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Looks, however, can be deceiving when it comes to something as apparently complicated as death, leading to prisoners unknowingly choosing the manner in which they will be tortured. Whether or not you agree with the death penalty isn’t the point—the point here is that even when you’re in charge of your own fate, you can’t control the tragedy of errors that an execution can turn out to be. So, for those of you that might find yourself in such a position as to be forced to decide how you’re going to die, reflect for a moment on how some other people were helped from this world before you make the ultimate decision....

While some people think the policy of detainment itself is wrong, the Australian government defends its actions by saying they are processing the asylum seekers’ claims and trying to find out whose claims are legitimate before they let them into the country. Since Australia is one big island, it can’t simply deport people back over the border to wherever they came from. The problem is whether or not the policy of detainment is the right thing to do....

More so a group of people rather than any particular person, the “firsts” are all those who take a curious delight in being the first commenter on a newly-published list. There are surely hundreds of them sitting at their computers every day, in multiple countries and time-zones around the world, madly refreshing their browsers in the race to be the first commenter. So on behalf of all other Listversers, allow me to reply to all past, present and future “firsts”: WHO CARES?...

10Bertha Roentgen’s Wedding Ring In November 1895, physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen of Worzburg, Bavaria, was studying electrical rays when he discovered that they penetrated objects and projected their images on a fluorescent screen. When he put his own hand in front of the rays, he noticed that the image showed a contrast between his bones and his translucent flesh. Roentgen realized the implications immediately—doctors could see a person’s anatomy and anything wrong with it without evasively opening the skin....

10Jupiter Could Have Been A Star, If Only . . . In 1610, Galileo discovered Jupiter and its four primary moons Europa, Io, Callisto, and Ganymede, which today are known collectively as the Galilean moons. This was the first time a celestial body was observed circling anything other than the Moon orbiting Earth. This provided excellent support for Polish astronomer Nicolai Copernicus and his theory that Earth was not the center of the universe....

Then, on Edward’s death in 1483, he apparently underwent a complete personality change. He’d been trusted by his brother to act as Lord Protector and make sure the heir, Prince Edward, was placed safely on the throne. Instead, Richard declared the heir illegitimate, chased the widowed queen into hiding, and imprisoned both of his nephews in the Tower of London. He then promptly proclaimed himself King of England. The two boys were never seen again....

10Jean-Dominique Cassini Cassini is most commonly associated with his advancements in astronomy, but his interest in the stars started with astrology. In his day—the mid-17th century—astrology and astronomy still went hand in hand. The Italian-born Giovanni Domenico Cassini would later give his name to the space probe, but when he first moved to France for college, it was astrology he was studying. His studies led him to believe that there was absolutely no truth to what had been considered a science for centuries....

10 Shinzo Abe Was Behind The Tokyo Subway Gas Attack Some believe that the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway by the cult Aum Shinrikyo was, in fact, orchestrated by the militarist wing of the Liberal Democratic Party, with Shinzo Abe as a key figure. The attack was the culmination of three generations of militarist plotting, dating back to the chemical weapons research of Unit 731 overseen by Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi....

One other note, you may wish to turn off the Geographic Web layer in the sidebar (if you have it turned on). Otherwise, for a couple of these sites, all you will see are little blue boxes representing pictures that have been submitted. While these can be very enjoyable, if you’re trying to view the sights, they can be obstructive. There are, of course, many more interesting sights to be seen through Google Earth, and is reception for this list is good, I’ll do another for you, showcasing some more famous locations....

10 Heart Symbol The heart symbol shape has been found in Cro-Magnon pictograms from the last ice age, but it probably didn’t gain its modern meaning until the Middle Ages. Some contend that it was based on the seedpod of the silphium plant, a North African plant that was a popular form of birth control until it went extinct. The city-state of Cyrene even minted coins with the image of the seedpod, which closely resembled the heart shape....

The reasons for engaging in these dangerous duels are varied. Some looked to win power or glory, while others looked to spare the lives of their fellow soldiers. Some simply fought out of necessity. Here, we will look at some of these dramatic duels. 10 John Smith John Smith is well-known for establishing Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America. However, what many don’t know is that Smith had quite an extraordinary life before he set sail for the New World....

10The 20-Year Search For A Missing Opera Enrique Granados, a renowned Spanish composer, wrote an unpublished opera called Maria del Carmen in 1898. The story of a love triangle in Murcia, the opera was so celebrated when it opened in Madrid that the Queen of Spain gave Granados the distinguished Charles III Cross for his music. Even so, the original version of the opera was never performed again. When the New York Metropolitan Opera performed another of the composer’s works in 1916, Granados and his wife sailed to America with the only copy of Maria del Carmen....

10Rap Battles Rappers in early 1980s New York might get most of the credit for this type of lyrical performance, but the practice is actually much older and comes from Scotland. It is called flyting and it was practiced by makaris (Scottish poets) during the 15th and 16th centuries. In this contest, two poets would engage in an exchange of verbal abuse, oftentimes in verse, and the winner was usually decided by the audience....

10Phallic Bricks Of Pompeii We all know the legend surrounding Pompeii. The original City of Sin’s people basked in a perpetual heat of promiscuity—promiscuity said to have inspired the gods’ rage with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Since excavation of its near-perfectly preserved remains began in the 18th century, archaeologists have discovered a great deal regarding Pompeii’s sexual identity. Pompeii’s economy thrived on more than 40 brothels, the most famous of which was named “Lupanare Grande,” translated today as “pleasure house....

10 They Are Color-Blind You’ve probably been told at least once in your life that dogs are color-blind, meaning they are only able to perceive black and white. This is, in fact, just a myth. Although a dog’s vision does not enable it to experience colors in the way that we do, they are able to see some colors. Rather than a gray-scale spectrum, dogs tend to see more in yellows, blues, and violets....

10 Americans Can’t Understand Sarcasm Many non-Americans, particularly the British, enjoy lampooning the US for an inability to understand sarcasm, and one only needs to compare the British and American versions of The Office to recognize the gulf between the humor styles of the two nations. The British tendency to deliver ironic or sarcastic statements in a deadpan manner leads to confusion for many Americans. But where did the difference come from?...

The week that took us over the midpoint of October was a crazy busy one for geopolitics. Two independence movements crashed up against governments that definitely did not want them to leave, exciting new leaders took over two significant countries, and China laid out its plans for becoming the major player of the 21st century. Add to that a major scientific breakthrough, and it almost felt like this week was trying to cram in the rest of the year’s big news stories at once....

We’ve mentioned before how the term itself came from the ancient Greeks, who dismissed foreign languages as sounding like “bar bar bar.” A relentlessly xenophobic society, the Greeks believed that people were either Greek or barbarian. Later, the term came to designate any tribe or nation that did not conform to certain codes and customs. From Rome to China, humanity has long tried to vilify and degrade people who were in some way different....

The Basilosaurs were primitive whales that looked rather like sea serpents, with small, reptilian-looking heads and very long and slender bodies. They lived during the Eocene, a time of warm oceans, so they didn’t have to store great amounts on fat to keep their body temperature in cold waters as modern day whales do. Basilosaurs were the top predators of their time, feeding on anything they could catch, including sharks and smaller whales....

10Childermass Europeans in the Middle Ages took their holidays seriously. For example, Christmas wasn’t just celebrated on a single day. Instead, the entire 12 days of Christmas were observed, with each day representing a different Catholic belief. These were days of merry festivities which gave overworked peasants the opportunity to relax. There was one day, however, that wasn’t so merry. Well, at least not for children. Celebrated every December 28, Childermass (aka The Feast of The Holy Innocents) represented the killing of newborn boys by King Herod....