again.

Over the following decades, both countries began to deliberately play on those issues to legitimize their own rule. Saudi Arabia fed the Wahhabists even more money to preach the evils of Shia Islam. Iran tried to foment a Shia uprising against Saudi Arabia’s ruling Sunni clique. Each interference brought the temperature ever closer to boiling point.

3 The Iraq Disaster

Throughout the Iranian-Saudi rivalry, there was one wild card keeping everyone in check: Both sides regarded Saddam Hussein as an existential threat. The Iraqi dictator’s wild temper and obvious insanity scared everyone and counterintuitively helped to stabilize the region. Like two fighters caged up with a rabid dog, neither side wanted to make the first move and risk being bitten.

Then 2003 rolled round, and the US shot the dog.

Saddam’s death removed the last check on Iran and Saudi Arabia’s power games. Worse, it encouraged the two regional superpowers to try to fill the power vacuum in Iraq. Saudi Arabia sided with Saddam’s deposed Sunni allies, arming them against the new Shia government. Iran, meanwhile, backed Iraq’s new Shia rulers as they went on a bloody rampage against the Sunnis who had ruled them for so long.

One group to benefit from this chaos were Sunni jihadists Al-Qaeda in Iraq. They would eventually become famous under another name—ISIS.

2 Power Games

With no Saddam and Iraq in flames, Iran and Saudi Arabia began to extend their power games across the region. In Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen, both backed their Shia or Sunni allies against the other. Propaganda was pumped into conflict-free countries through mosques and outlets like PressTV. Suddenly, the old divide between Sunni and Shia was at the forefront of Middle Eastern life once again.

As new sectarian conflicts erupted across the region, it became harder and harder for Sunnis and Shia elsewhere not to take sides. In the same way that the Irish Troubles stirred Protestant and Catholic rivalries in the UK, these conflicts magnified the ancient schism and made it seem a matter of life and death.

Then, the Arab Spring exploded. As dictators toppled, wars erupted, and old certainties fell, Iran and Saudi Arabia began to fight for control of the emerging new order. Their struggle would eventually come to a head in Syria.

1 Syria Goes To Hell

By 2011, the old sectarian rivalries had been brought to boiling point. Battle-hardened jihadists were preparing for an apocalyptic war. Two regional superpowers were willing to destroy everything in a deadly game of chicken.

Then Syria imploded.

It was like everything had been leading up to this. Saudi Arabia saw a chance to remove Assad, the Iran-friendly Shia dictator. Iran felt it couldn’t let Saudi Arabia establish a Sunni client state on its doorstep. When Assad gassed his own people and the West did nothing, many Sunnis saw it as confirmation that the US and Europe were siding with Shia Iran. Primed by decades of apocalyptic Wahhabist preaching, they went to fight, joining and empowering groups like ISIS.

The result is a region that is now more divided than it has been for centuries—a mess of factional alliances, dangerous power games, and two big beasts carelessly using an ancient schism to boost their agendas. Until the dust clears and a winner is eventually declared, it’s likely that the Middle East will remain completely screwed up.

We all like to try and guess what the future will look like. It’s human nature to dream of the future, after all. So it shouldn’t be surprising that throughout the 20th century people were already looking to the 2000s and dreaming of what life would be like in the next millennium.

We’ve collected together ten of the most interesting—and funny—predictions of what modern life would look like. Sometimes they were surprisingly close to the mark, even scarily so. Most of the time, though, they were hilariously wrong.

See Also: 10 Ancient Predictions That Came True

10 A Woman May Even Be US President

In the 1950s, a group of experts took to the papers to tell people what life would look like in the year 2000. Some of their guesses were surprisingly accurate, such as the rise of the US as the world’s dominant power and the creation of the International Space Station. On the subject of women, though, they missed the mark somewhat.

According to them, the woman of the year 2000 would be six feet tall and wear a size 11 shoe, with “shoulders like a wrestler and muscles like a truck driver.” She would be doing the same work as men, so she would naturally have to conform to the same standards. She would have short, cropped hair and would wear practical clothing—only ‘going frilly’ after dark, as they put it.

Because science would have perfected a balanced ration of vitamins, proteins and minerals by the year 2000, her proportions would be “perfect, though Amazonian.” She would play the same sports that men do and would probably compete against them in football, baseball and wrestling.

They even thought she might be presidential material!^[1]

9 Schools Would Be Run By Robots

A series of pictures recently surfaced on a Japanese forum. Taken from a Showa-era newspaper, they were an attempt to predict what Japan would look like in 2011. Many of the scenes look like they’ve come straight out of 1950s science fiction comics.

In one of the images, a camera and some water jets create an automated fire extinguisher system, technology that is widespread today. In another, people stand around in spacesuits staring at screens that seem to show in-progress space exploration. In the distance is an elevated stadium which looks like a science fiction habitation biome, all things which are not common in the modern world. Beside it, however, aircraft are taking off vertically and the roofs of skyscrapers are covered in vegetation: these technologies have existed for years.

Perhaps the most disturbing scenes, though, are to be found in the picture of a 2011 classroom. In it, the teacher has been replaced by a slideshow showing a math question. The children have computers on their desks to input the correct answer: if they don’t, they are beaten by a robot, which is effectively a big club on wheels. In the corner, a child grins as it is restrained by some kind of time-out robot. Everything looks very clean though, so at least there’s that.^[2]

8Everything Would Be Plastic

Here is an 8-minute video from 1957 which explores a house of the future. Fortunately for us, our modern homes look nothing like it. For starters, everything is plastic. Yes, everything. The floors, the walls, the ceilings, the countertops and the windows—all plastic, as are the cups and plates.

In the kitchen, the dishes are cleaned by a retractable dishwasher which uses ultra-sonic waves while doubling as storage space. The cooking range, meanwhile, isn’t gas. It isn’t even electric: it uses radiation waves, though it doesn’t look like there’s a protective screen. Tasty.

The narrator claims the bathroom contains objects of ‘pure fantasy’. These turn out to be an electric toothbrush and an electric razor, which we’d hardly bat an eyelid at today. The main entertainment in the living room is a built-in stereo system, something so phenomenally outdated that it’s almost laughable.

There is a scene, however, where one of the actors is speaking to her friend over the phone while getting ready to go out, without having to hold the telephone to her ear—so they were right about loudspeaker at least.^[3]

7 We Would Have Pocket Computers

In 1977, a group of middle schoolers wrote to their local newspaper with their predictions of what life would be like in the year 2000. Most of their answers were surprisingly sensible, predicting the rise of things like electric cars and environmental issues while hoping for lower taxes and a better crime rate. They were clearly a product of their age: many expressed fears of a fuel shortage or another Great Depression.

A couple of their guesses, though, were much wilder. Marty Bohen said that by 2000 we’d all be living in round buildings. All workers would be robots and everyone would have a robot maid, and a button which would bring them anything they wanted. It all seems rather far-fetched until he casually slips in a prediction that we will have pocket computers containing everything we can name. With the rise of smartphones since 2007, he seems to have guessed that one perfectly.

John Vecchione thought that the year 2000 would look much better than 1977, predicting that the pollution problem would be solved and that cars would float on air. He himself would have a job designing ‘modern’ houses run entirely by solar power, with furniture that folded out from the walls and button-operated controls.^[4]

6 There Would Be Flying Firemen and Robot Maids

Between 1899 and 1910, a series of French artists produced a series of pictures showing what they thought life would be like in the year 2000, some of which were displayed at the World Exhibition in Paris. The idea was to predict what the 20th century would bring: none of them predicted the horrors of the first and second world wars or the rise of communism, but they did predict that automation would become a big issue—just not in the way they thought it would.

From the pictures, they clearly saw the robots of the future taking the place of the domestic staff they saw in the homes of the upper classes in their day. In one image a robot cuts customers’ hair in a barber shop, while in another a maid pilots a cleaning robot with a stick and a wire.

Every science fiction fan likes to dream of flying, though, and these artists were no exceptions. Another image shows an ‘aero-cabs’ port, where some well-dressed Victorian people are boarding a flying taxi—which looks like a yellow train with wings stuck on the sides. A flying car, complete with propeller, hurtles into view from the other side, just in case we didn’t get the message the first time.

In another picture, firemen with shoulder-mounted wings circle a burning building, removing people from the blaze. A steam train trundles by below, completely oblivious to the century of change that is supposed to have happened around it.^[5]

5Fashion Would Be Scientifically Practical

A short clip made in 1939 tried to predict what clothing would look like in the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, it is often wildly inaccurate—but in some ways it predicted the future bang on.

It says the skirt will disappear entirely, with women going on to wear trousers. While dresses are still popular, the vast majority of women today tend to wear jeans as their main choice of casual wear. In the clip, though, this new outfit for women is also accompanied by an electric belt, which would supposedly adapt the body to climatic changes. No, we have no idea, either. Elsewhere, it predicts that women will wear dresses made out of net—and while their version, with weird coils of metal over the breast, never became fashionable, shirts made out of fabric mesh are a fashionable part of the modern wardrobe. Aluminum dresses and flashlights as hair accessories never caught on (un)fortunately.

Men’s fashion in the year 2000 is concluded in just over ten seconds. Men’s clothes won’t have any collars, ties or pockets: he will instead wear a strange set of overalls. He will carry a radio, telephone, and a set of small containers at all times, along with “candy for cuties”, something that might get you arrested today.^[6]

4Barcoded Money and Futura-Rock

In 1988, the Los Angeles Times magazine published a special issue predicting what life would be like in 25 years’ time. Their visions of the distant year of 2013 are surprisingly accurate in some areas: they even correctly predicted the internet when they said the world’s computers and electronic devices would all be connected to the Integrated Services Digital Network.

In other ways, though, they missed the mark completely. For instance, the article also predicts that bills would have barcodes on them, to avoid corruption and crime. The city of LA would have to make businesses stagger their working times to cut down traffic (though they were right when they said traffic in LA would still be a problem). And, no, most of us haven’t replaced our pets with robotic versions and robot butlers still aren’t a thing, even though they’ve been predicted by science fiction fans for decades.

In their view of 2013 LA, multiple families would have to cram into single homes because of a housing shortage. Drivers are taxed for using their cars in the city, and none of us have to brush our teeth because we’ll all use ‘denturinse’. Oh, and all the kids will listen to a new genre of music known as ‘futura-rock’. Of course, none of these things actually happened, though they were very plausible at the time.^[7]

3 Back To The Future 2 Was Plausible

This one is a little different: in 2014, Business Insider asked people over the age of 40 what they used to think the future would look like when they were young. The conclusion? Most people thought the 2000s would look a lot more like ‘Back to The Future 2’ than it actually does.

One respondent wrote that, when the film first came out, it seemed like a fairly reasonable—if slightly optimistic—view of what like in the 2000s would be like. They genuinely thought that by now we’d have discovered a way to feed ourselves with just nutritional pills, and that flying cars and fusion power would be a common sight. Another user said they thought the hoverboards in the film would certainly exist as a toy by now, and that they had expected jetpacks to exist as a form of transportation.

It seems rather funny to us, but when you consider that the film was released a quarter of a century ago, it’s reasonable for someone then to assume that we’d have a manned base on the moon by now, or that we’d all be riding in self-driving cars. After all, wouldn’t we in the present expect those things to exist 25 years from now?^[8]

2 Cities Suspended By Balloons

A report by the UK’s Office for Science, prepared for the British government, has recently revealed what people in the past thought the cities of now could look like. Titled ‘A Visual History of the Future’, it reveals some of the innovative plans put forward in the past for dealing with the problems of the modern city. Some are crazier than others.

Coastal problems are a legitimate issue in the modern world, but so far we haven’t found an ambitious solution. For the most part, our answer is to use hard engineering techniques like flood walls to protect our cities from coastal damage.

In the past much more ambitious ideas were put forward, such as this plan for a so-called sky city. In this plan, chosen communities would be hoisted into the air with huge helium balloons to protect them from damage. These contraptions would make use of cloud skippers, which would float on the jet stream, allowing them to be maintained in the air with minimal resources. The idea was a competition entry, designed as a housing solution to be used in the aftermath of a coastal disaster.^[9]

1 Multi-Level Traffic

Another unusual solution from the same report was drawn up by Colin Buchanan in 1963. At the time, car ownership was growing in the UK, and was only expected to grow quicker. The Ministry of Transport was worried about the effect this would have on roads, so they began thinking of potential solutions.

They came up with a plan that would fundamentally alter the look of cities in the UK. Alongside more conventional solutions, such as using speed bumps to encourage slower driving, they came up with a plan to separate pedestrian and vehicle traffic by building raised walkways for pedestrians. Multi-level traffic would allow the city to handle a much higher volume of traffic without having to tackle high levels of congestion or using too much space. The sheer cost of building these new concrete tiers probably meant the plan was never truly possible, but it’s an interesting vision of what the UK’s cities could have looked like. It would almost certainly have improved things, too—unless you were a cyclist.

We’ve told you before about the many important items our species has managed to somehow lose over the years. But a few mislaid books don’t even begin to compare to the entire locations we’ve somehow destroyed. Through war, vandalism, or just stupidity, we humans have proved time and again that we’re the last people in the universe you should trust with anything valuable.

10The Singapore Stone

You’ve probably heard of the Rosetta Stone. The Singapore Stone was like its powerlifting big brother. The colossal boulder, 3 meters (10 ft) high and 3 meters wide, stood at the entrance to the Singapore River, inscribed with an ancient script no one could decipher. Today, we’re fairly confident it was a variation on Old Sumatran from the 10th–14th centuries, but for the people who discovered it in 1819, it was like an alien language. The stone and the surrounding area, considered holy, were clearly an important find.

So we blew it up.

In 1843, the British army requisitioned the land the stone was standing on to build a fort. Rather than cart the stone away to the British Museum or anything silly like that, they instead blew it to pieces and used the remains as building material, road surface, and a bench. Although a few fragments were saved and now reside in the National Museum of Singapore, the sacred site was utterly annihilated, with the majority of the stone’s text erased forever. Did it record an ancient victory, a local legend, or just an account of daily life? We’ll never know.

9The Senator Tree

At some unknown point 3,500 years ago, the seed of a cypress tree fell to the ground in modern-day Florida and took root. Over the next three and a half millennia, it grew to a height of 36 meters (118 ft). It saw the birth of Jesus Christ, the coming of Columbus, the Wall Street Crash, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, outliving all but four other trees on the planet. The Senator, as it became known, was even honored by President Coolidge in 1929.

In 2012, local meth addict Sara Barnes climbed into the Senator to get high. At some point, it grew dark, and Barnes lit a fire to help her see. The fire instantly did what any fire lit inside a lump of wood would do and went completely out of control.

According to emergency services personnel, the Senator burned “like a chimney” for a couple of hours before collapsing into a pile of ash. Barnes was arrested and thrown in jail, reportedly telling friends she couldn’t believe she “burned down a tree older than Jesus.”

8The Paradise Of Nauru

The tiny island nation of Nauru is today best known for housing one of Australia’s grim offshore detention centers. Only a century or so ago, though, it was better known as paradise. When Europeans first discovered it in the 18th century, it was covered with tropical vegetation so lush and dense they officially named it Pleasant Island. Even today, pictures of its beaches are so impossibly perfect that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were Photoshopped.

The above photo shows the whole of Nauru as it looks today, a blasted heap of stone devoid of any life whatsoever. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Pleasant Island, their country was lying directly on top of one of the biggest deposits of phosphate on Earth. Starting in 1900, various colonial powers stripped the island bare. When Nauru declared independence in the 1960s, the new government continued to mine the island, leaving behind a wasteland in which nothing can grow. Although Nauru itself technically still exists, everything that made those first sailors fall in love with the place is now gone forever.

7The Atacama Desert’s Archaeological Sites

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. Thanks to its lack of moisture, delicate pre-Columbian drawings and artifacts have been perfectly preserved there for millennia. Some sand dunes even record the traces of the wind patterns that helped shape them 18,000 years ago. The last thing you’d want to do with these fragile sites is drive a car straight through them, yet that’s exactly what challengers in the Dakar Rally did in 2009.

Although previously held in Africa, the rally was changed to South America following terrorist threats in 2008. Unfortunately, the organizers neglected to check the route properly, resulting in six irreplaceable sites in the Atacama being utterly destroyed. Ancient geoglyphs that can only be deciphered from the air were left with tire tracks running through them. A pre-Columbian hunter-gatherer camp was crushed and ground into the dust, and plenty of other important sites were left with irreparable damage.

Bad as this is, later races were even worse. According to the Santiago Times, the 2011 edition of the race irreversibly damaged 44 percent of all sampled sites, leaving the Atacama’s cultural heritage in tatters.

6Jonah’s Tomb

Marking the final resting place of the Old Testament prophet most of us remember for getting swallowed by a whale, Jonah’s Tomb in Mosul was a pilgrimage site for Muslims and Christians alike. It was also a favorite place of archaeologists, with the oldest parts of the tomb complex being dated to the eighth century B.C. None of this cut any mustard with the leaders of ISIS, who took one look at this invaluable site and decided to blow it up.

In July 2014, ISIS troops entered the mosque above the tomb during prayers and ordered everyone out. Then they set explosives and completely destroyed the site and several nearby houses. By their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, they were saving those present from worshiping a false idol. By everyone else’s interpretation, they were robbing us of an invaluable cultural treasure.

It seems ISIS have a thing for destroying cultural sites. In February 2015, they blew up a 2,700-year-old wall at ancient Nineveh, consigning yet more Iraqi history (and more of Jonah’s story, coincidentally) to the flames.

5Benin City

Until the 19th century, Benin City was one of the grandest sites on Earth. Portuguese traders recorded a city larger than Lisbon, with large, ornate houses and streets that ran “straight and far as the eye can see.” The Oba’s Palace at the center of the city was so beautiful that Dutch engravers portrayed it with the same fidelity they did Florence, rendering the turrets and cityscape in meticulous detail. Many Europeans admired it as much as their home cities. Then the British came along and burned it to the ground.

In 1892, the British signed a treaty with the rulers of Benin, giving them the right to exploit the land. When the government refuse to cooperate with the UK’s trading demands, London sent a force of 10 soldiers to make them. All 10 died. The British responded by raising an army, arming them to the teeth, and ransacking Benin City. In the course of 17 days’ fierce fighting, the Oba’s Palace was destroyed, the city was looted, and a fire left virtually nothing standing. It was as if Paris or Athens had gone up in flames but even worse because nobody seemed to care.

4Lake Urmia

As late as the 1990s, Lake Urmia in Iran was a tourist paradise. Famed for its azure blue waters and 100 islands hiding all manner of exotic animals, it drew crowds in from around the globe. People would bathe in its supposedly healing mud; others would marvel at the flocks of flamingos the waters drew. The size of Luxembourg, the lake was known as one of the natural wonders of the world. Today, it’s a desolate wasteland.

Thanks to some highly questionable government policies comparable to those that destroyed the Aral Sea, Lake Urmia is on the verge of disappearing. Already, the waters have receded so far back that rusted boats are left abandoned on parched dry land and all the wildlife that can has left. In its place now swirl toxic salt storms that ravage the landscape, spreading death in their wake. Although the Iranian government has pledged billions of dollars to restoring Lake Urmia, no one seriously expects them to do anything.

3The Mayrieres Cave

A group of cavemen living in the southwest of modern-day France 15,000 years ago decided to get artistic in the Cave of Mayrieres superieure. The results were two cave paintings of bison executed with incredible skill and an eye for beauty. Although nowhere near as vast or impressive as the Chauvet Cave, the artworks were still in startlingly good condition and considered invaluable. Until, that is, they caught the attention of some local do-gooders.

In spring 1992, a local Protestant youth club decided to do a good deed by cleaning some nearby caves of graffiti. Armed with wire brushes and plenty of ignorance, the 70 teens descended into the Cave of Mayrieres superieure and proceeded to scrub away much of the prehistoric art. Although they ultimately realized their mistake, the damage was more or less total. The paintings were ruined, French cultural officials were up in arms, and the youth group wound up being awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for their contribution to destroying our past.

2Syria’s Ancient Sites

Currently in the grip of one of the worst wars in living memory, Syria has been ground zero for historical destruction for some time now. Along with the horrendous loss of human life, the war has cost the world more treasures than perhaps any other conflict of the modern era.

Almost since the fighting started, the historic cities of both Damascus and Aleppo have sustained such continuous damage that they’re now in ruins. In 2012, a fire ripped through the ancient Aleppo souk, utterly destroying one of the most important trading points on the historic Silk Road. One year later, the UNESCO-listed crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers was hit by an airstrike, while the ancient minaret on Aleppo’s grand mosque was finally leveled after standing for nearly 1,000 years. The fighting has also provided cover for professional tomb robbers, who have looted invaluable sites like Palmyra so thoroughly that almost nothing is left.

In December 2014, the UN declared that 300 heritage sites had been either damaged or utterly destroyed across the country. With ISIS now bombing cultural sites in the north, it looks like this figure will only increase.

1Everything In Saudi Arabia

We’ve told you before about Saudi Arabia’s bizarre fixation with transforming Mecca into a kind of Las Vegas of the Middle East. But this barely touches on the full insanity of the Wahhabi kingdom. Since 1985, Saudi Arabia’s ruling family has voluntarily destroyed over 98 percent of the kingdom’s Islamic heritage.

We don’t just mean they’ve knocked down some old buildings to put up new hotels, either. All evidence points to a deliberate attempt to demolish as many cultural sites as possible. A mosque belonging to Islam’s very first caliph, Abu Bakr, was recently razed to the ground and replaced with an ATM. At Mount Uhud in Medina, a famous fissure to which Muhammad himself supposedly retreated after a battle was filled in with concrete and fenced off from pilgrims. Nothing was built in its place.

Perhaps craziest of all is the Orwellian way the Saudi government tries to rewrite history. After plans for a new palace built over Muhammad’s birthplace were announced, signs instantly sprang up around the site, warning people that there was no evidence Muhammad had been born there. After Mount Uhud was filled in, another sign appeared declaring there was nothing special about this mountain and never had been. It’s said that when sites are marked for destruction, the bulldozers pull them down in the night and leave no evidence by morning that anything was ever there.

Because Wahhabism proscribes worshiping false idols, clerics in the kingdom have encouraged the destruction of monuments and artifacts that might distract people from worshiping Allah. In doing so, they’ve effectively annihilated many traces of Islam’s ancient past.

Ever since the country first appeared in ancient Chinese chronicles, few places can boast as colorful and interesting a story as Japan’s. While nearly everybody’s heard about how the country’s Mongol invasions were thwarted by tsunamis or how it was sealed off from the rest of the world during its Edo period, there are plenty of other strange and surprising tidbits in Japanese history.

10 It Used To Be Illegal In Japan To Eat Meat

Starting in the mid-seventh century, the Japanese government placed a ban on eating meat which lasted on and off for over 1,200 years. Probably influenced by the Buddhist precept that forbids the taking of life, Emperor Tenmu issued an edict in 675 that banned the eating of beef, monkeys, and domestic animals under penalty of death.

The original law was only meant to be observed between April and September, but later laws and religious practices essentially made eating most meat, especially beef, illegal or taboo. Contact with Christian missionaries began to popularize meat eating again in the 16th century. Although another ban was proclaimed in 1687, some Japanese continued to eat meat.

By 1872, the Japanese authorities had officially lifted the ban and even the emperor had become a meat eater. While not everybody was immediately enthused, particularly monks, the centuries-old taboo on eating meat soon faded away.

9 Kabuki Was Created By A Crossdressing Woman

Kabuki, one of Japan’s most famous cultural icons, is a colorful form of dance theater in which both male and female characters are played exclusively by men. In its earliest stage, however, Kabuki was the exact opposite: The characters were played by women.

The founder of Kabuki was Izumo no Okuni, a priestess who became famous for performing dances and skits while dressed as a man. Okuni’s energetic and sensual routine was a huge hit, and other courtesans cashed in on her style by imitating her performances in all-female troupes.

This “women Kabuki,” as it was known, was so popular that dancers were even invited by daimyos (“feudal lords”) to stage private performances at their castles. As much as everybody else enjoyed the raunchy new art form, however, the government was not pleased.

In 1629, after a riot erupted at a Kabuki show in Kyoto, women were banned from the stage. Male actors took on the female roles, and Kabuki as we know it today was set in stone.

8 Japan’s Surrender In World War II Almost Didn’t Happen

On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allied powers in a nationwide radio broadcast known as the “Jewel Voice Broadcast.” The broadcast was not live but had been recorded the previous night. It also nearly didn’t make it out of the Imperial Palace.

The same night that Emperor Hirohito recorded his message, a group in the Japanese military who refused to surrender launched a coup d’etat. Major Kenji Hatanaka, the coup’s leader, occupied the Imperial Palace with his men for several hours. Hatanaka wanted the recording of the Jewel Voice Broadcast destroyed. Although his soldiers thoroughly searched the entire palace, it was nowhere to be found.

Miraculously, despite the search of everyone leaving the palace, the recording was smuggled outside in a laundry basket. Hatanaka wasn’t ready to give up, though. He left the palace and pedaled to a nearby radio station on his bicycle.

Hatanaka wanted to air a message, but the station wouldn’t allow it because of technical issues. Defeated, the rebel leader returned to the palace, shooting himself in front of the building.

7 Samurai Sometimes Tested Swords By Attacking Random Passersby

In medieval Japan, it was considered dishonorable if a samurai’s sword couldn’t cut through an opponent’s body in one stroke. It was important then for a samurai to know about the quality of his weapon, and every new sword he got had to be tested before he took it into battle.

Samurai usually practiced cuts on the bodies of criminals and corpses. But there was another method called tsujigiri (“crossroads killing”) in which targets were random commoners who were found walking on crossroads at night.

Incidents of tsujigiri were rare. But it did eventually become such a problem that the authorities felt the need to ban it in 1602. One report from the Edo era (1603–1868), describing the early years of the period, claimed that people were killed in tsujigiri every night on certain crossroads in modern-day Tokyo.

6 Japanese Soldiers Once Cut Off Ears And Noses For War Trophies

Under the legendary leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japan invaded Korea two times between 1592 and 1598. Although Japan eventually withdrew its troops from the country, the invasions were very brutal, with a possible death toll numbering as many as one million Koreans.

During that time, it wasn’t uncommon for Japanese warriors to take the heads of their enemies as war trophies. Shipping so many heads back to Japan would have been difficult, though, so the soldiers took ears and noses instead.

Once back in Japan, monuments were set up for the grisly trophies that were known as “ear tombs” and “nose tombs.” One such tomb in Kyoto, the Mimizuka, contains tens of thousands of trophies. Another in Okayama held 20,000 noses, but these were returned to Korea in 1992.

5 Father Of The Kamikaze Committed Seppuku To Atone For The Pilots He Helped To Kill

By October 1944, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi believed that the only way for Japan to win World War II was through the infamous kamikaze operation, suicide attacks in which Japanese pilots would crash their planes into Allied ships. Onishi hoped that the shock of the attacks would unnerve the United States, leading them to give up the war. He was so desperate, in fact, that he said he was willing to sacrifice 20 million Japanese lives to win.

After hearing of Emperor Hirohito’s surrender in August 1945, Onishi became distraught over the thousands of kamikaze pilots he had sacrificed. He thought that the only proper atonement was suicide and committed seppuku on August 16. In his suicide note, he apologized to “the souls of those bereaved dead and their bereaved families” and begged for the young people of Japan to work toward world peace.

4 The First Japanese Convert To Christianity Was A Murderer On The Run

In 1546, the 35-year-old samurai Anjiro was on the run from the law. Wanted for killing a man in a fight, he was hiding in the trading port of Kagoshima to avoid capture. While hiding, Anjiro came into contact with some Portuguese, who took pity on him and sent him off to Malacca.

During his time abroad, Anjiro studied Portuguese and was baptized with the name Paulo de Santa Fe, becoming the first Japanese Christian. He also met Francis Xavier, a Jesuit priest who traveled with Anjiro to launch a Christian mission in Japan in summer 1549. The mission ended poorly, with Anjiro and Xavier parting ways, the latter settling to try his luck in China.

Although Francis Xavier’s Japan mission might not have gone as well as he had hoped, he was eventually made a saint and a patron of Christian missionaries. Anjiro, who is believed to have died a pirate, is now largely forgotten.

3 The Portuguese Slave Trade Resulted In Japan Abolishing Slavery

Not long after the West first established contact with Japan in the 1540s, a Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves appeared. Sold to the Portuguese by other Japanese, these slaves were sent off to Portugal and other parts of Asia. The trade eventually became so large that even Portuguese slaves in Macau owned Japanese slaves.

Jesuit missionaries were not pleased with this activity. In 1571, they persuaded the king of Portugal to put a stop to the enslavement of Japanese, although Portuguese colonists resisted and ignored the ban.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Japanese warlord and leader, was furious about the trade. While ironically having no problem with enslaving Koreans during the Korean invasions he launched in the 1590s, Hideyoshi was vocal about ending the trade in Japanese slaves.

In 1587, he issued a ban that outlawed the practice, although the sale of Japanese slaves did persist for some time afterward.

2 Over 200 Japanese High School Girls Were Used As Nurses In The Battle Of Okinawa

In April 1945, the Allies launched their invasion of Okinawa. The three-month-long bloodbath killed over 200,000 people, 94,000 of whom were Okinawan civilians. Among the civilian dead was the Himeyuri Student Corps, a group of 200 female students between the ages of 15 and 19 whom the Japanese had forced to work as nurses during the battle.

At first, the Himeyuri girls worked at an army hospital. But they were moved to caves as the bombing of the island grew worse. They fed wounded Japanese soldiers, helped to perform amputations, and buried the bodies of the dead. As the Americans advanced, the girls were told not to surrender. Instead, they were advised to commit suicide by hand grenade.

Although some of the girls killed themselves, others died in the fighting. In one incident known as “The Cave of the Virgins,” 51 of the girls were killed after the cave they were hiding in was shelled. After the war, a monument and a museum were built for the Himeyuri girls.

1 Japan Had Its Own Nuclear Weapon Program During World War II

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shocked Japan and the world in August 1945, but one Japanese scientist might not have been so surprised. Physicist Yoshio Nishina had been worried about the possibility of such attacks since 1939. Nishina was also the head of Japan’s first nuclear weapon program, which started its research in April 1941.

By 1943, a committee headed by Nishina concluded that creating a nuclear weapon was possible but too difficult, even for the United States. The Japanese continued to research the possibility in the meantime, and another program called the F-Go Project was set up under physicist Bunsaku Arakatsu.

Though neither program was successful, who knows how differently World War II might have turned out had Japan gotten an atomic weapon first? According to author Robert K. Wilcox, Japan had the knowledge to create an atomic bomb but lacked the resources. In one close call in May 1945, a Nazi submarine that was supposed to deliver 540 kilograms (1,200 lb) of uranium oxide was captured on its way to Tokyo by the United States Navy.

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

Normal history is already barbaric enough. Behind the wars, disease, and murders that everyone knows, are tales that find a way to be even more awful. Some of these terror-inspiring stories can only be compared to those in Halloween movies. But unlike horror movie monsters that can be defeated by saying “it’s just a movie,” the savage tales on this list are very real.

SEE ALSO: 10 Beloved Stories Based On Horrible True Events

10 The Astronaut’s Mysterious Visitor

In 2003, Yang Liwei was floating in his capsule. He had just made history as China’s first man in space. He was alone in a void. Then came a knock.

In space, nobody can hear you scream. But apparently you can hear tapping. Back on Earth, Liwei described the event to reporters. The sound reminded him of “someone knocking the body of the spaceship just as knocking an iron bucket with a wooden hammer.” He could not place the source of the sound. He said, “it neither came from outside nor inside the spaceship.” He set out to explore the shuttle for any hints. Starring out his porthole, he saw nothing noticeable on the side. There was nothing faulty inside either. No one could explain the eerie knock.

Scientist have had little success uncovering the sound’s mysterious origins when it came back. Theories about friendly aliens greeting Liwei to the neighborhood were quickly ruled out. Returning to Earth, Liwei inspected the capsule again. He and his coworkers were still stymied. The crew attempted to recreate the sound. Nothing came close. Because sound needs a medium, the most likely reason was an object physically hitting the spacecraft. No marks indicated outside contact. The most accepted theory is the metallic surface of the exterior contracted while exposed to the cold vacuum of space. Other astronauts have reported similar sounds in 2005 and 2008, lending credence that it has to do with the temperature. The truth is out there, but it’s probably just thermal change.^[1]

9 The British Zombie Invasion

A virus breaks out. The shambling remains of the victims wander the city. The government tries to suppress them, but they escape. Armed locals have to take matters in to their own hands and execute them. This is the story of many zombie movies from REC to Resident Evil. For Black Plague victims in England, it was a reality.

As a burgeoning metropolitan center, London had reason to be particularly cautious about the spread of the disease. The ill were imprisoned in their own houses. To prevent visitors, the doors were padlocked. Any house holding the infected was marked with a red cross on the door to warn others to stay away. Armed guards were stationed to stop anyone from trying to help.

With minimal food and medicine, conditions broke down inside the house. Like George Romero’s Land of the Dead, the infected fought back. Families murdered the guards to escape. One common practice was to sneak a noose through a window and lower it until it hanged around the guard’s neck. With a quick jerk, the guard was hoisted up until he promised to let them go. Blankets were placed on top of murdered guards to trick plague carts in to dragging them off along with the dead. When whole streets were quarantined, neighbors rioted and massacred all the guards, with one crazed victim going so far as to manufacture homemade explosives.

Freedom was not worth all the bloodshed. The plague refugees wandered with no resources. As they fled London, many of the smaller villages barred entry. Locals threw stones and manure at the infirm. Some let the sick in, only to rob them.^[2]

8 Waterloo Soldiers Were Ground Up To Fertilizer

Between Napoleon Bonaparte and ABBA, Waterloo is synonymous with historical calamities. 60,000 soldiers died on that Belgian field. What those soldiers never would have guessed is that they would become a crucial part of English gardening.

A year after Waterloo, the fields were cleared. Companies collected all of the exposed soldier and horse bones. To maximize the space, they converted the bones into a powder. This practice was common on many of Napoleon’s other battlegrounds like Leipzig and Austerlitz.

Newspapers at the time report that in total they hauled, “more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones.” The fallen French army were ground up in Yorkshire factories, marking their second defeat to the English. Putting the man in “manure”, the remains were mixed together as an additive in fertilizers. The oil from the marrow proved to be especially helpful, rivaling “almost any other substance.” With a positive spin on this wide-scale grave robbing, contemporary newspapers said “a dead soldier is a most valuable article of commerce.”

Sent in mass to Doncaster, the compound helped grow the plants in England’s agriculture center. Local farmers could buy it to help grow their own crops. A generation of Europeans ate food made with the help of dead bodies. Hannibal Lecter would have been proud . . . and satiated.^[3]

7 Venerable Pope Pius XII’s Climatic Death

Venerable Pope Pius XII had one simple request. He did not want to be embalmed. He wanted his body to be interred as God had made it. Presumably, His Holiness did not want to explode either.

By his death in 1958, Pope Pius XII’s tenure had proven to be particularly controversial outside Catholic circles. Serving as the Pontiff in the buildup to and aftermath of World War II, historians have debated the merits of the Pope’s leadership. But those debates aside, the pontiff’s history suffered a final and disturbing blow. Papal Court doctor Galeazzi-Lisi got his position purely through nepotism. Friends with Pius XII (whilst still Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli) before he ascended to the papacy, Galeazzi-Lisi was woefully unqualified to be appointed as the Pope’s personal physician.

A quack with minimal medical training, Galeazzi-Lisi developed his own system of embalming. Evoking the oil rituals of early Christian leaders, Galeazzi-Lisi’s process of “aromatic osmosis” soaked the body in natural oils. For 24 hours, the body laid, wrapped in cellophane. There is a reason scientists abandoned this practice as it allows internal gases in the organs to build as the body decays. Stewing in the Mediterranean heat, the corpse burst open while being carried in procession.

After the corpse exploded, Galeazzi-Lisi was forced to re-embalm Pius overnight. It was too late. Pius XII’s nose and fingers had already flown off. Decomposition discolored the body. Displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica, mourners grieved over an “emerald green” corpse. Nearby guards fainted from the odor. Pius XII’s and Galeazzi-Lisi’s career were laid to rest the same day. Through ineptitude, he earned himself a place in history. He is the only person to have ever been banished from Vatican City.^[4]

6 George Washington Comes Back From The Dead

Before Dr. Victor Frankenstein, there was Dr. William Thornton. Frankenstein scrounged through the graves of recently executed criminals to create his unnatural monster. Thornton settled for more refined clientele, the Founding Father of the United States of America.

Martha Washington promised her husband George, that he would live to see the year 1800. George Washington died on Saturday night, December 14, 1799. Apparently unwilling to dishonor her promise, Martha contacted Dr. William Thornton.

George Washington was terrified of being buried alive. Terrible tales of coffins with scratch marks inside horrified him. With his secretary, Tobias Lear, Washington arranged to “not let his body be put into the Vault in less than three days” after confirming his death. During that window, his grieving family would sit around and wait to see if he moved. Thornton had another idea.

William Thornton was one of the most prestigious physicians of his time. Educated at Europe’s best schools, Thornton swore that he could cure everything wrong with Washington. Washington died before he arrived. That was no obstacle for Thornton. The plan was simple. Like a Thanksgiving turkey, Thornton would lower Washington’s body in cold water. To thaw him out, Thornton would swaddle the president in layers of blankets,. As Washington’s body temperature steadily increases, Thornton would pump air in his lungs to stimulate breath. To restart his heart, Thornton would inject the President with sheep’s blood. Eventually, the Washington would come back to life like nothing had ever happened. Surprisingly, the proposal was rejected. Grudgingly, Thornton believed for 20 years his experiment could have saved the President’s life. Science suggests otherwise.^[5]

5 Ivan Pavlov experimented on homeless orphans too

The mad Russian scientist’s mind control experiments on helpless victims is as classic a horror trope as they come. Those mad scientists do not usually get the Nobel Prize though. Ivan Pavlov is the exception that proves the rule.

Though Pavlov is most famous for conditioning dogs, that is not where his experiments were destined to end. A pupil of Pavlov, Nikolai Krasnogorsky, extended his experiments to humans. Acquiring subjects from the local orphanage, he had a group of young children he could easily manipulate without the burden of getting any clearance from their parents.

Repeating the set-up from his mentor’s famous dog experiments would have been impossible. Human beings are less willing than dogs to eat on cue. Bound with leather straps and metal head gear, the children’s mouths were locked open. Devices hooked inside the mouth measured their pooled saliva. An electronic pad hit their wrist whenever food was about to be distributed. The kids were force-fed both cookies and foul food. Their reactions to the different samples were recorded.

Though highly unethical, the research furthered the scientific understanding of conditioning on humans. Unlike Pavlov’s dogs, humans were less susceptible to slight changes in the stimuli. Through their suffering Kransngorsky’s children laid the groundwork for the modern theory of cognitive behavioral therapy.^[6]

4 Minik Wallace’s Museum of Horrors

Robert Peary is best known today for his excursions to the North Pole in 1909. By that time, Peary and his crew had already spent years researching the Arctic. In September 1897, he sailed to New York accompanied, likely unwillingly, by six Eskimos from Greenland. The American Museum of Natural History was scheduled to perform physicals on them. Among the six were Minik, a 7-year-old boy, and his father, Qisuk.

Living as an attraction, visitors gawked at Minik and Qisuk in the Arctic exhibit. Unaccustomed to the germs in New York, four, including Qisuk, promptly died. Another left for the Arctic shortly after. Hundreds of miles from home, Minik Wallace was left alone. The museum threw Qisuk a funeral. Minik watched as his father was put to rest in the museum’s garden. In reality, the museum just buried a log wrapped with fur. Qisuk’s real body, along with the three other Eskimos, were dissected and bleached at Bellevue Hospital. Just a few feet away from Minik’s own exhibit, his father’s corpse was put on display.

This was Peary’s common practice. He robbed Eskimo graves for their bones and property. The Museum would buy it. For years, Minik campaigned for the return of his father’s body. His requests were refused until Minik finally got Peary to listen by threatening to reveal that Peary had fathered two Eskimo children. Peary let Minik return to the Arctic.

Minik’s return was bitter sweet. He relearned his native language and married a fellow Eskimo. However, as the only country he ever truly knew, he longed for the United States and returned. In 1916, working as a lumberjack in Pittsburg, N.H. Minik died in the Spanish Flu epidemic. He was 28.^[7]

3 John Scott Harrison’s Cadaver Chop Shop

John Scott Harrison has the rare distinction of being the only person to be the son of a past United States president (William Henry Harrison) and the father of a future president (Benjamin Harrison). He also has the rare distinction of being a victim of a Leatherface-like dissection chamber.

As a onetime Ohio congressman, John Scott Harrison’s own tenure in politics was very successful, which explains why so many people attended his funeral on May 25, 1878. During the ceremony, mourners noticed that somebody had robbed the nearby grave of Augustus Devin. Worried that John Harrison might have the same fate, his sons placed three large stones bound with cement on the casket. It took 16 men to lift the stones. As a further precaution, a guard was hired to stand watch for a month.

Curious as to the fate of Mr Devin and suspicious of the nearby medical school’s need for corpses to study, a search warrant was obtained for the Medical College of Ohio. Their search uncovered multiple macabre finds including a box of mangled body parts and the splayed corpse of a six month old baby. But more revolting still was a masked naked corpse hanging from a rope. They removed the mask revealing the face of John Scott Harrison. His body had been robbed less than 24 hours after his burial . . . despite all of the precautions.

But what of Augustus Devin? He was later discovered pickling in a barrel at the University of Michigan.^[8]

2 The Serial Killer in the London Blitz

The London Blitz was a time when England boldly stood against the steady march of Nazism. Daily life in bomb-rattled London was a constant struggle. Gordon Frederick Cummins only made it worse.

In the cover of compulsory darkness, Gordon Frederick Cummins terrorized London in a six-day spree of murder and assault. A total of seven women were attacked. Four of them died. Cummins, who had enlisted in the Royal Air Force, was stationed at the Aircraft Reception Centre in northern London. Mainly attacking prostitutes, the city became his hunting ground for a week.

His first victim Evelyn Hamilton was sexually assaulted, robbed, strangled, and discarded in a gutter. Barely twenty-four hours later, Evelyn Oately’s slashed body was discovered. Next to her disfigured corpse was a can opener used in the attack. A fingerprint on the can opener’s handle was recovered. The next day, Margaret Florence Lowe’s body was found with her organs ripped out of her abdomen. And then, for the fourth day in a row, police found another dead prostitute, Doris Jouannet.

To become a horror cliché, Cummins waited a day to attack on Friday the 13th. Unlike Jason Voorhees, Cummins did not kill anyone that night. 32-year-old Mary Haywood was saved when a night porter shone his flashlight on Cummins in the middle of an attack. During the scuffle, Cummins left his service respirator behind as he fled. The police traced the serial number back to Cummins. Matching Cummins’ prints to the one on the can opener, Cummins was sentenced to death. The newly dubbed “Blackout Ripper” was executed on the 25th of June, 1942.^[9]

1 The Lincoln Assassination’s Forgotten Victim

The Lincoln assassination was one of the saddest events in United States history. High-ranking members of the American government including Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward were targeted that night by Booth’s co-conspirators. One unintended victim intended was not: Clara Harris. A tangential involvement with the Lincoln assassination led to her death too.

Clara Harris was not even supposed to be at Ford’s Theatre that April night in 1865. She and her then beau major Henry Rathbone attended at First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s request. Following the recent victory of the Civil War, the theatre-goers were in a celebratory mood. But, as history well knows, the celebration was cut short when John Wilkes Booth barged into the president’s box and shot him in the head. Trying to apprehend the assassin, Rathbone grabbed Boothe’s arm but Booth stabbed him. With the bloody dagger still in hand, Booth escaped.

Years later, Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone married. Unable to part with her blood-stained dress, Clara had preserved it behind a walled off closet. She believed it might summon Lincoln’s ghost. Spirits talked to Rathbone too. Guilt driven for not stopping the tragedy, Rathbone heard voices in the walls. They blamed him for Lincoln’s death and ordered him to avenge the fallen president. With a murder straight out of The Shining, Rathbone recreated the assassination on Christmas Eve in 1883. He shot Clara and stabbed himself with a knife. Clara died. He then attempted to attack his children before groundskeepers could pull him off. Henry spent the rest of his life in an asylum.^[10]

This list uncovers some amazing feats in architecture and technology, one of which has taken at least a decade to create. The building of all these structures was a major undertaking which is still taking a toll on some property developers and investors. Some of these sites are stunning and remarkable while others are slightly humorous.

It’s beyond amazing to see the painstaking efforts some individuals have taken to recreate history. We’re talking about history buffs who are so aroused by creating replicas that they will spend their family’s fortune to recreate the history of another country inside their own.

10 Paris In Tianducheng, China

If you’re in China but love Paris and luxury, you should visit Tianducheng. You’ll have the ability to have it all to yourself because the area is largely abandoned. The area impressively replicates Paris—from the buildings surrounding the 108-meter (354 ft) replica of the Eiffel Tower to the Champs-Elysees’ fountain.

The replica is a sight to behold even though it’s less than half of the real size, actually closer to a third. Paris in Tianducheng has a residential neighborhood around the Eiffel Tower, a gated community that protects practically no one.

It is built to accommodate 10,000 people, but far fewer people than that live there. Travel time to get there by public transportation takes at least an hour. Perhaps this is the reason for the lack of incoming traffic in the area despite its allure to investors.

9 London’s Tower Bridge In Suzhou, China

If an English person finds their trip to China culturally shocking, they can take solace in the faux English replicas. Those with an eye for authenticity will notice that the Tower Bridge in Suzhou does not have a raising mechanism.

The original has two towers while the replica has four towers connected through skywalks and elevators. You’ll find Tower Bridge Coffee located in one of the towers. Humorously enough, it has an English cafe with a Chinese menu.

The Chinese are proud of the £9.4 million monument, which stands 40 meters (131 ft) tall, across Huayuan Road. A Chinese publication stated that the Chinese structure was more magnificent than the original. The replica is wider at the base and has space for pedestrians and non–motor vehicles on either side.

The bridge is still discussed as part of the controversial urban planning in Suzhou that focuses on erecting foreign structures. The president of an architecture firm in Beijing called the bridge plagiarism in a city that already has its own rich culture.

8 Florence, Italy, In Tianjin, China

Florentia Village is a great place to visit if you have a taste for pricey Italian dining and shopping in Tianjin. This shopping center is definitely an Italian knockoff. But no matter how fake it might be, shoppers should be strapped with real, cold, hard cash.

This $220 million investment is nothing to be scoffed at. No need to take an 18-hour flight to shell out dollars the Italian way. When most people think of picking a gondola and riding down the canal, China is probably not the first place that comes to mind.

It’s fascinating that expensive brands such as Armani, Prada, Versace, and more have placed their shops in a replica shopping center. Wouldn’t one think that the world’s most successful retail brands would want to be associated with authenticity instead of a fictitious area of “Italy”?

Guess not. If a picture is taken at just the right angle, who is to say it’s not authentic? Italian mall operator RDM is expecting a lot of mainlander and international business. Faux Italy is located near the Kwai Hing subway station. Since it’s close to immigration checkpoints, the airport, and the subway, approximately half a million visitors are expected to travel to Florentia Village.

7 The Giza Pyramids In 3-D

Great minds at Harvard University, Dassault Systemes, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have collaborated to make an impressive replica of an Egyptian 3-D world.

Professor Peter Der Manuelian has used 3-D immersion in his teaching for the last 10 years. Recreations include 3-D tours of major monuments of Giza—three pyramids, the sphinx, 15 tombs, and the throne of the mother of King Khufu.

Dassault Systemes and the Harvard Semitic Museum have been collaborating for six years to create tombs and pyramids. The duo worked to provide 3-D, immersive classrooms for students to learn about the Giza area. High-performance projectors and a wide, curved screen provide a fully immersive experience for students learning about the structures of ancient Egypt.

The project is focused on archaeological truths to ensure historical accuracy. It brings together the findings of 11 different universities located in the US, Egypt, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

The Giza Pyramids in 3-D contains 150,000 files with information dating back to the 1800s. 3-D technology allows the Giza plateau to be shown at three different periods in time simultaneously. This includes the pyramids in 2400 BC, the conditions in 1912, and the structures as they are today.

6 The Greek Parthenon In Nashville, Tennessee

Witnessing the replica of Greece’s Parthenon in Tennessee isn’t free. Even though this historic building is fake and completely out of place, the original casts for the marble sculptures are authentic and date back to 438 BC. Other than being made of plaster, these full-scale replicas are remarkable.

The Centennial Exposition of 1897 brought about the creation of the Parthenon replica. However, the whole point of the Centennial Exposition was to display Native Americans, the original inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the choice was made to honor the original Native American tribes with something that has nothing to do with their culture or history.

The 13-meter (42 ft) statue of Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”) also serves as a museum of art. The Parthenon was made for temporary display in 1895 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897, although the state decided to make the structure permanent in 1920.

The statue of Athena Parthenos is the largest indoor statue in the Western world. The statue remained completely white for 12 years before it underwent a four-month gilding process.

Pheidias, the original Greek sculptor of Athena, was also the creator of the statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Alan LeQuire won the commission to recreate Athena Parthenos in 1982, and the work was finally unveiled in 1990.

5 The Leaning Tower Of Niles In Niles, Illinois

In the 1920s, Robert Ilg got an idea that he wanted to construct a 22-acre park in Illinois with two swimming pools. But he was confronted with the issue of unsightly water towers which provided water for the pools.

Then an ingenious idea popped into his mind to develop a replica of the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” to hide the water tanks. Size apparently doesn’t matter. At 29 meters (94 ft) tall, this replica is half the size of the original in Pisa, Italy.

Ilg required the local YMCA (which inherited the building) to maintain the site for $500 per year until 2059. The structure needs repairs, so hopefully, there are enough funds to complete the job.

4 Statue Of Liberty In Japan

These days, you just can’t count on landmarks to tell you where you are. Seeing the Statue of Liberty no longer means you’re in New York. In fact, there are three replicas of this well-known monument in Japan—one each in Odaiba, Shimoda, and Osaka.

The figure was provided on loan from France and temporarily put in place for a year in 1998 to celebrate ties between Japan and France. The following year, France took back the statue.

What better way to replace something missed than to just make a fake one? In 2000, a replica was erected in Japan and remains to this day.

3 Falconcity Of Wonders In Dubai

The Seven Wonders of the World are set to be recreated in Falconcity of Wonders in Dubai. The city is host to replicas of the pyramids, Taj Arabia, Tower of Pisa, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Eiffel Tower, and the Great Wall of China.

Taj Arabia is a replica of the Taj Mahal. The construction places heavy emphasis on modern amenities. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Dubai offer eco-friendly luxury flats, open-air restaurants, and of course, the garden.

Despite the immense efforts to recreate these structures, the focus is not on historical accuracy as much as aesthetic appeal. Many of the replicas have features that cannot be found on the originals, such as parks, cafes, and fountains. The luxury community is still in the process of being built after many years of delays.

2 Fred Flintstone’s House

Who would have known that it’s such a popular idea to live in a house that’s modeled after the Flintstones’ home? A theme park spanning six acres is dedicated to Fred and his lifestyle. It sits 48 kilometers (30 mi) outside of the Grand Canyon’s south rim.

The park is one of a few different Flintstones-themed parks in the US. The Flintstones’ Bedrock City Park and Campground is a theme park with quirky features, like a cafe with coffee for five cents and a fake volcano named after Wilma.

The town is complete with all the buildings—a dentist’s office, post office, jail, police station, and gift shop. Visit Fred’s Diner and chow down on the cartoon character’s favorite meals, like the Fishasaurus sandwich, Chickasaurus dinner, Bronto burgers, and Gravelberry pie.

For many years, the park was home to Linda Speckels, her five daughters, and her late husband, Francis. She is now looking for someone to take over the park’s operations as she’s raised all her children at the park and is ready to move on.

Speckels hopes that the new owner of the property will continue the Flintstones theme, but she is okay if they decide not to. Unfortunately for the new owner, the Hanna-Barbera licensing rights don’t transfer with the sale, but the conditional use permit does.

The new owner will have options to convert the property into a mall or casino. Anyone who opposes destruction of the park can slide down the back of their own brontosaurus every day for $2 million.

1 Titanic Replica

The Titanic II is being created by billionaire Clive Palmer. The design and decor of Titanic II will match the era of its predecessor. The replica of the iconic ship will even contain replicas of the original lifeboats.

The hull has finally been completed on this functioning replica of the Titanic after two years of delays. Plans were developed in 2012, and the ship was scheduled to have its maiden voyage in 2016. But that has been delayed until 2018.

Made for 2,435 passengers, the new ship will be equipped with lifeboats and modern marine applications. Even though Titanic II is slated to have 840 rooms and nine decks, it is actually going to be smaller than modern-day cruise ships.

The cost to build it is estimated at $435 million, roughly 10 times the cost of the original. It will be permanently docked at a luxury resort, set to open at the end of 2017. Titanic II will not be taking its old route. Instead, it will travel from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai.

Katana Haley is an entrepreneur and woman of many hats. When she’s not performing hard rock or songwriting, you’ll find her in a book. She has an extensive content marketing, copywriting, and musical background. Katana’s experience includes being a singer, content marketer, and web developer.

The saying goes that history is written by the winners, but what happens when none of the winners can agree on what to write? Over the centuries, our modern world has been shaped by conflicts, international treaties, and sporting events that have left a mark on the nations they’ve involved. While you’d expect two enemies (like, say, Iran and Israel) to have different interpretations of such events, you might be surprised by how many friendly nations have totally different takes on shared moments in their pasts. Moments like . . .

10 The British Barely Remember The Revolutionary War

If you went to school in the US, you were taught about the Revolutionary War. The 18th-century punch-up between plucky team USA and the might of the British Empire is America’s founding myth, the inferno from which the United States was born. George III is the villain, up there with the Kaiser as American history’s Big Bad, and independence is the grand finale. In the years since, the British may have gone from enemies to friends, but surely no one’s doubting it was a big deal for both nations.

Actually, the British are. Despite it being the moment they lost one of their major colonies, Brits today barely remember the Revolutionary War at all.^[1]

The trouble is, losing the war actually wasn’t much of a setback for the British. Their empire kept on growing, and the Industrial Revolution kept on happening, so history classes today barely bother to mention it. Where it is taught, it is usually as a prelude to the French Revolution, a much closer event that affected the whole of Europe way more than some argument about taxes on another continent.

9 Both Canadians And Americans Think They Kicked Butt In 1812

The US and Canada are basically siblings, with America the adventure-minded older brother and Canada the laid-back one still chilling in college. Not so in 1812. That was the year the US and Canada (then a British colony) decided to go toe-to-toe. The resulting war was messy and pointless and didn’t really result in a victory for anyone. Somehow, this dumb draw wound up becoming a founding myth for both nations.^[2]

As Smithsonian details in the link above, both Canada and the US today celebrate the War of 1812 as a time they kicked butt. Americans remember the Star-Spangled Banner still fluttering after a heavy night’s bombardment and are taught that the war was the moment the US showed the British they were a serious nation. Canadians, meanwhile, are taught it was the time they successfully beat up their older brother after team USA tried to invade them.

But what about the British, the guys who ruled Canada and helped them burn down the White House? Once again, they barely remember it. They were too busy kicking Napoleon’s backside to pay much attention. Speaking of which . . .

8 The British Think They Defeated Napoleon; The Russians Beg To Differ

It may be a bit of a stretch to call the UK and Russia friends, but they’re certainly not enemies. Nonetheless, their official histories disagree over the story of Napoleon. Depending on what country you were schooled in, Napoleon’s defeat was either thanks to Wellington’s genius or the sacrifice of thousands of Russian soldiers.^[3]

Before Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, he’d been defeated at Leipzig in 1813. This earlier defeat was entirely down to two things: Napoleon’s hubris and Russia. Only a year earlier, Napoleon had been de facto ruler of Europe. Then he decided to attack Russia, and everything went to Hell.

Over half a grueling year, his Grande Armee went from 650,000 men to under 100,000, as Russian winter and soldiers did their worst. The French soon went into retreat, only to be chased across the whole of Europe by vengeful Russians. It was this relentless pressure that caused the Emperor’s 1813 defeat and exile to Elba. While the Brits would say his second defeat was the one that sealed it, the Russians see Waterloo as the unnecessary sequel to their original smackdown.

7 The Americans Think They Defeated The Japanese; The Russians Beg To Differ

While there’s a good argument to be had over who really stomped Nazi Germany, the Allies or Soviets, we tend not to think that such questions exist over Imperial Japan. The endgame of World War II saw the Allied forces flatten Japan, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan’s top brass met the day of the Nagasaki bombing to discuss surrender. Surely this was a true American victory?

Well, there’s another school of thought that doesn’t get aired much in the States—one that says the real reason Japan surrendered was less because of A-bombs and more because the Soviet Union had decided to get involved.^[4]Stalin declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945. By the morning of August 9, Russian troops had stomped the Japanese in Manchuria and invaded Sakhalin Island. Within ten days, they would have been ready to swarm over Hokkaido before hitting mainland Japan itself. Hence the Japanese surrender. While not taught in mainstream Russian schools, this view certainly has its adherents in the Russophile world.

6 Both The British And The Germans Claimed Victory At Dunkirk

With Chris Nolan’s Dunkirk currently in cinemas, plenty of attention is being paid to this pivotal moment in World War II. The British have long seen it as an excellent example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, and the facts bear this out. Churchill expected only 30,000 British soldiers to be saved; 330,000 was the actual figure. While nearly 70,000 British troops were killed, nearly 30,000 Germans died with them. What should have been Britain’s humiliation wound up being the moment the war began to turn against Germany.

Yet things weren’t so clear-cut at the time. Incredibly, both the Allies and the Axis claimed Dunkirk not only as a victory but as one that would go down in history as a shining example of their side’s glory.^[5]Hitler himself described Dunkirk as “the greatest German victory ever.” At the same time, The New York Times was proclaiming “It [Dunkirk] is victory.” This goes beyond mere propaganda. Both the Axis and the Allies genuinely thought this evacuation was their greatest victory. While the German view has understandably died out, it’s still interesting to hear such conflicting hot takes.

5 The Vietnamese Don’t See The Vietnam War As Especially Significant

America’s involvement in Vietnam was an epoch-shaking catastrophe. Nearly 60,000 Americans died, along with uncountable millions of Vietnamese. In the US, it ignited the counterculture and spawned a period of soul-searching that lasted decades. Even now, with friendly relations reestablished with Vietnam and the Iraq War the new holder of the “least popular war” title, it still casts a long shadow.

So, given all that, what do you think the Vietnamese make of it? The answer is: “Not much.”^[6]

The American War, as it’s called in Hanoi, was devastating, but it’s just one of many wars Vietnam became embroiled in during the 20th century. They were invaded by the Japanese in World War II. They battled the French almost as soon as the Japanese left. No sooner had the American War ended than they had to invade Cambodia. They even got into a war with China in 1979. Amid all this carnage, what we call “the Vietnam War” was just another chapter in a long-running saga called “Vietnam getting super-killed.”

On top of that, there’s a culture of ignoring the war among Vietnamese who didn’t live through it. Many under-30s today are almost militantly uninterested in the topic.

4 Germans Don’t Care About The 1966 World Cup

Moving away from war for a moment, let’s look at Britain and Germany’s third most famous battle: the 1966 soccer World Cup. If you’ve ever set foot in Britain, you’ll know what a big deal this is. England’s 4–2 defeat of West Germany is the stuff of legend. Every four years, clips of it are trotted out on British TV. A 1996 song about it, “Three Lions,” routinely hits the charts every time England enters a soccer tournament. As parts of the national psyche go, it’s up there with Dunkirk and the Blitz.

There’s only one problem. The Germans barely remember it.^[7]

While the British still celebrate defeating their bitter soccer rivals, the Germans aren’t even aware they have a rivalry. German soccer fans traditionally hate the Dutch and even look on the English as almost friends. As for the 1966 final itself, it pales in Teutonic memory against West Germany’s 1954 World Cup win, seen today as a defining moment in Germany’s stepping out from under the black cloud of Nazism.

3 Britain Sees Exiting India As A Success; India Sees It As A Prelude To Catastrophe

When the time came for the old European powers to give up their colonies, they had two choices. Go peacefully, or go out in a bloody war. The French, as we saw with Vietnam, generally chose the latter. The British, to their credit, generally chose the former. When the Empire pulled out of India, it was with barely a shot fired and only seven casualties. Compared against the dismal records of other European powers, decolonization of India is generally seen as a British success.

In India and Pakistan, some see it a little differently. They hold Britain’s swift exit accountable for the bloody horrors of Partition.^[8]

The British drew up the new borders separating Hindu India from Muslim Pakistan, but they didn’t publish them until a day after independence. Some think mistakes like this fanned the flames of sectarian violence that gripped the subcontinent. And you better believe Partition was brutal. 15 million were displaced, and up to two million were killed in levels of violence not seen again until Rwanda. Even Indians who don’t blame the British can find it difficult to think about the Empire’s exit without the black cloud of Partition hovering over it.

2 Turkey’s Take On The Armenian Genocide Is Very Different From Its Allies’

Photo credit: Bain News Service

In 1915, the collapsing Ottoman Empire used the cover of World War I to launch the 20th century’s first extermination campaign. Using tactics similar to Nazi Germany, the Empire systematically slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians.

Known as the Armenian Genocide to historians, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that modern Turkey has a different view of it than its allies in Europe and the Americas. But it may surprise you to learn in what exact way that view differs. In 2014, Turkish journalist Bayraktar Bora summed up the Turkish position in an article for Euronews. He argued that while Turks believe the large-scale slaughter of Armenians happened, they don’t believe it was any worse than what was happening to them at the same time.^[9]

Between 1864 and 1922, this view goes, 4.5 million Ottoman Muslims were killed. During World War I, many more died as Russia conquered their territories, while another five million became refugees. In the Turkish telling, their campaign against the Armenians was shameful but has to be viewed in the context of a war where many sides were committing equally shameful acts, often against Turks.

1 Britain And France Think They Took A Principled Stand For Poland; Poland Thinks They Betrayed Them

On September 3, 1939, France and Britain jointly declared war on Germany. The two countries had a pact with Poland, which Axis forces had invaded two days earlier. After letting lesser nations like Czechoslovakia get gobbled up, the invasion of Poland is when the Allies finally put their feet down and stood up to Hitler. If either Brits or French think about that moment today, they probably assume Poland was grateful they joined in.

They’re wrong. Many in Poland think the two countries betrayed them.^[10]

This is a view that crops up uncomfortably often in Poland, including in respectable places like Warsaw’s Uprising Museum. Rather than seeing France and Britain’s stands as principled, it sees them as fair-weather friends who were happy to make some noises but didn’t supply arms, actually attack Germany, or do anything to stop Poland from getting conquered and over 65,000 Poles from getting killed (not to mention the millions who later died under Nazi and Soviet occupation). While it’s certainly not the only view in Poland—many still consider the Brits heroes—it does highlight what a pesky business interpreting history can be, even among friends.

Curses are as old as history, with some fervently believing in their power to generate evil circumstances. The Bible is filled with them, both Old Testament and New. Even Jesus of Nazareth uttered a curse when he encountered a fig tree which, to his disappointment, contained no figs. His curse ensured nobody else would eat from that tree either.

Curses continue to affect people of all cultures, and there are as many ways to protect oneself from them as there are curses themselves. But some of them are little more than nonsense. Here are ten such, which have long been believed and cited, though on closer examination they have little basis in fact.

10. The Curse of Tutankhamun

The curse of Tutankhamun, like the preceding Curse of the Pharaohs, or Mummy’s Curse, was mainly the creation of a media beset with competition, eager to sell newspapers. When Howard Carter’s expedition discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, it set off a media frenzy. When Carter entered the tomb in late November, accompanied by George Herbert, Lord Carnarvon, who financed the expedition, the frenzy hit a peak. More than 5,900 artifacts were eventually excavated from the tomb. They did not find a document or any other item describing a curse promising an early death to any desecrating the tomb, though later events led the press to report they had.

The following spring, Lord Carnarvon cut himself shaving, according to some slicing a mosquito bite which had already become infected. On April 5, 1923 Lord Carnarvon died of sepsis, caused by his infected wound, and though he had been in ill health for over two decades, the media seized upon the curse of King Tut. Several other deaths followed among the excavators, but according to the British Medical Journal The Lancet at a rate which did not exceed that of normal for a population sampling of similar size. Howard Carter lived for another 16 years, dying at the age of 64, of natural causes.

The Curse of King Tut both built upon and expanded on tales of curses enacted by the ancients to protect their final resting places and the items they took with them on their journey to the other world. Since the excavation, Tut’s mummy, and many of the items excavated from his tomb, have toured the world. Whenever the displays reach a new destination the media faithfully reproduces the legend of the Curse of King Tut, titillating their audience with threats of doom. But there is little evidence to support there ever was a curse, and less that the curse was found in writing by Carter and his team.

9. The Curse of Tippecanoe

Tippecanoe refers to William Henry Harrison, an American general who led the forces which defeated those of Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, temporarily ending the power of Tecumseh’s Confederation. According to legend, Tecumseh’s brother, Tenskwatawa, was to blame for the Indian’s defeat, and he responded by placing a curse on the Presidency, though it would be another 29 years before Harrison would be elected President. Others claim the Shawnee leader had nothing to do with the alleged curse on the American Presidency. It came to be known as the Curse of Tippecanoe because 1840, the year it began, saw the election of Harrison, the Hero of Tippecanoe, to the Presidency.

According to the curse, every American President elected to office in a year ending with zero would not survive their term in office. Harrison was the first American President to die in office in 1841. The next elected in the prescribed period, Abraham Lincoln, died in office, but after being inaugurated to his second term in 1865. 1880 saw the election of James Garfield, assassinated in his first term. 1900 saw the same for William McKinley. 1920 brought the election of Warren Harding, who died of heart related problems during his first term. In 1940 FDR was elected (his third term), and though he died in office it was in his fourth term, having served 12 years and one month as President.

1960 and the election of John Kennedy was the last time the “curse” arose, with JFK being assassinated during his third year in office. Since then it has spared Ronald Reagan (1980), George W. Bush (2000) and as of this writing Joe Biden (2020). The Curse has been bandied about by the media every 20 years or so, but it has in truth little power beyond entertainment value. More interesting coincidence than curse, the Curse of Tippecanoe is a strange quirk of American history.

8. The Curse of Rosemary’s Baby

For the uninitiated Rosemary’s Baby was a 1968 American psychological thriller directed by Roman Polanski. It starred Mia Farrow in a role in which she suspects her neighbors are members of a Satanic cult, and covet her soon-to-be-born baby for use in rituals. Originally Polanski wanted his then fiancée, Sharon Tate, to play the lead role, but ultimately decided she did not have the star power to carry the vehicle at that stage in her career. Nonetheless, Tate became a victim of a so-called curse which afflicted the movie and some of its players and workers, at least according to some.

Supporters of the curse include within it the famed Dakota Building in New York, used in the filming, and the site of John Lennon’s murder 12 years later. Tate was murdered by the Manson family, and Polanski fled to France and exile after being held for 42 days on felony charges for drugging and raping a child. Composer Krysztof Komeda, who wrote the soundtrack for the film, died after a fall from a cliff while intoxicated.

The film’s producer, Robert Evans (who also produced The Godfather), got into trouble for trafficking cocaine, earning himself a suspended sentence in exchange for making anti-drug public service announcements. So, while bad things happened to some of the people involved with the film, it hardly appears to be from supernatural causes, and the two main stars, Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, seemed to have gotten away unscathed.

7. The Curse of Macbeth

To utter the name Macbeth, or to read or quote a line within the play, while in a theater where the play is not currently in production, is to bring down a curse upon the transgressor and all others present, according to theater lore. One source for the curse was Shakespeare’s use of the three witches and their incantation in the play. The curse was placed on the play because the Bard used a real incantation in his script, evidently a faux pas among witches and non-witches. At any rate, according to the Royal Shakespeare Company, the curse has affected the play since its first performance circa 1606.

As is well known, during the 2022 Oscars, Chris Rock came onstage, only to be slapped by Will Smith after Rock made comments considered demeaning to Smith’s wife. What is less well-known is that just moments before Rock had congratulated Denzel Washington for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, speaking the forbidden word in the process. So maybe the curse led to the viral moment which left audiences stunned and gave Twitter a burst of activity.

There’s actually no way to debunk this curse, because there is nothing to refute. Witches do appear in MacBeth (Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…), and whether they recite a genuine incantation is known only to their fellow witches. The play does have a long history of questionable, violent, and even fatal events occurring during its many productions, including films. Perhaps the best way to debunk the curse is through experimentation. Next time you are in the theater, simply utter the name Macbeth aloud, and await events. Good luck.

6. The Curse of the Bermuda Triangle

A writer by the name of Vincent Gaddis gave birth to the term Bermuda Triangle, in a 1964 article which appeared in Argosy Magazine. Later writers took up the mantle, describing the borders of the triangle, altering them when necessary to fit their theses. By the 1970s the triangle was a major topic in paperback books, documentaries, fiction, and other forms of entertainment, written and on film. The truth is, the Bermuda Triangle is no more prone to strange occurrences and disappearances than any other like-sized area of the ocean in the world. It just had better publicity.

The US Coast Guard does not officially recognize the Bermuda Triangle, though that has no effect on breathless media reports of Coast Guard searches within the triangle when circumstances warrant. The headlines simply draw more attention with the words Bermuda Triangle appear. One of the most famous events within the triangle, the loss of US Navy Flight 19, continues to feature in triangle lore as an unexplained disappearance in clear weather of well-trained Navy pilots on a simulated bombing mission. In fact, though the flight began in clear weather, by the time the pilots radioed they were lost the weather had deteriorated badly, and the Navy has long explained the loss of the flight as pilot error on the part of the flight’s leader.

The Bermuda Triangle is a classic example of an urban myth created by faulty reporting, circular reporting, deliberate falsehoods, and sensationalism. This does not mean there hasn’t been losses of ships and aircraft within the loosely defined and flexible boundaries of the region. Ship’s, boats, and aircraft are lost to the sea in all the waters of the world, virtually every day, and many without a trace to explain what happened. But in the Bermuda Triangle it hasn’t happened any more than it has anywhere else, especially considering the heavy amount of traffic in the area, much of it driven by untrained, amateur boaters.

5. The Curse of King Casimir IV

Fifty years after the opening of the tomb of King Tut in Egypt, another team of archaeologists and excavators planned to open the tomb of Polish King Casimir IV. Casimir IV ruled in the 15th century, and his reign was described as both “successful and peaceful”, though he accomplished relatively little of note during his time on the throne (1447-1492).

Following the opening of the tomb, which had been avidly followed by the media, several members of the excavating team developed lung disorders. This led to speculation in the media of a curse, calling to mind the media frenzy over the Curse of King Tut half a century earlier. According to some sources at least fifteen members of the archaeological party entering the tomb died of mysterious, inexplicable lung diseases, and King Casimir’s curse surpassed that of Tut.

It turned out the tombs of the two kings shared a common denominator, but it wasn’t a curse. At least not a supernatural curse. It was fungi, Aspergillus Flavus, found in both tombs. The fungus led to a condition known as aspergillosis, particularly in those with already compromised lungs or immune systems. Additional fungi which contributed to the diseases suffered by those who entered Casimir’s tomb were also identified. Casimir IV’s “curse” was unknown science, rather than supernatural activity.

4. The Curse of Tamerlane

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was an admirer of the Mongol chieftain and war leader Tamerlane, also known as Timur. Timur was the first ruler of the Timurid Dynasty in the late 14th and early 15th century. At his death he was interred in a mausoleum known as Gur-e-Amir in modern day Uzbekistan. In 1941 Uzbekistan was a Soviet Socialist Republic, subject to the whims of Stalin, who ordered the mausoleum opened in 1941, allegedly to ensure the bodies within were of Tamerlane and his sons and other relatives. Stalin assigned the task to Mikhail Gerasimov, a noted Soviet anthropologist.

Gerasimov, in the presence of local officials, opened the vault containing Timur’s remains on June 20, 1941, despite warnings etched into the walls of the mausoleum against desecrating the grave. Local officials also warned against his doing so. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the first steps in a war which led to the deaths of millions. To many, the curse of Tamerlane led to the carnage visited upon the Soviet Republics and the rest of Eastern Europe, as well as in Germany.

Those attributing the Eastern Front to the curse of Tamerlane ignore the fact that the German High Command began planning what they called Operation Barbarossa in the early summer of 1940, following the fall of France. Hitler committed Germany to the invasion by the end of 1940, six months before the Soviet excavators opened Tamerlane’s tomb. So, the Curse of Tamerlane certainly didn’t trigger the disaster which befell Eastern Europe in the summer of 1941, as many have attested over the years.

3. The Curse of Superman

Numerous actors have played the Man of Steel on television and in feature films. Events which occurred with two of them should give pause to others who consider the role, at least for those who believe in the Curse of Superman. It begins with actor George Reeves, whose film career began with considerable promise when he appeared with Vivien Leigh in the opening scenes of Gone With the Wind, portraying one of the Tarleton twins. By the 1950s Reeves had achieved success, and acclaim, for his role as Superman. Yet he found himself typecast in the role, and sought for ways to escape into others. Unfortunately, his shooting schedule prevented him from accepting other roles. Reeves died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1959, though some have questioned whether it was really a suicide.

The next major actor affected by the so-called curse was Christopher Reeve (no relation) who played Superman/Clark Kent in four films in the 1970s and 1980s. Reeve suffered a horseback riding accident in 1995, paralyzing him from the neck down, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died in 2004, just 52 years of age. Others cited for being affected by the curse include Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve films. In 2002 she told the Daily Telegraph the curse was “newspaper-created rubbish”. Supporters of the curse believe it goes much deeper, affecting even the creators of Superman, Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel.

Despite the urban legend of the curse, it appears to have been limited to just two of the actors who actually portrayed the Man of Steel. Others, including Dean Cain, Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, and Tom Welling, have thus far been evidently exempt from the curse. Actors who preceded George Reeves, which included Bud Collyer, who voiced Superman on radio, and Kirk Alyn, who played him in serials in the 1940s, also escaped the curse. But Lee Quigley, who appeared as the baby who became Superman in the 1978 Christopher Reeve film, died of solvent abuse in 1991, only 14 years of age.

2. The My Way Curse

One wonders what Sinatra would think of the notion that one of his most popular songs is cursed, bringing death to those with the temerity to sing it in public. But such is the case in the Philippines, where local legend describes the My Way Curse. According to the curse, beginning around 2002, singers of the song in karaoke bars (called videoke in the Philippines) have been shot and killed, and several other incidents of violence have occurred. Often, they are caused by off-key renditions, repetitive performances, and in some cases, evident premeditation. At least one security guard shot and killed a singer after he failed to heed a warning to stop his performance of the song.

The exact number of killings attributed to the My Way Curse varies depending on sources. At least one appeared to be a premeditated assassination of a barangay (roughly a district chairman), who chose to sing the song at a Christmas party. While there have been incidents of karaoke violence triggered by other songs in other countries, the My Way Curse appears to be localized to the Philippines, and has lasted over 20 years. In the 2010s several of the thousands of karaoke bars in the Philippines removed the song from their repertoires, but the killings have continued sporadically since.

There are several possible explanations why the Sinatra classic, which was written by Paul Anka, could be a catalyst for violence. One is the arrogance of the lyrics themselves, delivered while the singer faces “the final curtain”. Sinatra’s version has been called “America’s Anthem of Self-determination”. But the curse seemingly didn’t harm Frank, who released his version of the song in 1969. And there is nothing mysterious or supernatural about the killings, they mostly share the common thread of a disgruntled listener and alcohol. More of a social phenomenon than a curse, the My Way Killings continue, along with karaoke related violence across much of the so-called civilized world.

1. The Conqueror Curse

Of the roughly 220 people who worked on the 1956 John Wayne vehicle The Conqueror in the Utah desert, 91 contracted some form of cancer, and of those 46 died of cancer or its complications. Among them were Wayne, co-star Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Lee Van Cleef, director Dick Powell, and several others, most of them in the 1960s and early 1970s. This led to a belief the film, in which Wayne played Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan, was cursed. Most of the exterior scenes of the film were shot at Escalante, a desert area about 135 miles downwind of the site of the US government’s 1953 Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear weapons tests.

In 1980 a biology professor at the University of Utah cited the high rates of cancers and subsequent deaths following the production as an “epidemic”. This led to the Curse of the Conqueror, in which those who worked on the film were doomed to be stricken. But the numbers don’t add up. Statistically, the odds of contracting cancer for American males is about 40.2%, and the odds of it being fatal about 20.5%, very near the rates suffered by The Conqueror’s crew. In 1956 the odds were higher, treatments were less advanced, and many of those stricken were heavy smokers, including Wayne, Hayward, and Van Cleef (Agnes Moorehead being a notable exception, a teetotaler and non-smoker, she contracted fatal uterine cancer).

The deaths created a reputation for the film which led to its producer, Howard Hughes, purchasing nearly every available print, effectively removing it from distribution for many years. Nor were the critics particularly kind, even before the “Curse” surrounding the film appeared. In 2013, The Guardian revisited the film, with little kind to say about anything surrounding it. Whether or not radiation exposure led to sickness and death among the film’s crew is still argued. But there is little argument over the quality of the film, which is generally regarded as one of John Wayne’s worst.