(Continued from last week)From about 2860 to 2840 BC, the pair used Fu Xi's trapping expertise to hunt down and kill every member of the bandit group, as well as all of their children. Thus, the first part of their vow was quickly fulfilled. The second part, however, took a while longer. For the next few decades, they went to all the neighboring ( Read more... )

One convention in fighting anime is that there will eventually be a tournament for the main characters to enter and prove their fighting prowess against opponents they otherwise never would have faced. The tournament is usually said to take place “once a generation.” Often the prize for this tournament is power of some sort or another. Increased ( Read more... )

For centuries, people have delighted in tales of ninja; spies and assassins clad in darkness, slipping away into the night before their work has been discovered. Or, in some cases, bumbling magical warriors clad in orange, running from battle because they have diarrhea. Nevertheless, ninja have been a mainstay of eastern, and on occasion western ( Read more... )

There is a longstanding legend among chess instructors that the game was first created as an alternative to what would have been a long, bloody war between two kingdoms in south-west Asia. Instead, the two kings took the advice of their pacifistic advisors. They met and played a game the advisors had devised to simulate a war with varying types of ( Read more... )

One of the most celebrated names in food history is George Washington Carver. His research into peanuts gave us such wonderful things as peanut butter, peanut oil, peanut bombs, et cetera. Due to this, there is a museum dedicated to him in his home state of Missouri called “The Peanut Gallery.” So with all this attention given to Carver, one would ( Read more... )

[Editor's note: This article is a satirical take on a very controversial subject. The author is of the opinion that if you aren't able to laugh in the face of even the worst circumstances, there is no point to living. This view is why he's going to be killed before he reaches middle age. So, if you are unable to laugh at dark humor, it would be ( Read more... )

Most people know of the short-term memory loss that can be caused by marijuana. Most also know that it can cause long-term memory loss, as well, though in smaller amounts. What isn't generally known is that almost everyone in the world suffered massive long-term memory loss due to marijuana just prior to March, 1965. I don't say February, 1965, ( Read more... )

Most Historians will tell you that the longest time the United States has gone without a war is from 1918 to 1941, between the two World Wars. This is due to the largely successful attempts by the US government to destroy all records of the Vampire Wars, which raged over the Northeastern US from 1919 to 1932, and was one of the prime causes of the ( Read more... )

We've all heard some “crackpot” theory about the truth behind some historical tale. The idea that Atlantis had discovered nuclear fission, and destroyed themselves through an atomic mishap, for example. Or that the Pyramids in Egypt and Mexico were actually built by aliens. Or even that the ancient Gods were actually Superman-like aliens themselves ( Read more... )

Recently, the BBC History Magazine held a poll, which named Jack the Ripper as the worst Briton in history, despite the fact that so little is generally known about him. For one thing, the name “Jack the Ripper” came from letters sent to the police around the time of the murders, the vast majority of which were hoaxes sent in by London citizens ( Read more... )