To “purify” Cambodia from the evils of capitalism and foreign influence, millions of people were forcibly evacuated from the cities and made to work in the countryside under inhumane conditions. Private property, religion, and money were all banned. Critics, intellectuals, and middle-class people were executed by the hundreds of thousands, and many others perished from starvation and overwork. By the time Vietnam invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, over a quarter of the Cambodian population had died, many of them buried in mass graves known as the “killing fields....

10 Peter McAleese A Glaswegian born in 1942, Peter Maltese led a band of mercenary fighters to Colombia in 1989. McAleese had an impressive pedigree for his role as the commander of a motley bunch of soldiers of fortune. He’d served with Britain’s feted elite force, the SAS. In a documentary film about his life, McAleese reinforced his image as an all-around tough guy, saying, “I was trained to kill by the Army, but the fighting instinct came from Glasgow....

In these moments, it dawns on us that real human monsters lurk out there—like Ariel Castro (aka “The Monster of Cleveland”). Castro gained worldwide notoriety for the tragic events he inflicted on several women for his own twisted, sadistic pleasure. 10 History Ariel Castro grew up in a rather turbulent home environment. Later, he became a transplant from Puerto Rico to the United States. He was born to Puerto Rican parents, and his family life seemed normal at first....

Despite this bleak prognosis, however, there are incredible stories of survival which defy these odds. These rescues from around the world are truly miraculous. 10 Hidden Treasure Mine ShaftUnited States In 1989, a group of Cub Scouts was exploring an abandoned mine shaft near Salt Lake City. Joshua Dennis, who was only 10 years old, became separated from his father, the scout leader, and the other cubs by taking the wrong exit....

10The Missing Soldier On August 17, 1997, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier named Guy Hever walked out of an artillery base in the Golan Heights. He had previously clashed with his superiors, and the military initially assumed that he would return to his parents’ house. He didn’t. Guy Hever was never seen again. In the years that followed, multiple search operations by the police, the military, an army of volunteers, and even remote-control robots could not find any trace of the missing soldier....

Most of the time, these items are sought by thieves after they suddenly appreciate in value. At other times, we just cannot say why they’re being stolen. If you own any of the items on this list, we suggest you keep an eye peeled for any criminals who might be lurking around. 10 Avocados New Zealand is experiencing a serious avocado crime wave. Avocado orchards are being raided and harvested by criminals....

Of course, the companies that sell these devices claim that they play a vital role in home security. But others are much more skeptical. They argue that the systems are capitalizing on a growing social paranoia, that their surveillance is an attack on people’s privacy, and that the practices of these major tech corporations are anything but trustworthy. Here are ten ways they may threaten your security. 10 Big Business Is Collecting your Data It’s no secret that most, if not all, major tech firms are constantly harvesting people’s data....

Other scientific impossibilities also make an appearance in these films. Despite how much fun it is to suspend disbelief and lose yourself in the world of Jurassic Park, let’s come back to reality for a few minutes and look into some of the more advanced mistakes made in this movie franchise. Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen the Jurassic Park films, proceed with caution. We do reveal a fair amount about the movies....

10Members Are Atheists With Humanist Philosophies Satanists believe that all deities were invented by man. Therefore, by worshiping invented gods, the religious actually worship human inventors. The Church of Satan promotes the belief that we are responsible to ourselves and not to a deity. Members value personal characteristics such as pride, liberty, and various human traits that most religions consider inappropriate. Satanists aim to end the struggle between religious policy and conflicting natural inclination so that members may live without guilt for following harmless human instinct and desire....

People learned to make do with what little they had, which often meant planting gardens, raising chickens, and keeping cows; men took to the woods and hunted wild game or fished. Creativity was a necessity for many parents who had children to feed. New recipes were concocted, and foods that people didn’t consider eating were now consumed without question. Food scarcity was real, and some people who lived through the Depression never overcame the fear of going to bed hungry....

Maybe there’s just something intrinsically human about the sound of these words. In other cases, certain foodstuffs just managed to retain their tags as they moved from culture to culture. Whatever the reason, here are just a few words in different languages that have managed to stay connected. 10 ‘Pajamas’ A Hindi and Urdu word, pajama, referred to loose pants tied around the waist, a popular fashion in India. After colonization, the British took the clothing home, and over time, the style and word grew far beyond the subcontinent....

10 Ruhnama Saparmurat Niyazov, the late president-for-life of Turkmenistan, wrote a book known as the Ruhnama, meaning “Book of the Soul,” published in 2001. According to the dictator, it was meant to improve the spiritual life of the Turkmen people. Niyazov even claimed that God had assured him that readers of the book would surely get into Heaven. His book was mandatory reading in schools and universities and displayed next to the Quran in mosques, and there was even a test on the Ruhnama included in the process of getting a driver’s license....

Artist’s Medium: tires. This woman from New York makes some amazing sculptures out of rubber tires and also makes some tire sculptures that are wearable and she is known for wearing them to art shows. Artist’s Medium: computer pieces. A Korean artist residing in New Zealand, he has made an interesting sculpture out of computer keyboards and mice. Artist’s Medium: holography. A British woman living in Australia, she has spent several years making numerous incredible holographic images....

25 Minutes to Go Although Cash never did “hard time”, his songs often reflected the common, lower class, less fortunate man. This tune of the final minutes of a condemned man, is tinged with humor, but is ultimately very dark as the song never actually ends, but just trails off. Not a very popular song, but only one he could pull off. Best moment 2:08 (Johnny’s voice cracks) Give My Love To Rose This classic highlights another of Cash’s favorite subjects – death and redemption....

Albert Kahn’s story blew me away. According to the blurb of the book: “Kahn used his vast fortune to send a group of intrepid photographers to more than fifty countries around the world, often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed for ever by war and the march of twentieth century globalisation.” Nobody really knew about Kahn’s collection – numbering more than 72,000 autochromes – until quite recently....

Raindrops are not shaped like a teardrop (as they are almost always depicted in drawings) – they are actually spherical. When something “sublimes” it turns directly into a gas from a solid – bypassing the liquid state. This is what would happen if you throw dry-ice into a fire. Gorillas sleep in nests (pictured above) – they weave together soft foliage and bent branches from trees. Males tend to like sleeping on the ground while females like to have their nests in trees....

One would expect this to only apply in the entertainment industry, however this is also the case in the sporting world. For example, Football, which is, without a doubt, the most popular international sport, completely gets ignored by the US, due to America’s lack of achievements (this also applies to Rugby, Cricket, Formula 1 and many other international sports). Football giants such as Diego Maradona, George Best, Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini and Lev Yashin, might be famous worldwide, but they are widely unknown in the US....

Every volcano is unique. Volcanologists must learn each individual “personality” and history when they try to help people living nearby. With limited resources, though, how do you choose which volcanoes to study? Here’s how: When the United Nations made the 1990s its International Decade of Natural Hazard Reduction, volcanologists decided to focus on 16 volcanoes; two each from the US, Japan, and Italy; one each from 10 other countries. One of these Decade Volcanoes — Taal, in the Philippines — is making headlines right now....

But if you did deserve it, the Persians made sure you paid for it. They came up with some of the most imaginative and brutal punishments in history. Justice in ancient Persia wasn’t always swift—it was a slow, prolonged, and painful torture torn from your worst nightmares. 10 Making A Chair Out Of Your Skin When a Persian judge named Sisamnes was caught accepting a bribe, King Darius was determined to make an example out of him....

Why it changed the world: This book (though not the first dictionary) was the first to use literary quotations to illustrate the meanings of words. It set the stage for the scholarly study of language. Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson’s Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500 guineas, equivalent to about £220,000 as of 2009....