A Brief History On May 23, 1901, the Attorney General of Paris, France, received an anonymous note that a woman was being kept prisoner by her own mother. Police were dispatched to investigate and found a skeletal Blanche Monnier locked up in a small, windowless room in appalling mental and physical condition. Digging Deeper Blanche had been locked up in the tiny room since 1876, when her mother disapproved of Blanche’s choice for a husband (a lawyer, so perhaps the mom had reasonable cause…) and prevented the marriage by keeping Blanche prisoner. Of course, the mother was arrested, but died…
Browsing: The Bizarre
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A Brief History On August 22, 1880, The London Telegraph published an allegedly true story claiming that, believe it or not, people can be buried alive and still survive! Digging Deeper To support the article’s claims, they provided an example concerning the fakir Haridas. A fakir is a holy man, usually a Muslim. In 1835, at the maharaja’s palace in Lahore, India, Haridas spent 40 days locked in a sealed chest. It is said that Haridas fasted for seven days before the big moment. He also swallowed and then reproduced a 27 meter long strip of linen to clean out his stomach.…
A Brief History On June 28, 1997, shocked referee Mills Lane stopped the heavyweight championship fight between “Iron Mike” Tyson and Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield because Tyson had bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear. Digging Deeper Tyson is known to be erratic, with a checkered past that included juvenile offenses, jail time for rape (convicted 1992), another jail stint (assault, 1998), domestic violence and getting a tattoo over his face the day before a fight, causing the fight to be cancelled. In one fight he would not stop punching his opponent when the fight was over and ended…
A Brief History I love fog in the early Springtime with the trees still barren of their leaves and the grass resembling a wet and muddy bog. There is something mystical yet haunting about it. The air is full of moisture; it feels saturated. For me, this type of weather is the most magical, the most eerie perhaps. It is probably for this very reason that castles believed to be inhabited by ghosts are often portrayed in just this kind of environment. The British Isles, which are well known for their otherworldly activity, are often covered in a damp mist. Digging Deeper Scientific studies have shown that the electric…
A Brief History Various types of alleged supernatural entities are believed to have plagued people in Western Civilization from Ancient to Modern times. Western Civilization includes not only Europe, but also places colonized by Europeans, including, for example, North America. To that end, we begin by examining the earliest examples of perceived supernatural beings, such as the Minotaur from Ancient Greece. From there, we address the Medieval and Early modern witch hunts that terrorized mostly women as well as a smaller number of men in England, France, and Germany, and the English colony of Massachusetts. We ultimately conclude by covering…