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While literally millions of ships of all shapes and sizes have been built over the centuries, only a handful have achieved anything approaching fame. Most of those that have done so, however, were warships or vessels that displayed such a degree of innovation that they were considered prototypes in the evolution of ships. Other ships, [...]

The alter ego of scrawny young man Steve Rogers, Captain America, was created when he was injected with an experimental serum designed to transform him into the world’s greatest super-soldier. Armed with his trusty, nearly indestructible shield, Captain America wages war against the forces of evil, injustice, and tyranny. Unlike other superheroes, Captain America doesn’t [...]

Of course, coincidences happen all the time: we were just thinking of someone when they call us on the phone, or we have this song in mind when it suddenly plays on the radio. Most of the time they don’t mean much, but every once in awhile there is a coincidence that’s outright spooky, or [...]

Sometimes words can be more powerful than actions and when spoken by great orators, they inspire us to greatness and connect us to the world around us. These are the greatest speeches ever spoken; a collection of messages from some of the greatest and most notable orators in history. 10. Socrates “Apology” The Day: 399 [...]

J-pop, short for Japanese pop, is, according to Wikipedia, a loosely-defined musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music such as The Beatles and replaced kayokyoku (“Lyric Singing Music”, a term for Japanese pop music from the 1920s to the 1980s) in the Japanese music scene. [...]

In war, there are winners and losers. Sometimes an army is defeated because they simply faced a larger and more powerful foe. Other times they lose because of some bizarre set of circumstances no one could have foreseen, or because they were simply outwitted by a cunning adversary. Sometimes an army is even dealt a [...]

World War I will be remembered as one of the bloodiest wars in human history.  Millions of soldiers died on both sides, and whole generations of young men were wiped out.  Armies were bogged down in impenetrable trenches, resulting in thousands dying in futile assaults against fortified enemies.  The war also introduced new and terrible [...]

Thanks to their sheltered lives and the adverse effects of inbreeding, a lot of history’s kings, queens, and other royals became known for their eccentricities. There was Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who delighted in torturing her servants and was even rumored to bathe in the blood of virgins; there was Gian Gastone of Italy, who was [...]

The first sword appeared during the Bronze Age.  It was made of copper and was uncovered at the Harappan sites in present-day Pakistan.  By the Middle Ages iron and steel swords were being mass produced and used in battle.  Soldiers were trained in swordsmanship and prepared for combat.  It was before the era of guns [...]

What is film noir?  Are they films about hard boiled detectives and seductive femme fatales?  Are they about troubled heroes with soiled pasts that keep catching up with them?  Are they all about black and white chiaroscuro lighting, dark offices with light shining in through the blinds, and cigarette smoke that takes on a life [...]