Alexander “Sawney” Bean was born in East Lothian, Scotland, during the late 16th century. Dissatisfied with a life of manual labor, he and his partner, Black Agnes Douglas, retreated to a coastal cave in Bennane Head, where they would embark on a gruesome lifestyle that would make them infamous.

During World War II, the British military sought innovative ways to breach the formidable Atlantic Wall defenses of Nazi-occupied Europe. One such invention was the Great Panjandrum, a massive, rocket-propelled cart designed to deliver explosives to enemy fortifications.

Gary Francis Poste was born in 1937 and lived much of his life in Groveland, California. After serving in the United States Air Force, he worked as a house painter and was well-known in his community for being helpful and friendly. However, beneath this ordinary exterior lay a potential dark secret.

In 1990, archaeologists excavating a colonial-era cemetery in Griswold, Connecticut, made a startling discovery. Among the graves, they found a coffin marked with the initials “JB55.” Inside lay the remains of a man who had been buried in an unusual manner, with his femurs crossed over his chest, indicating that the community believed him to be a vampire.

Ambergris is a rare substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. It forms when indigestible parts of a whale’s diet, such as squid beaks, irritate the whale’s intestines. To protect itself, the whale secretes a fatty substance that hardens and eventually gets expelled into the ocean.

The Wolpertinger is a mythical creature said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria, Germany. First documented in local folklore during the 19th century, the Wolpertinger is described as a hybrid animal with features of various woodland creatures, such as the body of a hare, the wings of a bird, the antlers of a deer, and the fangs of a wolf.

In 1845, the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus set sail from England under the command of Sir John Franklin. Their mission was to navigate and chart the Northwest Passage through the Arctic. The ships, well-prepared and equipped, were last seen by Europeans in August 1845.

In 1626, the Vasa warship was commissioned by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, aiming to bolster the Swedish navy during the Thirty Years’ War. The Vasa was one of the most powerful warships ever built, adorned with intricate carvings and equipped with 64 cannons, intended to be the pride of the Swedish fleet.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, followed by a second bomb on Nagasaki on August 9. The explosions caused unprecedented destruction and loss of life. The intense heat and light generated by the bombs had devastating and unusual effects on the cities and their inhabitants.

On September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the United States, American airspace was shut down, forcing 238 planes to land at various locations. Gander International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada, became an unexpected refuge for 38 of these planes, carrying nearly 7,000 passengers and crew.