10Stop-Action Substitution The first special effect occurred in the 18-second 1895 film The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The Edison Library film shows Mary (portrayed by Robert Thomae, Kinetoscope Company’s secretary and treasurer) kneeling at the chopping block. She extends her neck, peering ahead. The executioner, amid a company of onlookers holding pikes, lifts his axe. Bringing it down swiftly, he chops off her head, which tumbles forward, off the block, and rolls on the ground....

10 ‘Cracker’ Many assume that the term “cracker” originated from Southern slave owners (who cracked their whips), but the truth is more complicated. It was used in the United States in the 18th century to refer to poor whites living in Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, who often made their living driving livestock using a whip. However, over time, the term “cracker” came to be used by upper-class whites to refer to the indigent, criminals, or those of Scots-Irish descent in general....

Today, thanks to the imaginations of inventors, amputees have more options than ever before for rehabilitation after such tragic injuries. Here is a list of the most interesting facts in the history of prosthetic technology, from ancient times to the speculations of a distant future. 10 The Egyptian Toe A prosthesis’s purpose is to restore the function of the missing limb. So if you were to imagine early prostheses from history, most would imagine an arm or a leg....

10 Mary Wollstonecraft And William Godwin Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneer of feminism. Her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published toward the end of the 18th century, made a strong case for women’s rights as well as championing the idea that any perceived inferiority of women compared to men was due to the lack of education and opportunities afforded to the former. Mary’s personal life was marked by several high-profile romances....

Why, we might wonder, could men and women with so much talent, who had earned such acclaim, shun society and choose to live alone? Of course, most people would find such a largely solitary existence undesirable, even unbearable. The ten famous recluses, past and present, on this list, however, embraced solitude, living their lives apart from society, all of them for reasons of their own. 10 Virgil (70 BC–19 BC) The Roman poet Virgil is the author of many classic works of literature....

10 Felice della Rovere Felice della Rovere, one of the most powerful women during the Italian Renaissance, was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II. Born around 1483 to Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, she was publicly ignored by her father when he became Pope. Widowed at age 14, Felice resisted his attempts to put her into the arms of politically advantageous husbands. She chose her own husband—an uncaring baron from the sociopathic Orsini family....

10Pompeian Prostitutes Many depictions of Ancient Rome show it as a glittering citadel of white marble. In fact, the Romans were as earthy and real as any living people. The proof of this can be seen engraved in the walls of Pompeii. The ancient city was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that ironically preserved it far better than any other Roman site. Pompeii boasted an impressive number of brothels to cater to all tastes....

SEE ALSO: 10 Bizarre Calendar Fixes That Made Us Add Or Skip Dates 10 Spanish Siesta The Spanish Siesta found its way into the popular lexicon. Unfortunately, it is sometimes used derogatorily to imply laziness, when in fact, that could not be further from the truth. The term “siesta” comes from the Latin for “sexta,” meaning “sixth hour.” Romans began their day at dawn, and used the sixth hour of the day for eating and resting....

10 Goering Telegram Hermann Goering was one of Hitler’s most trusted advisers, and in June 1941, the fuhrer issued a secret decree stating that if he were incapacitated, kidnapped, or killed, Goering would assume control. But as the war dragged on, Hitler became increasingly suspicious of Goering, egged on by Goering’s enemy Martin Bormann. While Hitler was surrounded by advisers in his bunker with Soviet troops closing in, Goering was holed up in the town of Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, 800 kilometers (500 mi) south....

The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco in 1909, at the Japanese Tea Garden Restaurant. In 1916, Los Angeles noodle manufacturer David Jung claimed to be the inventor, but a San Francisco court ruled that Makoto Hagiwara, caretaker of Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Garden, was the creator of the cookies, which he served to guests of the gardens. [Source] The deadly tonka bean (often added to perfume as a cheap alternative to vanilla) is banned outright in the United States as a food additive....

10Battle Of The Delta From 1276 to 1178 BC, the ancient Mediterranean world was terrorized by the mysterious Sea People. Although they are often referred to as pirates or raiders, many historians now believe that the Sea People represented a major population movement fleeing from the famine and turmoil that contributed to the Late Bronze Age collapse. The Sea People overran the mighty Hittite Empire and other regions of the ancient world....

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide a measure of nerdy fun for those so inclined. Read on to learn what makes a number “interesting,” “weird,” “happy,” “narcissistic,” “perfect,” and more! Ah, amicable numbers. They love each other so much. How much? Well, let’s take a classic pair—284 and 220—and see just how friendly they are. Let’s take all the proper divisors of 220 (that is to say, all its divisors that leave no remainder, including the number 1, and excluding the number itself) and all them up: 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 10 + 11 + 20 + 22 + 44 + 55 + 110 = 284 Now, let’s take 284 and do the same thing: 1 + 2 + 4 +71 + 142 = 220....

10 Transparent Wood By chemically treating ordinary balsa wood and strengthening it with epoxy, scientists have created a clear, biodegradable material that is 4–6 times stronger than its counterpart that is not chemically treated. Its strength and clarity make it a more environmentally friendly alternative to some plastics. Scientists even think that it could be used to make renewable solar cells because the material partially traps light, allowing only about 85–90 percent of light to pass through it....

Yet our contemporary storytellers have played fast and loose with this sacred contract. In an effort to mold society to their will, these misanthropic or misguided miscreants have spun history’s objective facts into tales that serve only themselves. In the following list, we will attempt to administer an antidote to this social engineering and clear up some common misconceptions about our shared history. 10 The Civil War Was About Slavery In 1776, the United States of America declared its independence from the British Empire....

10 High Suicide Rate In the US, approximately one million people attempt suicide every year. Even more alarming is that the suicide rate in Native American communities is over three times the national average. Young Native people are among the most at risk for suicide, with 40 percent of all Native American suicides occurring among individuals between the ages of 15 and 24. These lives are cut short for a myriad of reasons, including violence at home, high unemployment rates, addictions to narcotics, and sexual abuse....

10The Perilous Sierra Nevada As if the journey west wasn’t tough enough, the most difficult portion was among the last. Which meant that travelers were already exhausted and low on rations when they had to make the final 160-kilometer (100 mi) trek over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The eastern slope was so steep that bringing wagons over the Sierra Nevada was long thought to be impossible, while the huge amount of snowfall that regularly accumulated only added to the difficulty....

10William HuskissonFirst Man Killed By A Train William Huskisson was an influential 19th-century British politician, a pioneer of free trade, a liberal reformer—and the first man to be killed by a train. This sticky end to a successful career was not the first calamity to which the accident-prone member of parliament had fallen victim. He had previously been flattened by a pole in London, fallen on by a horse just before his marriage, and severely injured his legs trying to jump over a moat in Scotland....

10Sverris Saga Between 1184 and 1202, Sverre Sigurdsson reigned as King of Norway. Despite being one of the nation’s most significant rulers from that time, most of our information about him comes from a single source: the Sverris Saga. This chronicle was written by abbot Karl Jonsson who was a contemporary of King Sverre and attended his court. While his account of Sverre’s reign seemed plausible, there was little evidence to corroborate it apart from minor references in some letters between Norwegian bishops and the Pope....

Usually, hazing consists of a couple pranks or a few embarrassing activities to welcome new members. However, some inductees are subjected to abuse and torture, sometimes for days on end, and not everyone recovers from the torment. Each of the following young pledges succumbed from the injuries they received while they were hazed. 10Chun “Michael” Deng Nineteen-year-old Chun Deng pledged Pi Delta Psi, an Asian-American cultural fraternity. He and four other pledges were driven away from their campus for a fraternity event....

You might be familiar with our previous list of premature burials, but if you thought that was the end of it, you couldn’t be more wrong. Believe it or not, there are even more horrifying tales of premature burial as recent as this year that are just as terrifying as Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. If being buried alive wasn’t your greatest fear before, it might be now. 10Octavia Smith Hatcher In the late 1800s, the city of Pikeville, Kentucky was shaken with an unknown disease, and the most tragic case of all was that of Octavia Smith Hatcher....