Just about everyone reading this has probably heard of alleged UFO crashes like the Roswell incident. Or maybe you’ve even heard of the one at Kecksburg in Pennsylvania, or perhaps the alleged crash in the Black Forest in Germany in 1936. However, there is an absolute plethora of other claims, with numerous witnesses to boot, of other UFO crashes on record.

What’s more, reports of wrecked flying saucers have come in from all over the planet, and they’ve occurred over a broader range of history than you might have guessed. Here, then, are ten lesser-known claims of crashed alien craft from other worlds!

10 The Dalnegorsk ‘Height 611’ Crash

On the evening of January 29, 1986, a strange, red sphere suddenly appeared in front of hundreds of witnesses in the skies over the small mining town of Dalnegorsk, on the southeasternmost side of the Soviet Union. After moving steadily over the village for several moments, it suddenly began to fail and would ultimately crash into the Izvestkovaya Mountain—known to many as “Height 611” or “Hill 611.”^[1]

Witnesses would report hearing an explosion and witnessing intense burning and flames around the apparent crash site. Before official investigators could examine the scene, several locals ventured up to the crash site the following day. Although they found obvious evidence of a disturbance, and likely intense heat judging from the burned-out tree stump and vegetation, they didn’t see or recover any actual wreckage. They did, however, discover strange “rock-like” pieces that had a metallic feel and look to them. They would hand these over to the chief investigator, Valeri Dvuzhilni of the Far Eastern Committee for Anomalous Phenomena.

When investigators examined the grounds more thoroughly, they would discover tiny metallic “droplets,” ranging in size from 2 to 5 millimeters. When these were later examined, they had a most complex inner structure of metallic fibers, along with gold thread and coverings of quartz crystal. Although tiny, these strange droplets, or the material that made them, was of obvious complex and intelligent design.

Furthermore, the burned-out tree stump was found to have melted on one side (presumably the side nearest to the heat of the crash site). The burning of the wood produced carbon, and it would have taken heat in excess of 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,432 °F) to melt such carbon. The case remains unexplained, although Dvuzhilni would theorize the possibility that the intense heat was not flames for the majority of the incident but repairs, which allowed the craft to take off before the locals arrived at the scene.

9 The Salta Case

Not only was there an alleged UFO crash in Salta, Argentina, on the afternoon of August 17, 1995, witnessed by dozens of people, but one of them was a civil aviation pilot who would take to the air in the immediate moments following the sudden appearance, crash, and explosion of a strange silver disc.^[2] Tony Galvano was having lunch at the time when an extremely bright metallic object roared out of the sky before suddenly falling to the ground and exploding in a flurry of flames and black smoke. Some reports even suggest that seismic activity was recorded over 320 kilometers (200 mi) away.

Galvano would immediately run to his Flystar airplane in order to take to the skies and get a better look at what was happening and, more specifically, what had just crashed down to the ground. However, his initial attempts were thwarted by the thick, black smoke that not only made it impossible to see any activity on the ground but also made it dangerous to fly. He returned to the airfield. He would, however, take off on another reconnaissance mission two days later.

When he did, he saw an obviously disturbed area where a craft had crashed and skidded for a short distance before coming to a grinding halt. As well as disturbance to the land itself, Galvano observed that the trees and bushes were also significantly damaged. Some of them had even been ripped from the ground, their roots showing completely.

Galvano would return to the site again several weeks later with other volunteer searchers from the area. On this occasion, however, they were approached by armed men in black suits who drove to the site in heavy-duty black SUVs. They immediately stated that they were taking over the search effort and that Galvano and the others were all to go home. Galvano began to protest before one of the men stated ominously, “Forget it, Galvano, what’s coming down is very heavy.”

8 The Megas Platanos UFO Crash

An apparent UFO crash occurred in the early hours of September 2, 1990, in the picturesque, sun-blessed setting of Megas Platanos in Greece.^[3] It was just after 3:00 AM when six bright lights began to approach the village. However, one of the lights was moving much more erratically than the others. As several witnesses watched, all spread out across the area and thus witnessing the events from different vantage points, the unsteady light suddenly came crashing down to the ground below.

A shepherd, Trantos Karatranjos, watched the object impact the ground from around 500 meters (1600 ft) away. He would recall how there was an immediate burst of flames, which then spread quickly to nearby vegetation. As this was happening, the five other craft were hovering overhead, as if watching events unfold. Suddenly, two of them came down to the ruined vehicle. The fires were now no longer burning. The glowing craft would continue to descend and ascend once more, seemingly in turns as if there was some kind of repair operation taking place. This operation, whatever it was, would continue until dawn.

By the time residents would venture to the crash site with the onset of daylight, they were shocked to find scorch marks but no crippled craft. They did recover some wires and metallic remains, many of which would disappear with the locals as “souvenirs.” According to later reports made to UFO investigators, there was a distinct Greek military presence in the area in the days that followed. They would even issue an official statement saying that the “UFO” was actually a Soviet satellite.

7 The Las Vegas Crash

An almost forgotten UFO crash in Las Vegas on the evening of April 18, 1962, was actually tracked by US military radar right the way across the United States.^[4] The aerial anomaly would enter New York airspace before making its way across Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada, where it would ultimately crash to the ground.

Fighter jets were scrambled from Luke Air Force Base just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. According to reports, the craft initially “came down” in the town of Eureka in Utah (causing a temporary blackout) before rising quickly into the air again. As it approached Las Vegas, it vanished from the radar screens. According to whistle-blower reports and eventually declassified documents, many UFO researchers had reason to believe that the craft came down inside the grounds of Nellis Air Force Base, which, incidentally, resides near Las Vegas.

What is certain is that at the time of the alleged crash, many reports were flooding into the switchboards of the police departments and aviation authorities alike, telling of a strange, red glow in the sky. Many would also report a sudden noise that sounded very much “like an explosion.”

The official explanation offered from the military was that the sightings were nothing more than meteors. They would also largely suppress their tracking of the craft across the country, instead treating them as individual “state sightings.” This would sever connections and allow the meteor explanation to take hold more firmly.

6 The Kingdom Of Lesotho Incident

The independent nation of the Kingdom of Lesotho, which is bordered by South African land on all sides, was subject to a downed UFO on the evening of September 19, 1995.^[5] Peter Lachasa, a South African farmer, would suddenly hear a “strange sound” overhead at around 9:15 PM. He would also notice how his cattle were suddenly spooked and unsettled. Then, he heard a sound that was unmistakably an explosion.

He quickly made his way outside to investigate. He saw that several of his neighbors who had land bordering his were also watching events unfold. One of these neighbors would later state that the object hit the ground and gave off “a series of blinding flashes” as it exploded. Along with several of his neighbors, Lachasa would approach the crash site, but the intense heat forced them to maintain a certain distance from it. Lachasa, though, thought he might have seen an occupant inside the ruins. And what’s more, it could have been moving. He contacted the authorities in case there were indeed survivors.

By the time police arrived, they would go back to the crash site once more. Despite the previous heat and flames, now there didn’t appear to be any significant damage to the craft. The police would make a report, unsure of what to do since the object was on private land. However, shortly after midnight, the South African military would arrive. They claimed to have permission from the Lesotho Ministry of Defense to recover the craft on their behalf. They secured the scene, keeping any nonmilitary personnel away from the area. They would work through the night, and by dawn, the craft and any evidence of its presence was no longer there. Its whereabouts are unknown.

5 UFO Crash In Nebraska

The earliest UFO crash on our list comes from Dundy County in Nebraska on June 6, 1884. That evening, with the Sun setting but still with adequate light to continue rounding up his cattle, farmer John W. Ellis and several hired workers would suddenly witness an extremely bright light making its way across the skies.^[6] As it appeared, a “terrific whirring” sound became increasingly loud in their ears. As the men watched the object, they quickly realized it was coming down to the ground. They continued to watch until the impact and inevitable explosion occurred.

After waiting for several moments, the men cautiously approached the vehicle to investigate further. According to a report in the Nebraska Nugget newspaper, Alf Williamson (one of the witnesses) would suffer intense burns from getting too close to the craft.

According to subsequent reports that would appear over the following years, including one in The Nebraska State Journal in 1887, the men were of no doubt that the object was a “nuts-and-bolts” airborne vehicle. It was made, according to their report, from a “metal of an appearance like brass.” However, when they tried to move it, they were shocked at how “remarkably light” it was, even though the exterior was a strong as any known metal at the time.

4 The Prohladnyi Incident

According to reports that were released following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at around 11:00 AM on August 10, 1989, a squadron of MiG-25s were scrambled to meet a UFO flying over the city of Prohladnyi near the Caucasus Mountains.^[7] If their reports are to be believed, the UFO was hit by a ground-to-air missile and crashed somewhere in the mountains.

A Mil Mi-8 helicopter was sent out to locate the object. A disc-shaped craft was soon located near Nizhniy Chegem. A retrieval team was sent to the area, which was soon cordoned off and under military lockdown.

The retrieval team would transport the object to the nearby Mozdok Air Base. According to the reports, the KGB would oversee a specially pieced together investigation team to attempt to reverse-engineer the apparent alien technology. At the same time, the KGB would employ a typical Cold War cover-up operation.

As a further twist to this affair, a crew of three alien occupants were discovered within the remains of the craft. Two of them were dead on discovery. The third, while alive, would die shortly after. If we are to believe the account, the three dead aliens are preserved somewhere in a top-secret location, most likely Kapustin Yar, the Soviet version of Area 51.

3 The Howden Moors Crash

Perhaps one of the most intriguing alleged cases of a crashed UFO took place on the evening of March 24, 1997, over the Howden Moors between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire in England.^[8] At just after 10:00 PM, reports began to come in from the public that there was a low-flying aircraft over the moors. However, these reports would soon turn into ones of bright flashes, loud booming noises, and “several plumes of black smoke” rising from somewhere in the woodlands of the open countryside.

Several search operations from several different police counties were launched, both on foot and in the air. These would continue through the night. The main concern was that a light aircraft or a helicopter had come down. However, no survivors or any wreckage was discovered during the search, which would go on until well into the following day. At one stage, no-fly zones were put in place, an action which some later UFO researchers would find to be suspicious—particularly when there were commercial airliners “stacking” as a result.

Despite all of this activity, the sudden official word from the UK military was that there was no crash at all. It had simply been a mistaken sighting—despite the plethora of reports from the general public. Soon, rumors began to circulate from the many volunteer searchers. The most prominent came from a unit of Yorkshire Water workers who happened to be in the area. They would claim to have seen a wrecked pile of metal in a clearing. They would also report that there was a “military presence” there. What’s more, this military presence was loading “body bags” onto a Sea King helicopter. When the military were confronted with this, they claimed they were merely moving “equipment!”

Despite the official explanation of mistaken reports, many UFO researchers still consider the crash authentic, and an explanation remains elusive.

2 The Wilsthorpe Beach Incident

A bizarre incident presumed to be a downed UFO occurred in September 2009, although no witnesses actually saw the crash itself.^[9] However, the events that would unfold are almost a textbook crash story. An unnamed retired couple, in their seventies at the time, would witness 30 to 40 strange objects hanging in the air over the North Sea for around 90 minutes. It was around 11:00 PM, and the married couple were getting ready for bed when they noticed the strange aerial show from the bedroom window of their seafront home.

After they watched the UFOs until just after midnight, the strange objects began to shoot straight upward. Not quite sure what they had seen, the couple believed the show was over and went to bed.

However, the next morning, they would awake to the sound of heavy-duty military helicopters descending on the beachfront. Two Chinooks off-loaded droves of military personnel. The entire beach was under lockdown. Some of the soldiers were moving up and down the beach in specific ways with metal detectors, as if searching for metallic objects. Then came the sound of bursts of automatic gunfire. Quickly followed by explosions.

When UFO investigators would request information on the military presence that morning, even asking outright if a UFO had crashed on the beach or in the sea, they were told it was a “routine military exercise.” One particular UFO researcher, Paul Sinclair, wasn’t at all satisfied with that explanation and continues to investigate the case.

1 The Bolivia Crash

On the mountain range near Bermejo, Bolivia, near the border with Argentina, thousands of people would witness a UFO crash and explode into flames.^[10] It was just after 4:15 PM on May 6, 1978, and according to reports, the “supersonic bang” was heard up to 240 kilometers (150 mi) away and even cracked windows within a 48-kilometer (30 mi) radius.

While residents on the Bolivian side contemplated whether the object was meteor or something more otherworldly, the Argentinian authorities had mobilized their military onto the mountainous border range to search for the mystery object. This search would apparently take weeks.

Eventually, the Bolivian Air Force would discover the crash site but were unable to land to investigate further. The next thing anyone knew, the Argentinian press had announced that the Argentinian Air Force had made the discovery. And what’s more, NASA was sending investigators. However, instead of NASA, two “off-duty” US Air Force employees arrived, with instructions to transport the craft to the United States.

From here, the trail goes, likely purposely, murky, with several versions of where the UFO and any occupants might be. It would appear, though, that something definitely did crash and that the United States government and/or military had a great interest in it.

Prometheus, Hercules, Thor, Robin Hood, Superman. From the very beginnings of human history, we have imagined stories about prodigious individuals who were willing to use their divine gifts to fight for the defenseless. As the modern variant of these almighty figures, superheroes invade our culture to the core. Everyone knows about superheroes, welcoming their presence through mass entertainment and cultural globalization.

But as often happens in many other fields, people ignore many details about these iconic characters. The truth is that the story behind the birth and popularity of superheroes is as interesting as the tales that the superheroes themselves can tell. That story is what this list is about. Here we will show you unfamiliar facts about the past, present, and future of superhero lore.

10 What Are The Origins Of Superheroes?

Superhero stories have been around for millennia. For example, the ancient Greeks told stories about characters with extraordinary abilities as a result of their connection with the gods who could bless or doom mankind with their actions.

These myths existed for the purpose of explaining real natural phenomena at a time when knowledge about the world was fairly limited. But what about modern superheroes? What inspired their stories? Well, it may be surprising to find out that today’s superhuman characters and those of ancient times are not so separated from each other.

The Flash, created in 1940, was initially based on the Roman god Mercury, the swift messenger. Wonder Woman was obviously inspired by the Greek legend of the Amazon warriors.

DC’s Aquaman and Marvel’s Namor are based on the Atlantis civilization described by the Greek philosopher Plato. Thor is inspired by the homonym god of Norse mythology. So it is interesting that many of the first created superheroes are inspired by mythological figures and cultures.

Superman, created by the artists Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, is one of the most complex characters when it comes to determining the influences behind his creation. Superman is partially inspired by characters from other stories of the time, such as “John Carter of Mars.”^[1]

As Siegel and Shuster were children of Jewish immigrants, it is also believed that Superman was a reimagining of Jewish myths, especially the myth of the golem. Just as the golem was an unstoppable being created to free the oppressed, Superman is an all-powerful savior who came to rescue the innocent in the midst of a cruel world.

In short, the fictional superheroes of our times are a modernized version of the legends that our ancestors believed were real. But that is not coincidence.

Such myths often used the same narrative model to tell the story of a certain individual destined to become a hero and fight evil. That type of story proved so effective at captivating people that it is still used today on everything from comics to movies, and superheroes are no exception.

9 Superheroes Have Been Used As War Icons

Scientific studies show that modern superheroes have a great psychological impact on people of all kinds and ages. For this reason, these characters are easily seen as pillars of hope and optimism, exponents of great values in our culture.

But when the social situation changes, superheroes also acquire a new purpose. Knowing the potential to influence people, governments have used comic book characters to motivate the population to take action and fight for their country on the battlefield.

The most evident case of this reality is the character of Captain America.^[2] His first comic came out in March 1941, nine months before the United States entered World War II at its most critical point. The idea of a superhero dressed in the American flag while defeating Nazis with his bare hands was what the population needed at that moment.

That is why it is no coincidence that the comics of this character were the most read of the publisher Timely (later Marvel Comics) during the war with a million copies sold per month. Even US soldiers read the stories of the superhero while on the battlefield.

Captain America’s comics included things like patriotic illustrations or moments in the story where the superhero asked the reader to buy war bonds. Meanwhile, Superman was also used to encourage the purchase of war bonds.

In 1969, after soldiers asked for Superman to appear on the battlefield, DC published a comic in which he goes to the Vietnam War. In 2005, Marvel collaborated with the Pentagon to distribute free comics to a million troops under a campaign called “America Supports You.”

In 2011, Legendary Comics released a graphic novel called Holy Terror in which a Batman-esque vigilante fights Islamic terrorists. So, somehow, superheroes are inherently good to be used as war propaganda.

8 They Have Also Been Inspired By Real People

Publishers do not always rely on mythological characters and legends to create their superheroes. For various reasons, these figures are sometimes built around real people. Perhaps, artists see some known person as the ideal model to create a new superhero. Other times, certain individuals in the real world have such outstanding lives that it is easy to give them superhuman features in a comic.

For that last reason, we have the example of Tony Stark/Iron Man whose creation in 1963 was based on the US billionaire Howard Hughes. Artists in DC wanted to make a character that had the carefree, misaligned appearance of the famous musician Sting. Presumably in 1985, that is how the supernatural antihero named John Constantine was born.

It is well-known that the personality of Professor X, the leader of the Marvel’s X-Men, was inspired by the activist and preacher Martin Luther King Jr. But the character is physically based on the Oscar-winning actor Yul Brynner.

Meanwhile, the actor Samuel L. Jackson was taken as the base to remake Nick Fury, the founder of the Avengers and director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. At first, Jackson did not even know that Marvel used him as inspiration to create the character, but he still agreed to play Fury’s movie version.

Real people don’t just serve as inspiration for superheroes, though. The tyrannical Darkseid, one of the most powerful villains in the DC stories, bases his personality on Adolf Hitler, one of the most famous tyrants in recent history.^[3]

7 Superheroes Are Now A University Career

Some have said that superheroes are for children. Others say that superheroes are entertainment that cannot be taken too seriously. But now, that is changing.

With the huge popularity that the superhero genre has today, many academic institutions are starting to adopt these characters as an object of study in their courses. After all, superhero stories are a mix of art, literature, and science from which more than just entertainment can be obtained.

Since 2015, the Smithsonian Institution has offered an online course on superheroes through EdX, a learning platform founded by MIT and Harvard. The course is titled “The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact On Pop Culture” and covers the entire history of the superhero genre from its origins in 1938 to the present day.^[4]

Two of its teachers are Stan Lee, the well-known artist of Marvel Comics, and Michael Uslan, producer of the Batman films since 1989. Although Lee died in November 2018, his signature is still on the certificate issued at the end of the course.

Meanwhile, among its available disciplines, the University of Oregon has one called “Comic Studies.” It focuses on the technical aspects of comics, such as the drawings and storytelling. On the other hand, the University of Minnesota has a course on “the physics of superheroes”—that is, the scientific facts that writers used to explain the powers of the characters.

It is true that we could doubt how good these courses are in preparing a student to get a job compared to other careers. But after studying these disciplines, you could call yourself a “superhero scholar,” which sounds pretty awesome.

6 The Day Superheroes Faced A Real-Life Enemy

From their beginnings in the late 1930s, superhero comics told simple stories of hope where good always triumphed over evil and the characters did not have complex backgrounds. But at the end of the 1940s, they began to deal with controversial issues for those times in terms of gender and racial diversity. Then horror and gore also entered their stories, and the American people began to see these fictions with bad eyes.

Many parents believed that the comics were harmful to their children, while others maintained that there was a correlation between the content of comic books and the increase in delinquency. Many people even organized public comic book burnings in several cities across the United States.

Meanwhile, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham began giving talks and publishing studies that supported all this collective fear, something that ultimately came to the ears of the US government. Congress held hearings to consider Wertham’s arguments. Although the government did not go beyond that meeting, the event was televised throughout the country.

Many publishers had to close due to the drastic decline in sales. Then the surviving big comic book publishers decided to take measures to protect the industry. In 1954, they joined to form the Comics Code Authority (CCA) which dictated what a comic could and could not show.

For example, comics could not show vampires or werewolves and could not contain sexual references. Good always had to come out victorious, and villains could not be represented in such a way that readers could empathize with them. If a comic complied with these and other conditions, the CCA allowed it to have its stamp on the cover. The truth is that distributors only accepted comics approved by the CCA.

Although these limitations allowed the survival of the industry, sales continued to decline. Then, in the early 1970s, the publisher Marvel challenged the Code by issuing comics with ruthless villains and political references.

In 1971, Marvel editor Stan Lee released several issues of Spider-Man touching on topics such as drug abuse, a movement imitated by DC. These changes were well received at a time when US culture was experiencing a turning point and many taboos were no longer such.

In subsequent years, the Comics Code was rewritten several times. But its implementation gradually collapsed, and publishers sold more and more comics without the Code seal.^[5]

Finally, in 2011, the CCA stopped its functions. So the superhero industry had to face a real-life villain. It turned out to be a joint effort between the authorities and a few people who were full of paranoid fear and blamed the comics for all evils.

5 Superheroes Are The Most Profitable Genre Of All

It is not a surprise that superhero movies are economically profitable. On average, a horror film makes almost $20 million in the domestic box office. In contrast, an average superhero movie can gross up to eight times that amount in the same market.

Undoubtedly, the genre of “supers” is more alive than ever. But it is lesser known that the commercial monster of superhero movies generates more money than almost any other entertainment conglomerate in the world.

In 2017, the superhero genre was the most successful of all, with revenues of $4.8 billion between eight major films of Marvel, DC, and Saban. In 2018, the situation repeated with even greater earnings.

At the end of 2018, the income generated by the eight superhero films with theatrical releases that year was between $7.5 billion and $8 billion. In fact, the genre represented 25.5 percent of total ticket sales in the United States.^[6]

But superheroes are not only winners in the film industry. By 2018, the Marvel Cinematic Universe far surpassed any other movie franchise in terms of revenue. If we combine all the movies about Marvel characters, the brand represents the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, surpassing even the Pokemon franchise and its $59 billion earnings.

With seven major releases of the genre in 2019, experts believe that the situation will only continue to improve for the superhero industry.

4 The North Korean Superheroes

For a country that does not even have light at night, it would be easy to think that North Korea has not been reached by the superhero culture. After all, fictional characters such as superheroes are more typical of Western culture, which North Korea seems to despise strongly.

But the truth is that even North Koreans have been seduced by the idea of having a superhuman figure to admire. Of course, they have to maintain their “anti-imperialist” posture. So, instead of following foreign superheroes, they have decided to create their own.

In Korea, there has been the story of a hero named Hong Gildong for centuries. In short, this is the Korean version of Robin Hood. In 1986, North Korea released its own film about the character set in feudal Korea. In it, Hong Gildong is an alienated man who becomes a vigilante, protecting innocent people from bad guys and even freeing his city from enemy forces.

On the other hand, images of a supposed North Korean film in the works were leaked in 2014. These images show what seems to be an original superhero wearing a military uniform, riding a winged horse, and using a torch as a weapon. The superhero, like a North Korean version of Superman, attacks the “bad guys,” who turn out to be the Americans, by throwing their gold into the sea and thus giving a blow to capitalism.^[7]

We also know of a North Korean comic book from 2001 called Blizzard in the Jungle. In the story, a doctor named Kim Yeong-hwan uses the wisdom of his leader Kim—and the power conferred by a plant grown in Korea—to help the survivors of a plane crash.

But beyond all this, there is no greater superhero for the North Koreans than their own leader, Kim Jong Un. According to local news, the controversial ruler can control climate as well as cure all diseases. Last but not least, he has found unicorns.

3 They Are Everywhere

In recent decades, the superhero industry has been covered by a large chunk of the mass media around the world. Nowadays, it is not difficult to find out about a new release in the genre. The marketing for every new superhero movie goes from television ads to giant billboards on buildings.

But the legacy of superheroes can be found far beyond the entertainment and the publicity that surrounds us. We can say that superheroes are truly everywhere, permeating our culture. Maybe we would do well to see some examples.

Two of Superman’s first published comics, one of which sold for $175,000, were found inside the walls of an old house. There is also the Power Rangers action figure that was blocking sewer pipes in England in 2017 and had to be removed.

Meanwhile, actors disguised as the family of the Japanese superhero Ultraman traveled to a volcano in Hawaii to shoot a promotional video. On a completely different topic, several superhero games from Marvel and DC are on the list of video games that Guantanamo prisoners are allowed to play.

It is interesting to note that superheroes can also be found in space. Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have a collection of Marvel and DC movies to watch in their spare time. Mission patches featuring Groot and Rocket Raccoon from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy were also sent to the ISS in 2017.

If you consider Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story a superhero character, he also flew into space in 2008. And since we are talking about Buzz Lightyear, a toy of the character was found in a patient’s rectum, which is disgusting, but it proves that superheroes are really everywhere.^[8]

2 Superheroes May Not Be Good For Children

Over the years, there have been multiple debates about whether superheroes are good or bad examples for children. A 2007 study showed that the superhero culture makes children believe that certain risky behaviors are normal, occasionally leading some youngsters to suffer serious physical injuries.

In June 2007, another study on the subject was published, stating that children who liked superheroes said they were more sociable with others. Meanwhile, a more recent study published in 2017 found that superhero entertainment causes children to become more aggressive and less sociable.

Despite the researchers’ statements, some adults have felt that they had to do something to protect the little kids. In May 2013, a preschool from Pennsylvania distributed pamphlets to notify parents that their children could no longer play superheroes in the institution because they apparently hurt each other.

In 2016, Australian childcare centers asked parents not to send their children dressed as superheroes as they were prone to perform self-harming actions. In any case, some decisions of this kind may have gone too far.^[9]

Also in 2013, an elementary school forbade children to wear superhero costumes on Halloween because they could be “scary” for some of their classmates. Two years later, another school prevented a girl from carrying her Wonder Woman lunch box. The institution claimed that it did not admit images of “violent characters” and that “superheroes certainly fall into that category.”

We can agree or disagree with this kind of attitude from adults. But it is clear that more studies are needed to determine the real impact of superheroes on the delicate psyche of little children.

1 Why Are Their Films So Successful?

Superheroes have been portrayed in movies for around a century now, but they have not always been as well received. Just as superhero comics have gone through stages in which they were more or less read, superhero movies have also experienced ups and downs in terms of popularity.

As we previously saw, superheroes are now going through their best moment in the film industry. But what caused this leap in the acceptance of superhero films? Why are moviegoers now receiving superhuman characters better than ever?

Well, we can point to several reasons. First, it is easy to see that the superheroes in today’s movies are much more relatable than those in old films. That is largely because the stories in the movies now show more humanized characters. People tend to be more interested in those heroes who, even with their gifts, must fight against the ordinary problems of life because anyone can identify with them.^[10]

Second, most superhero films in our times are within what is known as a “shared universe.” Brands like Marvel, among others, often tell stories in which the characters interact with each other in the same world throughout different movies. This creates a sense of continuity that makes fans eager to see what the next chapter in the franchise will be about.

Another important point is the improvement that the film industry has experienced in the field of visual effects. For example, director James Cameron waited 15 years before releasing his famous film Avatar because he believed that filmmaking technology was not sufficiently developed before then.

And since we generally do not see people flying or throwing energy beams of their hands in real life, the use of special effects is inherent in the stories of superheroes. That is why superhero movies in past decades had to be limited to stories that did not require too much budget if they wanted to look realistic.

But thanks to today’s technology, directors can unleash their imaginations and create superhero movies with otherworldly stories that appeal to the public.

Brian is an economy student, graphic artist, science enthusiast, and founder of “A Strange Place Called Knowledge.” You can reach the site here

When it comes to Celtic leaders who defended their land from the encroaching Romans, one figure instantly comes to mind—the famous war-queen Boudicca and her equally famous (and sometimes historically inaccurate) chariot. It’s easy to assume that she was the only Celtic leader to rally against the invaders; in actual fact, there are several others who haven’t achieved nearly the same fame as Boudicca.

The Romans were efficient and ruthless, so fighting them was no easy feat. As such, not every Celtic leader who went against the Romans had a happy ending. Regardless, here are ten leaders who dared challenge the might of Rome in the name of the Celts.

10 Boduognatus

Boduognatus was the leader of the Nervii people. His name translates to “he who was born of the battle crow,” which tells you what kind of person he was.

Boduogantus was one of the few leaders who came close to defeating Caesar in the battlefield. In the Battle of the Sabis, he led some 40,000 Celts—with 60,000 more hidden in a nearby forest—against eight of Caesar’s legions (two of which consisted of the “baggage train”).

During the battle, the 40,000 Celts fled into the forest, hoping to draw the Romans in, but they didn’t give chase. That didn’t stop the Celts, who then gave a surprise charge that took Caesar’s forces off guard. The Romans acted quickly to get into a defensive stance and managed to turn the tide, but it was a Pyrrhic victory at best.

9 Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix lived from 82 to 46 BC and was the chieftain of the Arverni. His name translates to the very ambitious “Victor of a Hundred Battles.”

Vercingetorix put himself on the Celtic timeline when he arranged a rebellion to stop Caesar from subjugating the people of Gaul. Not much is known about Vercingetorix’s life before his revolt; even his name was given to him after he came into the spotlight. His real name was kept secret, as the Celts believed that knowing someone’s real name gave the enemy power.

Vercingetorix would use his forces to disrupt Roman trade lines and goad fights in his favor, but he fumbled when he lost a battle and fled. Caesar countered with a siege against Vercingetorix’s fortress. Vercingetorix was taken to Rome to show off Caesar’s prowess, before being executed six years later.

8 Caratacus

King of the Catuvellauni, Caratacus led his army with his brother. Combined, they helped to stave off the Roman armies for almost nine years. His own forces were outnumbered by the Romans, so he drew out the conquest by picking spots that were easy to defend and worked to repel the oncoming forces for as long as he could. He was regarded as a hero even after he lost the battle against Ostorious Scapula in AD 51 and was captured.

Even after his capture, Caratacus caught a break. He was well-known for his character, which played an important part when he was brought before Claudius for trial in Rome. His heart-capturing final speech caused Claudius to pardon him for his actions. He and his family lived the rest of their lives in Italy.

7 Ambiorix

Ambiorix was nothing short of a slippery character. Leader of the Eburones tribe, he managed to get on the good side of a legion and half of Caesar’s troops. He used the insider information gleaned to start a revolt and attack the camp.

When the attack failed, he managed to convince the camp that the revolts were widespread, Caesar had fled Gail, and that Germans were on the way to massacre the Romans. The camp fled, only to be nearly wiped out in an ambush set up for them.

It was Caesar’s worst loss in the Gallic War, so he wanted revenge. He wiped out the rebels, leaving Ambiorix for last. Ambiorix knew he was severely outnumbered, so when the Romans came for him, he simply told his army to spread out and flee. He hid in the woods, never to be seen again.

6 Cassivellaunus

Cassivellaunus played a vital role in opposing Caesar during his second invasion against the Celts. Caesar had learned from his mistakes during his first invasion, so instead of bringing two legions, he brought five. This was, obviously, a giant problem for the Celts, so they weren’t very confident in enaging the Romans in a straight fight.

Cassivellaunus responded by denying Caesar a proper fight, instead backpedaling into the woods and making guerilla strikes against the forces. The Romans made heavy use of chariots, which Cassivellaunus made sure to capitalize on in his surprise attacks.

Cassivellaunus would eventually have his stronghold ratted out by other captured Celtic leaders. His stronghold fell to the Romans, and Cassivellaunus fled. He tried one last attack on a Roman camp, but he failed and sued for surrender. He had to promise not to wage war against the Romans again but was otherwise left alone.

5 Dumnorix

Dumnorix was the leader of an anti-Roman faction in the Aedui tribe, which was mostly allied with Caesar. He joined Orgetorix and his Helvetii as they migrated from modern Switzerland to France. Caesar wasn’t too pleased with this and denied them travel across his lands.

Dumnorix got permission from the Sequani to cross their lands, where pro-Rome Aedui lived. Caesar didn’t like this, so he cut off Dumnorix with the Battle of the Ara. Even worse, the pro-Rome Aedui had taken poorly to Dumnorix and attacked, meaning that he had to fight two different forces.

The Romans managed to defeat some of the Helvetian forces, so the armies settled into negotiations. However, they fell apart. Dumnorix continued the migration, but the Romans shadowed them. He was eventually taken hostage by Caesar. He was killed after he tried to flee the camp in which he was kept.

4 Convictolitavis

Convictolitavis came into the picture when he and Cotos fought over leadership of the Aedui tribe. Caesar helped Convictolitavis to win in hopes that he’d help fight against Vercingetorix, but Convictolitavis told Caesar that he “did not owe him anything”—something that would bite Caesar later on.

When Caesar led his army against Vercingetorix in a siege of Gergovia, he expected Convictolitavis to help him. Instead, Convictolitavis revealed his true colors and aided Vercingetorix midway into the fight, catching Caesar unaware and causing him to lose the battle entirely. It was one of the few times where Caesar had been simply outdone.

3 Viridomarus

Viridomarus (or Britomartus, depending on translation) was a Gallic king in 222 BC. Not much is known about him, other than how attacked the Roman village of Clastidium. Unfortunately for him, a particularly successful Roman cavalry leader named M. Claudius Marcellus caught wind of his attack. Marcellus redirected his army to Clastidium and attacked Viridomarus’s forces from the front and then from the sides and rear, which broke Viridomarus’s army.

Trying to make something good of a bad situation, Viridomarus challenged Marcellus to single mounted combat. Marcellus accepted and won the duel, which earned Marcellus a spolia opima (spoils from a slain commander) for killing a Gallic king.

2 Venutius

Venutius was king of the Brigantes, along with his wife, Queen Cartimandua. When Caratacus arrived at Brigantium to find support against the Romans, Cartimandua responded by capturing him and turning him over to Caesar. Venutius disliked this move, and when Cartimandua divorced him for his armor-bearer, Vellocatus, he began a revolt that was initially against Cartimandua but then escalated into an anti-Roman cause. The Romans stepped in, quelled the revolt, and brought the couple back together again.

Venutius wasn’t done, however. During the Roman “year of four emperors” (AD 68 to 69), the Roman government was unstable. Using this weakness, Venutius staged another revolt. Cartimandua asked Rome for aid but got only auxiliary units. She was eventually overthrown by Venutius, who acted as a thorn in Rome’s side until his defeat.

1 Brennus

We’ve already covered a war leader named Brennus (see “10 Forgotten Conquerors From Ancient History”). This is a different Brennus, who appeared in the fourth century AD and fought against the Romans.

Brennus has an especially large claim to fame, since he was the first commander to sack Rome. He commanded his forces in the Battle of the Allia over Rome, which ended in Brennus’s victory and the Gallic Celts managing to secure a large majority of the city. The Romans negotiated Brennus’ leave with 450 kilograms (1,000 lb) of gold. Brennus responded by using overly heavy weights on the scales used to measure the gold and then threw his own sword atop the weights and said, “Vae Victis,” or “Woe to the vanquished.”

S.E. Batt is a freelance writer and author. He enjoys a good keyboard, cats, and tea, even though the three of them never blend well together. You can follow his antics over at @Simon_Batt or his fiction website at sebatt.com

In an age of seemingly endless wars where nations can no longer even way when they’ve achieved objectives, let alone satisfying victories, it’s tempting for military students to look to the past. Historians have drawn us neat, definitive maps and provided definitive starts and end dates. What’s more, it brings with it the vicarious sense of power and accomplishment to anyone who projects themselves onto the victors. 

This is TopTenz’s salute to those monarchs with the largest lands to survey. Whether restricted to one continent or encircling the entire globe. We won’t only discuss the conquests of nations that became part of the standard curriculum. It’s surprising just how many times militaries steered the course of human history and then drifted out of the cultural memory. But not for now. 

10. The Rise of the Parthians

 We all know the name Alexander the Great, and as a result, his conquest of the Persian Empire and invasion of the Indian Empire are common knowledge. Much less well-known is what happened to Alexander’s immense Greco-Persian Empire after he died in 323 BC without a named heir. Consequently, civil wars broke out which would endure for decades on and off. The most successful of any claimants to the empire was Seleucus I Nicator. By 300 BC, his armies had taken most of modern Turkey through modern Pakistan. Unlike Alexander’s empire, the Seleucid Empire endured for centuries, spreading a religiously tolerant and financially vibrant trade hub. Yet by 247 BC, a kingdom known as the Parthian Empire emerged with its capital in Nisa which over roughly the next 160 years conquered most of the Seleucid Empire. Afterward, the Parthian Empire would be the most prominent force in the Middle East for centuries, eventually falling in 223 AD. 

The real enduring relevance of the Parthian Empire was its role as a rival to the Roman Empire. After Parthian armies demonstrated they could annihilate far larger Roman forces at Carrhae in 44 BC, the Parthian Empire took the initiative for Eastward expansion away from Rome and spent the next few centuries bleeding Rome white, leaving it vulnerable to such invaders as the German tribes. Although the Roman Empire outlasted it by centuries, the Parthians did as much to bring about Rome’s downfall as any barbarian army. 

9. Ashoka The Great

Ashoka took the throne of the Mauryan Empire in 268 BC. He inherited a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush through much of modern Northern India along the Ganges River to the Subarnarekha River. By the end of Ashoka’s reign in 232 BC, it stretched down all but the tip of the Deccan Peninsula and from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. The human toll of this conquest was vast, even by the standards of the time. At the Battle of Kalinga alone, Ashoka’s army was said to have killed 100,000 people while also suffering tremendous losses themselves due to the valor of the Kalingas allowing them to nearly win the day. With those losses in mind, it’s not so surprising that the Mauryans were willing to force a reported 150,000 women and child prisoners into slavery. 

Today Ashoka is at least as celebrated for his alleged attempt at redemption after his conquests left such flows of blood in their wake. He greatly improved the infrastructure of the Mauryan Empire (particularly regarding roads). He not only promoted religious tolerance but helped legitimize Buddhism. Most important of all, he was credited with laws abolishing slavery during his reign.  

8. The Swedish Empire

After staying neutral for World Wars I and II, Sweden isn’t thought of as a military powerhouse. But in the 1600s, Sweden was one of the most prominent powers in Central Europe. Beginning in 1560, Sweden fought several wars with Denmark for dominance of the Baltic Sea and came out massively ahead. By 1618 when Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to reinstitute absolute Catholic rule in Central and Eastern Europe, the Swedish military had been honed into a disciplined, well-compensated, and well-equipped modern military. It would defeat Poland over a four-year war from 1625 to 1629, defeat Denmark again, and then win over Germany to reject the authority of the Catholic League. By its height in 1658, Sweden had gained control of most of modern Finland, middle Norway, Estonia, and lucrative territory in modern Northern Germany such as Bremen-Verden.

Sweden had the good luck of being ruled by a couple of military geniuses. First, there was Gustavus Adolphus, who in addition to his numerous battlefield victories reformed Swedish trade and industry to allow a flow of foreign capital and trade so that Swedish weaponry became the envy of much of Europe. His greatest single victory was at the battle of Breitenfeld in 1631, where his mobile infantry and artillery ruined the previously undefeatable Catholic League army under Count Tilly. It was only his death at his second greatest victory in 1632 at Luetzen that stopped him from creating a preeminent unified German nation centuries early and forming a league with Sweden that could dominate Europe. 

After Adolphus came Charles XI. He reformed the entire Swedish government into a combination of absolute monarchy and parliament, which held the economy together and with it Sweden’s many territorial acquisitions, though even in these Charles XI needed to put down rebellion after rebellion. He also overhauled the Swedish Navy so that it became one of the finest in the world.  

7. The Conquest of the Aztecs and Beyond

Hernán Cortés first arrived in Hispaniola (modern Cuba) in 1504. After rising through the ranks through taking part in completing the conquest of that island, in 1519 he disobeyed orders from Governor Velazquez and sailed with 500 men and eleven ships to the Mexican mainland. Over the next two years, he made local allies through feats of arms among a collection of roughly 200 anti-Aztec communities called the Tlaxcala. With them at his back, in 1519 Cortés’s men entered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan under initially cordial terms, and then had to shelter with them after the Aztecs soured on the Spanish and then attempted to kill them. In 1520 the Tlaxcala sided with Cortés as he confronted Conquistador Narvaez, who’d been sent by Velazquez to displace Cortés. Instead, the Cortés-Tlaxcala alliance defeated and absorbed the new army that had been sent to put them in line, then marched on the Aztec capital again, which they sacked in 1521. 

This is a well-covered piece of history, but much less known is what happened next. In 1527, viceroys that the Spanish crown had sent to help administer New Spain accused Cortés of poisoning them, forcing him to return to Spain to defend himself. Even though he was acquitted, while he was away he was stripped of his governorship. This was a real pity for the Spanish Empire, as Cortés’s men had been enthusiastically moving through modern Mexico and beginning to settle in Alta California, modern California. However the initiative for northern expansion was slowed greatly, and thus American settlers were able to outsettle and eventually overwhelm Spanish settlers in the 19th Century. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a maverick conqueror.     

6. The Forging of the Russian Empire 

Today Russia is not only the largest nation in the world, at 6.6 million square miles it’s nearly twice the size of Canada, the second largest. This is a nation that in 1462 when it was known as Muscovy was scarcely larger than modern Germany. How did that happen? 

The story Russia first swelling into a giant power begins with two Ivans. The first was Ivan III who took the throne in 1462 and by the end of his reign had more than tripled the size of the nation by annexing several small principalities and in 1478 annexing the Republic of Novgorod. In 1480, the Mongolian Golden Horde came to confront the rising power and was sent packing. 

What’s particularly notable about Ivan III’s successes was how bloodless many of them were. For example in seizing Novgorod, he mostly exploited internal rivalries to win over the territory without a major battle. When confronting the Mongols, the Horde’s military was sent retreating without a fight at all. One of his greatest conquests wasn’t another principality, it was the Princess Sofia Paleologue of the Byzantine Empire. That offered tremendous wealth and legitimacy to the rising Eastern European power. 

Then there was the 1547 ascension of Ivan IV, not for nothing better known as “the Terrible” for his purges and draconian treatment of all rebels. His military career was decidedly mixed, such as the 24-year-long Livonian War to conquer modern Estonia and Lithuania that ended with at best a stalemate and was marked by Moscow being burned. Still, he was successful with such major territorial gains as the major cities across the Volga River (while driving the Mongols away from Astrakhan without a fight) and the first conquests outside of the Slavic areas.  

The single largest conquest that expanded the size of Russia was begun in 1581 when Cossack cavalry under the command of Yermak invaded Siberia. As it happened, the invasion was in retaliation to raids by Mongols under Kuchum as part of an effort to reinstate a great Khanate. Instead of uniting a new empire, Kuchum set his communities to infighting. Yet again infighting greatly aided the Russians in the short term as they established forts throughout Siberia, and also left Siberians much more amenable to rule from Moscow to end the constant raids on each other. Also, the Russian government immediately made Siberian leaders part of the Russian government itself instead of semi-independent colonies as European powers did in such places as the Americas. It also helped that as with colonizations in so much of the world during the Age of Exploration, the Russians brought extremely deadly diseases with them. By 1742, the last of the rebel indigenous groups, the Chukchi, was put down. It seems more than the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte, the rise of the Russian Empire was characterized by dividing and conquering.      

5. Japanese Empire

By 1905, the expansionist ambitions of Japan got a massive validation when it destroyed the Russian Navy at the Battle of Tsushima Straits. By 1910, it had added Korea to its holdings. For the next couple of decades there was a lull in new conquests as the Meiji Dynasty dealt with such internal matters as putting down a socialist movement, dealing with massively destructive Earthquakes, and reorganizing a largely agrarian economy into a more industrial one. 

The conquests restarted dramatically in 1931 when under the pretext that the Chinese military attempted to bomb a civilian train, it invaded and annexed the Manchurian Province, which was particularly shocking as the invasion had been carried out without the approval of the Japanese civilian government. A similarly flimsy pretext of the disappearance of two Japanese soldiers on the border to China would be used in 1937 to justify another Sino-Japanese War wherein most of the Kiangsu and Inner Mongolian provinces were seized, putting such significant cities as Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the capital city of Nanking under Japanese control. By 1942, the high-water mark for the empire, was Burma, Thailand, most of Malaysia and Indonesia, and the Philippines. In less than half a century an island nation of less than 150,000 had swelled to 2.68 million square miles.     

The Japanese Empire was particularly aggressive in cultural erasure. For example in Korea, not only did 100,000 Japanese people move to Korea while many Koreans were taken to Japan. Korean historical documents were destroyed en masse. Even forests of native Korean trees were clear-cut so that they could be replaced by Japanese trees. Even today, Japan has many descendants of slaves from its imperial age who attempt to conceal their heritage.

4. The Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates 

It can hardly be overstated just how much the arrival of Islam energized the Middle East. After the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 AD, the Rashidun Caliphate began when Abu Bakr was elected his successor and finished the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula that the prophet started. He finished the conquest of the region but did not have long to enjoy it as he died in 634. His successor Umar waged war on modern Iran, and although he died by assassination in 644 they would conquer Iran by 651 under his successor Uthman, who also conquered Armenia. Uthman was assassinated in 656, and his successor was Ali, whose reign would bring Egypt, Libya, and a portion of modern Turkey into the fold. This was all accomplished by a military force that never numbered over 100,000 troops in total.    

As indicated by the line of rulers who died shortly after taking power, trouble was brewing in the caliphate from its conception. Not only did the schism of Sunni and Shia Muslims that continues to this day emerge during this time, but Ali was ousted in 661 and replaced by the Umayyad Caliphate. The change in management did nothing to slow down the expansion. By 700, the Caliphate conquered modern Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco in the West. In the East, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan were absorbed and India itself invaded. By 711, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded, and Portugal and almost all of Spain would fall. It wasn’t until the 732 Battle of Poitiers during a raid deep into France that the tide would begin to turn against the Caliphate. In that time, it had reached 5.79 million square miles and was approaching a third of the world’s population at the time. 

3. Timur the Lame/Tamerlane

It is surprising how little discussed Tamerlane is today despite being such a colorful and successful figure in military history. Born in 1336 into a minor noble family in modern-day Uzbekistan, he collaborated with the Mongols and by 1364 had distinguished himself both as a mercenary and helped the Mongols conquer the region of Transoxiana. Then he joined forces with his brother-in-law Amir Husayn and conquered Transoxiana for himself by 1366. It was also during this period that he received the infected arrow wound that would leave him incapable of using his right arm and leg properly, hence his “lame” nickname.

Despite betraying a Mongol leader being key to his rise to power, Tamerlane styled himself as a sort of fusion of Mongol power and Islam, and to that end, he married his sister-in-law Saray Mulk Khanum, a supposed descendant of Genghis Khan. He certainly emulated the Mongol reliance on cavalry and tendency to treat cities horribly to the point of destroying landmarks if they resisted as was the case with Herat while generously sparing cities that didn’t such as Tehran. Considering that the lands that he conquered by 1405 included Modern Afghanistan, half of modern Pakistan, Turkmenistan, all of Iran, most of Iraq including Baghdad, the Caucasus Region, and much of Western Turkey, you’ve got to admit it was a working strategy for him.  

2. The Mongol Empire

TopTenz has devoted lists to the Mongol Empire before, but it’s time for a rundown of their conquests. In 1206, Temujin united the Steppe (i.e. plateau) people of central Asia, and by 1209, they had conquered Xi Xia, a kingdom on the Northern border of China. War with China came shortly after and by 1215 they had conquered the capital Beijing. In 1219 the Genghis’s wrath moved to the West when the Khwarezm Empire (modern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran) insulted the Khanate first by attacking a caravan under Mongol protection and then by murdering the emissary that the Mongols sent in response. Genghis Khan died in 1227, four years before the Mongols completed crushing the Khwarezm. He was still alive when the Mongols penetrated modern Russian territory in 1223, which started a remarkably successful campaign, even by Mongol standards. 

By 1240, the Mongols would add most of modern Russia and Ukraine, most significantly sacking Kyiv. In 1242 they invaded modern Eastern Europe including Poland and Bulgaria. A very inconveniently timed death of the Khan Ogodei spared much of Central Europe from being crushed under the Mongol horse hooves. By 1258, they shifted their sights to the Middle East and conquered Baghdad in a particularly horrific manner. It would be in 1260 in Egypt that they were thoroughly repulsed for the first time and fate turned against the Mongols with a series of defeats, including Vietnam and Japan. It had reached a height of 12 million square miles, incontestably the largest contiguous empire in World history.  

1. The “Sun Never Sets” Empires

The United Kingdom did not have the first empire that could claim the sun never set on it. The Portuguese Empire reached that milestone first, having colonies in Africa, India, and the Portuguese East Indies as a result of Vasco Da Gama’s voyage in 1497 and Brazil in 1500. Then it was overshadowed by the rise of the Spanish Empire under the very incestuous Philip II, which with the aforementioned conquest of the Aztecs owned huge portions of North and South America,  Equatorial Guinea in Africa, the Philipines, the Cananary, Mariana, and Caroline Islands. Close to home, it could also claim portions of Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. Unfortunately for Spain Philip II also made the grievous mistake of sending the Spanish Armada to the English Channel in 1588, which would result in a catastrophic defeat that cost half the 130, and the initiative swung massively to Britain’s favor. 

Control of India began in the 1600s, with the acquisition of the major trading centers of Madras in 1639 and Bombay by 1661. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris at the end of the French-Indian War would yield control of Canada and give the Kingdom massive holdings in North America even after the American colonies left in 1783. Around that time in 1788, 736 convicts were landed in Australia. In Africa, colonization started in 1787 when 300 freed slaves who had been loyal to Britain during the American Revolution and 70 white prostitutes were landed in Sierra Leone. From that awkward beginning, control expanded to include lands from South Africa in 1820 to Egypt by 1899. By that time, in 1841, Britain had acquired the extremely lucrative islands of Hong Kong and Taiwan. By the time Britain reached its greatest size in 1920 with territorial concessions from Germany and the Ottoman Empire, it was 13.71 million miles, and 412 million people, a quarter of the world’s population, lived in it. Let’s hope we don’t live to see another nation try to top that. 

Dustin Koski’s horror comedy Return of the Living which he co-wrote with Jonathan “Bogleech” Wojcik will be the seed of a literary empire to rival any of these empires.  

Great Britain’s rich and colorful history has been a host to some of the best-known mysteries across the world. Just looking at England alone—the cases of Stonehenge, The Princes in the Tower, and Jack the Ripper have been endlessly analyzed and debated over the years.

As interesting as these classic cases are, however, there are plenty of other historical British mysteries that deserve a second look—from the strange death of a medieval king to a handful of unsolved Victorian murders.

10 The Assassination Of Robert Pakington

Robert Pakington has the unfortunate distinction of possibly being the earliest victim killed by a handgun in London. Pakington was a merchant with political ambitions, becoming a member of Parliament in 1533 and again in 1536. Politically, Pakington represented the interests of his fellow merchants, and he was also a critic of the Catholic clergy.

On a misty morning on November 13, 1536, Pakington woke up at 4:00 AM to go to church. The church was somewhere across from Pakington’s house. While the merchant was crossing the street, he was shot and killed. Neighbors confirmed hearing the gun, but nobody actually saw the murder or its perpetrator.^[1]

Pakington’s murder shocked the city, all the more so due to the weapon used in the crime. Despite the mayor’s offer of a hefty reward, nobody was ever captured or charged. Later historical chroniclers, such as the Protestant John Foxe, tended to pin the murder on Catholic elements, with Foxe claiming that Pakington was assassinated on the orders of a priest.

9 The Murder Of Janet Rogers

When Janet Rogers agreed to help her brother William Henderson on his farm near Perth, Scotland, it was only supposed to be a temporary job. Henderson had just fired a domestic servant, and Rogers would fill her place until another worker could be found. In March 1866, only three days after her arrival, Rogers was murdered in Henderson’s kitchen with an axe.

Henderson was the first person to find his sister’s body. Police considered the farmer a suspect, and they arrested him with one of his workers, a plowman named James Crichton. However, the possibility that Henderson was the killer was weak because he’d been at a farmer’s market in Perth at the time of the murder. Both men were eventually released, yet Crichton was later arrested again.^[2]

With a lack of physical evidence, the case against Crichton was flimsy. His trial ended in an acquittal, but William Henderson never stopped believing that Crichton was the culprit. One plausible theory suggests that Crichton tried burglarizing the farmhouse, but when he stumbled on Rogers in the house, he struck her with an axe and fled.

8 The Disappearance Of Francis Lovell

As one of King Richard III’s closest friends, the nobleman Francis Lovell was a dedicated ally during the final years of the Wars of the Roses when Richard III and his Yorkist supporters fought for the English throne with Henry Tudor and the Lancastrians. In August 1485, the civil war took a decisive turn when Richard III died during the Battle of Bosworth Field, making his rival Henry Tudor the new king, Henry VII.

Even after Richard III’s death, Lovell stayed loyal to his old friend’s cause. In 1486, Lovell came out of hiding to take part in a rebellion against Henry VII.

When that revolt failed, Lovell took up the cause of the pretender Lambert Simnel, a boy pushed by the Yorkists as King Edward VI, the “true” new king of England. During the Battle of Stoke Field, the Yorkists and their boy king were soundly defeated, and it is here that Francis Lovell disappears from history.^[3]

While it’s known that Lovell escaped the battle, his whereabouts have remained a mystery. It was said that he might have retreated into a cave or perhaps fled abroad. On the other hand, he might never have left England. As a matter of fact, in 1708, a skeleton never identified was uncovered in a hidden part of Lovell’s house.

7 The Murder Of Fred Atkins

In the early hours of September 22, 1881, police officer Fred Atkins was assigned to patrol the district of Kingston Hill in London, a neighborhood then plagued by burglars. While walking his beat, Atkins was suddenly shot multiple times, taking wounds in his chest, abdomen, and left thigh. The gunshots attracted the attention of a mansion’s resident and housekeeper, who discovered Atkins lying on their front steps.

Atkins was hurt badly. But he was still able to talk, stating that he hadn’t seen or heard anybody on his beat. Unfortunately, Atkins was too fragile to move to a hospital, and the young policeman died soon after his attack. A lantern and chisel were found outside the mansion where Atkins had collapsed, and a window on the building was also missing its iron bars.

Investigators believed that Atkins must have been ambushed by a burglar while conducting his patrol. With few leads to follow, authorities were never able to bring Atkins’s murderer to justice. Since 2012, a plaque honoring the memory of the murdered officer has stood outside a pub in Kingston Hill.^[4]

6 The Murder Of Georgina Moore

Georgina Moore was only seven years old when she vanished in London on December 20, 1881. The little girl had eaten lunch at a family friend’s house and was last seen heading back to school. When Georgina didn’t come home afterward, her parents organized a search effort. Despite looking all night, Georgina’s father, Stephen, couldn’t find a trace of her.

A boy at Georgina’s school reported seeing her with a woman whom the police believed was Esther Pay, an acquaintance of the Moores. Pay denied any involvement. But as the weeks passed by, she often asked Georgina’s parents whether there’d been any updates on the case. Nearly six weeks after Georgina’s disappearance, the girl’s body was found in a river.

An autopsy determined that Georgina had died on December 20 as a result of being strangled. Suspicions mounted against Esther Pay, especially when it was revealed that Stephen Moore once had an affair with her and that Esther still seemed bitter that Moore broke it off.

While Pay was brought to trial for Georgina’s murder, she was ultimately acquitted. It still hasn’t been established whether Pay might have murdered Georgina or whether an accomplice or somebody else was responsible.^[5]

5 The Death Of King William II

On August 2, 1100, the English king William II went hunting in southern England’s royal New Forest. Among his party was Walter Tirel, a courtier, and the king’s brother Henry. Soon after the hunt began, the news spread that William had been shot and killed by an arrow in the heart.

At the time, hunting was a dangerous activity, and few people doubted that William’s sudden death was unintentional. Tirel swore that it was an accident. But afraid that he might be held accountable, he ended up leaving England for France. Meanwhile, William’s brother declared himself King Henry I.

While modern historians believe that William was killed accidentally, others have speculated that something more sinister was afoot. There have been numerous theories about William’s death—from the bizarre accusation that William was murdered by a pagan fertility cult to the more grounded suggestion that the hostile king of France had masterminded everything.

Whatever the reason, it was very convenient for the ambitious Henry I, who just happened to be with his brother that fatal day.^[6]

4 The Innocence Of Elizabeth Fenning

Until 1861, an act of attempted murder could warrant the death penalty in England. This was the charge on which Elizabeth Fenning, a servant convicted of trying to murder her employer and his family, was hanged in July 1815. Fenning’s execution provoked a scandal, and many people believed that she had been wrongly accused.

Fenning lived in London, where she worked as a cook for a man named Orlibar Turner. On March 21, 1815, Fenning, Turner, and two other members of the household became terribly sick after eating some dumplings that Fenning had made. Although everybody recovered and the cook became the sickest of the bunch, Fenning was accused of trying to poison the Turners.

An analysis of the dough in the dumplings found arsenic in the mix, a sign taken that Fenning must have been the poisoner. While Fenning repeatedly maintained her innocence and there was only circumstantial evidence, the law determined that she was guilty anyway.

Years later, a man on his deathbed in Essex is said to have confessed to the crime. The details are vague, but the supposed culprit claimed that he resented his uncle, “Mr. Turner,” and had slipped poison into some dough when Fenning wasn’t in the kitchen.^[7]

3 The Disappearance Of Urban Napoleon Stanger

The German-born Urban Napoleon Stanger was a baker who set up business in London in 1870. Stanger’s shop did well and was popular among other Germans. On November 13, 1881, the baker never showed up to work. After his disappearance, Stanger’s employee Felix Stumm hastily took over the bakery.

When Scotland Yard was called in, officers searched Stanger’s house to no avail. They dug up his backyard, checked under his floorboards, and inspected his ovens. While the officers did recover some bones, these were shown to have belonged to a small animal.

Stanger was untraceable. His worker Stumm seemed awfully suspicious, especially considering that he’d gone drinking with Stanger and some friends the night before his boss vanished.

Stumm was never proven to have been involved with Stanger’s disappearance, but he was caught using Stanger’s name on securities. The law found Stumm guilty of fraud and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. His boss, Stanger, was never seen or heard from again.^[8]

2 The Death Of Owain Glyndwr

England had conquered Wales in the late 13th century, putting an end to the country’s independence. While there were some minor rebellions afterward, the strongest threat to English rule erupted in 1400 when the Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndwr declared himself the Prince of Wales.

Welsh laborers, students, and soldiers all flocked to Glyndwr’s army, launching a rebellion that would last over a decade. Even though Glyndwr was ultimately defeated, he still had many sympathizers.

Living as an outlaw after 1410, Glyndwr went into hiding and disappeared. Sightings of him continued for years. But according to the medieval Welsh historian Adam of Usk, the great rebel leader died in 1415.^[9]

The circumstances of Glyndwr’s final years are murky, and the locations of his death and burial have been debated for centuries. After his disappearance, Glyndwr became a national symbol, a mythical king that legend said would someday return to lead Wales to independence.

1 The Murder Of George Burrington

The English official George Burrington served two terms as governor of North Carolina. The first was from 1724 to 1725, and the second from 1731 to 1734. During his oversight of the colony, the hot-tempered Burrington made a number of enemies. In fact, his first term ended in a dismissal after a judge reported to the British government that Burrington had tried to break into his house.

Following his dismissal, Burrington demanded a duel with his successor, Sir Richard Everard. When Burrington came back into office in 1731, it wasn’t long before he alienated and insulted many of his fellow officials with his crude and unruly behavior.

This second term also ended in a dismissal, with the result that Burrington returned to England. In 1736, the retired official claimed that an assassination plot had been hatched against him during the last stretch of his governorship.

Burrington’s retirement was a comfortable one, but his life ended violently and mysteriously. On February 22, 1759, the former governor’s body was found in a canal in Westminster.

As his pockets were turned inside out and there wasn’t money on him, it was thought that Burrington had been robbed and murdered. His walking stick was also damaged, indicating that Burrington didn’t go down without a final fight.^[10]

Tristan Shaw is an American writer who enjoys folklore, literature, and history. You can follow him on Twitter.

Texas. The Lone Star State. The second largest state in the US is known all around the world. The stereotypical image is of a land full of tall, beefy cowpokes in ten-gallon Stetsons and Levi’s jeans. The positive side of Texas is its local pride (residents more often than naught think of themselves as Texans first, Americans second), rugged individualism, and its colorful and multi-ethnic history. Texas is a crossroads culture, with Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-Celtic strands predominating. Texas is also home to a thriving Czech culture and features of thousands of German speakers whose dialect is so unique that it is called Texas German.

SEE ALSO: 10 Reasons The Terrorists Hate Us

There is a dark side to Texas too. Long before the days of Comanche raids and race riots like 1906’s Brownsville Affair, Texas was awash in blood. Some of the worst mass shootings in American history have occurred in Texas: twenty-three killed at Luby’s Cafeteria in 1991, five Dallas police officers killed in 2016, twenty-six worshippers killed at a Sutherlands Springs church in 2017, and twenty-two killed in El Paso just this August. Guns are synonymous with Texas, a place that still feels like the wild frontier.

Besides blood and guts, Texas is known for its tall tales, many of which feature ghosts and ghouls prominently. In this list, the real and supernatural will meet as real-life crimes and ghost stories will be discussed. A word of warning: the best known and most written about Texas killers like Dean Corll, the Texarkana Phantom, Joe Ball, and Henry Lee Lucas will not be discussed. This list seeks to highlight some of the lesser known terrors of Texas.

10 The Ghosts of Yorktown Memorial Hospital

Deep in Southern Texas, between the city of San Antonio and the Gulf Coast, lies Yorktown. The town was created as a result of the Old Indianola Trail, which connected the seaport of Indianola with the city of New Braunfels. For one reason or another, there seems to be something rotten about Yorktown. One of the chief causes of this rottenness is the supposedly haunted Yorktown Memorial Hospital.

Before closing its doors for good in 1980, the hospital, which was founded by the Catholic Felician Sisters, catered to patients seeking recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. It seems that many of the tortured souls who checked into the hospital have never left. For over thirty years the people of Yorktown have reported experiencing paranormal events inside of the abandoned hospital. Some of these experiences include the sounds of music floating through the hallways, talking dolls, and miasmic black shadows with piercing red eyes.

According to professional ghost chasers and students of the supernatural, the Yorktown Memorial Hospital gets its bad energy from the fact that some 2,000 patients died there between 1950 and 1980. It should be mentioned though that Yorktown is currently cashing in on the hospital’s haunted reputation, for Halloween tours do take place there. Still, given that so many have reported seeing strange lights and hearing inexplicable sounds, the Yorktown Memorial Hospital may be spook central after all.^[1]

9 Yorktown Wendigo

Sticking with Yorktown, the small town is supposedly home to something far worse than ghosts. According to eyewitnesses, many of whom have posted their experiences online for all to see, Yorktown is home to the dreaded wendigo. More often associated with the frigid woods of the far north, the wendigo is a beast taken from Algonquian folklore. Tales of the wendigo include stories of the creature as a massive, Bigfoot-like snow beast to a skinwalker that drives people to murder. Some wendigos even possessed the bodies of those who froze to death during lonely hikes in snow-covered mountains. The only consistency in the wendigo tales is that the creature is always described as ravenous—ravenous for blood.

Texas does not get as cold as Minnesota or Manitoba, but, according to Texas resident Izel Vargas, a bald and black-eyed wendigo roams Yorktown on misty nights. Scarier still, the wendigo of Texas is just one of the many skinwalkers that apparently calls Texas home. As for the Yorktown wendigo, there is a reddit page dedicated to exploring more stories about the town’s resident pale monstrosity.^[2]

8 The Goat Man of Lake Worth

It all started in July 1969. Across from Greer Island, on the north side of Texas’s Lake Worth, a crowd of startled spectators saw a creature that was neither a goat nor a man. In fact, as they claimed, the creature was a “fishy goat-man.” One member of the crowd had enough of their wits left to snap a photo of the monster. They captured a furry, hazy, and large white thing standing tall among the weeds.

Later known simply as the Lake Worth Goatman, this strange cryptid is not America’s only half-goat monstrosity, but it may well be its most documented. After first appearing in an article in the “Star-Telegram” newspaper, the Goatman quickly became a local celebrity, with area residents investing in traps and bullets in order to capture or kill the creature. Goatman hunters are so numerous that the website for the Tarrant County Historical Journal felt it necessary to post a warning about going after Greer Island’s most famous resident.

While written off as a hoax, the Goatman, which eyewitnesses claimed jumped on parked cars and grabbed at least one female on the night of July 9, 1969, was the center of several police reports for two months. Similarly, one of the cars attacked by the monster was found to have an 18-inch gash on one of its side doors. Local police investigated, but came up empty. Several decades later, in 2005, a reporter for the “Star-Telegram” received a letter lacking a name and forwarding address. The bizarre letter offered a confession. The writer said that they were once a student at North Side High School, and on July 9, 1969, they went out to Lake Worth wearing a mask. They did it just to scare their classmates.

This letter has never been verified, but it is more than likely true that the Goatman was some dumb teenager in a fur suit. But, on the off chance that a half-man, half-goat roams Lake Worth, it would be a good idea to visit the location with a camera and a well-oiled hunting rifle.^[3]

7 Rumors of the Devil

The 1980s were the decade of Reaganomics, Margaret Thatcher, popular excess, cocaine, and heavy metal. The 1980s were also the age of the “Satanic panic,” a protracted hysteria that blamed everything from MTV to “Dungeons & Dragons” for the supposed upsurge in Satanic crimes. The good people of Texas were not immune to this virus. Truth be told, one of the most infamous examples of the Satanic panic occurred in the small town of Childress between 1988 and 1991.

One evening, not long after the sun had set over the western horizon, a terrible discovery was made. Tate Rowland, a local teenager, was found hanging from a tree. The sheriff’s department interviewed everyone in the Rowland family, and to a person they said that Tate was not suicidal. However, the one eyewitness in the case contradicted this, saying that he saw Tate hang himself. The death was ruled a suicide. That’s about where things stood until May 1991, when 27-year-old Terrie Trosper, Tate’s older sister, was found dead in her own bed. Two deaths anywhere is alarming, but when it happens in the same family in a town of just 5,800 people, it cannot be a coincidence, right?

According to the science, that is exactly what the deaths were—a tragic coincidence. Despite family assertions to the contrary, investigators learned that Tate’s death was a suicide caused by a recent break-up with his girlfriend. As for Terrie, an autopsy found that she had died after choking on her own vomit. Terrie’s blood also showed high levels of the drug Elavil, which is most often used to treat anxiety and major depressive disorder.

These official findings were not made public in time to stop a panic. The rumor mill of Childress went to work even before Tate Rowland was buried. Reports flooded into the police saying that strange and unknown people attended Tate’s funeral, including one young male who chanted the word “suicide” throughout the service. This rumor ran in conjunction with several police reports filed in November 1988, which claimed that a truck carrying unidentified persons was seen trying to pick up children from local schools. Some even said that Tate himself was a member of a Satanic cult. There were even reports of people in black robes hanging out in abandoned buildings. One report went so far as to say a local teenager was seen eating the Bible.

Things took a very strange turn when Darwin Wilks, a friend of Terrie’s, tried to commit suicide by swallowing between 25 and 30 tablets of Elavil. His suicide note read: “I know something that the cops don’t know. I know who killed Terrie. I can’t live anymore”. A new autopsy on Tate Rowland’s body discovered that he too had taken Elavil before his death. Even more shocking were the findings of the second autopsy on Terrie, which found that she had contusions on her inner thighs and in her mouth. These wounds indicated that Terrie had been assaulted by at least two men prior to her death.

In the wake of these findings the legendary Texas Rangers put out a pamphlet outlining what to look for in ritual murder cases. Although Tate Rowland is still considered a suicide, and even though no murder charges were ever brought in the case of Terrie Trosper, many people down in Childress think that dark forces were at play back in those days.^[4]

6The Tragic Birth of the Amber Alert System

When a child goes missing or is abducted in the United States, the nationwide Amber Alert system is activated. This system inundates local news networks and cell phones with information about the missing child and any potential suspects. As with most pieces of legislation, the Amber Alert system was born out of a horrific tragedy.

On January 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas was entertaining herself by riding her bike in the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store. Amber’s lazy afternoon was interrupted by a man in a black pickup truck, who snatched up the little girl and threw her in the cab. The only eyewitness, Jimmie Kevil, called the local police, who in turn began searching for Amber alongside fifty other municipal, state, and federal officers.

Sadly, all of these searchers could not find Amber in time. Five days after her abduction, a passerby found Amber’s corpse in a creek four miles away from the abandoned grocery store. Amber’s killer had snuffed out her life by cutting her throat in half. The fact that Amber was found naked and bruised confirmed that Amber’s killer had been motivated by lust.

As the weeks wore on, Texas authorities and the FBI told the press about some of their pet theories. They believed that the killing was a spur-of-the-moment act. They also suggested that some personal misfortune, such as a break-up or a loss of employment, had driven the killer to lash out at the little girl. More concrete help in the Amber Hagerman case came in 1997, when the Dallas Amber Plan was created. The plan would later become Amber Alert system in 2000.

Amber Hagerman’s name is known, but her killer remains as elusive as ever. The murder of Amber Hagerman is arguably Texas’s biggest cold case.^[5]

5 The Eyeball Killer

Beginning in late 1990, prostitutes in Dallas began dying at an alarming rate. It was obvious that someone was doing the killing, and that someone was a seriously sick individual. The killer signed all of his handiwork with his gruesome calling card—the removal of victims’ eyes.

The man later known as the Eyeball Killer was born Charles Frederick Albright in Amarillo, Texas in the Depression year of 1933. Adopted by the Albright family a few weeks after his birth, young Charles grew up in a comfortable, middle class life. But, underneath the surface, there was trouble brewing. Delle Albright, Charles’s mother, believed in harsh discipline. When Charles misbehaved, Delle would tie him to the bed. There were also times when Delle got pleasure out of making Charles wear girl’s clothing. When Charles was eleven, Delle enrolled him in a taxidermy class. Charles took to taxidermy like a natural, and before long he was skinning and stuffing dead birds. The only problem was that Delle would not pay for fake eyes for the dead animals, so Charles was told to use buttons instead.

Charles was an intelligent boy, but prone to mischief. At age 15 in 1948, he contracted crabs after sleeping with a local prostitute. A year later, he stole $380 from a cash register. Two years later, Charles was sent to jail for the first time after he was convicted of theft and receiving stolen property. Charles would be in and out of trouble for the rest of his life. In 1951 he broke into the Arkansas State Teacher’s College and stole nude pictures from a female dormitory. On one of these pictures Charles glued the eyes that he had cut out of a picture of a friend’s ex-girlfriend. Charles continued to steal, got married to a woman named Bettye Nestor, and, in 1981, was accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl. Four years later, Charles admitted to molesting the preteen daughter of a church friend. He received probation.

The first of the Eyeball Killer murders was discovered on December 13, 1990. The corpse belonged to 33-year-old prostitute Mary Lou Pratt. She had been found partially nude in a field. Albright had sexually assaulted Pratt before shooting her execution-style in the back of the head. The autopsy found that Pratt’s killer had removed her eyeballs with surgical skill. Two months after this homicide, 27-year-old prostitute Susan Peterson was found dead about a mile away from the Pratt crime scene. She too had had her eyeballs removed. A third prostitute was discovered on March 19, 1981. This victim, 45-year-old Shirley Williams, was found not far from an elementary school. Williams had been shot in the head like the others, and the cuts on her face indicated that her eyeballs had been removed with an X-ACTO knife.

Dallas now had a serial killer on its hands. It also had a major breakthrough in the form of eyewitness Veronica Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 26, was a known prostitute and drug addict. Therefore, few believed her when she said that she had seen Pratt’s murder. In fact, Rodriguez had been involved in a threesome with Pratt and her killer on the night of homicide. After the john had struck her in the head with a gun, Rodriguez had sought shelter in the nearby home of a truck driver named Axton Schindler. No clues were found in Schindler’s house, but investigators did learn that Schindler’s landlord was a 57-year-old high school science teacher and carpenter named Charles Albright. Albright owned other properties, two of which was very close to the three crime scenes.

A sheriff’s deputy recalled that Charles Albright’s name had come up on a tip line. A caller had told the deputy that Albright had once dated Pratt. The caller also said that Albright had an unhealthy fascination with eyes and owned a large collection of X-ACTO knives. Charles Albright was arrested on March 22, 1991. Police found in his home not only several X-ACTO blades, but books on serial killers and a copy of Gray’s Anatomy. While the murder weapons and missing eyeballs were never found, hair fibers found in Albright’s truck linked him to all three murders. However, Albright was only convicted of the murder of Shirley Williams. Today he is still behind bars in Lubbock, Texas, counting down the endless days of a life sentence.^[6]

4 The Servant Girl Annihilator

The capital city of Austin, Texas is known for being “weird.” Austin is a deeply Democratic city in a conservative Republican state. Austin is also home to hipsters of all stripes. Well, despite this, Austin today can never be as strange as the Austin of 1884-1885. During that particular epoch, a frightening serial killer roamed the city. No servant girl was safe.

The first murder came to light on December 30, 1884. The victim was an African American cook named Mollie Smith. Smith was found in a rare patch of Texas snow. Her body showed that she had been stabbed in the stomach, chest, arms, and legs. She had also been struck in the head with an ax. The next victim, Eliza Shelly, was found dead on May 7, 1885. Like Smith she was a black cook, and also like Smith she had been struck in the head with an ax.

The attacks ratcheted up after the murder of Eliza Shelly. Irene Cross was stabbed several times with a knife and was almost scalped on May 23rd; 11-year-old Mary Ramey was raped and stabbed through the ear on August 30th; and Gracie Vance and Orange Washington were found bludgeoned to death (one report likened their heads to jelly) on September 28th. The Annihilator was still not done. On Christmas Eve 1885, he struck twice in one night. The victims were 17-year-old Eula Phillips and Susan Hancock. These murders broke with the earlier pattern, for both women were killed in their homes and both were white.

As quickly as the murderer came to town, he vanished. By the end of 1885, the Servant Girl Annihilator was no longer committing crimes. All told, he killed eight people: seven women and one man. He mostly preyed on working class black women, and his weapons of choice were the knife and the ax. At first the Austin police blamed Jimmy Phillips and Moses Hancock, claiming that the pair had killed Eula Phillips and Susan Hancock. The authorities said that the two white men were copycat killers who tried to hide their crimes by making them look like the work of the local black serial killer. Phillips was convicted, but had his conviction overturned after six months. Hancock’s trial in ended in a hung jury.

Since that time, several suspects have been put forward. Author Shirley Harrison believes that Austin’s Servant Girl Annihilator was none other than London’s Jack the Ripper. This ideas was thrown around in the 19th century too, except in Harrison’s rendering, the killer is the Englishman James Maybrick not an unknown Malay ship’s cook named Maurice. Another far-fetched suspect is the writer O. Henry, who not only lived in Austin during the time of murders but also coined the name “Servant Girl Annihilator.”

The most plausible suspect was put forward by “Texas Monthly” writer Skip Hollandsworth, who claims that a 19-year-old black worker named Nathan Elgin committed the crimes. Elgin worked near most of the crime scenes, and in 1886 he was shot and killed by Austin police while trying to attack a woman with a knife.^[7]

3 Angel of Death

Nurses who kill are especially disgusting. There are few things that churn the stomach more than murderers who had once taken an oath to protect life. Texas nurse Genene Jones is one such revolting specimen.

Between 1981 and 1982, a string of suspicious deaths occurred at the pediatric intensive care unit of the Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio. One of the nurses who worked in that ward was 33-year-old Genene Jones. The adopted daughter of a nightclub owner and a former beautician, Jones was a mother of two when she abruptly quit her job as a nurse at the Medical Center Hospital and relocated to the town of Kerrville, Texas. Jones’s former colleagues described her as an intelligent woman, but very coarse and prone to making loud and lewd jokes.

Jones was arrested and charged with the murder of 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan in October 1983. Investigators said that Jones had injected McClellan with a toxic amount of a muscle relaxant called succinylcholine. Less than a year later, Jones was convicted of McClellan’s murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Also in 1984 Jones was sentenced to 60 years for the attempted murder of Rolando Santos. Still, despite these convictions, San Antonio citizens felt betrayed. After all, over sixty toddlers had died at the hospital between 1981 and 1982, and most suspected Jones of being the culprit. During a jailhouse interview in October 1998, Jones all but admitted to killing all of the children, saying: “I really did kill those babies”. In the same recording, Jones backtracked a little by clarifying that it was the voices in her head that were truly responsible for the intentional overdose deaths.

Now, as you read this, Jones is set to stand trial once again. In September 2019, the 69-year-old convicted killer was officially accused of murdering Richard “Ricky” Nelson on July 3, 1981; Rosemary Vega on September 16, 1981; Paul Villarreal on September 24, 1981; Joshua Sawyer on December 12, 1981; and Patrick Zavala on January 17, 1982. Shockingly, this new trial comes two years after Jones was scheduled to be released from prison as part of a new statewide push to lessen prison overcrowding.^[8]

2 Headless in Houston

1979 was a boom year for oil in Houston. The biggest city in the state, Houston got a lot bigger in the late 1970s thanks to American migrants who came from all over in order to get rich quick in East Texas. A few of these migrants met something other than good luck in Houston. In just two months in 1979, five people were murdered by a killer who took pleasure in decapitation. Forty years later, the killer remains uncaught, and Houston cold case investigators don’t have a single fingerprint to help them.

The first to die was Alys Elaine Rankin. On July 27, 1979, Bob Smith, one of Rankin’s coworkers, showed up at the Orchard Apartments located in the 5900 block of Glenmont in the Gulfton neighborhood of southwest Houston. He was there to give Rankin a ride to work. Smith, noticing that the 33-year-old Rankin, wasn’t outside to meet him, went up to her apartment. Inside Smith found Rankin in her bed. She was naked and dead. Her killer had tied her feet to the bed, while he had placed a pillow on her upper body. Smith removed the pillow and found that Rankin was missing her head. Homicide detectives would later add that Rankin had been sexually assaulted.

Two weeks after the discovery of Rankin’s corpse, another body was found. This one belonged to Mary Michael Calcutta, a new Houston resident originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 25-year-old woman was found dead in her bathroom. There were differences between the Rankin and Calcutta crime scenes. Namely, Calcutta was found fully clothed and had had her throat slit. Calcutta had also fought her killer tooth and nail, which was obvious by the fact that Calcutta’s body was riddled with defensive wounds. However, investigators could not overlook the fact that Calcutta’s apartment was located only two floors above Rankin’s. Calcutta had also been sexually assaulted.

Amazingly, this was not the only weird thing about this case. On the same day that Calcutta’s corpse was found, an exterminator found the body of 26-year-old Doris Lynn Threadgill inside of a townhouse in northwestern Houston. Threadgill’s killer had cut her throat so bad that she had been virtually decapitated. The next body found belonged to 16-year-old Joann Huffman, who was found dead inside of Watonga Park on October 4, 1979. On the same day, at a used car lot, the body of 18-year-old Robert Spangenberger was found inside the trunk of a white Dodge car. Spangenberger’s head had been removed.

Houston investigators are not uniform in their opinions about these crimes. Some argue that it was all the work of one madman. Besides the Orchard Apartments connection between Rankin and Calcutta, Huffman’s body was found four miles away from the Threadgill crime scene. Eyewitnesses also heard screams and gunshots near Threadgill’s house on the night before both Huffman and Spangenberger were found. Other homicide investigators discount the single killer theory, arguing that Rankin and Calcutta were killed by the same person, but Huffman and Spangenberger were killed by different people. Some even argue that Threadgill’s murder is unconnected to the other four.^[9]

1 Angel of the Railroad

The golden age of the hobo has come and gone. Despite this, America’s railroads are still used by hundreds, if not thousands of roving vagrants. Many of these freight jumpers wind up in Texas. One man who used the rails was Mexican immigrant Angel Resendiz, who frequented the rails in Texas and the Midwest in order to find farm work. Besides farming, Resendiz worked as a serial killer. During his reign of terror, he killed between nine and fifteen people, thus earning him the nickname of the Railroad Killer.

Resendiz was born in Puebla, Mexico in 1959. Raised by a single mother until the age of six, Resendiz was passed around between family members until he went back to his mother for good at age 12. Resendiz earned quite a rap sheet down in Mexico after dropping out of school in the seventh grade. Not long after his arrest by Texas Rangers in 1999, his mother, 52-year-old Augustina Solis de Resendiz, claimed that her son turned mean after being gang raped by a crowd of boys when he was 12 or 13.

Whether or not this true may never be known. What is a fact is that Resendiz began killing sometime in 1986. By that point he had illegally crossed into the US on several different occasions, and it was after one such crossing that he murdered an unnamed homeless woman. Resendiz shot this woman four times before throwing her body away like trash inside of a farmhouse in Bexar County. In that same year, Resendiz was arrested in Laredo, Texas and convicted of using a fake US birth certificate. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Resendiz apparently learned nothing after this brush with American justice, for he was arrested again in May 1991. This time he was deported back to Mexico after being caught trying to forge Social Security cards and illegally purchase weapons. Months after this deportation, Resendiz slipped back into Texas and murdered 33-year-old Michael White on July 19, 1991. White’s body was found full of bullet holes in the front yard of a San Antonio home.

For the next six years, Resendiz continued to live an itinerant lifestyle, drifting back and forth between the United States and Mexico. Then, in March 1997, Resendiz unleashed his bloodlust. On March 23, 1997, 16-year-old Wendy Von Huben, a runaway from Illinois, was found strangled to death alongside 19-year-old Jesse Howell. This crime scene placed Resendiz in Florida, for the pair were found along a pair of train tracks between Jacksonville and Tampa. In July 1997, it is believed that Resendiz beat a man to death with a pipe in Colton, California. Next, on August 29, 1997, 21-year-old Christopher Maier, a student at the University of Kentucky, was hit in the head with a 50-pound rock. Maier died during the attack, while his girlfriend was raped. The pair had been accosted after taking a shortcut that included walking over some railroad tracks.

Subsequent victims included 87-year-old Leafie Mason in Hughes Springs, Texas; 81-year-old Fannie Whitner Byers in Carl, Georgia; 45-year-old Claudia Benton in Houston; 73-year-old Josephine Konvicka in Fayette County, Texas; 26-year-old schoolteacher Noemi Dominguez in Houston; and 80-year-old George Morber and his 51-year-old daughter Carolyn Frederick in Gorham, Illinois. Most of these crimes involved sexual assault and weapons like axes and pickaxes.

After the last slaying in Illinois, Resendiz was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. Although he managed to escape back into Mexico, his family convinced him to cross back over into El Paso, where he surrendered to Texas Ranger Drew Carter. While Resendiz’s fingerprints were found inside the Morber home, and although Resendiz was seen in Weimar, Texas after the murders of 46-year-old Norman Sirnic and his 47-year-old wife Karen (Resendiz sexually defiled Karen’s corpse), the Railroad Killer was only convicted in court of the murder of Claudia Benton. At his trial, Resendiz pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, stating that he was an angel sent to Earth by God in order to kill the sinful. Resendiz ultimately asked for the death penalty and got it. He died via lethal injection on June 27, 2006. His last words were reportedly: “I deserve what I am getting”.^[10]

About The Author: Benjamin Welton is a freelance writer in Boston.

The United States is a country thanks to one of the most well-known conflicts in history: the American Revolution. Yet the United States continued to be involved in military matters at home and abroad for centuries to come, many of which aren’t taught at all in American schools.

10Fiji Expeditions

There were two Fiji expeditions: the first in 1855 and the second in 1859. The first expedition responded to damages on American property that occurred during the Fijian civil war. A US warship with a detachment of marines was sent to obtain compensation from Seru Cakobau, the self-proclaimed king of Fiji. When Cakobau couldn’t pay, troops clashed with native warriors and successfully routed them.

The second expedition was ordered after two American traders were killed and cannibalized by natives on the Fijian island of Waya. A force of 10 marines and 40 sailors was dispatched, armed with carbines and swords as well as one 12-pounder howitzer cannon. The plan was to attack the mountain village of Somatti, forcing the natives into combat.

The commander of the expedition, Lt. Caldwell, wrote in his journal, “It was a novel undertaking to assault and destroy a mountain tribe in their stronghold with a party of Seamen.” The journey up the mountain proved more treacherous than the group had anticipated, and they were forced to abandon the howitzer. Once they reached the village, they found the natives waiting for them ready to fight.

A pitched battle ensued, in which the expeditionary forces successfully defeated a force of nearly 300 Wayan warriors, mostly armed with clubs and bows, in what became known as the Battle of Somatti.

9Barbary Wars

The Barbary Wars occurred in the early 19th century and was fought between the United States and what was referred to as the “Barbary states.” These were the North African Muslim states and cities such as Tripoli and Algiers, which were technically under control of the Ottomans but acted relatively autonomously. Problems arose when pirates from these areas began to attack US merchant ships and demanded tribute from the United States in exchange for safe passage.

Following the American Revolution, the United States did not have the navy presence or the funds necessary to raise a navy capable of repelling the pirates, so instead, they paid tribute. However, these payments only encouraged the pirates to capture more American ships, taking their crews hostage. Things changed when, under the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the United States refused to pay.

By this point, the US Navy was a more capable fighting force, and naval fleets were sent into the Mediterranean to fight the pirates and protect American merchant ships. The operations were successful, and the threat of piracy was greatly reduced.

8The Moro Rebellion

In the wake of the Spanish-American War, the Spanish ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1899. Most Filipinos were not happy about occupation, and several armed conflicts broke out.

In the southern Philippines, one group known as the Moros was particularly troublesome. The Moros were Muslim Filipinos who had a long history of resisting imperialism. The Americans tried to assimilate them and put an end to some Moro practices they saw as unacceptable, such as slavery. The Moros openly resisted, and from 1901–1913, the Moro Rebellion raged. They often fortified mountains and volcanoes and were prone to launch “berserker”-type attacks.

The Rebellion officially ended in 1913 after a particularly bloody battle known as the Battle of Bud Bagsac, in which the American troops killed all 500 Moros defending the mountain of Bagsac. Brigadier General John Pershing, the commander of the US troops, described the battle of Bud Bagsac, saying, “The fighting was the fiercest I have ever seen . . . they [Moros] are absolutely fearless, and once committed to combat, they count death as a mere incident.”

7The Korean Expedition

In 1871, a US Navy squadron was sent to Korea to establish trade relations and investigate the fate of the American ship General Sherman. The General Sherman was a merchant ship conducting business in Korea. In 1866, after accidently grounding, it was attacked by the Koreans, and its crew were massacred. The Navy squadron was subsequently fired upon by a Korean fort for unknown reasons. The United States demanded an apology within 10 days, and when none came, an assault was launched.

The Koreans had several forts and shoreline batteries along the Gangwha Strait that proved to be easy targets for the attacking forces. The Navy shelled and assaulted these fortifications, taking them with relative ease due to the outdated weaponry of the Koreans. The largest battle took place on June 10, when US troops attacked and captured the Gangwha Citadel. Close-quarter fighting ensued, leaving hundreds of Koreans dead. The US troops left, and by 1882, friendly relations were opened once again.

6The Invasion Of Grenada

In 1983, a communist coup took place on the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. The coup was supported by Cuba, who sent troops to help take control of the country. In the wake of the power struggle, the new communist government suspended civil rights and began to take political prisoners. The Reagan administration, opposed to the spread of communism and concerned for the safety of 600 US medical students in the country, launched a military intervention.

Several Rangers, Navy SEALs, and marines were quickly deployed to take control of the island. In total, about 6,000 troops were involved. The communist resistance was defeated in a matter of days, and Grenada returned to democratic elections in 1984.

5The Quasi War

During the American Revolutionary War, the French monarchy loaned large sums of money to the Americans to fight the British, with the understanding that the Americans would slowly pay it back over time. However, in 1794, the French monarchy was toppled by the French Revolution, and the American government stopped the payments. Angered by this, the new French Republic began attacking and capturing US merchant ships.

In 1798, after attempts at negotiation failed, the United States deployed its navy to combat the French threat, thus beginning the Quasi War. For the next two years, the two nations battled each other on the high seas throughout the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Hostilities concluded in 1800 with the signing of the Convention of 1800.

4The Battle Of Ambos Nogales

In the early 20th century, tensions were high at the Mexican-US border. Skirmishes between US troops and Mexican bandits and Mexican troops had led to an increased military presence on the border. The publication of the Zimmermann Telegraph, a proposed alliance between Germany and Mexico, only served to heighten American anxieties.

Things boiled over on August 27, 1918, when a dispute between Mexican and US custom agents broke into an all-out battle in the town of Nogales, right on the border with both US and Mexican residents. The fighting was chaotic but ended only hours later when a ceasefire was called by the two governments. Many people on both sides died or were wounded in the battle.

3The Samoan Civil Wars

Between 1886 and 1899, the islands of Samoa in the Pacific Ocean were locked in a series of civil wars over who was to be king. The United States, Britain, and Germany all had vested interests in Samoa for commercial and territorial reasons and became involved in the conflict, each sending several warships. This resulted in a naval standoff over who had control of the islands, for years known as the “Samoan Crisis.”

During the Second Samoan Civil War, the United States and Britain fought alongside Samoan troops against German-backed Samoan rebels, who wished to make Mata’afa Iosefo their king. After a series of battles and skirmishes, the United States, Britain, and Germany came to an agreement in 1899 known as the “Tripartite Convention,” in which they abolished the Samoan monarchy. Samoa was subsequently divided, with the Eastern Islands becoming US territory and the Western islands becoming a German colony.

2The Utah War

Since the founding of Mormonism in 1830, the group often found itself in conflict with the United States government. In 1847, after a series of particularly violent episodes in Missouri and Illinois, many Mormons under the direction of their leader Brigham Young began to move west in hopes that isolation would secure their religious freedom. Thousands settled in the what is today Utah. In 1850, Congress created the “Utah Territory” and appointed Brigham Young as its first governor.

In 1857, newly elected president James Buchanan found the power Young had over the Mormons unsettling and ordered his removal from office. Afraid of resistance, he sent 2,500 troops to the territory to ease the transition. However, this only increased tensions. In response, Young raised a sizeable militia and began to terrorize the US troops by burning their supplies and stealing their cattle. Open conflict between the two sides almost broke out several times. However, the “war” ended in 1858 after Buchanan and Young agreed to terms of peace.

1The Battle Of Negro Fort

During the early 19th century, an old British fort on the frontier of northern Spanish Florida became a place of refuge for black freedmen and escaped slaves. The fort, which became known as “Negro Fort,” and the area around it was home to nearly 800 black men, women, and children. Many Americans, including President Andrew Jackson, saw this escaped slave colony as a threat to the very institution of slavery.

On July 17, 1816, the garrison of the fort ambushed an American gunboat in the area, killing all but one of the crew. After hearing this, Jackson ordered the fort to be destroyed. Before the battle began, the American general in command called for the fort and its inhabitants to surrender. The freedmen refused, finding it better to fight and die than return to slavery. The red flag signaling that no quarter would be given was raised above the fort, and the battle began on July 27.

Despite the bravery of the defendants, the battle ended quickly when a shot from a Navy gunboat hit the fort’s powder storage, causing a massive explosion. This killed almost everyone in the fort and effectively ended the battle. In his report, the American commander Col. Clinch wrote, “The explosion was awful and the scene horrible beyond description.”

Brad is currently a student as Fordham University. He can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].

Queen Victoria is perhaps best known for her strict standards of personal morality which identified the period of her reign. After all, it was during the Victorian era, which was named after her, that society was expected to show sexual restraint, low tolerance to crime and a strict social code of conduct. However, it was also under her rule that Britain underwent a great industrial expansion and economic progress. To the outside world, Queen Victoria appeared as a grim and foreboding ruler. But in her personal life she could be quite the opposite. Here, below is a list of ten most amazing facts about Queen Victoria. Have a look!

Top Ten Facts about Queen Victoria

10. Her Proposal to Prince Albert

On 15th of October in 1839, Queen Victoria proposed to her first cousin, Prince Albert. Later in her diary she wrote “we embraced each other over and over again, and he was so kind, so affectionate… I really felt it was the happiest brightest moment in my life.” They got married in 1840 and had a happy married life. Indeed, when Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria never fully recovered and fell into deep mourning for years to come.

9. Block of cheese as a Wedding Gift

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, she received a giant cheddar wheel as a wedding gift. The block of cheese weighed over 500 kilograms and was made from the milk of 750 cows. The queen accepted the present. However, the farmers that made the cheese then asked if it could be exhibited. Queen Victoria agreed, but after the exhibition she simply refused to take the cheese back.

8. Her fear of Bishops

It is widely believed that Queen Victoria had an irrational fear of bishops. Apparently when she was a little girl, she was scared of their wigs, and in consequence, scared of the people under the wigs. However, she managed to partly get over this unusual phobia after the Bishop of Salisbury allowed her to play with his badge of Chancellor of the Order of the Garter.

7. Seven Survived Assassinations

Queen Victoria’s life was threatened at least 7 times. The first attempted assassination took place in 1837, not long after she took the throne. It was carried out by a man who claimed to be the rightful son of George IV and the heir to the throne.

In most cases, the queen’s life was threatened by insane individuals or extremists. For example, in 1840, a man tried to shoot the Queen because he did not believe it fit to have England run by a woman and in 1872 and Irishman with a pistol tried to get her to sign a document that would free the Irish from the English (express.co.uk).

The last attempt on the queen’s life came in 1882. The shooter hated not only the queen but also the number four. He also believed that there were supernatural powers to de discovered in blue things.

6. Her Strained Relationship with her Children

Queen Victoria had nine children with Prince Albert. However, she hated being pregnant as it took away her powers as a queen. She also disliked breastfeeding and called it a disgusting practice. She was severe to her children and did not believe in affection.

Her relationship with her eldest son, Bertie (or Edward VII, as he became known later) was particularly difficult. Like many princes, he was educated at home with a tutor and did badly in lessons – his parents considered him a halfwit. When Bertie was 19, he trained in an army in Ireland and was found in bed with a prostitute. Prince Albert wrote his son a long, sad letter.

He later went to Cambridge to see his son where they took a walk in the rain. Prince Albert came back a sick man and died three weeks later. Queen Victoria blamed Bertie for the death of her husband for the rest of her life.

5. Spying on her Children

Queen Victoria’s insatiable and unquenchable need to be in control and power led to her employment of spies and informers to report on her children. When her eldest daughter married and moved to Germany, Queen Victoria wrote her every day and in a way, micromanaged her life.

When her son Bertie married the Danish princess Alexandra, the doctor on Queen Victoria’s command was forced to report on every minute detail of princess’ Alexandra’s state of health, including her menstrual cycle. Queen Victoria intended to keep her youngest daughter, Beatrice, unmarried. However, Beatrice rebelled and got engaged to a German prince.

Queen Victoria was so enraged she did not speak to Beatrice for six months and only agreed to the marriage on the condition that they live with her (BBC).

4. ‘The Grandmother of Europe’

Towards the end of her reign, Queen Victoria was nicknamed ‘the grandmother of Europe’. This was because most of her nine children married into royal European families, as did her grandchildren when they grew up.

Queen Victoria’s children married into the houses of Battenberg, Denmark, Prussia, Russia, Schleswig-Holstein and Waldeck. Some of her more notable grandchildren include Queen Sophie of Greece, German Emperor Wilhelm II and czarina Alix of Russia.

3. The Carrier of the “Royal Disease”

It is believed that Queen Victoria was the carrier of hemophilia B, which is also known as the “royal disease” because it affected the royal families of England, Germany, Russia and Spain in the 19th and 20th century. She passed this trait onto 3 of her 9 children. Her son Leopold, a delicate sickly child, was the first to suffer – he died from hemorrhage after a fall.

Queen Victoria’s daughters, Beatrice and Alice, passed the disease onto several of their children. After Queen Victoria, the disease was passed on for three generations before it completely disappeared.

2. Prolific Writer

Queen Victoria started her first diary in 1832. At the time, she was just thirteen years old. Her mother inspected her journals every day until Victoria became Queen. She kept a diary all throughout her life and her last entry was made just ten days before her death. Over the course of her life, she filled 121 journals and on average, wrote 2,000 words a day.

Before Queen Victoria died, she insisted that after her death, one of her children would go over her journals and censor anything that might be considered improper. Queen Victoria’s daughter Beatrice did exactly that. After her censorship, most of the original journals were destroyed.

1. First Sovereign to Rule from Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria was the first monarch to rule from the Buckingham Palace (LINK 15). She took up residence in the palace in 1837. After her marriage to Prince Albert, the Buckingham Palace was used as a royal family home, a place for entertainment as well as a place for official business. However, after Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria neglected the Palace favoring other places such as the Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle in Scotland or Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

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The sinking of the Titanic, the collision of the SS Mont-Blanc, and the Hindenburg explosion are all well-known transport disasters that are always remembered and talked about. They’ve become icons, have been made into movies, and have ensured their place in history, never to be forgotten. But there are many more disasters out there that each one mattered just as much for the people involved. Each one made our world a safer place.

10 The Iolaire

On January 1, 1919, two months after the end of World War I, British sailors who’d survived the perils of both the ocean and the war were returning to their families on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, only to tragically perish within miles of reaching home.

The Iolaire (which means “eagle” in Gaelic) was built as a luxury yacht in 1881. During the war, it was equipped with guns and performed anti-submarine and patrol work. The Isle of Lewis and Harris saw a fifth of its population of 30,000 killed in World War I; the crew of the Iolaire were the lucky ones, eager to celebrate the New Year with their families.

Before anyone could celebrate, the ship struck the rocks known as the Beasts of Holm. It was only meant to carry 100 people, but there were almost 300 aboard, with only 80 life jackets and two lifeboats. It was expected to dock in Stornoway Harbour, but due to low visibility, it struck the rocks at the entrance of the harbor and quickly sank, less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) from shore. While 205 perished, 40 were saved by a brave man who improvised a rescuing implement from a rope, and 39 more were able to make it to shore on their own.

A naval inquiry was held in private on January 8, its results not being released to the public until 1970. It reached the conclusion that due to the fact that no officers survived, “No opinion can be given as to whether blame is attributable to anyone in the matter.” Numerous other inquiries, both official and unofficial, were held, none of which settled the matter. The weather wasn’t very bad, but those in charge should have taken safety precautions, like slowing down while approaching the harbor and having more lifeboats.

The site of the wreck is marked today by a pillar that reminds everyone who enters Stornoway Harbour of the cruel irony that befell those who survived the war and were so close to enjoying peace.

9 USS Akron

Following the example of the Hindenburg, the US built two helium-filled airships, each 239 meters (784 ft) long and carrying enough fuel to travel 16,900 kilometers (10,500 mi). One of them was named the USS Akron and was commissioned by the US Navy in 1931. Its mission was to provide long-distance scouting in support of fleet operations, and after a number of trials, the airship was equipped with reconnaissance aircraft and a system designed for in-flight launch and recovery of Sparrowhawk biplanes.

On a routine mission, disaster struck. During the early hours of April 4, 1933, off the coast of New Jersey, a storm began, which caused the airship to strike the water with its tail. The Akron quickly broke apart. What’s intriguing is that it carried no life jackets and only one rubber raft, which dramatically diminished the crew’s chances of survival. Of the 76 onboard, 73 drowned or died of hypothermia.

Although the weather was certainly a factor, Captain Frank McCord is also considered responsible, for flying too low and not taking into account the length of his ship when he tried to climb higher. It is also believed that the barometric altimeter failed due to low pressure caused by the storm.

Akron’s sister ship, the USS Macon, was also lost off the California coast in 1935. Fortunately, that time, only two people perished. These events prompted the US to end its rigid airship program.

8 Junyo Maru Tragedy

The Japanese are remembered for being extremely cruel to their captives during World War II, especially to prisoners of war, who were moved around the Pacific in rusted ships and used for forced labor. The problem with these ships was that they were not marked with a red cross in order to be identified as prison ships per the Geneva Convention, which made them vulnerable to being sunk by Allied aircraft or submarines. The largest maritime disaster in World War II occurred because of this.

On September 18, 1944, the Junyo Maru was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean by the British submarine HMS Tradewind, which couldn’t have known what cargo the ship was carrying. Of the 6,500 Dutch, British, American, Australian, and Japanese slave laborers and POWs onboard, 5,620 died as a result. The Junyo Maru was sailing up the west coast of Java from Batavia (now called Jakarta) to Padang, where its prisoners were to be taken to work on the Sumatra Railway.

Conditions onboard were indescribably bad. Many people were literally packed into bamboo cages like sardines. Those in charge put their life jackets on as soon as they left, whereas the POWs could only count on two lifeboats and a few rafts.

Even more tragically, the approximately 700 POWs who were pulled from the water were still taken to work in the Sumatra Railway construction camps. Only about 100 survived.

7 MV Wilhelm Gustloff Disaster

Nazi Germany designed a state-controlled leisure organization in order to show its citizens the benefits of living in a national socialist regime. Working-class Germans were taken on tours for holidays aboard the MV Wilhelm Gustloff and the program, nicknamed Strength Through Joy, became the largest tour operator in the world in the 1930s.

This all ended when World War II began. In 1945, the Wilhelm Gustloff became part of Operation Hannibal, the German evacuation of over one million civilians and military personnel due to the advancing Red Army in Prussia. Over 10,000 people, 4,000 of whom were children, were crammed onto the ship, all of them desperate to reach safety in the West. The ship was only meant to carry 1,800 people.

The Wilhelm Gustloff set off on January 30, 1945, against the advice of military commander Wilhelm Zahn, who said it was best to sail close to shore and with no lights. Instead, Captain Friedrich Petersen decided to go for deep water. He later learned of a German minesweeper convoy which was heading their way and decided to turn on the navigation lights in order to avoid a collision in the dark. This would soon prove to be a fatal decision. The Gustloff was carrying anti-aircraft guns and military personnel but wasn’t marked as a hospital ship, which would have protected her. Soviet submarine S-13 needed no second invitation to torpedo the shiny target three times.

Ample rescue efforts were made, which saved approximately 1,230 people. Over 9,000 perished in the cold waters of the Baltic Sea, the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking.

6 Gillingham Bus Disaster

On the evening of December 4, 1951, 52 Royal Marine cadets, boys between 10 and 13 years old, were marching from a barrack in Gillingham, Kent, to one in Chatham to watch a box tournament. Their military uniforms were dark clothes and had nothing on them to make the cadets visible. The entrance to the Chatham Royal Naval Dockyard had a malfunctioning light, which made it impossible for the driver of an approaching double-decker bus to see the boys. He plunged right through them before stopping.

The driver, John Samson, had 40 years of experience behind the wheel, but inexplicably for the foggy weather, he didn’t have his headlights on. He claimed to have been traveling at no more than 32 kilometers per hour (20 mph). According to the only adult who was with the boys, Lieutenant Clarence Carter, Samson was going at least twice as fast.

Regardless of the bus’s speed, 17 boys died on the spot, with seven more sent to the hospital. Never before had there been such a tragic loss of life on British streets, and the victims were given a grand military funeral at Rochester Cathedral. Thousands of locals attended. The incident was ruled an accident despite the driver not turning on the headlights or braking until he was a few meters away. Samson was later fined £20 and had his right to drive revoked for three years.

Every such disaster is followed by improvements in order to prevent further loss of life. This time, it was decided that British military marchers will wear rear-facing red lights at night.

5 Harrow & Wealdstone Rail Crash

October 8, 1952, is remembered by Londoners as the day of the worst peacetime rail crash in the UK. It was only exceeded by the Gretna Green disaster during World War I in 1915, when 227 Scottish soldiers headed for the front perished. The Harrow & Wealdstone rail crash involved three trains—a local passenger train from Tring, a Perth night express, which was running late because of foggy conditions, and an express train from Euston.

The driver of the Perth train passed a distant yellow signal, which means “caution,” without slowing, possibly because he couldn’t see it due to the weather. He also passed a later semaphore, which indicated “stop.” He only hit the brakes when it was already too late. Meanwhile, the train from Tring was waiting at the Harrow & Wealdstone Station for its passengers to embark. The Perth train impacted at approximately 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph). The disaster wouldn’t stop there. The fast-moving express from Euston approaching on a different line hit the debris from the initial impact and derailed.

In total, 16 carriages were destroyed, 13 of which were compressed into a pile only 41 meters (134 ft) long, 16 meters (52 ft) wide, and 9 meters (30 ft) tall. The human casualties would total 112 (102 immediately after the accident and 10 more later at the hospital), and 340 were injured.

Although the exact causes and persons responsible were hard to determine, it is believed that a combination of fog, misread signals, and out-of-date equipment caused the horrific crash. All the equipment was working, and the drivers were experienced men; all they needed was an updated system to back them up. The accident sped up the process of introducing the Automated Warning System of the British Railways. The system works by giving a driver who passes a caution or danger signal automated feedback, whether he saw the signal or not, and automatically applying the brakes.

4 USS Thresher Sinking

The USS Thresher was the first in a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarine. It was commissioned in 1961 and went through numerous sea trials to test its new technological systems. As if foreshadowing the disaster that was to strike later on, these trials were interrupted by the failure of the generator while the reactor was shut down, which caused the temperature in the hull to spike, prompting an evacuation. Another setback occurred when the Thresher was hit by a tug and needed extensive repairs.

On April 10, 1963, the sub was conducting drills in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Cod, when it suddenly plunged to the seafloor and broke apart. All 129 passengers were killed—96 sailors, 16 officers, and 17 civilians. During the investigation into the accident, a leak in one of the joints in the engine room was discovered, which caused a short circuit in the electrical system and made it impossible to resurface the Thresher. The sub had no other choice but to sink and implode due to increasing water pressure.

The disaster mobilized the US Navy to put more effort into SUBSAFE, a program designed to rigorously control the quality of nuclear submarine construction.

3 MV Derbyshire Sinking

The MV Derbyshire is the largest British bulk carrier lost at sea. Built in 1976, it was a majestic ship built in 1976 at 281 meters (922 ft) in length, 44 meters (144 ft) in width, and 24 meters (79 ft) in depth. It had been in service for only four years when it set sail toward its doom on July 11, 1980, carrying 150,000 tons of ore.

On September 9 or 10, Typhoon Orchid struck the Derbyshire in the East China Sea, just as the ship was approaching its destination. At the time, it was carrying 44 people, all of whom perished during the journey from Canada to Japan, where the ship was meant to transport its cargo.

What sets this disaster apart from others is that the ship seemed to be lost forever, with initial searches for the wreckage turning up nothing. The absence of any mayday call or distress signal beforehand was also intriguing to the families of those lost. A formal investigation was conducted seven years later in 1987. It concluded that no structural or other failures were to blame; the weather conditions were responsible.

The grieving families were not convinced, and they decided to from the Derbyshire Families Association (DFA) to work together toward the truth. They managed to raise enough funds to finally find what remained of the Derbyshire in 1994, lying on the seabed more than 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) down in the abyss. DFA members continued to push for a number of investigations, which resulted in increased ship safety over the years. While the 1970s were plagued by bulk carrier sinkings, with 17 lost each year. The numbers are much lower today.

2 Bihar Train Accident

Were it not for the British rule over India, which aimed to improve the transport system among other things, the Bihar train accident would have never happened. On June 6, 1981, a train with around 1,000 passengers crowed into nine coaches was traveling through the Indian state of Bihar, 400 kilometers (250 mi) away from Calcutta. It was the monsoon season in India, which meant that heavy rains made the tracks slippery, and the river below was swollen.

It is believed the tragedy that followed was caused by the driver, who saw a cow along the tracks and braked hard. Cows are sacred animals in the Hindu religion, and he was a devout follower. Due to the rain, the tracks were too slippery, and the wheels failed to grip, causing the carriages to plunge into the Baghmati River below, sinking fast. Rescue efforts were hours away, and by the time they arrived, almost 600 people had died, and another 300 remain missing.

1 Ufa Train Explosion

The 1980s were difficult times for Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was trying to hold together the Soviet Union and maintain the Communist Party’s commanding role. At the same time, a series of disasters couldn’t hide the fact that the country’s infrastructure was old and dangerous. One of these disasters happened on June 4, 1989.

Two Russian passenger trains with hundreds of people onboard were passing one another near the city of Ufa, close to the Ural Mountains, when they met an extremely flammable cloud of gas leaking from a nearby pipeline. Sparks released by their passing blew both trains to pieces. Seven carriages were reduced to dust, while 37 more were destroyed, along with the engines. More than 500 people perished, many of whom were children returning from a holiday on the Black Sea. The force of the explosion was estimated to be similar to 10 kilotons of TNT, which nearly equaled that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The fireball formed was 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) long and destroyed all trees in a 4-kilometer (2.4 mi) radius.

The pipeline going along the rail lines was full of propane, butane, and hydrocarbons, and the pressure within was high enough to keep it in a liquid state. On the morning of June 4, a drop in pressure was observed, but instead of checking it out, the people in charge increased the pressure. Consequently, clouds of heavier-than-air propane formed and left the pipe, traveling along the rails. All they needed was a spark.

As with many disasters, the Ufa train explosion happened because finishing something quickly at minimal cost was more important than long-term consequences. The pipeline had more than 50 leaks in three years, and the Soviet Ministry of Petroleum didn’t want to admit their negligence. Worse, railway traffic controllers didn’t have the authority to halt trains on the Trans-Siberian railway, even if they smelled gas.

Teo loves animals, chocolate, and constantly finding out more about this magnificent and diverse world.

Most of us have heard that the comedian Tommy Cooper collapsed and died during a performance on stage. Most of us know about Brandon Lee and the tragic accident that saw him shot to death while filming The Crow. However, the fact is that multiple people have died during or as a result of a performance. And they stretch back over the centuries.

From people who have simply had heart attacks to being mauled by lions and even being shot by crazed fans as they performed blissfully unaware of such danger, all are morbidly intriguing. And all are a reminder that the curtain call of life could happen at any moment.

Related: 10 Sporting Events That Ended in Tragic Deaths of Athletes

10 “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott

Without a doubt, one of the most horrific deaths to occur during a performance was that of heavy metal guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Less than two minutes into a show with the band Damageplan in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004, Abbott was fatally shot in the head by a crazed “fan,” Nathan Gale.

Gale had entered the building through a side door and went straight to the stage, where he fired directly at the guitarist. In the mayhem that followed, a member of the road crew, an employee of the club, and a fan in the audience were also killed by Gale.

A police officer was soon at the scene and ultimately shot Gale dead when he raised his weapon to the head of a hostage he had taken on the stage. It would come to light that Gale had a history of mental problems. He had even written that the band had “stolen his songs.”^[1]

9 Colonel Bruce Hampton

Although his death was not as bloodthirsty as the one above, the death of Colonel Bruce Hampton was equally as harrowing for those in the audience who witnessed it. The show in question was a 70th birthday celebration for Hampton himself at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on the evening of April 30, 2017.

Perhaps what made the situation even worse is that when Hampton “toppled over” while playing the song “Turn on Your Lovelight,” the rest of the musicians on stage continued to play. They would later reveal that they believed it was a stunt for the audience’s amusement. Many even laughed. However, when Hampton stopped moving and didn’t get up to continue to play, they realized something had gone tragically wrong. It would come to light that a massive heart attack had struck the veteran musician.

One person in attendance, photographer Michael Weintrob, would later state that “at first everyone thought he was messing around. But he was dying while everyone else was playing.”^[2]

8 Jon Erik-Hexum

The death of actor Jon Erik-Hexum is perhaps particularly distressing as not only was it a tragic accident, but it also ultimately arose out of boredom on set. The actor—only 26 years old—was shooting a scene for a CBS show, Cover Up, in 1984. As part of the scene, he had a .44 Magnum loaded with one blank bullet.

Due to delays with the filming, Hexum quickly grew bored and began spinning the chamber around in the gun—as if playing Russian roulette. Although he spun the chamber, the only blank bullet was not ready to fire. Unbeknown to Hexum, though, a “wad of paper” was. When he placed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, the paper smashed through his skull. This, in turn, sent a coin-sized piece of bone fragment directly into his brain. He was ultimately kept alive on life-support but was officially declared “brain dead” less than a week later.^[3]

7 Joe E. Ross

Joe E. Ross is perhaps best known for his role in Car 54, Where Are You?—a popular TV show in the early 1960s. However, it would be while performing a low-key show at a clubhouse in the apartment building where he lived in the Van Nuys suburb of Los Angeles that he would collapse and suffer a fatal heart attack during the performance in August 1982. By the time the 67-year-old had been removed from the stage and taken to hospital for treatment, he was pronounced dead.

Although he had remained active on television throughout the years, he had become a regular on the club scene in the years before his death. Despite his age, he was thought to be in relatively good health, which only served to make his death that much more shocking for his family and friends, many of whom were in attendance.^[4]

6 Karl Wallenda

As an acrobatic tightrope walker, Karl Wallenda’s death was not only filmed by a local news film crew in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but was also witnessed by 200 people at the scene. During an attempt to walk a tightrope over 120 feet (60 meters) from the ground between two of the towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel in 1978, the 73-year-old lost his balance and tumbled to his death. He would hit a parked taxi on his way to the ground, which is thought to have been the fatal blow. In reality, though, he would likely have met the same fate if he had landed squarely on the ground.

It is thought that the wires were incorrectly secured. This, combined with particularly high winds on the afternoon of the stunt attempt, caused the veteran acrobat to lose his balance. Although the footage filmed did not circulate widely among the world’s media, it was shown on several media outlets and is particularly disturbing to watch.^[5]

5 Leonard Warren

What perhaps made the sudden death of opera star Leonard Warren all the more grim is the line he was singing in the moments before his death. While performing La Forza Del Destino—an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi—in March 1960, Warren sang the line “… to die, a momentous thing.” He was then supposed to continue with the rest of the performance along with the other cast members.

Some cast members would claim that the opera star began to say, “Help me, help me!” before he collapsed on the stage of the sold-out performance. Others, however, state that he remained silent aside from a gasping sound as he tried to catch his breath.

Cast members quickly went to administer aid when they realized something was wrong. Warren, however, was already dead. It was eventually revealed he had suffered a fatal heart attack. Incidentally, he had been cast in performances for several years, something which caused numerous problems for those who had to recast for their respective shows.^[6]

4 Gilbert Genesta

All magicians and illusionists accept the risk of death during their performances. However, when considering the sheer number of such shows over the years, this is a rare occurrence. However, in November 1930, American escape artist Gilbert Genesta attempted to perform an escape from a water-filled barrel. And it would go tragically wrong. He had witnessed the great Houdini perform the stunt and wished to do so himself.

By the time he was performing the stunt in Frankfort, Kentucky, he had already successfully escaped on numerous occasions. However, unbeknown to the performer, the barrel he was using on this night (a metal milk barrel that contained milk instead of water) had a small dent in it. This was more than enough to limit the escape artist’s movements, meaning he failed to escape in time.

When stage assistants realized something was wrong, they quickly rushed on stage and dropped the curtain in front of the audience. When they pulled Genesta out, he was unconscious but still barely alive. However, despite an initial successful revival, he died a short time later. Perhaps ironically, his death only served to make such escape tricks more popular with both audiences and performers.^[7]

3 Thomas Macarte

Rightly or wrongly, there might be many people who have little sympathy regarding the death of Thomas Macarte. In January 1872, he was doing what he did best: lion taming. On this occasion, in Bolton in the United Kingdom, he was inside a cage with five large lions. There were approximately 500 people in attendance. All were horrified when not one but each of the lions in the cage suddenly turned on the veteran lion tamer and ultimately mauled him to death.

It is thought, according to Macarte’s wife, that one of the lions had bitten his hand several days previously. He had allegedly confessed to his wife that he was “afraid” of this lion despite his ample experience. It is also thought that before the show, he had consumed several alcoholic drinks in order to settle his nerves because of this. Whether this contributed to his death or whether the lions in question merely “snapped” after years of such treatment is open to debate.^[8]

2 Molière

Perhaps the earliest person who died while performing on our list goes back to the seventeenth century when Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), the French writer and actor, died while onstage in February 1673.

In fact, Molière actually collapsed twice on the night in question. He would insist after his coughing fits and breathlessness that he continue with the play. However, a short time later, he would collapse again, this time with severe bleeding. He was accompanied home, where he passed away shortly after. He was waiting to receive the last rites at the time of his death. However, while two priests had arrived at this home, a third hadn’t, prompting the first two priests to insist they must wait. By the time the late priest arrived, the Frenchman was dead.

Incidentally, Molière was wearing green at the time of his fatal performance. It is said that the belief that the color is bad luck for actors stems from his death.^[9]

1 “Mr. Cummins”

Although there is little known about the person himself or the aftermath, the 1817 death of an actor known only as “Mr. Cummins” at Leeds Theatre in Hunslet is still spoken of today. At least by actors in the United Kingdom theatre scene.

The play in question was named The Tragedy of Jane Shore. The plot of the play revolves around a husband (played by Cummins) who forgives his wife of a life of sin following her repentance. However, after he had shouted out his last line of the performance, the unfortunate actor simply fell to the stage and died. It is thought he died from heart failure.

Whether the heart attack was a sudden one or whether he had felt unwell before and during the performance is not known. However, Cummins, like actors since the beginning of the craft, was very much a believer in the “show must go on.”^[10]