Browsing: Lists

A Brief History On May 18, 1936, Sada Abe, a Japanese prostitute, strangled her lover and cut his genitals off, carrying them around in her purse for three days before she was caught. She explained to the police that she had tried to have sex with the severed organs but for some reason it just did not work.  Every so often a crime happens that catches the attention of the public because of the brutality or the gruesome nature of the deed.  Here we list 10 of those crimes that make you cringe and squirm. What misdeeds would you include?…

A Brief History On May 18, 1926, the most famous radio evangelist in the country disappeared from a public beach, and no one noticed. For 5 weeks there was no sign of her until she staggered out of the desert in Mexico, with the real story of what happened a mystery. Every so often people or things disappear. A jet liner, a ship, an entire colony, anything is fair game when it comes to mysterious disappearances. Here are 10 of the intriguing ones. Which ones would you add to the list? (Please, the disappearance of your car keys does not…

A Brief History On May 17, 1943, RAF Squadron 617, later known as The Dambusters, embarked on Operation Chastise, a plan to bomb and destroy two dams to flood the Ruhr Valley in Germany. They were successful, largely because of the wacky weapon they used, a barrel like bomb that was rotated on a carriage under the bomber and then dropped to skip across the water to the dam, and then roll down the face of the dam to blow up right against the structure. Many times in wartime nations will stretch the limits of the imaginations of their inventors…

A Brief History On May 17, 1536, King Henry VIII of England had his marriage to Anne Boleyn annulled, although she had borne him the future Queen Elizabeth I. He then had her decapitated two days later for treason and adultery, which even then was a pretty harsh parting of the ways. Divorce is rarely a happy and light hearted thing, but some divorces are stranger or more vicious than others. Here are 10 more divorces or break-ups that were either shocking or particularly acrimonious. Of course in Anne Boleyn’s case, one is left asking how she could have committed…

A Brief History On May 16, 1866, the United States congress authorized the elimination of the “half-dime” coin and the minting of a new 5 cent piece, the “nickel.” From 1913 to 1938 the nickel bore the image of a Native American man’s head on the front and a buffalo on the back. Native American images have appeared throughout the history of the US in numerous cultural references. Here we list 10 of those iconic images, not all of which are considered flattering by Native Americans, and some are actually hated stereotypes. Insulting or honoring, these images, like Native Americans,…