Of course, lots of these buildings have been abandoned for fairly mundane reasons, but in some cases, the stories that lie behind them are darker and sadder. The following are ten derelict buildings with stories that ensure nobody will want to use them in the future. 10 Chateau Miranda This neo-Gothic building in Celles, Belgium, was also known as Chateau de Noisy and was constructed between 1886 and 1907. The original plan was for the wealthy Liederkerke-De Beaufort family to use it as their summer home....

SEE ALSO: 10 Secrets Businesses Don’t Want You To Know Monsanto needs no introduction, but we’ll do it quickly anyway: They’re a pesticide manufacturer known for being the first company to genetically modify a seed to be resistant to pesticides and herbicides. Their seeds are billed as “Roundup-Ready,” meaning that it’s the only thing that will stay alive in a field that’s been sprayed with Roundup, Monsanto’s main herbicide product....

On August 4, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium in the hopes of establishing a northern base of command to get around the fortifications that France had built along the German border. But what was supposed to be a quick operation turned into months of grueling campaigns against a country that just wouldn’t give up. Slowly but surely, however, the Belgians were losing ground, and by October 1914 the German war machine had forced the Belgian army out of Antwerp....

10Fred Allen Fred Allen was a member of “the tie-down team” at Walls Unit Prison in Huntsville, Texas. He participated in some 120 executions, tying the inmates down to keep them still during their final moments. He reports, “I was just working in the shop and all of a sudden something just triggered in me and I started shaking . . . And tears, uncontrollable tears, was coming out of my eyes....

The impact of the Black Death was so tremendous and destructive that it led Christians to believe they were being punished for their sins. It wiped out entire villages, towns, and cities. It was a depopulation event unlike anything seen before or since. Listed here are ten contributing factors to the lethality of the Black Death. 10 Easily Carried by Fleas For most of its evolutionary history, Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the plague, was no more mobile than Ebola or tuberculosis, so outbreaks seldom occurred, were confined to small areas, and claimed lower numbers of victims....

10Diagnosis And Treatment Since 1799, speculation has arisen as to whether or not Washington fell victim to medical malpractice. In an article written in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. David Morens states that accusations of malpractice “were very much in the air during and immediately after the great man died.” Morens goes on to state, however, that he would not consider it malpractice in context of today’s usage. What remains troubling is that of the three doctors providing Washington’s care, no two agreed about the means of treatment....

10The First Kamikaze Attack Was Not Planned During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, 28-year-old Lieutenant Fusata Iida was hit. His plane, a Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero, had sustained heavy damage, and he signaled the rest of his air group to go on without him. He pointed to the ground, indicating his intention to crash his plane at a suitable target. He targeted Hanger 101, the base’s primary hanger, which he intended to ram in a suicide run....

When it comes to reptiles, New Zealand is also home to the tuatara, a lizard-like creature that doesn’t seem all that outstanding at first glance. However, there are quite a few reasons that make this 1.5-kilogram (3 lb) creature the most interesting reptile on the face of the Earth. 10 It’s A One-Of-A-Kind Species There are very few species that are “one-of-a-kind” in the natural world. We’re talking about creatures resembling nothing else in the animal kingdom, like the platypus and the aardvark....

Fresco paintings were usually done on walls by applying paint pigment on fresh limestone plaster, which, when dry, becomes permanent. Fresco secco (dry fresco) is the process of soaking dry walls with limewater and painting while wet, which is useful for retouching frescoes. These two types of painting require great skill and meticulous planning. Here are some of the most famous and beautiful frescoes found around the world to put under “must see” on your travel bucket list—even if you aren’t an art enthusiast....

10Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born in the middle of the 17th century and laid the foundation of modern science. Today, he’s famous for describing gravity, working out the laws of motion, and being one of the inventors of calculus, among other nerdy things. What most of us don’t know is that, at one point in his life, Newton also worked in England’s Royal Mint, eventually becoming its Master. (This may or may not be his job description in the upcoming Newtonian crime-fighting thriller....

Jesse James married his first cousin Zerelda “Zee” Mimms, who was named after Jesse’s own mother. They had two children and remained married until Jesse’s death in 1882 at the age of 34. Although they had met as children, they became reacquainted after a dinner at the White House in 1902 held by Eleanor’s uncle and Franklin’s fifth cousin, President Teddy Roosevelt. FDR was 20 at the time and was attending Harvard....

As we will see, plastic surgeons have also been responsible for pioneering many life-enhancing procedures that go far beyond the cosmetic. But first, let’s answer the question that most of you likely have. 10 Its Name Has Nothing To Do With Plastic The documented beginnings of plastic surgery techniques date all the way back to the 16th century when Italian physician Gaspare Tagliacozzi—who was himself copying techniques described in an Indian manual written roughly 1,000 years earlier—successfully reconstructed the damaged nose of a patient using tissue from the inner arm....

In ancient times, many different forms of divination were practiced by oracles and soothsayers all over the world. Here are ten techniques to see the future that have long since been forgotten. 10 Amniomancy When a baby is born, it sometimes has a caul, which is a membrane covering the head. This is rare, only happening to one out of every 80,000 babies born. In ancient times, if a baby was born with a caul, fortune-tellers claimed that it would reveal a lot about the child’s future....

While the moon landing may be the single most remembered event in the history of mankind and President John Kennedy, as the man who championed and led this accomplishment, often forgotten is Kennedy’s true motive for the daunting task. In a conversation with James Webb, the director of NASA at the time, Kennedy was quoted as saying, “Everything we do ought to really be tied into getting on to the Moon ahead of the Russians […] otherwise we shouldn’t be spending that kind of money, because I’m not interested in space […] The only justification for [the cost] is because we hope to beat [the USSR] to demonstrate that instead of being behind by a couple of years, by God, we passed them....

10 Stentor Growing up to 2 milimeters long, the trumpet-shaped freshwater protozoa of the genus Stentor are easily visible to the naked eye and well-known among microbe enthusiasts for their size. 2 millimeters might not sound impressive, but remember that this makes Stentor larger than many multicellular invertebrates. Among unicellular organisms, it is an absolute colossus. One of the factors that enables Stentor to get so big is its internal anatomy....

10Gray Whale Group Sex The mating rituals of gray whales are unusual in that they always reproduce during group sex. Typically the whales split into a group of three—one female and two males. While other male animals are known to fight over partners, some think the second gray whale male gets involved to help position the female to make it easier for the mating partner. The whales mate near the surface, which means their 1....

Although many types of games have been turned into monstrous adult versions, this list will focus mainly on Guinness World Record holders. We will exclude the gigantic versions of video systems, including the Nintendo Game Boy that is 6.7 times larger than the one manufactured by Nintendo. 10 The Marble Run That Ran Through A Meadow No one is certain where marbles originated. But they have been discovered among the remains of a 4,500-year-old civilization....

This list celebrates 10 composers who didn’t even get the chance to reach 35, let alone grow a long beard, but who still left us music that is remarkable, beautiful or downright stunning. Jeremiah Clarke is a case of the music being better known than the man himself. To most people his brilliant Prince of Denmark’s March, written for Queen Anne’s husband, will sound familiar. For years it was known as the Trumpet Voluntary and attributed to Henry Purcell....

10The Passion Of Joan Of Arc Was Found In A Norwegian Mental Hospital Containing what is widely considered to be one of the greatest performances of all time, The Passion Of Joan Of Arc was a 1928 French movie about the titular heroine’s imprisonment, torture, and execution. Joan was played by stage actress Renee Jeanne Falconetti, who never performed in a movie again, returning to the stage before escaping to South America during WWII and eventually committing suicide there in 1946....

10Pericles And Aspasia Pericles was a general, orator, and preeminent figure in Athenian statecraft. Perhaps it’s no wonder that his partner shared many of the same talents. The two met during a symposium, and at once, Pericles was smitten by Aspasia’s wit and beauty. Since she came from Miletus, not Athens, she was afforded more freedom than most other women of her time and became known as an intellectual in Athenian society....