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Cordelia Botkin was the estranged wife of a prominent businessman in San Francisco in the last decade of the 19th century. She (41 years old) met John Dunning (31) when his bicycle broke down in the park. Botkin made very obvious sexual advances, and consequently Dunning (who was married to a former congressman’s daughter) entered into a torrid affair with her. He eventually left his wife and fell into a life of gambling, sex and alcoholism – all fueled (and financed) by Botkin....

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Abortion Survivors 10 The Ordeal of Bitter Water The Ordeal of Bitter Water is a ritualistic trial that is speculated to involve the ingestion of an abortifacient. The ordeal is only recorded in detail in 5:11-31: of the Book of Numbers, the fourth book in the Hebrew Bible. A case of a woman accused of adultery by her husband that, due to a lack of evidence, is handled by a priest rather than the courts....

This occupation shocked and terrified North America, and the subsequent events in the aftermath of the occupation set the stage for many military and ceremonial actions over the course of the war. These are ten interesting facts about the Japanese invasion of Alaska. 10 It Was The Only North American Land Lost By The US In World War II On June 6, 1942, the Japanese Northern Army took control of the island of Kiska, which is a remote volcanic island in the Aleutian chain off the coast of Alaska....

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Murder Victims Who Solved Their Own Murders He was tied to princes, presidents, and multiple billionaires. He’d been spotted at parties with with some of the biggest names imaginable. If he’d shared everything he knew, there’s no telling how many people could have been taken down. And then, suddenly, he died. Under constant watch in a maximum security prison, Jeffrey Epstein’s life in ended in what’s officially been called a “suicide”....

We all know Ronald McDonald and his pals, enticing kids for decades to eat at McDonald’s, get a toy with their meal, and later qualify for quadruple bypass surgery. Since its inception in the early 1970s, McDonaldland has expanded and contracted numerous times, but has always proven popular. But for a while, Ronald, the Hamburglar, and the Early Bird were battling the threat from the rival fast food franchise wonderland, the Burger King kingdom....

Even some famous names you know for something completely different had incredible experiences during the war. Most of their war stories get overshadowed by their more famous accomplishments, but these stories are so incredible that they deserve to be heard. 10 George Bush Barely Escaped Being Eaten By Japanese Cannibals At age 20, George H.W. Bush, the future 41st president of the United States, was nothing more than a navy pilot....

10Sydney Opera House The Worst Sound In The World Like billowing sails out on the harbor, the iconic Sydney Opera House has become a symbol of Australia as much as the kangaroo. Danish architect Jorn Utzon’s design was revolutionary in 1957, when it won an international competition. It was originally planned to contain a large hall for opera and a smaller theater for concerts and drama. But after nine years of construction, quarrels with the conservative government of New South Wales over costs forced Utzon out of the project....

10 There Are A Lot Of Volcanoes There are three active volcanoes in Guatemala, one of which, the awesomely named Volcan de Fuego, erupted for the sixth time in 2017 this past June. There are 37 volcanoes in total, rising out of the crust of the planet thanks to Guatemala’s location on the Ring of Fire—the area where all the inside planet juice seeps out and gets all melty in our business....

10 Legality Today, the streets of cities like Boston and New York swarm with tattoo parlors, but few realize these are extremely recent developments. Many states took the extreme measure of banning tattoos entirely during the 1960s, when the hysteria of hepatitis outbreaks reached critical mass. It was illegal to get a tattoo in New York City between 1961 and 1997, forcing artists to operate on an underground basis. In Massachusetts, tattooing was illegal all the way up until 2000, with severe penalties including possible jail sentences....

It’s a fascinating and beautiful land, striving to reclaim her former riches with the despotic Robert Mugabe in charge. That’s hard when you don’t even have your own currency. 10 Don’t Mess With (Mrs.) Mugabe Never one to shy from a fight or a headline, Grace Mugabe has form and a mean right hook. Back in 2009, she joined her bodyguard in kicking the snot out of a photographer. This very month, Mrs....

So whether you plan to visit this surreal landscape one day or are just intrigued, here are ten incredible things you might not know about Death Valley. 10 Highest Recorded Temperatures Much of Death Valley’s fame comes from its reputation as one of the hottest places on Earth and one of the driest in North America. And on July 10, 1913, the highest air temperature ever recorded was taken at Furnace Creek, when the temperature reached a whopping 134°F (57°C)....

Behind closed doors, though, Mao was a bit less perfect than his people knew. As his health got worse, Mao’s habits became stranger. He got up to some weird things—and he left behind some stories that are downright obscene. 10 He Said He ‘Washed Himself Inside The Bodies Of His Women’ As Mao got older, his health got worse. He was infertile, he was aging, and his body was falling apart....

But some firefighters are obsessed with fire, and they are not content with the number of naturally occurring fires. They feel the need to start their own infernos, and most of them love to help extinguish the flames. Many of these firefighters do not care about the buildings, homes, and people that their fires consume. They just want to watch things burn. 10 Caleb Lacey Caleb Lacey was proud to become a Long Island volunteer firefighter, and he yearned to be a hero....

Whether there was another name attached to the project first, someone waiting in the wings who never got their shot, or a connected talent who could have been put to good use, here are 10 franchise movies that needed a different director. 10 Alien 3 When it came to following up the immensely popular Aliens, 20th Century Fox settled for Vincent Ward directing, having failed to secure Ridley Scott. But Ward was fired from the production of Alien 3 at the eleventh hour because the producers couldn’t control him....

10 Two-Toed Tom By the time that University of Alabama professor Carl Carmer set down the legend of Two-Toed Tom in his book Stars Fell on Alabama, the creature was described as a “red-eyed hell-demon” that took the form of a 4-meter-long (14 ft) alligator. Although many locals on the Florida-Alabama line may claim that the legend is ancient, most accounts of Two-Toed Tom started circulating in the 1920s. Principally located in the town of Florala, Alabama, Two-Toed Tom is reportedly a great carnivore who likes to feast on livestock....

Please note: There is a huge difference between an Atlantic liner and a cruise ship. The latter are made for calm seas and pure entertainment. The former were made to tackle rough north Atlantic weather and purpose-built to carry ocean-going passengers. For more information, read Thomas Maxtone-Graham’s magnificent “The Only Way to Cross.” Also note that the years correspond to launch date, not service-entry date. For example, Queen Mary went down the quays in 1934 but didn’t enter service until two years later....

10The Temple Of Artemis At EphesusEphesus, Turkey The Temple of Artemis, located in Ephesus, Turkey (now called Selcuk) was built three times in antiquity. The first iteration was built in the eighth century B.C. by unknown architects. This temple had a hard clay floor, but in the next century, a flood deposited a couple feet of sand and debris inside the temple, forcing its abandonment. Around 550 B.C., architects Chersiphron and his son Metagenes began rebuilding the temple....

No one has ventured to the other side and returned. It means that these are actually guidebooks for the living, providing maps of our psyche and reminders of our mortality. 10 Orphic Gold Tablets A mysterious golden tablet was found folded into the ashes of the deceased in a bronze urn unearthed in Thessaly. The ancient Greek inscription revealed that this was a totenpasse—a passport for the dead. Dating from 300 to 350 BC, the tablet contained specific instructions to quench the deceased’s incredible thirst....

There are plenty of disturbing and haunting facts that have been overshadowed in crime history but have not left the minds of those who lived through it. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the “Ripper Crew.” 10Random Abductions Contrary to popular belief, the Ripper Crew did not solely target prostitutes. In fact, any woman in the Chicago area between 1981 and 1982 was vulnerable. Time of day and location did not seem to matter, either, for many of their victims were abducted in broad daylight and in well-known public places....

10 La Republique FigureThe Wood Sawyers Using infrared reflectography, an image of a head was exposed above the left shoulder of one of the men in Jean-Francois Millet’s The Wood Sawyers. With further assessments and thorough scanning, the other parts of the hidden image were completely revealed. It was the figure of the famous French statue La Republique. Alfred Sensier, the artist’s biographer, later confirmed that this image was originally created as an entry for a certain state competition....