The idea of dying together comes up at some point in most relationships. For many, the idea of living the rest of your life without your loving partner is unbearable. There have been countless documented cases of people ending their lives to escape their loneliness.

In these 10 cases, people weren’t given this choice. For those who were killed by others, it was not a planned event. For those who took their own lives, the alternative would have separated them from their partners in some way anyway.

10 Couples Who Mysteriously Vanished

10 Julius And Ethel Rosenberg

Julius And Ethel Rosenberg were an American couple with a huge secret: They were spies for Soviet Russia. During World War II, Julius worked for the Army Signal Corps. He had access to sensitive information about the development of the nuclear bomb, which was eventually used as a turning point in the war.

Through contacts made during his involvement with the Communist Party, Julius passed on information about the development of the bomb to the Soviet Union. In 1951, the Rosenbergs were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage.

In a move which would cause controversy to this day, they were both sentenced to execution in the electric chair. Although Julius’s sentence was met with little resistance, the decision to execute his wife was seen as a harsh move by those who believed that her involvement was minimal.

On June 19, 1953, 35-year-old Julius was strapped into the chair. He said nothing before the first jolt of electricity entered his body. He was pronounced dead after that first attempt.^[1]

Drawing the prison matron toward her as she was strapped into the chair, Ethel kissed the matron before being killed. After the initial shocks, she was examined by a doctor who found that she was still alive. Eventually, she died in the electric chair, too.

Julius’s guilt was later proven, but Ethel’s involvement is still thought to have been minimal.

9 Dennis And Merna Koula

Dennis Koula and his wife, Merna, were enjoying a peaceful retirement in the affluent, scenic area of La Crosse, Wisconsin. On Monday, May 24, 2010, their son, Eric, received a phone call from a local school where his mother worked as a substitute teacher. She had failed to turn up for a day’s work, and they were concerned.

Unable to contact his parents, Eric left for their house. When he arrived, he opened the door to find Dennis on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. Clearly, Dennis hadn’t gotten far from the entrance to the house when he was shot down by whomever had committed the terrible crime.

Eric called 911 and described the scene to the dispatcher. Partway through the call, he walked further into the house and entered the room where the couple kept their computer. His mother was slumped over the desk with one hand on the keyboard. She had also been shot.

The scene was a mystery. Whoever had killed the Koulas hadn’t disturbed anything else in the house.^[2]

A few days after the murders, Eric found a haunting note in his mailbox. It simply read, “Fixed you.” The note wasn’t explained until police began digging a little deeper into Eric’s alibi. It was soon revealed that Eric had written the note himself after murdering his parents to inherit their money. He was in serious debt due to his unsuccessful day trading and saw the murders as the only way out.

In August 2012, Eric Koula was sentenced to two life sentences for the murders of his parents. He maintains his innocence.

8 Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov And Alexandra Feodorovna

Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov (aka “Nicholas the Bloody” due to his suppression of the 1905 uprising in which thousands died) met his wife, Alexandra (aka Alix of Hesse), through their intertwined families. (The couple was reportedly related to each other through several different lines of nobility).^[3]

Under Nicholas II’s rule, Russians watched their country go from one of the world’s major powers to an economic and military disaster. By 1917, the public saw him as responsible for the terrible economic and social conditions in Russia. Having massively fallen out of favor with the Russian people, Nicholas and his family were confined to a government house under guard (supposedly for their protection).

On July 17, 1918, the family was ordered to the basement by a leading “Old Bolshevik.” There, they were met by a number of communist soldiers, who formed a firing squad. A charge was read out loud by lead executioner Yakov Yurovsky. It stated that Nicholas and his family had been sentenced to death for crimes against the Russian people.

Nicholas was bewildered but had little time to comprehend the situation as the bullets were fired. Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, and four of their faithful employees were killed. Although Nicholas was killed from the hail of bullets, others had to be dispatched with the bayonets of the soldiers’ guns.

Later, the bodies were hastily buried in an unmarked location after the truck carrying them to their intended destination broke down in the ice and snow. The location was only discovered in 1979.^[3]

7 Ethan Nichols And Carissa Horton

In 2011, Ethan Nichols, 21, And Carissa Horton, 18, met after Horton moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ethan had a job at Blue Bell Creamery, and Carissa was a freshman at Oral Roberts University (ORU). The parents of the young couple had known each other in Iowa, and Ethan’s mother had asked him to help Carissa become comfortable with her new environment.

Immediately forming a bond, they spent more and more time together. On a late September evening in 2011, the young couple was taking a stroll through Hicks Park. They were approached by two young men and forced to hand over their valuables.

This is where most stories of robbery would begin and end. However, instead of allowing the couple to go, the robbers shot Nichols and Horton execution style. Then the perpetrators took Nichols’s car and left the scene. The victims’ bodies were discovered in the park the next day.

The news crew of a local ABC affiliate arrived on the scene soon after the couple was discovered by a jogger. One man seemingly eager to be interviewed was Darren Price, a local resident who expressed his shock at the murder. He stated that he no longer felt safe living in the area.

Police immediately began the search for the stolen car. It wasn’t long before it was discovered at a local apartment complex. As officers watched closely, Price and Jerard Davis got into the vehicle. The police tried to stop the men, but they sped away. After crashing the vehicle during their escape attempt, Price and Davis were arrested.

The pair was soon charged with the murders. Davis pleaded guilty to the shootings, and Price was convicted at trial. Both were given life sentences.^[4]

6 Alexander Obrenovic And Draga Masin

King Alexander I (aka Alexander Obrenovic) ruled Serbia from 1889 until he and his wife, Queen Draga, were assassinated in 1903. Alexander had assumed the throne under a regency after his father, King Milan I, unexpectedly abdicated when Alexander was only 12 years old.

Upon reaching his 16th birthday in 1893, Alexander officially declared himself of age (which would normally happen at 18) and dismissed the regents. In summer 1900, Alexander announced his intended marriage to Draga Masin, a beautiful (and disreputable) widow 10 years his senior. This proved an unpopular move, particularly with Alexander’s parents.

Meanwhile, in France, an exiled Serbian prince, sixtyish Peter Karageorgevich, was gaining momentum in his attempts to overthrow the young King Alexander I. Peter intended to rule Serbia himself. Earlier, he had gone into exile with his father, Prince Alexander, who had ruled Serbia until his abdication in 1858. That occurred after he refused to enter the Crimean War, which made him unpopular with his Council.

Near midnight on June 10, 1903, army officers under orders from Karageorgevich entered the palace of King Alexander I and Queen Draga. To save themselves, the king and queen hid in an upstairs cupboard. However, they were discovered by the group after hours of searching. In the early morning of June 11, the couple was shot dead, disemboweled, and thrown from a second-floor window. They were later buried in a crypt in Belgrade.^[5]

10 Deadliest Serial Killer Couples By Kill Count

5 Siddiqa And Khayyam

In 2010, newspapers across the world began reporting the story of two Afghan nationals who were found by the Taliban to have committed adultery. Their punishment shocked the world.

On a Sunday morning in August 2010, the Taliban arrested Siddiqa, 19, and Khayyam, 25, in their village in northern Kunduz Province and brought them to an open area. They were surrounded by members of their community, who had been coerced to attend the public event by leaders of the local Taliban militia.

Dressed in a burka, Siddiqa had been placed in a hole up to her waist. Meanwhile, Khayyam was blindfolded and had his hands tied behind his back. The charge of breaking Islamic law was read to them.

Apparently, Siddiqa had been sold to a rich family with the intention of marriage. Unhappy with this, she ran off and married her true love, Khayyam. Leaders of the local, usually peaceful community responded calmly. They stated that if the couple returned and Khayyam’s family came up with $9,000 (the amount originally paid for Siddiqa’s marriage to the other man), then Siddiqa and Khayyam would be allowed to marry.

Unfortunately, the Taliban intervened. As the charges against the couple were read, members of the crowd began picking up large rocks to commence the punishment.

Siddiqa was murdered first. The rocks smashed against her body, including her head, until she fell. She was also shot. After her death, the crowd moved on to Khayyam. He cried as he was murdered by the same punishment. The crowd then dispersed.

With their murders, Siddiqa and Khayyam had joined a long list of Afghans killed in the most brutal fashion in the name of religion.^[6]

4 Nicolae And Elena Ceausescu

Like many ousted political couples, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu enjoyed a brief popularity when he first rose to power. But their popularity faded long before their country ultimately turned on them in a violent and dramatic denouement to Romanian communism. Nicolae ruled the country from 1967 to 1989 and saw his people suffer terrible economic hardship, which he ignored while living a life of luxury.

The couple lived in a mansion with huge collections of art and antiques. Elena was noted as being the most unashamedly extravagant of the two. She collected furs, couture gowns, and hundreds of pairs of expensive shoes.

In 1989, after years of hardship at the expense of Ceausescu’s economic policies, the populace revolted and the couple was arrested. On Christmas Day, television cameras rolled as the couple was convicted and sentenced in what could only be described as a show trial. Their death sentences were quickly announced. The couple was moved together to an open area and immediately shot by the waiting firing squad.

The events happened so quickly that the TV cameras failed to capture the moment of the execution. Instead, they only recorded Nicolae and Elena’s lifeless bodies in the dust left by the bullets. For Romania, communism was over. The couple was buried on opposite sides of a path in a Bucharest cemetery.^[7]

3 The Sumter County Does

We have no idea who these people were—and we may never know. But they met their unfortunate fates together.

On August 9, 1976, trucker Martin Durant made a grisly discovery on a dirt road 0.8 kilometers (0.5 mi) from Interstate 95 and Highway 341 in Sumter County, South Carolina. A man and a woman, both in their twenties, lay on their backs in the dirt. Each had three gunshot wounds: one in the back, one in the chest, and one under the chin (which appeared to have been used to ensure their demise after the other bullets would have sent them to the ground).

Neither victim had identification on them. But police hoped that artist drawings of the young couple would bring witnesses in and at least solve the mystery of their identities.

There were a few clues at the scene. Both were wearing expensive-looking jewelry. The man had a Bulova Accutron watch and a 14-karat ring with the initials “JPF” on the inside. Neither was wearing underwear.

Despite the clues and a witness stating that the couple had been seen at a fruit stand shortly before their deaths, nothing more was forthcoming. The jewelry could not be traced, and even dental records and autopsies revealed nothing new. A suspect was arrested but provided a solid alibi for the time of the murders. The Sumter County Does remain unknown.^[8]

2 Adolf Hitler And Eva Braun

Eva Braun’s life could have turned out very differently if she had not become the focus of Adolf Hitler’s attention. Braun was a photographer and, by all accounts, a talented one. She became close to Hitler during his Berghof days and became a regular part of his household high in the Berchtesgaden mountains in the mid-1930s.

Hitler had a notoriously strange relationship with women. His previous obsession, his half-niece Geli Raubal, had killed herself in his Munich apartment, possibly to escape his obsessive, restrictive clutches.

Although Braun had also attempted suicide early in her relationship with Hitler, she eventually swore her undying loyalty to him. By early 1945, World War II was all but lost for Germany. As the Russians closed in on the German capital, Hitler and Braun—as well as numerous servants, assistants, and other leading Nazis—holed up in his bunker. They were determined to avoid capture.

Collectively understanding their unavoidable fates, Hitler and Braun married in the bunker in the early hours of April 29, 1945. Braun enjoyed only 40 hours of being Eva Anna Paula Hitler.

The last sightings of the newly married couple occurred the next day in the mid-afternoon. They said solemn goodbyes to their comrades and staff before shutting themselves away in a room. Shortly after, gunshots were heard, followed by eerie silence.

According to witness reports, Hitler and Braun had bitten down on cyanide capsules. Hitler had also fired a bullet into his own head. (However, there are differing viewpoints as to how Hitler died.)

SS officers later moved the corpses into the open and set them alight to destroy the remains. This was done to prevent them from ending up in the hands of the encroaching Soviets.^[9]

1 Joseph And Magda Goebbels

Although Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun’s suicides may have seemed like a simple decision under the circumstances, the fates of Joseph Goebbels and his wife, Magda, are harder to comprehend because they took their innocent children with them.

Joseph Goebbels had been Hitler’s propaganda minister since 1933. Hitler valued Goebbels greatly; his skills at convincing the German public to stand by while the Nazi Party committed unthinkable atrocities were unparalleled.

Magda began dating Joseph in 1930. She had recently split from Gunther Quandt, her husband from 1921 to 1929. Joseph and Magda married (with Hitler as a witness) in 1931. The couple also had six children before their eventual move into the Fuhrerbunker with Hitler and Braun in 1945.

While Joseph’s allegiance to the Fuhrer was unshakable, Magda had become openly critical of Hitler as she watched him take Germany to annihilation at the hands of the Allies. A day after the deaths of Hitler and Braun, Joseph Goebbels realized that the only way out for him was a similar fate.

There are conflicting theories as to how Joseph and Magda Goebbels killed themselves and their children, but we know they all died on May 1, 1945. According to one account, Goebbels ordered his doctor to administer morphine to his six children and crush cyanide capsules in their mouths as they lost consciousness. Another report claimed that Magda administered the capsules. Afterward, the couple retired to the garden of the chancellery and killed themselves.^[10]

10 Unsolved Cases Involving Murdered Couples

About The Author: John Sampson is an Internet author who writes about anything that piques his interest. He does not use social networking as he believes this makes him more mysterious and interesting. He is wrong.

They say that “hindsight is 20/20,” and as with some clichés, this one couldn’t be truer when it comes to some people’s attitude toward change, especially when it comes to doing something easier, better, or faster. Well, here are even ten more modern conveniences that most of us take for granted today that we couldn’t live, work, or play without.

These include conveniences that, when first proposed, some people “never got the memo on” or resisted in some other way since they’re such no-brainers now today. So keep reading to find out how amazing and outlandish the public’s attitude can be, not only today but also in the past, toward some of the most successful and important ideas, inventions, and innovations of all time.

Related: Top 10 Successful Inventions That Just Up And Died

10 Cold Start for Ice Cubes

Those residing in frigidly cold places could always get ice when needed during the winter months, so it wasn’t until the 19th century that ice became a global industry, taking much hard work and smart advertising to do it. An ice harvester, one Frederic Tudor, a New Englander, tried for decades to generate interest and buyers for his crops of ice he cut out of frozen lakes and ponds.

Thinking out of the box, he made a connection with people in the West Indies who might want his frozen product. When his friends and colleagues back in his hometown in Massachusetts heard, he was “laughed at by all his neighbors.” They thought it was ludicrous to try to ship ice all the way to a Caribbean island. Even the Boston Gazette got in on the act, saying, “We hope this will not prove to be a slippery speculation.”

When he did get to the Caribbean, with a 130-ton (117.9-tonne) load of fresh and frozen water in 1806, the natives of Martinique didn’t want the ice since they weren’t even sure what to do with it. To them, it was a novelty, and they were more amused with it than anything. With his valuable ice turning into worthless water, the resilient Mr. Tudor had to come up with something, so he did. He made as much ice cream as he could out of the water he had left. Although Tudor lost thousands on that initial attempt, he soon succeeded beyond his wildest dreams in an ice-delivery business with customers from Louisiana to India.

Frederic Tudor is well known today as the “King of Ice,” but we’ll call him the “King of Ices.” It has a better ring to it. Get it, king of hearts, king of spades, king of ices? ^[1]

9 The Skateboard Skates It to Stardom

In the 1960s, the recently developed pastime of skateboarding was just beginning to catch on with kids. But not with parents, as many declared the sport as just a fad—a possible fatal one—and they didn’t like it a bit. In 1965, according to the Pittsburgh Press, Harry H. Brainerd, Pennsylvania’s traffic safety commissioner, stated that skateboarding was just an “extremely hazardous fad” and asserted that parents “would be well advised not to permit the children to use skateboards until they have been instructed in and understand basic, common sense rules of safety for their use.”

He wasn’t the only one that thought kids couldn’t be trusted to ride early skateboards without killing themselves. A liberal political organization called the “Americans for Democratic Action” sent a petition to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1979 in an attempt to ban skateboards and skateboarding entirely. claiming, “The design of the skateboard itself cannot be improved in any way to make it safe.” Sorry, but the rest is history.^[2]

8 The Printing Press Prints Paper to Perfect Shame

A leading professor during the days of Columbus in 1492, the monk Johannes Trithemius, made a solemn prediction that the printing press would fail. In his essay, “In Praise of Scribes,” he asserted that writing by hand was morally superior to printing with a machine. Trithemius claimed, “The word written on parchment will last a thousand years… the printed word is on paper… The most you can expect a book of paper to survive is two hundred years.”

How wrong was Trithemius? The material used for the books monks scribed in was made from animal skins called parchment. The paper of the day was made from cellulose produced from different species of plant fiber. Today’s modern paper degrades due to it being made from wood fibers and high acid content, making it unstable. In Trithemius’s day, rag stock was used to make paper and was so stable it would last for centuries. In fact, several original printings of the Gutenberg Bible sre still around to prove it.

Trithemius would go on to write, “Printed books will never be the equivalent of handwritten codices, especially since printed books are often deficient in spelling and appearance.” Ironically, his ranting and raving with pen and paper was overtaken by the printing press that he wanted so badly to fail. That’ll teach Trithemius to refuse a printed copy of the memo.^[3]

7 The Cell Phone Calls on Reason

Jan David Jubon was a telecommunications consultant in 1981 and was leery of the claims of how well the new cell phone devices would sell. His attitude in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor goes so far as to reflect it by saying, “But who, today, will say I’m going to ditch the wires in my house and carry the phone around?”

Even the “father of the cell phone,” Marty Cooper, didn’t predict just how significant the cell phone might soon become. This is evident in a comment he made in an interview with a newspaper reporter, who included Cooper’s quote in his article, “Cellular phones will absolutely not replace local wire systems,” Cooper states, “Even if you project it beyond our lifetimes, it won’t be cheap enough.” But Jan had no cellphone, so he never got the memo. Hmm? If only foresight wasn’t 20-20, right, Jan?^[4]

6 Sony’s Walkman Walks the Walk and Talks the Talk

This device completely changed how the world listened to music. Right from the start, when Sony released their first Walkman in 1979, not everyone was “all in” on Sony CEO Akio Morita’s baby. In his book Made in Japan, Morita recalls, “It seemed as though nobody liked the idea. At one of our product planning meetings, one of the engineers said, ‘It sounds like a good idea, but will people buy it if it doesn’t have a recording capability? I don’t think so.’”

After the Walkman was finished with development, Morita recalls, even “our marketing people were unenthusiastic… They said it wouldn’t sell.” But sell it did. The Daily News of Bowling Green, Kentucky, wrote in a 1982 article, It’s “now clear that the Walkman and its successors not only sell and sell from Anchorage to Ankara but also appear to have become a semi-permanent appendage to most of the world’s ears.”

The Walkman would get flak from a few city governments who were trying to get the device banned so people wouldn’t be walking the streets with headphones on, claiming they were a threat to public safety. Even today, there is a law still being enforced in Woodbridge, New Jersey, that comes with a $50 fine for being caught wearing Walkman headphones while crossing the street, regardless if they’re playing or not. Some things will never change.^[5]

5 People Didn’t Want to Hear about Car Radios

In 1992, a New York City magazine called Outlook, with an author breezily reminiscing in an intentional manner, writes, “This equipment, with which you can listen to the radio concerts while driving in your car, is said to be the very latest development of inventive genius for the amusement of the radio fan.”

Well, not everyone had such a positive outlook on the car radio in 1930, though. Quoting an anonymous source in the nation’s capital, the New York Times wrote an article pointing out the cons of car radio technology that said, “Music in the car might make him miss hearing the horn of an approaching automobile or fire or ambulance siren… Imagine fifty automobiles in a city street broadcasting a football game! Such a thing as this, I am sure, would not be tolerated by city traffic authorities.”

In a 1934 poll of members from the Automobile Club of New York, 56% said that car radios were distracting to drivers, a danger to others on the road, and just “more noise added to the present din” of the highway. If only they could hear the thumping of bass and see the glass shuddering with the deep bass beat in a young person’s car today, they’d be thunder-struck.^[6]

4 “Movies Don’t Need Sound!”

In the Roaring Twenties movie industry, the “talkie” was all the rage. But that opinion was far from universal for many consumers and professionals in the industry. Newspapers from coast-to-coast printed headlines like “Talking Films Try Movie Men’s Souls” or “Union’s Discount Talkies.” The public and even members of the movie industry were calling talkies names like “squeakies” or “moanies,” which aren’t terribly flattering, to say the least.

One of these disenchanted members of the movie industry was prominent film director Monte Bell. Bell had employed three other producers, who he instructed to write three different takes on silent films and talkies, using three different attitudes toward them. Bell wanted to “dip his toe in the water,” so to speak. So one producer claimed in his reviews that the silent film was dying, while another claimed the silent film still had plenty of legs left, and the third hailed talkies as the revolutionary advancement that would bring prosperity to the movie industry.

As things turned out, the debates that resulted from Bell’s small experiment strongly suggested that people wanted sound and/or dialogue in films. As usual, those who criticized the advent of sound in movies would eventually come around to their senses and embrace the technology just like everyone else has ever since. Can you even imagine “no sound” in a movie today?^[7]

3 New York Times on Smartwatches: “Wearable Tech Could Cause Cancer”

Can wearable technology cause cancer? According to an article in the New York Times in 2015 written by technology columnist Nick Bilton, it can. His article’s original headline had been, “Could wearable computers be as harmful as cigarettes?” It has since been changed to the less accusatory “The health concerns in wearable tech” (still online) due to the myriad of harsh criticism it received. Still, the problems the piece caused don’t quit there.

In the article, Bilton attempts to answer an important and interesting question: Do smartwatches increase the wearer’s risk of getting cancer? There have been decades of research done that could address this subject since the radiation taking the blame for all this emanates from everything that employs a screen or radio device, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and flat-screen TVs. Instead of researching previous studies on the subject, Bilton dove right in by equating the dangers of using an Apple smartwatch to cigarette smoking. But recall that, apparently, there was a time when we were told smoking was good for us.

The problem is that Bilton’s only evidence was a 2011 report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer stating that it considered cell phones “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” Bilton also claims the IARC report is “the most definitive and arguably unbiased result in this area.” This is more than just misleading since the IARC simply looked over available research on the subject and decided not to rule the possibility out due to a lack of data and time constraints.

In other words, it’s not like the IARC spent years researching this; they simply considered it briefly and sided with caution. So, in the end, it’s basically a farce in the eyes of the science and news media communities. Just kidding, folks, so don’t worry; that smartphone stuck to your head won’t kill you after all.^[8]

9 Motion Picture Association of America Tried to Get VCRs Banned

The Motion Picture Association Of America (MPAA) led the way for the industry’s attempts to ban the Betamax player and tapes, along with VCRs and their tapes, through legislation. In 1982, the president of the MPAA, Jack Valenti, had this to say to Congress: “We are going to bleed and hemorrhage unless this Congress at least protects [our] industry against the [VCR]… [and] we cannot live in a marketplace… capable of devouring all that people had invested in.”

Sooner than later, the content industry made the decision to support legislation requiring licensing instead of a total ban on the products. But had it passed, the legislation would assuredly have driven up the cost of the devices so much that it would’ve ideally “banned” the devices anyway since the average consumer couldn’t afford one. Valenti continued in his address to Congress, “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman home alone.”

He also insinuated that if Congress didn’t regulate VCRs, then movie producers might cut their production in half. Eventually, the debate made it to the courts, which ruled in favor of the VCR and related industries, and the ruling created a groundswell. It received overwhelming support from both the public and the media. By the late 1980s, the Sony Betamax and VCRs were flying off the shelves, with 2.3 million units being marketed worldwide.

With the content industry’s inability to regulate looking more and more like a foolish blunder, it conceded as well, as more and more Americans bought the technology. The problem was, and had always been, that Congress was always too quick to ban technologies that Americans don’t have access to yet. But not this time.^[9]

1 “Email Hurts the IQ More Than Pot”

According to a 2005 survey on the psychological effects of electronic communications media using alternate groups of five voluntary participants, the constant distraction of phone calls, text messages, and emails is a bigger threat to concentration and IQ scores than marijuana use. Participants reported suffering symptoms such as dizziness, inability to focus, and lethargy that rose to such heights during the survey. Some participants developed a drug-like addiction to their electronic habits, which seems odd.

Many of the participants reported that their minds were boggled as they faced new questions every time an email was delivered to their inboxes or a text popped into their phones. A psychologist from King’s College named Glenn Wilson, who had previously worked on 80 clinical trials for TNS research, stated that according to the survey results, the most damage had occurred due to a lack of discipline in the subjects’ mental handling of electronic communications. Ethical protocols were abandoned, with one in five participants leaving meals or social gatherings to write replies or answer the phone.

Nine out of ten participants fully agreed that responding to emails or texts during office conferences or face-to-face meetings was rude. To others, it felt like it had become an acceptable practice” and seen as a sign of diligence and efficiency,” which is somewhat reminiscent of the Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971. Yet all that these subjects were doing was using electronic communications. Strange indeed.^[10]

The Met Gala is one of the most famous and fabulous social events in the world. It’s also the single event that best combines charity fundraising for a public museum with obscenely decadent self-indulgence fashion by A-list celebrities. 

The Met Gala has been held every year since 1948, and it has become more exclusive, more expensive, and more extravagant. Each year, the Met Gala asks attendees to dress according to the interpretation of a set theme, the same theme the museum will exhibit the following year. With celebrities looking to top one another and designers looking to wow, the attire has become bigger, bolder, louder, and prouder.

With so many iconic outfits to choose from, this list ranks ten of the weirdest outfits ever unleashed at the Met Gala.

Related: 10 Modern Fashion Trends And Their Fascinating Histories

10 Solange Knowles, 2015

In 2015, the theme was “China: Through the Looking Glass,” and if you’re not sure how to interpret that, don’t worry: Solange Knowles wasn’t sure, either.

The pop singer and Beyoncé’s sister decided to tackle the theme head-on and went as an actual looking glass. With the gown designed by Unique Giles, Knowles’s dress was circular, concave, and colored a reflective chrome, making Knowles look less like an elegant model and more like a coatroom accessory. On top of that, the dress prevented the singer from fully lowering her arms all night, adding comfort to the list of casualties this dress left in its wake.

9 Rihanna, 2017

When you’re as beautiful and powerful as Rihanna, it’s rare when your “look” isn’t an instant success. In 2017, the Barbadian singer tried her very best to test that theory when she wore what can only be described as a head-to-toe bologna avalanche.

The dress, designed by Guo Pei, was built from fabric cutouts, asymmetrically folded and stacked to look like mounds of deli meats dropped from the top shelf of an Arby’s cooler. Some of the fabric, however, was covered in a grandma’s-old-couch pastel floral pattern which added variety to the dress— depending on the vantage point. From certain views, the deli meats looked more like fungi you might find growing on the sides of trees, which is certainly a…mold choice.

8 Kanye West, 2016

“Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” was the theme of the 2016 Met Gala. Kanye’s then-wife Kim Kardashian rose to the occasion with a dress that was half ballgown and half suit of armor. It was simple, understated, and refined and seemed actually wearable at other high-society functions. Kanye himself, however, apparently forgot about the Met Gala until the hour before.

The rapper wore decidedly average suede shoes, ripped jeans, and a plain white t-shirt. His one item on theme was the glittering jacket atop it all, white and covered in silver crystals designed by longtime friend Olivier Rousteing. To his credit, the intent to juxtapose man and machine was clear, though the result looked a bit like a homeless person just stole a coat from Elton John.

7 Sarah Jessica Parker, 2018

The 2018 Met Gala deliberately courted controversy when it announced its theme as “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” When various celebrities showed up dressed as Jesus, the Pope, and angels, the expected reactions all came. But the most egregious offenses of 2018 had little to do with the theme and a lot to do with taste.

Sarah Jessica Parker, for example, opted to eschew dressing as any particular figure and instead dressed as a whole church. Designed by Alta Moda, the outfit’s gold filigree snaking over a drab, grey background made the actress look like the alter in a Greek Orthodox Church. The maximalist gold print continued around her ruffled shoulders, flowing tail, and onto the crowning headpiece. To top it off, literally, the headpiece was a miniature building that housed a detailed nativity scene, complete with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and gift-bearing magi.

6 Nicole Richie, 2013

The 2013 Met Gala produced some truly bad*ss looks due to its theme of “Punk: Chaos to Couture.” A lot of celebs came in black, with slicked-back hair and strategic rips. Many, like Anne Hathaway and Madonna, pulled the attitude off flawlessly. Nicole Richie’s outfit, on the other hand, managed a flaw or two.

The biggest flaw being: it looked like she was expertly cosplaying Jack Frost from Tim Allen’s The Santa Claus 3. Richie channeled the wintery Martin Short character with her arctic white hair blown up and back, falling just short of actual icicles. The rest of her look, with white eye shadow and an all-white dress designed by Topshop, did little to dispel the comparison.

5 Janelle Monáe, 2019

It’s almost cheating to include outfits from the 2019 Met Gala, whose theme of “Camp: Notes on Fashion” alluded to a classic fashion essay that described purposeful bad taste and excess. As expected, the year delivered on the weirdness front. Enough to fuel the next three entries.

Kicking things off is singer Janelle Monáe, whose outfit and accessories were meant as an homage to Picasso’s surrealist portraits as designed by Christian Siriano. Unlike most of the entries on this list, Monáe’s outfit is weird because she pulled her idea off to perfection. Her entire body became a face, deliberately misshapen to look cut in half and disproportionate. One eye was on her chest and the other in her hand. Stacked atop her head were four wide-brimmed hats. It was all so perfectly Picasso. Monáe’s outfit proved that weird isn’t always bad.

4 Ezra Miller, 2019

Actor Ezra Miller also brought the dreamlike thunder to the 2019 Met Gala with an outfit that questioned our perceptions of gender and… the human head.

Miller spent the early moments of the Met Gala holding a mask in front of his face and a white cloak atop his outfit. The mask was an incredibly lifelike reproduction of Miller’s own face, free from makeup and unadorned. Then the actor removed the mask and cloak to reveal the sensational concept beneath. His clothing, designed by Riccardo Tisci, was one part tuxedo and one part gown. Likewise, his corset, wig, and cherry-rip lipstick defied the male expectation. It was his eyes that stole the show—all seven of them. Most of Miller’s face was painted with eyes, and the look’s overall impression was of an equal blending of man, woman, and absolutely fabulous tarantula.

3 Katy Perry, 2019

Rounding out the 2019 Met Gala is the ensemble worn by Katy Perry, which was, very literally, a chandelier. The pop singer did not “look to chandeliers for inspiration” or “channel the chandelier aesthetic”; she just wore an actual, working chandelier courtesy of the designs of Moschino.

Presumably doing so just to beat Sia to the punch, Perry sported a three-tiered chandelier, complete with hidden battery packs to make every light bulb functional. The glowing lights encircled her hips, chest, and headpiece, and against all odds, managed to look pretty good. For a dress that catered to a theme of excessiveness and hamminess, it ended up surprisingly elegant. For bonus points, Perry then attended the Met Gala’s after-party…as a hamburger.

2 Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney, 1999

Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney are rock royalty; the former is the daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, and the latter is the daughter of Beatle legend Paul McCartney. Even if you were unaware of their lineage, you would know they’re rock royalty because, at the 1999 Met Gala, the pair decided to write it on their chests.

Instead of dresses or suits, the pair attended the Met Gala in average pants and white tank tops. The shirts stood out, however, due to the words “rock royalty” hand-scrawled on them with rhinestones. These sparkly studded white tees were not designed by fashion royalty, but by Hanes, with embellishments added by a local Little Italy seamstress. Oh, and it was done the morning of the Met Gala. Very rock and roll if you ask me. 

Over the years, a series of Met Gala retrospectives have deemed the looks either bold or bratty, and it’s very likely that both takes are equally true.

1 Frank Ocean, 2021

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the weirdest looks in Met Gala history are almost all recent. Case in point: the off-putting ensemble worn by rapper and singer Frank Ocean at the most recent Met Gala in 2021. Ocean himself looked slick in a three-piece suede suit by Prada and matching gemstone earrings and necklace. Ocean’s real off-the-rails touch was his accessories: specifically the green robot babydoll he held all night.

Ocean cradled the doll like an actual baby, at times rocking it and cooing at it. He even answered for the baby during interviews. The creepiest part is that the baby participated; it was animatronic, turning its head, blinking, and wagging its arms in response to Ocean’s attention. Not just any old animatronic Met Gala baby, though, as the youngster was also painted to wear a trippy neon green plaid onesie.

There are many conspiracies surrounding UFO research, but some of the most intriguing surround some of the researchers themselves, more specifically, their deaths. According to some, there have been several deaths, either from natural causes or from suicide, that investigators might wish to take another look at.

With accusations of suicides covering up murder to discreet poisons to imitate a natural death, some of these claims are darkly interesting, if admittedly speculative. Here are ten such cases.

Related: 10 Bizarre Figures From The UFO Contactee Movement

10 Ron Rummel – Too Close to the Truth?

Without a doubt, one of the most controversial deaths on our list is that of Ron Rummel. Rummel had a background as an Air Force intelligence agent. What’s more, in the years leading to his death, he was the publisher of the magazine Alien Digest. Some of the topics discussed in Alien Digest revolved around the idea that aliens were indeed on Earth. And had long-term plans to use humans as a “food source.” As we might imagine, many in the UFO community dismissed such notions.

Then, in August 1993, Rummel died—an apparent clear-cut suicide in which he had shot himself in the mouth. However, there were soon conspiracy claims of foul play. This included no blood being found on the barrel of the pistol nor fingerprints on the handle. It also appeared that the suicide note had been written by a left-handed person when Rummel was right-handed. According to some, Rummel had been silenced because he was “getting too close to the truth.”

How true these claims might be is still discussed by some in UFO circles. However, the official record reflects that Rummel, unfortunately, took his own life.^[1]

9 Ron Johnson – Drank From a Poisoned Soda Can?

Another tragic death that some researchers have highlighted as potentially suspicious is that of MUFON investigator Ron Johnson. He officially suffered a sudden fatal stroke at a meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration in Texas in June 1994. Johnson, who was 43 years old and recently medically cleared as fit and well, let out a sudden gasp at the meeting before falling forward in his chair. Even more disturbing, his face had turned purple, and blood poured from his nose.

Although the cause of his death was ruled as natural (a stroke), some thought there was more to it. Several people at the meeting recalled him taking a drink from a soda can in the seconds before his sudden collapse and death. What’s more, given his involvement in UFO investigations and his background of working with advanced technology with several corporations, some people wondered if something had been placed around the soda can, or even in the drink that might have caused such a reaction that would have been easily dismissed as a stroke.^[2]

We should note that there is no proof of foul play, and the speculation is exactly that.

8 John Murphy – Discreetly Silenced Years After the Kecksburg Crash?

Perhaps one of the most little-known suspicious deaths of a person connected to UFOs is that of radio broadcaster John Murphy. We should note that Murphy was not a UFO investigator but a radio journalist. He happened to be in the right place at the right time during the alleged Kecksburg UFO crash in December 1965. So much so that he obtained audiotapes of witnesses and several photographs of the crash site.

This alleged evidence was ultimately confiscated by high-ranking government officials, an incident that was witnessed by at least one other radio station employee. In short, it appeared Murphy was very credible in his claims.

As much as he was in the right place at the right time to witness and document the Kecksburg incident, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time several years later in California in February 1969 when he was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident. To some, though, the accident was anything but.^[3]

7 Tony Dodd – Tumor Triggered by Dark Agents?

For the 1990s and much of the early 2000s, Tony Dodd was one of the UK’s leading UFO researchers and investigators. That he had a long career as a police detective behind him only made him that much more credible regarding the incidents he investigated.

He was a regular speaker at various UFO events and investigated some of the most intriguing cases of UFO sightings and apparent alien abductions in the UK from the late-1980s to the early 2000s.

Dodd passed away in 2009 from a brain tumor. Given that he had—according to his own writings—received warnings to avoid certain countries due to possible attempts on his life, as well as direct warnings from a mysterious agent in the United States, many wondered if the tumor had somehow been “triggered” by agents of a dark agency with advanced technology. Dodd himself had written of such suggestions before.^[4]

Of course, like many on this list, these ideas and proposals are pure speculation.

6 John Mack – Death by Drunk Driver Just a Cover?

Without a doubt, John Mack is perhaps one of the most important people in UFO and alien abduction research, even now almost two decades after his tragic death in 2004 after being hit by a drunk driver while in London. What perhaps made Mack’s study of UFOs and alien abduction claims all the more vital to the UFO community was his position as a professor at Harvard University. He is largely seen as one of the first “academics” to look at such claims with a serious mind—and did so publicly.

There is almost certainly no more to Mack’s death than it being a truly tragic accident caused by a drunk driver. However, there were some in UFO circles who privately raised an eyebrow or two to the fact that someone making such wild (and well-researched) claims from such a lofty position should meet such a tragic end.^[5]

5 Ann Livingstone – “Poisoned” by the Men in Black?

UFO investigator and MUFON member Ann Livingstone died in 1994 of a fast-acting and aggressive form of ovarian cancer. However, many of her fellow MUFON members, fellow investigators, and close friends began to wonder if a UFO sighting and subsequent encounters with the “Men in Black” might have been connected to her tragic death.

The incident in question went back to December 1992. One evening, her apartment near O’Hare Airport in Chicago was suddenly lit up by a “silver-white flash.” Then, only a few hours later, several “faceless” entities dressed very similar to the Men in Black arrived at her apartment. Moments later, she blacked out, unaware of what happened next.

As outlandish as it might sound to many, some researchers have suggested that her illness was a result of this strange meeting. Of course, whether there is any truth to such assertions remains open to debate, at least for some.^[6]

4 Jim Keith – A Series of Coincidences or a Suspicious End?

The death of researcher and author Jim Keith could very well be a case of several bizarre and unlikely coincidences. However, several strange odds and ends surround his death that have made some believe it to be a little suspicious.

Keith had been involved in examining the work of Danny Casolaro (an investigative journalist whose death was also suspicious). He essentially claimed Casolaro’s statements of an “octopus” of individuals controlling events from behind the scenes was accurate. Further were the claims of drug testing by dark, government “contacts” on residents in areas such as Dulce in New Mexico (against their will) under the bizarre guise of alien abduction to divert attention away from their very real (and illegal) activities.

Whatever the truth, Keith would fall from a stage at a festival in 2004, breaking his tibia and requiring surgery. It was a surgery that he would never wake up from. His official cause of death was a blood clot in his lung that caused him to pass away on the operating table. Incidentally, around the same time as Keith’s death, one platform he wrote for (Nitro News) completely disappeared from the internet for several weeks.^[7]

3 James Forrestal – Was He Pushed or Did He Jump?

At just before 2 am on May 22, 1949, the very first Secretary of Defense of the United States, a position he had resigned from only months earlier, jumped from the 13th floor of Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was being treated for depression at the facility at the time of his death, but to some, including members of his own family, his death was far from a clear-cut suicide.

According to the official version of events, Forrestal was last seen when a guard checked on him at 1:45 am. He was reading in his room. It is then said that Forrestal immediately left the room and made his way to the kitchen, where he then tied a bathrobe rope to the nearby radiator and the other end around his neck. Then, he jumped from the window. The rope snapped, and he fell to his death.

However, several things leaped out at those who examined this official version. First, the rope around his neck would not have been long enough to allow him to reach the window from the radiator. What’s more, there was no evidence that the rope had ever been in contact with the radiator.

Even more suspicious is the guard who was on duty that evening. He had not been to the facility before and was brought in as a last-minute replacement. He gave his statement—as the last person to see Forrestal alive, remember—and then discreetly disappeared back into anonymity.

Most alarming, though, were the scratch marks discovered on the window ledge it is claimed Forrestal jumped from. This suggested that Forrestal was forced out of the window and then desperately attempted to cling to the ledge before finally falling.

From a UFO perspective, given the events at Roswell and the many other UFO incidents that occurred in the final years of the 1940s, Forrestal almost certainly knew everything there was to know about this strange, new phenomenon sweeping the United States. To some, it was this knowledge that made him a target of an unknown dark government agency.^[8]

2 Morris K. Jessup – A Sudden, Suspicious End?

An early name in UFO research is Morris K. Jessup, author of the 1955 book, The Case for the UFO. Unknown to Jessup, the release of the book would spark a series of events that would result in his tragic death. Jessup began receiving correspondence from a mysterious gentleman named Carl Allen, who eventually claimed to have been involved in the legendary Philadelphia Experiment. This correspondence caught the attention of the U.S. Navy, who questioned Jessup at length about it and his UFO research in general.

However, following the meeting, Jessup began receiving strange phone calls. This caused him to be much more guarded in his research. Then, on April 19, he made arrangements with Dr. J. Manson Valentine to meet him the following day regarding a “breakthrough” he had made. Jessup never arrived at that meeting.

He was discovered the following day, dead in his car, a hosepipe coming out of the window leading to the exhaust. Some believe the suicide was actually murder. Perhaps one of the reasons was the soaked towels wrapped around the hose pipe. Not only did they not belong to Jessup, but there was also no water source anywhere nearby for him to have soaked them in.

The real circumstances behind his death are still debated today.^[9]

1 Phil Schneider – Murder Covered-Up as Suicide?

Of all the people on this list, without a doubt, the most controversial is our last entry, Phil Schneider. In the early 1990s, Schneider began a series of public lectures where he claimed to have worked for the United States government at various underground facilities. It was during this work that he stumbled into a full-on battle between underground aliens and a military unit below Dulce. He would even claim to have suffered an injury during the fight from a futuristic alien weapon, scars he displayed publicly several times.

As you can imagine, many scoffed at Schneider’s claims, even some from inside the UFO community. Others, however, seemingly bought into what he was saying entirely. And his talks still circulate around the Internet today. He would also state during these talks that “how long I will be able to do this” was not known.

Officially, Schneider took his own life on January 17, 1996. His body was discovered with a piece of wire flex wrapped several times around the neck, an apparent hanging. Many people, including some members of his family, dismissed the suicide claims.^[10]

They say “hindsight is 20/20,” and as with some clichés this one couldn’t be more true when it comes to some people’s attitude towards change, especially when it comes to doing something easier, better, or faster. Well, here are 15 modern conveniences that most of us take for granted today, that we couldn’t live, work, or play without. Conveniences that when first proposed some people “never got the memo on,” since they’re such no-brainers now in hindsight, or resisted in some other way. Please keep reading to find out how amazing and outlandish the public’s attitude can not only be today, but was in the past, towards some of the most successful and important ideas, inventions, and innovations of all time.

Top 10 Most Gruesome Inventions And Innovations

10 Vaccinations Were, Well Vaccines

Online bullies call them anti-vaxxers but they were once dubbed “antivaccinationists,” and they’ve been around much longer than covid-19, and obviously, they’re people who oppose vaccinations and vaccines or simply believe “my body my choice” when it comes to vaccination. In spite of the fact that vaccinations are considered to be one of the top ten achievements in the area of public health in the 20th century, and have saved countless millions of lives, still people have opposed it for longer than it has officially been around. Even the process of pre-vaccination called variolation came under similar fire by the public. The public rejected vaccination for many reasons, ranging from opposition in the mid to late 1800s in the United States and England to the smallpox vaccine, and the anti-vaccination leagues that subsequently formed as a result, to the more recent vaccination controversies surrounding their safety. Much of it though, most likely has to do with fear of the unknown—and trust.

9 A Birthday Party Could Ruin A Kid’s Character

The following was taken directly from an online copy of a 1913 edition of Ladies’ Home Journal:

“… The children’s birthday party habit not only affects the moral nature of children in various ways, and sows dangerous seeds for the future in child character and habits, but it also threatens their happiness through the danger to health which such parties involve. Instead of wholesome tiny…sandwiches…such a mixture is set…that the whole physical system is frequently completely upset. …”

As we can see from this very short excerpt , from an exceedingly long rant that appeared in the Ladies’ Home Journal of 1913 , they weren’t too thrilled about birthday parties for kids. The part about the birthday party ‘habit’ not only damaging the ‘moral nature’ of kids, but also a kid’s character, is some pretty heavy stuff. I’m not sure I want to threaten any of my grandkids’ happiness by sowing ‘dangerous seeds,’ and risking their health by throwing them a birthday party, and making them sick in the process. Doesn’t sound like a good time to me, or to be honest, any birthday party I’ve ever been to. So I’m guessing that our family tradition of making a huge chocolate cake, with a lot of chocolate frosting, and giving the entire monstrosity to our one-year-olds, in a sort of competition to see who “destroys it the best and makes the biggest mess,” wouldn’t go over too well with these ladies.

8 The Bicycle Would Cripple You—Or Worse

Back in Victorian times, doctors were totally against people riding bicycles—especially women. So much so, they literally practiced a disturbing form of pseudoscience. Their fears were so misguided that they claimed that riding a bicycle disgraced a woman’s walk by causing it to turn into a “plunging kind of motion.” They also felt that the activity could actually wear a person’s body all the way down to the bones, causing conditions such as “bicycle foot,” and “bicycle hand,” which were very highly feared. These doctors also claimed that bicycle riding could even damage your face by the combination of the strong winds created by the momentum of the bicycle, added with the strain of the effort, causing “bicycle face”—which was allegedly a permanent condition! And as for the daintiness of women, the exertion would most certainly cause their slight frames to become far too masculine, providing they could survive the torture of course. Nope. These doctors never got the memo about the value of exercise.

7 A Refrigerator Cost A Fortune

An American wife in 1920: “Honey. Should we buy one of those new refrigerators, or one of those new automobiles?” He replied, “Well, if we buy a refrigerator we won’t have to take horse and wagon to the market so often, but if we get one of those Fords we can go and get what we need whenever we need it.” She replied, “We could just get both.” He says, “We could too.” Then Grandpa spoke up, “There’s a problem.” The husband asks, “What’s that Dad?” He explains, “That refrigerator you two want will cost you a lot more than the Ford!” He was right.

In the early 1920s a Ford Model-T cost around $260. A bit expensive considering people made about $2,000 a year, but affordable. On the other hand, a refrigerator, say a Frigidaire, would cost nearly twice as much at $450! So if our imaginary couple made the $2,000 a year, they’d need to spend 35% of a year’s income to buy both! And imagine today spending almost twice as much on a refrigerator as a car! Prior to this there were the ice harvesters, and businessmen in the industry, who opposed mechanical refrigeration at first. Their lost income notwithstanding, there can still be no doubt that they eventually had a refrigerator in their kitchens too, and many of those businessmen, such as Birds Eye, would soon become the frozen food giants of today.

6 Coffee Was Satan’s Drink

When one ponders coffee, lush tropical hills may come to mind, or the aroma of it brewing first thing in the morning. A 16th century pope may come to the minds of many historians and coffee aficionados though. He was Pope Clement VIII, and is said to be the party responsible for the popularity of the aromatic bean circumventing Europe and the rest of the globe. In the 16th century coffee was so popular throughout the Ottoman Empire, that Sultan Murad IV thought of chopping the heads off of anyone found drinking the brew, but even that horrific threat didn’t stop coffee lovers from indulging. Since the Islamic world drank coffee it was dubbed “Satan’s Drink” by Roman Catholics and Christians. Eventually though, coffee made it to Rome, and after a steaming cup was placed in the Pope’s hand he allegedly said after drinking it, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it.” He then gave it his blessing. So, the next time you enjoy a cup of Joe, you might want to say a prayer of thanks to Pope Clement VIII.

5 Taxis Were Deemed Necessary (By One Man)

Being resistant in a different sense, in 1907, a legend of life in the Big Apple was born, when a soon-to-be, world-renowned icon rolled onto the city streets—the first metered taxis—and they were green…and red. Since these colors were so hard to see they were soon painted their iconic garish yellow so they could be spotted from a distance, and so it wasn’t long at all before 700 New York City taxis could never be found when you really needed one. The legend of the New York City cab began after Harry N. Allen was slammed by a $5 fare (that’s 130 bucks today) for a quarter mile ride in a horse-drawn cab! Now that is rough. But soon after getting fleeced by the cab driver Harry resisted in spades by creating the New York Taxicab Company. Allen had 65 gas-powered, French cars shipped over, painted them green and red, put drivers in them, sent them out, and an icon was born. That’s giving it to them Harry!

4 The Umbrella Was Persecuted

The first English man to carry an umbrella, or “brolly,” was Jonas Hanway. The French invented the folding version in use today. There both sexes used umbrellas, but in Britain they were thought to be highly feminine, so when Jonas showed up on the streets of London with his umbrella the jeering and taunting soon began. Londoners were quickly laughing and yelling insults and names at him, calling him “effeminate” and worse, and some even called him “Frenchie,” the ultimate insult in 17th century England. This also upset the cab drivers who figured that a man with a “brolly” wouldn’t be wanting a ride in the incessant London rain, so maybe neither would anyone else if “brollies” caught on, so they took to throwing rotten fruit at the man. It got worse over the years, but Jonas held on, and the rest is history. He thought of the idea during his travels to Persia where they used huge parasols to get out of the hot sun. His thoughts were that they might work for rain as well. Who calls this guy, dry holding an umbrella, an “idiot,” while standing drenched in a downpour, right?

3 The Airplane Was A Toy

In 1911, a very influential person made the profound comment, “Airplanes are interesting scientific toys, but they are of no military value.” The strange thing about the resistance here is the pedigree of the person resisting. I mean the fact that a French general, who was also an Allied commander during World War I, would say something so naive seems mind boggling. That French general was none other than Ferdinand Foch. How could he not see the potential of a machine that flies for at least aerial reconnaissance is beyond this writer. The Wright Brothers had already been making headlines with successful flights for eight years, and only eight years after he made this this statement, a Curtiss seaplane made the first successful Atlantic crossing from Newfoundland to Portugal. I guess the General never got the memo.

2 The Laptop Would Die

“Laptops Are Dead—Or Will Die,” could’ve been a headline in the New York Times back around 1985. At least that’s what the tech writers were saying in the paper about that new trend in personal computing. Quite often, those who write about new technology, never get the memo, and don’t see which direction it may be heading, because according to the tech experts of the time, at the Times, laptops would eventually bite the dust for a couple reasons; one was they’d be too expensive to build, and the other was that nobody would want a portable computer in the first place. They were predicting that “…no matter how inexpensive the machines become…[they just couldn’t] imagine the average user taking one along when going fishing.” In other words, if you were fishing, you wouldn’t want a computer, because you were outdoors. In their defense, there is the fact that the World Wide Web, Internet, and WiFi didn’t exist then, so our digital world wasn’t even near their radar. The irony of this is the fact that Nikola Tesla had already invented cellular technology more than a half of a century earlier. Hmm?

1 The Light Bulb Was Unworthy

In 1878, the British Parliament had a jolly bright idea when they formed what was apparently a scientific committee charged with creating a report on Thomas Edison’s idea for the incandescent lamp. The committee’s final determination, was that what was to become famous world-wide as the “light bulb,” was “good enough for our Transatlantic friends, but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.” Would that be “English scientific men?” Seeing how the incandescent lamp in question was on the other side of the Atlantic, maybe they should’ve tried it? Or if they did, given it a bit more of a chance maybe, or something. Then possibly the British could’ve seen the future in somewhat of a “better light. ”

Top 10 American Inventions You Can’t Live Without

They say “hindsight is 20/20.” As with some clichés, this one couldn’t be more true when it comes to some people’s attitude towards change in the past, especially when it comes to something made easier, better, or faster. Well, here are ten more modern conveniences that most of us take for granted today, that we couldn’t live, work, or play without. When first proposed, some people must have never gotten the memo on some of these since they’re such no-brainers in hindsight, while others are just flukes that had to wait for technology to catch up. However, all the attitudes toward them are outrageous at best.

Please keep reading to find out just how amazing and outlandish the public’s attitude can be today—and was in the past—toward ten more of the most successful and important ideas, inventions, and innovations we still use today.

Related: Top 10 Modern Conveniences That Met With Sick Resistance

10 We Only Needed 5 Computers…on the Planet

Yesterday it was said nobody wanted them; today, we can’t live without them. And tomorrow, we might watch them build themselves. But in 1943, Thomas Watson, the one-and-only chairman of the giant computer magnate IBM, made the very unlikely and even more unprophetic statement, “I think there’s a world market for maybe five computers.” (Silence.) Maybe? Five? Really now?

That thing that you, the reader, are staring at. Yeah, that lightning-fast extension of your gray matter has already altered the history of humankind in more ways than the discovery of fire could ever have. Yet, the guy that chaired IBM at one time said that we could use “maybe” five? Well, if someone reading this added up all the computers they own now, they’d be absolutely amazed since they’d have to count their desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, smart TVs, game systems, cars, calculators, microwaves, clocks, MP3 players, etc. You name it; it has a computer in it. So sorry, Tom, but you were just a tad low. No memo for you today.^[1]

9 Trains Would Rip Women’s Uteruses Out

Some earlier opponents of the fire-breathing, steam-hissing, smoke-belching monstrosities they called locomotives (“loco” being the operative word since they were kind of crazy-looking) were apparently quite scared of those modern contraptions. It seems they were of the opinion that the female physique couldn’t withstand lightning speeds of up to fifty miles per hour. In fact, they feared that the women’s uteruses would be ripped bloodily from their bodies by the sheer acceleration and raw power of the fanatical beasts. Apparently, these people had never seen the beast in action.

This could be fear of the unknown, or better phrased, fear of the “new-fangled,” a phenomenon brought about by the Industrial Revolution and the rapid advancement in technology. What was not understood was often feared, especially if it seemed it might injure women and children. So how did the scientists of that time explain the mindboggling feats of engineering that early peoples accomplished? Nothing concrete; they mostly only gave rudimentary excuses for how they did these things.

So what were people to think when they first saw this great machine, a toxic, fire-breathing, steam-hissing, smoke-belching monstrosity? Not being sure, they believed the worst. It’s no wonder people are sometimes leery of things, right?^[2]

8 Plato Didn’t Approve of Writing or Books

During the Classical period in Ancient Greece—the 5th and 4th centuries BC—was born the great and famous Athenian philosopher Plato. He is considered to be one of the world’s most influential people. Plato started the Academy, the first institution of higher learning known in the Western world, and the Platonist School of Thought. Yet, his views on writing and books are downright weird.

This is because, well, to put it bluntly, he bashes the invention of writing “literally” in writing, and no, please do not excuse the pun because it was intended. Plato wrote a dialogue he had between himself, Socrates, and an interlocutor, or literary middleman, named Phaedrus, whom the work is named after. In this dialogue, he attacks the invention of writing and the books it’s written in. It seems as though he felt that if people simply just wrote everything down and had books, they’d just forget everything they’d written and read and continuously need to refer back to the books to refresh their memories. Speaking of the invention of writing, Plato said, “What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder.”

Well, yes, isn’t that the general principle here, Plato? Oh, and Plato, we mustn’t forget learning, since books can travel, allowing others to read them. But in all fairness to the great man, to him, it was simple: Writing was not as effective as talking face-to-face. He implies just that when speaking on the invention of writing again, he says, “And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only the semblance of wisdom, for by telling them of many things without teaching them, you will make them seem to know much while for the most part, they know nothing.” An old Chinese proverb goes, “Tell me, and I’ll forget; show me, and I may remember; involve me, and I’ll understand.” Apparently, Plato got that memo instead.^[3]

7 Computers Caused Miscarriages

A common fear provoked questions such as this one in the 1980s and 1990s: “I’m pregnant and work on a computer all day, so is it true that computer monitors emit radiation and can hurt my baby?” Many people back then believed this, and maybe still do today since computers using CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors could still be in use. They mistakenly thought that these devices were emitting dangerous levels of radiation, and although CRT monitors do emit low levels of radiation, the electromagnetic field (EM) that produces it is weak.

So there is no danger whatsoever to unborn children, or to those who used them, or who may still be using them today. They can, though, cause other problems not related to their technology, such as eye strain and back pain, and can worsen varicose veins. This is why you should always give your eyes a break, and stretch out your legs occasionally throughout the day, no matter what type of display or device you use or how long ago it was made.^[4]

6 The Answering Machine Was “Worthless”

Can you believe it? At one time, AT&T, of all companies, stated publicly, “There is no need for answering machines.” It sounds like some sort of strange mantra, right? Well, the history behind the machine is sort of strange too. For starters, it was actually quasi-illegal to own them in the late 1960s and early 1970s since they could supposedly be dangerous to telephone repairmen, leading to some telephone companies banning their use altogether.

It was in the 1950s, though, when AT&T went out on a skinny limb and made their bold statement about there never being a need for answering machines in the future. However, their use was eventually permitted by the FCC in 1975, and by 1983, a good consumer model was available on the market. “Nope, we’ll pass on that. No need for voice mail.” Too bad, since AT&T may have gotten that memo on their answering machine.^[5]

5 Telephones Were “Instruments of the Devil”

The telephone took Sweden by storm. By 1885, no other country on the planet had as many phones connected as they did, so news obviously spread fast. Not everybody was so excited about the new-fangled thing, though. For many, it was met with skepticism, superstition, and even fear. It seems there was something entrancing about sounds emanating from a tiny wire, which some thought could somehow “spill out” of it if it was broken.

People were also legitimately afraid of being shocked by them, too, and for a good reason, considering the susceptibility of telephone lines to lightning strikes. Superstition took hold when people started thinking that evil spirits could enter their lives through the fragile wires. Many clergymen considered the telephone to be an instrument of the devil himself. In the real world, landowners such as farmers did not want the lines intruding on their property, and many even resorted to sabotage by destroying them. In the end, the truth was apparently phoned in, and Sweden embraced the technology with open arms along with the rest of the globe.^[6]

4 Cheeseburgers Were “Weird”

At times, don’t people just love to poke fun at the press. I sure do, and this time is no exception. In an article printed in The New York Times in October 1938, the cheeseburger was first mentioned in the paper. It was included in a list containing flippant statements about the “whimsy” of California restaurants (I hear you—it could still be true today).

The Times stuck their foot in it again nine years later, in May 1947, when they said, “At first, the combination of beef with cheese and tomatoes, which sometimes are used, may seem bizarre.” Luckily for them, their savvy journalist on the scene could see the forest despite the trees when he reported, “If you reflect a bit, you’ll understand the combination is sound gastronomically.” Today, over 80 years later, you can not only drop $300 on a gourmet cheeseburger, with your choice of gourmet cheese of course, but they now also have their own holiday. National Cheeseburger Day is celebrated every September 18th.^[7]

3 Fingernail Polish Was “Just A Fad”

The closest thing to modern fingernail polish was invented by Cutex in 1917, but it took quite a while for it to take off into the huge industry it is today. In 1926, Viola Paris, writing for Vogue magazine, said there “seemed to be doubt” about its safety and quality. A year later, The New York Times called it a “London fad.” In questioning how long the “fad” would hang around, the Atlanta Daily World, on March 31, 1932, exclaimed, “Dame fashion, whimsical and wayward as the wind,” as they ironically scoffed about its rising popularity.

Well, we’re quickly nearing a century later since that article was written, and this “whimsical and wayward fad” is doing a lot more than just hanging around. It’s now a staple in a global industry with almost ten billion dollars worth of sales in 2019. And with enormous advances in manufacturing techniques, advances in mass marketing, and countless advantages over the antiquated pastes and powders of old, it’s hard to imagine the global fingernail polish market crashing anytime soon. You’d think the media would’ve gotten the memo on this “fad,” written in pretty colors of fingernail polish.^[8]

2 The Car Was “Impractical”

Again, our friends at The New York Times are up to their old tricks again, this time calling the automobile “impractical” back in 1902. Talk about sticking your foot in it. One critic of the car likened the automobile’s future to the “demise” of the bicycle “as a sport and an industry [that] will be followed by a collapse as complete and as disastrous as was that of the cycling boom” not long before. In 1902, The Times chimed in by complaining that the price of automobiles would never be low enough to make them even as popular as bicycles were—which in their minds, they weren’t.

Early farfetched ideas such as an auto-centric transportation system and the steel highway system that the Steel Roads Committee of the Automobile Club of America was lobbying for didn’t help matters much either. These further drained the public’s confidence in the invention. So it was hard to believe that cars would ever succeed, but succeed, they did. In a short time, Henry Ford learned how to mass-produce them, and the rest is history.^[9]

1 Teddy Bears Would “Cause Race Suicide”

This one is complex, as you can imagine. But in short: In a 1907 Press Democrat editorial, an opinion was revealed in answer to the atrocious claim of a Michigan clergyman that if little girls didn’t play with dolls that looked like babies, then they’d lose their desire to become mothers. His name was Father Esper, and he pleaded with all the parents in America to encourage their girls to play with dolls and throw away their little teddy bears—forever.

The “race suicide” angle comes in from then-President Teddy Roosevelt, who inspired the invention of the teddy bear five years earlier. It was named after Teddy Roosevelt due to his hunting prowess and became extremely popular. The preacher saw the toys as a threat to the continuation of the human race, stating, “The very instincts of motherhood in a growing girl are blunted and oftentimes destroyed if the child is allowed to lavish upon an unnatural toy of this character the loving care which is so beautiful when bestowed upon a doll representing a helpless infant.” Too bad the good Father didn’t get that memo since it may have saved the hearts of some little girls who had their beloved teddy bears thrown away—forever.^[10]

When historians delve into the murky waters of totalitarianism, colored by the bloody unwashed hands of political tyrants, they often highlight the chaos left in their wakes, the hardship brought upon the oppressed, or the sheer horror of their rule, only mentioning the other halves as a sideline to their story. However, the women in the lives of these dictators often play a prominent role in how power-hungry or evil they can be.

Some of these so-called dictator wives, like Lucia Hiriart, wife of Augusto Pinochet, and Asma Al-Assad, the wife of notorious Bashir Al-Assad, avoid the pitfalls of dictatorship. But with riches earned off the back of bloodshed, some of them are not so lucky. Here are ten wives (or mistresses) of dictators that met unfortunate ends.

10 Elena Ceausescu

Elena was the wife of the communist dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu—who succeeded to the leadership after Gheorghiu-Dej passed away in 1965. Her fall was as magnificent as her husband’s rise to power. One of the most powerful women in Eastern Europe during the final decades of their rule, Elana was an important cog in their time in power, which left Romania in economic, social, and moral ruin.

Considered to be immensely vain, she also brought about the ruin of Romania’s Academy of Sciences as the institution lost control of all 50 institutes originally under its jurisdiction. To this day, controversy remains regarding her accreditation in many scientific papers. On Christmas 1989, the government collapsed, and Elena and her husband Nicolae were executed later that same day by firing squad.^[1]

9 Kay Amin

The self-proclaimed last rightful king of Scotland, Idi Amin, was the murderous dictator responsible for the death of an estimated 300,000 people. Yes, the smiling deviant had a way with the ladies, and Kay was happy to indulge him with his psychotic tendencies. Kay Amin was Idi’s fourth wife, whom he met while she was studying at Kampala University, despite his already being married.

Seven years later, the couple split after Idi added yet another wife to his repertoire of angels. Less than one year later, in a death shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, Kay’s body was discovered in the trunk of a car, dismembered and sewn together in an unrefined fashion. The car belonged to a doctor with whom Kay was rumored to have had an affair. The doctor’s body was found the day before, ruled a suicide. We should probably take that with a grain of salt.^[2]

8 Eva Braun

No list of dictators would be complete without Adolf Hitler. The man needs no introduction, and his atrocities are well documented. Almost as famous as his reputation as a murderous racist maniac is his exploits with photographer and long-time mistress Eva Braun. Not involved with any of his politics, she was a safe haven for the Führer to escape from killing and pillaging entire nations by providing a simple life of domesticity and relaxation—skiing, swimming, and laughing.

Hitler did not allow her to be seen with him in public, and unlike many others on this list, she remained out of the spotlight. In April 1945, the same day the Americans liberated the Dachau concentration camp, Eva and Adolf were united in marriage and then committed suicide together as the Russians closed in around them. It must have been love, then. Who else would have made such a permanent commitment?^[3]

7 Nadezhda Alliluyeva

Joseph Stalin, the poster child of communism and way up there with the worst on the kill counter, was responsible for millions of deaths (possibly as high as 60 million). The atrocities of his regime were not limited to enemies of the state or neighboring countries who stepped out of line; the majority were his countrymen killed in camps, executions, and famine as a result of failing policy.

Nadezhda Alliluyve’s, Stalin’s second wife, death was ruled as a suicide at the age of 33. Just like all the oligarchs who continue to mysteriously fall from windows at the moment, one can definitely be somewhat suspicious of Russian reports of suicide, even if there were rumors that she was driven to it by Stalin’s behavior.^[5]

5 Eva Peron

María Eva Duarte married Juan Peron in 1945, and she was involved in his campaign to become the next Chilean president, which he did in 1946. Unfortunately, her death would come only a mere six years later. However, before that occurred, she became a beloved symbol to the people of Chile. Her work with the poor and advocacy for women’s suffrage made her a very popular woman. Nothing so unusual about this so far. Well, it soon gets disturbing.

Eva was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but her husband did not tell her. In fact, it was kept a secret so that the people would not see her as weak. Since she was Juan’s connection to the Chilean masses, he didn’t want anything to change that. In fact, he kept the real reason for her treatments and surgeries from her, with rumors of having ordered that Eva receive a lobotomy—supposedly to help her with pain. But this isn’t all.

After Juan Peron was deposed in 1955, his enemies stole her corpse, which was kept hidden in Italy for 16 years. Her body was eventually returned to Juan, who was living in exile in Spain at the time. Upon his death in 1974, Juan’s third wife, Isabel Peron, entombed Eva with her husband in a crypt in the presidential palace in Chile. Only two years later, when new military leadership took over the country, Eva was finally returned to her family, who buried her in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.^[5]

5 Khieu Ponnary

Khieu Ponnary was the wife of the revolutionary Pol Pot (actual name Saloth Sar), the man who presided over the brutal Khmer Rouge regime starting in early 1975. Pol Pot was a man who was responsible for the death of more than a million Cambodians but still managed to live long enough to have age take him rather than a guillotine.

Married in 1956, Ponnary was also a communist by heart and eight years his senior. She was also the first Cambodian woman to obtain a bachelor’s degree and taught linguistics and literature. She tested the waters of extremism politics before paranoia got to her, convinced that the Vietnamese were out to kill her and her husband. Incapacitated by her mental health for the remainder of her life, she passed away, out of the public eye.^[6]

4 Yang Kaihui

Yang Kaihui was the second wife of Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party in the Republic of China, a man responsible for millions upon millions of deaths. Mao’s first marriage was arranged when Mao was only 13—they never lived together, and Mao never acknowledged her as his wife). Kaihui shared Mao’s political views and, shortly after meeting him, took up membership in the party. Her marriage to Mao ended when he took up with another woman, Mao’s second wife, He Zizhen. And that should have been the end of it.

But they were in a civil war, and as you may have noticed from this list, there aren’t many happy endings. In November 1930, Kaihui was captured by a Guomindang warlord and executed in front of her infant son. It doesn’t always help to get out while you still can—it also didn’t help that she maintained her political views throughout her life.^[7]

3 Jiang Qing

The women in Mao’s life had about as torrid a time as his unfortunate subjects. As the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, a movie star, and part of the infamous Gang of Four, Qing was the most influential woman in the People’s Republic of China until Mao passed away in 1976. Then, her steady downfall began.

Jian was arrested in 1977 and expelled from the Communist Party. Three years later, Qing and the other members of the Gang of Four were held responsible for provoking turmoil and bloodshed, charges which she denied while denouncing the courts and the current leadership. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. Two years later, the Chinese government changed her sentence to life imprisonment. In 1991, Jian Qing reportedly committed suicide in prison.^[8]

2 Imelda Marcos

Another woman many might already know is Imelda Marcos, the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, a lawyer and politician. He established an authoritarian regime in the Philippines, which came under severe criticism for suppression of democratic processes. Imelda was also known as the Steel Butterfly and the Rose of Tacloban for her fashionable beauty. She married Ferdinand after only two weeks in a very Hollywood move, and so began her time in the political spotlight. Unlike others on this list, she is still alive—as of this writing—but still met with some unfortunate events.

Considered by most as an asset to the leader, she oversaw numerous beautification projects in Manilla. This position swiftly changed after her husband declared martial law, and the rest of the world characterized her as a drain on the treasury (how many shoes did she have?) and a proponent of nepotism. After a controversial election, the Marcos family fled the country to Hawaii—with gold and jewels galore—where they spent their time in exile.

After her husband died in 1989, she returned to the Philippines, holding office in the Lower House. In 2018, she faced a setback as she is now on bail after being sentenced for embezzling $200 million in funds decades ago. Her son, Ferdinand “Bongbong,” was elected to the presidency in 2022. What does this mean for the former Steel Butterfly?^[9]

1 Clara Petacci

Benito Mussolini, the famous Italian dictator and Nazi sympathizer, had a wife, Rachele Mussolini, who lived out her life in peace at her home in the town of Predappio. Clara, Benito’s mistress, who was comfortable with her role in the public eye as his mistress, remained by his side until the bitter end. Mussolini, having an insatiable thirst for women, was open about his affection for Clara, noting that she was the only woman he ever truly loved.

After the Nazis lost their grip on northern Italy, Mussolini met with a group of partisans, knowing his hold on Milan was on shaky ground. After learning the situation was even more dire, he stormed from the meeting with Clara in tow. Later, they joined up with a convoy of fellow fascists that were traveling north. Unfortunately, their car was stopped, and they were attacked by partisans. Petacci and Mussolini were then taken to a remote Italian town and executed by machine gun fire. Their heavily mutilated bodies were strung up and paraded for all to see.^[10]