To be included on this list, the birth control had to be at least plausibly effective to some degree. Records exist of women in ancient Rome and Greece relying on dances and amulets to prevent pregnancy, and we can safely assume that those probably didn’t do much. At the risk of stirring up controversy, I’ve listed both contraceptives—which prevent sperm from fertilizing egg—and abortifacients, which induce abortion. For the sake of interest, I’ve focused on methods that would be unusual today, and not on methods that are still regularly practiced—like abstinence, coitus interruptus, or fertility awareness—to similar effect now as a few centuries ago....

Then there are the doomsday prophets who, over the centuries, have repeatedly predicted the end of the world. Given the hundreds of end dates provided, we fortunately seem to have a pretty good success rate for surviving apocalypse theories. Some predictions were based upon close analysis of biblical references. Others involved planetary movements and collisions with comets. Many were just plain weird, to the point of even changing the date when the anticipated apocalypse failed to arrive....

Or so at least you would think. Here are ten real cases of modern governments that tried to harness magic in order to win real wars. Sleight of hand is cool and all, but you would never expect anyone to employ a guy like Penn Jillette as an advisor to one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Of course, when we are talking about the Central Intelligence Agency, anything is possible....

With tights being worn by women of all ages today, it’s hard to believe that they were worn by men for centuries! Hose (as it was called back in the day) was worn by men from every class, with the upper class having theirs made out of fine silk and wool, and the lower class’s being made from homespun materials. By the 17th century, they had gradually been replaced by breeches and stockings....

Why do we watch these creepy movies? They probably reinforce our belief in the existence of life-destroying creatures that defy the natural order. Or maybe we’re fascinated by explorations of humankind’s deepest and darkest psyche. Heck, we watch them for the thrill of it, right? Whatever your reasons, films go to tremendous lengths to weave traumatic storylines into our hearts and minds. Here are some of the best monster movies that left their audiences petrified....

10 Miss Perfect Posture In the 1950s and 1960s, US chiropractors held a number of beauty pageants where contestants were judged not only on their beauty, but also on their standing posture. Said posture was checked by a number of methods: A plumb bob was used to check the straightness of their backs, X-rays were used for examining their spinal structures, and two scales were used for evaluating their weight distribution....

10The Ear Pull Think of a game of tug-of-war—except, in this version, the cord that goes between you and your opponent is attached to your ears. Specifically, the two athletes must be seated and facing each other with legs intertwined. After a thick loop of string is lassoed around both sets of ears, they must wait for a signal. Then, they must lean backward in an effort to make the other competitor experience such excruciating pain that they give up....

10He Shot Up His Neighbor’s House In 1985, a multi-millionaire called Floyd Watkins moved to Woody Creek, in Aspen, Colorado. He bought Beaver Run Ranch, just a few miles from Owl Creek—which just happened to be the ranch of one Hunter S. Thompson. It wasn’t long before the two men were at each other’s throats. Watkins, who’d made millions running a debt-collecting firm, immediately began surrounding his property with concrete walls and chain link fences, pouring tonnes of concrete, redirecting streams to create artificial trout farms (to the annoyance of his neighbors downstream), and demanding that the county’s dirt roads be paved with concrete just so that dust wouldn’t find its way into his home....

These premonitions are actually more common than you might think. And it’s not just doom-filled calendars and ancient textbooks from the middle ages; there are plenty of contemporary premonitions that have been published, funnily enough, in works of fiction. Most literary forecasts that pop up in books are often brushed off as purely coincidental or chalked up to being educated guesses, but some of them are almost too unsettling for words....

Young adults have a lot time on their hands. Sprinkling that time with books that will make them better prepared for life’s peaks and valleys can’t hurt. Especially at a stage in life when they can absorb it without the distractions of adulthood. The titles my teen gravitates to are wonderful if she plans to settle down with a handsome vampire or start her own crusade against evil wizards. High School isn’t helping either....

Some of it may come from their imaginations. But if crime writers are struggling for new plotlines, they should look no further than real life for their inspiration. The following are news stories from the UK as well as cautionary tales of desperation, rage, jealousy, hatred, and greed. 10 Marie Wilks In June 1988, Marie Wilks was 22 and pregnant with her second child when she took a road trip with her baby son and 11-year-old sister....

Sure, you’ve seen Aladdin; you can probably guess what happens in the rest of the Nights: genies, magic and flying carpets, right? Well, yes, but also bestiality, innuendo and pederasty; jokes about penis-size, farts, piss and every conceivable bodily function. One story ends with five men locked in a cupboard pissing on each other, while another is literally titled ‘the historic fart’. Even Aladdin features a man getting the ancient Islamic equivalent of a swirly....

Misconception: Britain is a country. While “Britain” or “Great Britain” does refer to the general area, neither of them refers to a country. Britain is a general term for Wales, Scotland and England collectively, while The British Isles also includes Ireland (Northern and the Republic). England is most often incorrectly named in this way, and English people are often referred to as “British”. Northern Ireland is part of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” which differentiates between the part of Ireland that is governed by England (hence the suspension of the Northern Ireland government in 1972 and the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2002) from the Republic of Ireland which is a self-governing nation....

10 Many of the Stars We See at Night Are Dead and No Longer Exist The light from a distant or dying sun takes a long time to reach us on Earth. Therefore, many of the 6,000 stars we see at night must be dead, burned out, and no longer emitting any light. Right? Well, not really. Those 6,000 visible stars are likely all still burning bright and doing just fine....

10AustriaMost Smokers As most people know by this point, smoking is essentially an expensive cancer lottery. But apparently Austria didn’t get the memo, since it holds the record for the highest proportion of smokers—around 36.3 percent of the population. With over a third of Austrians regularly lighting up, the wealthy European nation can claim the highest smoking rate in the world. An estimated 60 percent of the 20–50 age group—some 2....

Considering the staggering possibilities inherent in the game, some believe playing chess could possibly lead to insanity. However, there is no proof that chess drives it devotees mad. Perhaps mad people gravitate toward chess because it helps keep them sane. 10 The Sugar Bomb Chess masters are known to employ strange methods to win their games. Ruy Lopez, the famous 16th-century Spanish priest and chess player, once advised, “Sit your opponent with the sun in his eyes....

10 Talking Toys A young boy received a Furby as a present but soon outgrew the electronic toy, setting it on a shelf in the basement closet to collect dust. Sometime later, the boy’s older brother and his friend were hanging out one evening and ended up falling asleep in that same basement. But they were woken up by a kid’s voice saying, “Come play with me!” After not finding anything odd about the toy—not knowing it doesn’t speak English—he and his friend thought nothing of it and went back to sleep....

While this idea sounds good in theory, the problem is that building and using a doomsday bunker is not always easy. And, as the individuals on our list found out, it is also not always safe. Not all of these stories end in a tragic death (although, fair warning, many of them do), but none of these situations turned out how these preppers wanted them to. Being a prepper can go wrong in a lot of ways....

10 ‘Margaret Thatcher Invented Soft-Serve Ice Cream’ When Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, the bishop of London reignited the debate over whether or not one of Britain’s coldest leaders was involved in the unlikely invention of one of the world’s coldest treats—soft-serve ice cream. The story went massively mainstream, with news networks across the globe repeating the tale that Thatcher, who had a degree in chemistry from Oxford University, had briefly worked at J....

That said, patronages can sometimes take some pretty strange twists and turns. Here are some of the strangest. You probably never thought you could turn to the following saints for protection from . . . 10 Poison Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–543) was an innovator in Catholic monasticism.[1] The son of a Roman noble, he grew up in a house marked by wealth and privilege. Like many teens, however, he soon rebelled against the values of his parents....