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The overwhelming majority of these are called 501(c)(3) organizations, after the section of that IRS code that exempts them from taxation. The rules to achieve and maintain 501(c)(3) status—or any of the more than two dozen other 501 sub-statuses—are complicated and convoluted. Generally, these organizations should not exist for the purpose of enriching themselves or their shareholders, they should not be political in nature, and they should be charitable or contribute to social welfare....

10 The Disappearance Of Joan Gay Croft Whenever a natural disaster occurs, it’s almost inevitable that some victims will never be found. However, the disappearance of four-year-old Joan Gay Croft is unlike any other. On April 9, 1947, an F5 tornado ravaged its way through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, causing hundreds of deaths and devastating several towns. One of these towns was Woodward, Oklahoma, where 185 people were killed and many more injured....

Today we’re going to take a look at 10 of these uniquely American institutions that have documented the bizarre and the unusual, providing museum experiences like no other. 10 Abita Mystery House Located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, the Abita Mystery House’s mission is to take the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and turn it into a museum of distinctly American throwaway items....

For some reason, though, a lot of places on our planet have yet to be explored and many species of organisms have yet to be documented. It’s not due to the incompetence of our scientists and explorers. Political conflicts, harsh climates, and other local conditions are just some of the reasons that these places remain unmarred by human contact. 10 Cape Melville Australia If we were to make a list of relatively empty destinations to visit around the world, the whole of Australia would feature somewhere around the top....

This week is a cornucopia of singular tales. They include the AI aboard the ISS, the fake first lady, the ancient plague, and the cowbell court case. 10 Don’t Be So Mean, Please The International Space Station (ISS) saw the addition of a new member—the Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN (CIMON). It is an AI which takes the form of a floating plastic ball with a video screen face and digital voice....

This week is a blast from the past as we explore several mysteries that were considered dead and buried. They include the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident and the suspicious circumstances surrounding James Brown’s death. We also appreciate the efforts of the British Library to bring historical erotica to the masses. There are also a few criminal capers to talk about: a successful diamond heist in Belgium and a not-so-successful robbery attempt in Canada which was foiled by bananas....

We have quite a few controversies this week that span the worlds of fashion, art, sports, and law. There is also a tale of survival and Taco Bell, the discovery of an elixir of immortality, and the strange observation of a creature with a temporary anus. 10 A Different Kind Of Bridge Suspension Another doping scandal has rocked the sporting world as Norwegian player Geir Helgemo tested positive for testosterone....

We have quite a few tales from the world of crime this week. There are the antics of a bumbling Australian robber, the scam of Moroccan tree-climbing goats, and the lookout parrot used by Brazilian drug dealers. In science news, anthropologists study the importance of ancient beer, while paleontologists marvel at the strangest crab that has ever lived. 10 Florida Bunny Strikes Normally, the Easter Bunny brings joy and chocolate eggs, but the lesser-known Florida Bunny only served a can of whoop-ass on Easter Sunday....

10 Emily Grant Hutchings When new writers get one too many rejections from publishers, it can seem like they will never get a book deal. As crazy as it sounds, multiple people in the early 1900s claimed that they communicated with famous dead authors via Ouija boards. One of these liars was Emily Grant Hutchings. In 1917, she wrote a book called Jap Herron: A Novel Written From the Ouija Board....

Over time, the construction of these makeshift objects has evolved into an elaborate, competitive industry in which automobile makers and funeral homes duke it out for the privilege of handling one of our most sacred moments: our deaths. What began as the simple necessity of transporting a body to a burial site became an elaborate ritual in which the living say goodbye to a dead friend or family member through a funeral procession....

10Rebecca KimbelEscaped In 1976 Rebecca was one of 39 children born to her father’s six wives in a polygamous cult called the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), an offshoot of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Like most polygamist children, she grew up hiding her identity and lived in constant fear that strangers would discover that her family was polygamist. If so, the welfare authorities would take her family away and her dad would go to prison, which he eventually did....

First of all, the Mayan calendar doesn’t ‘end’ in 2012, despite many claims to the contrary. Most archeologists agree that the ancients never viewed this year as the end of the world. “It’s the time when the largest grand cycle in the Mayan calendar – 1,872,000 days or 5,125.37 years – overturns, and a new cycle begins,” said Anthony Aveni, a Maya expert and archeo-astronomer from New York. The Maya believed that the dawn of our current creation cycle began in August 11, 3114 B....

This list drills down into the terms scientists and layman alike use in discussing the probability of extraterrestrial life. From theories explaining why we have yet to come across alien life to the terms used by scientists who are actively searching for it, this list can be your go-to guide for an introductory look at our ageless pursuit for extraterrestrial life. 10 Fermi Paradox Enrico Fermi was an Italian-American scientist, born in Rome at the turn of the 20th century....

10Margaret Murray And The Witch Trials Margaret Murray was a British folklorist who lived from 1863 to 1963. (After her retirement from teaching at age 72, she returned to the field for more archaeological work in Gaza and Petra.) Born in India and educated at University College, London, her primary field of interest was the folklore of Egyptian archaeology and learning more about how material artifacts were tied to belief systems....

As they say, though, truth is stranger than fiction. Many of these “wow” moments in the series were nods to actual events in history. Here are 10 of them! But if you’re one of the three people who hasn’t seen Game of Thrones, beware—there are spoilers ahead. 10 The War of Five Kings / The War of the Roses The underlying conflict in Game of Thrones is largely based on the historical War of the Roses, named the War of Five Kings in the series....

10The Disgraced Scholar Who Became A Shinto Deity Late in the ninth century, Sugawara no Michizane was riding a real career high. A scholar of Chinese literature who’d risen to one of the most important ranks in the Japanese government, he had every reason to think he’d be remembered long after his death. And yet he probably didn’t realize how bizarre his veneration would turn out to be. In the year 901, a court scandal saw Michizane falsely accused of plotting against the throne....

The man had lots of ideas, including some interesting ones. But the truth is a bit of a letdown. Though he was surely more talented than most of us, there were far superior practitioners in every single field Leonardo dabbled in. The era was so crowded with geniuses that if you walked down any street in 16th-century Italy, you would were bound to brush past one or two that accomplished feats of more lasting significance than he did....

10Terminators LARs may sound like the name of a laid-back Dutch stoner, but it’s really an acronym for something far more terror-inducing: Lethal Autonomous Robots. And they do exactly what they say on the tin. Basically, LARs are autonomous war machines we’ll send into combat zones instead of troops—programmed to super-kill everything that crosses their path. In other words, they’re precisely what James Cameron dreamt up thirty-odd years ago, crossed with “that” scene from Robocop....

10 Psychedelic Sea Slug These faceless beings look like something out of an alien movie. With their fingerlike protrusions and electric, rosy-blue markings, they pulse with a rare beauty. Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum, a newly discovered kind of sea slug, is only 2.5 centimeters (1 in) long and proud to show off its bright red, blue, and yellow coloring. Specimens have been located in the waters around Okinawa, various other islands, and the Great Barrier Reef....

10 The Pop-Tart Gun In March 2013 at Park Elementary School in Maryland, an eight-year-old boy was suspended for the innocent act of biting his Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. Considering that the Sandy Hook shooting had occurred only recently beforehand, educators were on their guard, but many professionals feel that what they did next went too far: They suspended the boy. The firestorm over the incident caused increased debate about the zero-tolerance rules that must public schools have....