10 The Token Female Gladiator battles were very stylized, and fighters were trained to make combat as entertaining as possible for the audience. Since the gladiator games continued for almost 1,000 years, “showrunners” were constantly trying to make things new and interesting. Gladiators took on personas, complete with costumes and specialized armor. There were also rivalries that went on for multiple battles. This is similar to modern-day wrestling in the WWE, where audience members can follow a narrative as to what is going on between the fighters....

Disappointing lack of whale people aside, Finland is an interesting place with plenty to offer. It’s the land of lakes, heavy metal, and big, big words. And, most importantly, there’s beer. 10 Finnish Has The Longest Palindromic Word Guinness World Records requires that palindromic words—ones that read the same forward and backward—must be in common use to count. Listverse is unsure how many dealers in caustic soda there are in Finland, but those happy saippuakivikauppias fellows are considered common enough to take the record....

The country has featured heavily in the news due to its ongoing political upheaval, but looking beyond those issues, you will find an amazing country with welcoming and generous people. Here are some of the more fascinating facts about Peru. 10 Facts About The Talking Knots Of Ancient Peru 10 Peru’s History Dates Back 6,000 Years Typically, people think of North Africa as the location of civilizations dating back 6,000 years, but the South American continent has been home to humanity for 14,500+ years....

10 Battle Of Ambos Nogales When people think of World War I, they usually assume the fighting never reached the American continent. However, as the war neared its end, fighting between Mexican and US forces erupted along the border. The battle occurred in Ambos Nogales, a city split down the middle by a wide boulevard. Half of the town was in Mexican territory, and the other half was in US territory....

10Star Wars BB-8 Droid$124.97 It may not be life-size, but this app-enabled replica BB-8 is, well, the droid you’re looking for. Sure, you can use your smartphone or tablet to pilot it around your living room, but why not just set it to Patrol Mode and let it cruise around autonomously? It responds to voice commands, has adaptive learning and can even record holographic videos- no, seriously- just like in the movies....

Here are the stories of ten heroic abductees who refused to die. In many cases, these incredibly brave individuals came out of their horrific ordeals stronger than they were when they went in, and some even have inspiring lessons to share with us. 10 Lisa Noland At 17 years old, Lisa had decided to commit suicide after a lifetime of physical abuse and neglect, which had now escalated into sexual abuse at the hands of a family member....

10 Great Pranks Pulled Off By Famous People 10 It’s all in the eyes While the first Ouija movie did not exactly set the world of horror on fire, scoring a sad 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, a terrific prank to promote the movie garnered more than 2 million views on YouTube after it was uploaded to the platform in 2014. Dreamed up by a viral marketing agency, the prank uses people’s belief in Ouija boards against them....

One strange animal is even reminiscent (to paleontologists, at least) of a character played by actress Natalie Portman. Others are just as odd and intriguing, and several of these ten incredible ancient animals have overturned scientific beliefs while expanding the knowledge of life as it existed millions of years ago. 10 Predatory Whales New evidence provided by 3-D scans of digital simulations of fossilized baleen whale teeth suggests that in the past, these whales weren’t the gentle giants we know today....

Incredible Because: It makes you dance, it makes your legs drop off, and is the source of LSD Claviceps purpurea is a fungus that grows on the ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or seeds contaminated with the fruiting structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals. The common name for ergotism is “St. Anthony’s Fire”, in reference to monks who cared for victims as well as symptoms, such as severe burning sensations in the limbs....

There are some instances, however, of unbelievable stories told by believable people—notable people, people who have made great contributions to the world and who are generally not considered, well, crazy. Credible, of course, is somewhat subjective, and several of these stories can certainly be attributed to the times or the culture in which the storytellers lived. Nevertheless, whether you consider yourself a skeptic or a believer, here’s hoping that you’ll enjoy this intriguing list of incredible stories told by credible people....

It is difficult to establish if the internet has caused our confidential data to become more vulnerable. Someone could just as easily steal your mail and banking information from your mailbox, as he or she could hack into your computer through the internet. Nonetheless, with more and more people imputing financial, personal, professional and medical information on line, it seems likely that we are at a greater risk. Who was that woman you were with in that photo I saw on Facebook?...

And yet, a whole host of events of possible consequences have been ignored. This list presents ten lesser know “What If?” scenarios in chronological order. 10 The Proposed Marriage of Cyrus the Great and Tomyris (530 BC) Cyrus the Great, one of history’s greatest military commanders, is credited with founding the Achaemenid Persian Empire. At its height, the Persian Empire stretched onto three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Tomyris, one of history’s greatest warriors, ruled over the much smaller Massagetae of Central Asia....

Ennui Pronunciation: on-wee From French. Boredom of the soul. Schadenfreude Pronunciation: shah-din-froyd-? From German. Taking joy in the suffering of others. 8. Wanderlust Pronunciation: vunder-loost From German. A strong longing or desire towards wandering. 7. Sehnsucht Pronunciation: sane-zookt From German. A self-destructive or addictive yearning for a time, place or thing that one can’t explain. Saudade Pronunciation: saw-the-th? From Portuguese. A feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future, although deep down you know it probably wont....

10 The Tenere Tree The Tenere Tree in the Sahara was the only tree for 400 kilometers (250 mi)—a pretty useful landmark in a desert. It stood alone for 300 years and probably sprouted when the desert wasn’t actually a desert at all. But the tree became the lone survivor from its childhood after a well dug in 1938 gave it a steady source of water and nourishment. Unfortunately, its proud stand against time and loneliness came to an abrupt end when a drunk driver managed to crash into the only obstacle for hundreds of miles....

There are also several problems over which we have no control. This often involves our bodies and the conditions on Mars itself. It seems like Mars is out to kill the first humans who set foot on it—an opinion shared by several people including Elon Musk, who may revolutionize space travel. Nevertheless, we will keep our fingers crossed. 10 Money NASA cannot afford a manned mission to Mars. This was revealed in July 2017 when William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s chief of human spaceflight, revealed that the agency does not receive enough funding from the US government to make NASA’s first Mars landing scheduled for the 2030s realistic....

Played For: Numerous Negro League and MLB teams. This list is arguably somewhat tainted because of a shameful segregation policy that kept many great black ball players out of the major leagues. There is little discussion as to who was the greatest of them all. Paige was as dominant as they come. It’s impossible to list his records either because they simply don’t exist or they are inaccurate. Played For: Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers....

Mercury – Hg Mercury also called quicksilver, is an element that has the symbol Hg (Greek: hydrargyrum, meaning watery or liquid silver) with an atomic number of 80. A heavy, silvery metal, mercury is one of the elements that are liquid at or near room temperature. Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus, though many concerns about the element’s toxicity have led to said thermometers being largely phased out in favor of alcohol-filled or digital....

Maybach 57 S $367,000 DaimlerChrysler revealed the Maybach 57 S at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It uses a 6.0 L version of the V12 engine manufactured by Mercedes-AMG. Power output is 604 hp (450 kW) and 738 ft·lbf (1000 N·m), providing a sub-5 second sprint to 60 mph (97 km/h). It also rides 0.5 in (13 mm) lower on 20 in (508 mm) wheels. The North American unveiling was at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January 2006....

For anyone who has played Assassin’s Creed, falling into a dumpster is the equivalent of surviving a 100ft fall into a barrel of hay. If you manage to hit your target (difficult enough as it is), there’s also the fact that – much like hitting water at high velocity – you’re going to break your neck. But let’s imagine you do survive: congratulations – now all you need to deal with are the various discarded syringes protruding from your face....

10 Well Known Movies With Bizarre Backstories 10 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction film from the visionary Stanley Kubrick. Considered by many to be one of the most ambitious films of all time, it attempts to tell the story of evolution from the time of primitive apes to the future of space travel. The first ten minutes of the film show the daily lives of prehistoric hominids going about their existence until an alien monolith appears before them....