Though Harry Truman was under extreme pressure to end the war and reduce American casualties I think his decision to drop two atomic bombs on August 6th and August 9th, 1945 was in error. The Japanese were already defeated. According to Army Air Force General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, “It always appeared to us, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.” President Eisenhower declared in an interview with Newsweek: “…the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing....

Retaining the ceremonial customs and protocols of the Mafia tradition, the Sicilian and Italian criminal fraternity were organized into hierarchical gangs, or “families,” reporting to what Luciano called the Commission. A criminal board of directors, the Commission consisted of the heads of the five New York families, as well as families from Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and other major cities at various times. Murder, Inc. (as the name suggests) was even more businesslike....

However, with almost one-third of Americans eating processed foods, it’s important to know what is going into your food—especially when those ingredients tend to be banned in other countries. From yoga mat ingredients in bread (yes really) to partially hydrogenated oils being banned by the FDA, some ingredients are well hidden and unknown by the average label-reader. See Also: Top 10 Foods That Are Banned In The US 10 Brominated Vegetable Oil Coca-Cola is a company that makes a variety of well-loved drinks around the world....

Fortunately, though the problems are real and very serious, they do not tell the full story. There are numerous instances of mutual respect and peace between these faiths. More than that, there are many stories of the people of one of these religions risking everything to defend members of a different faith. These stories are also real, and retelling them shows us what the world could be like if every person of every faith lived out the love of neighbor that all religions claim as a central tenet....

In nature, some animals use their farts for strategic advantages. On the other hand, as is the case in this article, some farts result in situations that leave a person facing the strong arm of the law. This list will review ten times that intervention by law enforcement was ultimately required just because someone broke wind. 10 The Fart Joke That Landed A Man In Prison Farts can empty rooms....

While some firefighters have proven themselves to be heroes, others have demonstrated that they are unreliable and cannot be counted on. Sometimes, this includes entire firefighting departments. 10 Firefighters Refuse To Respond To Fire Over $75 In 2010, firefighters from South Fulton, Tennessee, allowed a house to burn to the ground over a $75 fee. The home was located in Obion County, which did not have its own fire service....

Sometimes, this means that ostensibly prosaic conspiracy theories transform from sinister political skulduggery into wild supernatural intrigues. 10The Men In Black Are Tibetan Monks Tales of the mysterious Men in Black who silence UFO witnesses and abductees are frequently compared to medieval legends of vampires and demonic visitors, but others see an Eastern connection. Indeed, ufologist John Keel reported that Men in Black were often alleged to have “angular, Oriental-like faces,” and one such man who reportedly visited Malcolm X in prison was also supposedly of Asian extraction....

In an effort to educate women is less developed countries, something interesting happened. The average family size went from 6.3 children to 1.9 in just two generations, by giving them better schooling, more job opportunities, and better availability of contraceptives. It goes to show that this massive population boom has some viable solutions, but as it stands, we have many problems still to face when it comes to resources. The more sinister sides of us might sit back and say that these shortages will not affect our immediate generations, but there are still some notable shortages that we should be freaking out about right now....

SEE ALSO: 10 Videos That Went Viral Before The Internet 10 The Disappearance Of Steven Koecher In April 2009, Steven Koecher quit his job in Salt Lake City and moved to St. George, Utah. After spending several months struggling to find a job, Steven abruptly left St. George on December 12, 2009. The following day, he telephoned two of his friends and claimed that he was in Las Vegas. Steven never offered any explanation for his trip, but his family believes that he may have been looking for a job....

10 The Ghost Ship Of Topsail Island A famous strategy used by many pirate crews centered around Topsail Island was to wait for a ship to pass on the horizon and then chase it down and take the loot. This method proved to be extremely successful, as there was a lot of traffic passing the island in the early 1700s. The most infamous pirate to use the method was Edward Teach, alternatively known as Blackbeard, a 183-centimeter (6′) man known to be a master of physical and psychological warfare....

There are multiple uplifting animal stories this week, including the daring rescue of a drowning dog, a chicken with a 3-D printed leg, and successful brain surgery performed for the first time ever on a kakapo. In other news, a young girl wants to train dragons, a boy marvels at opera, and a veteran looks out for his comrades. 10 An Idea That’s For The Birds How did the one-legged chicken cross the road?...

Radium is one of the Group 2 alkaline earth metals. Highly radioactive, it was used in self-luminous paints made infamous by the “Radium Girls”, who ingested large amounts of deadly radium when they used their lips to sharpen the points of their brushes. They used the brushes to paint the radioactive radium paint onto watch dials and aircraft instruments. The Radium Girls died slow, horrible deaths from the radiation. Radium Texas, on U....

These following images were all so convincing that they managed to reach viral stardom—only for those who shared them to be left red-faced when they were proven to be nothing more than elaborate jokes. It just goes to prove the words of Mark Twain: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” 10 JFK And Marilyn Monroe John F. Kennedy Jr....

10Galicia Galicia is an autonomous region in northwest Spain, on the border with Portugal. Galicians consider themselves to be a distinct ethnic and cultural group, and the Spanish government recognizes them as a historical nationality within Spain. But for many in Galicia, that’s just not enough and there are plenty of nationalist and separatist parties on the regional political scene. Most of them act jointly as part of the Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG), which works for further devolution of power from the central government to the regional assembly....

See Also: 10 Modern Torture Chambers All guns, knives, explosives, bats, and poisons have the drawback that possession of them can immediately convince a jury of intent. A well-stocked kitchen, on the other hand, is going to look good for you. After all, can you imagine Martha Stewart going to jail? Obviously you can cut your fingers with a sharp (or blunt) knife, you can drop a chopping board on your foot, or any one of many possible injuries from a multitude of slapstick-type mishaps....

What about our more distant relatives—monkeys? Surely, as we follow the trail back to our less-developed cousins, we will find that they share fewer traits with ourselves? This is true, to some degree, but recent discoveries are showing that monkeys are a lot more like us than we ever believed before. 10Monkeys Can Be Taught To Recognize Themselves In Mirrors Humans and the great apes have the innate ability to recognize themselves in mirrors—a trait that only a few other animals share....

Fortunately, you needn’t be on the front lines to bear witness. As the tide turns on prisoners’ rights, respected publications are increasingly devoting time and attention to the horrors of incarceration. Some newspapers have even dedicated entire sections to these issues. Despite this increased visibility, there is a persistent misconception that incarcerated persons are getting a free ride—or at least more than they deserve. Read the comments section of any prisoners rights’ article, and you will likely find someone claiming that prisoners live better than the middle class....

10 Georgia Inman Georgia and her twin brother, Walker Patterson, are children of Walker Inman Jr., a troubled, drug-addicted multimillionaire who inherited his fortune from tobacco heiress Doris Duke. For children set to inherit a reported $1 billion when they turn 21, they were horrifyingly neglected, undernourished, and undereducated. Their miserable childhood was a struggle for survival. Their father had a penchant for destruction and considered blowing things up a form of therapy after the twins’ mother, Daisha, left him....

Much like the term QSR, these restaurants are constantly looking for ways to rebrand themselves and distance themselves from the stigma that comes with the term “fast food.” This list will detail some of the ways these fast food restaurants have attempted to break the mold (or fully embrace it) in order to reach a wider consumer base. 10 McDonald’s Art Posters This promotion has a bit of lore to it....

SEE ALSO: 10 Lesser Known Massacres 10 Rosewood Massacre A small, overwhelmingly black town in Florida, Rosewood was essentially completely destroyed in January of 1923. In the nearby town of Sumner, a 22-year-old white woman named Fannie Taylor was heard screaming and, when her neighbor came to check on her, she was covered in bruises. Claiming to have been assaulted by a black man , she reported that she had not been raped, though the other white citizens in her town believed otherwise....