Incredible facts
History is a fairly vast subject and it is impossible to study it completely, especially in great detail.
Sometimes these seemingly insignificant details can become the very part of it.
Here are a few interesting facts from stories that won't be taught in class.
1. Albert Einstein could have become president. In 1952, he was offered the post of second president of Israel, but he refused.
2. Kim Jong Il was a good composer and a lifelong Korean leader composed 6 operas.
3. The Leaning Tower of Pisa has always been leaning. In 1173, the team building the Leaning Tower of Pisa noticed that the base was curved. Construction stopped for almost 100 years, but the structure was never straight.
4. Arabic numerals were not invented by Arabs, and Indian mathematicians.
5. Before the invention of alarm clocks, there was a profession that consisted of wake other people in the morning. For example, a person would shoot dried peas at other people's windows to wake them up for work.
6. Grigory Rasputin survived many assassination attempts in one day. They tried to poison him, shoot him and stab him, but he managed to survive. In the end, Rasputin died in the cold river.
7. The shortest war in history lasted less than an hour. The Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted 38 minutes.
8. Longest war in history occurred between the Netherlands and the Scilly Archipelago. The war lasted 335 years from 1651 to 1989, and both sides suffered no casualties.
People, stories and facts
9. This amazing species known as " Majestic Argentine bird", whose wingspan reached 7 meters, is the largest flying bird in history. It lived about 6 million years ago in the open plains of Argentina and the Andes. The bird is related to modern vultures and storks, and its feathers reached the size of a samurai sword.
10. Using sonar, researchers discovered at a depth of 1.8 km two strange pyramids. Scientists have determined that they are made of a kind of thick glass and reach enormous sizes (larger than the Cheops pyramids in Egypt).
11. These two men with the same name were sentenced to the same prison and look very similar. However, they have never met, are not related and are the reason why fingerprints began to be used in the judicial system.
12. Foot binding- An ancient Chinese tradition in which girls' toes were tied to their feet. The idea was that the smaller the foot, the more beautiful and feminine the girl was considered.
13. The strangest and most frightening mummies are considered Guanajuato mummies. Their distorted faces make you believe that they were buried alive.
14. Heroin once used as a replacement for morphine and used to relieve coughs in children.
15. Joseph Stalin may have been the inventor of Photoshop. After the death or disappearance of some people, photographs of him were edited.
16. Recent DNA tests have confirmed that The parents of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun were brother and sister. This explains many of his illnesses and defects.
17. The Parliament of Iceland is considered oldest functioning parliament in the world. It was founded in 930.
Inexplicable and mysterious facts of history
18. For many years, miners in South Africa were excavating mystery balls about 2.5 cm in diameter with three parallel grooves. The stone from which they are made belongs to the Precambrian period, that is, they are about 2.8 billion years old.
19. It is believed that Catholic saints do not decay. The oldest of the "non-decomposing" is Cecilia of Rome who was betrayed martyrdom in 177 AD Her body remains virtually the same as it was 1,700 years ago when it was discovered.
20. Encryption from Shaboro in Great Britain is one of the still unsolved mysteries. If you look closely, you can see an inscription in the form of letters on the monument: DOUOSVAVVM. No one knows who carved this inscription, but many believe it is the key to finding Holy Grail.
Incredible facts
Scientists have been trying for centuries to unravel many secrets natural world , however, some phenomena still baffle even the best minds of humanity.
From strange flashes in the sky after earthquakes to rocks that spontaneously move across the ground, these phenomena seem to have no particular meaning or purpose.
Here are the 10 most strange, mysterious and incredible phenomena, found in nature.
1. Reports of bright flashes during earthquakes
Light flashes that appear in the sky before and after an earthquake
One of the most mysterious phenomena are the inexplicable flashes in the sky that accompany earthquakes. What causes them? Why do they exist?
Italian physicist Christiano Feruga collected all observations of flashes during earthquakes dating back to 2000 BC. For a long time, scientists were skeptical about this strange phenomenon. But everything changed in 1966, when the first evidence appeared - photographs of the Matsushiro earthquake in Japan.
Nowadays there are a great many such photographs, and the flashes on them are of such different colors and shapes that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a fake.
Among the theories explaining this phenomenon are heat caused by friction, radon gas and piezoelectric effect– an electrical charge that builds up in quartz rocks when tectonic plates move.
In 2003, physicist NASA Dr. Friedemann Freund(Friedemann Freund) conducted a laboratory experiment and showed that perhaps the outbreaks were caused by electrical activity in rocks.
The shock wave from an earthquake can change electrical properties silicon and minerals containing oxygen, allowing them to transmit current and emit light. However, some believe that the theory may only be one possible explanation.
2. Nazca Drawings
Huge figures drawn on the sand in Peru by ancient people, but no one knows why
The Nazca Lines extend over 450 square meters. km of coastal desert, are huge works of art left on the Peruvian plains. Among them there are geometric figures, as well as drawings of animals, plants and rarely human figures, which can be seen from the air in the form of huge drawings.
They are believed to have been created by the Nazca people during a 1000 year period between 500 BC. and 500 AD, but no one knows why.
Despite its status as a World Heritage Site, Peruvian authorities have difficulty protecting the Nazca Lines from settlers. Meanwhile, archaeologists are trying to study the lines before they are destroyed.
It was initially assumed that these geoglyphs were part of the astronomical calendar, but this version was later refuted. Researchers then focused their attention on the history and culture of the people who created them. Are the Nazca Lines a message to aliens or represent some kind of encrypted message, no one can say.
In 2012, Yamagata University in Japan announced it would open a research center on site and intend to study more than 1,000 drawings over 15 years.
3. Migration of Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies find their way across thousands of kilometers to specific locations.
Every year millions of North American monarch butterflies migrate over a distance of more than 3000 km south for the winter. For many years no one knew where they were flying.
In the 1950s, zoologists began tagging and monitoring the butterflies and discovered that they were found in a mountain forest in Mexico. However, even knowing that monarchs choose 12 of the 15 mountainous sites in Mexico, scientists still can't understand how they navigate.
According to some studies, they take advantage of the position of the Sun to fly south, adjusting to the time of day using the circadian clock of their antennae. But the Sun gives only general direction. How they settle in is still a mystery.
One theory is that geomagnetic forces attract them, but this has not been confirmed. Only recently have scientists begun to study the features of the navigation system of these butterflies.
4. Ball lightning (video)
Fireballs that appear during or after a thunderstorm
Nikola Tesla supposedly created ball lightning in his laboratory. In 1904, he wrote that he had “never seen fireballs, but he was able to determine their formation and reproduce it artificially.”
Modern scientists have never been able to reproduce these results.
Moreover, many are still skeptical about the existence of ball lightning. However, many witnesses, dating back to the era Ancient Greece, claim to have observed this phenomenon.
Ball lightning is described as a sphere of light that appears during or after a thunderstorm. Some claim to have seen ball lightning passes through window panes and down the chimney.
According to one theory, ball lightning is plasma; according to another, it is a chemiluminescent process - that is, light appears as a result of a chemical reaction.
5. Moving stones in Death Valley
Stones that slide along the ground under the influence of a mysterious force
At Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California, mysterious forces pushing heavy stones across the flat surface of a dry lake when no one is looking.
Scientists have been puzzling over this phenomenon since the beginning of the 20th century. Geologists tracked 30 stones weighing up to 25 kg, 28 of which moved over a 7-year period of more than 200 meters.
Analysis of the stone tracks shows that they moved at a speed of 1 m per second and in most cases the stones slid in winter.
There were speculations that it was all to blame wind and ice, as well as algae slime and seismic vibrations.
A 2013 study tried to explain what happens when water on the surface of a dry lake freezes. According to this theory, ice on rocks stays frozen longer than the ice around them because the rock releases heat faster. This reduces the friction between the stones and the surface, making them easier to push around in the wind.
However, no one has yet seen the stones in action, and Lately they became motionless.
6. The Rumble of the Earth
An unknown hum that only some people can hear
The so-called "hum" is the name given to the annoying low frequency noise, which worries residents around the world. However, few are able to hear it, namely only every 20th person.
Scientists attribute the "hum" ringing in the ears, distant waves, industrial noise and singing sand dunes.
In 2006, a researcher from New Zealand claimed to have recorded this anomalous sound.
7. The return of the cicada insects
The insects that suddenly woke up after 17 years to find a partner
In 2013, cicadas of the species appeared from underground in the eastern United States Magicicada septendecim, which have not been shown since 1996. Scientists don't know how the cicadas knew it was time to leave their underground habitat after 17 year old dream.
Periodical cicadas are quiet and solitary insects that most have been buried underground for some time. They are the longest-lived insects and do not mature until they are 17 years old. However, this summer, they woke up en masse to reproduce.
After 2-3 weeks they die, leaving behind the fruits of their “love”. The larvae burrow into the ground and a new one begins life cycle.
How do they do it? How do they know after so many years that the time has come to emerge?
Interestingly, 17-year cicadas appear in the northeastern states, while in the southeastern states, cicada invasions occur every 13 years. Scientists have suggested that this life cycle of cicadas allows them to avoid meeting their predator enemies.
8. Rain of Animals
When different animals, such as fish and frogs, fall from the sky like rain
In January 1917, the biologist Waldo McAtee(Waldo McAtee) presented his work entitled "Rains from organic matter", where it was reported cases of falling larvae of salamanders, small fish, herring, ants and toads.
IN different parts light reported rains of animals. For example, frogs rained down in Serbia, perches fell from the sky in Australia, and toads fell in Japan.
Scientists are skeptical about their animals' rain. One explanation was proposed by a French physicist back in the 19th century: winds lift animals and throw them to the ground.
According to a more complex theory, waterspouts suck out aquatic inhabitants, transport them and force them to fall in certain places.
However scientific research There have been no studies to confirm this theory.
9. Stone balls of Costa Rica
Giant stone spheres whose purpose is unclear
Why did the ancient people of Costa Rica decide to create hundreds big balls made of stone, still remains a mystery.
Costa Rican stone balls were discovered in the 1930s by United Fruit Company when workers cleared land for banana plantations. Some of these balls having perfect spherical shape, reached 2 meters in diameter.
The stones that the locals call Las Bolas, belonged to 600 - 1000 AD What makes this phenomenon even more difficult to understand is the fact that there is no written record of the culture of the people who created them. This happened because the Spanish settlers erased all traces of the indigenous cultural heritage.
Scientists began studying the stone balls in 1943, charting their distribution. Later, anthropologist John Hoopes refuted many theories explaining the purpose of the stones, including lost cities and space aliens.
10. Impossible fossils
Remnants of long-dead creatures that appear in the wrong place
Ever since the theory of evolution was proposed, scientists have encountered discoveries that seem to challenge it.
One of the most mysterious phenomena was fossil remains, especially human remains, which appeared in unexpected places.
Fossilized prints and traces were discovered in geographic areas and archaeological time zones to which they did not belong.
Some of these discoveries may provide new information about our origins. Others turned out to be mistakes or hoaxes.
One example is a discovery in 1911, when an archaeologist Charles Dawson(Charles Dawson) collected fragments of a supposedly unknown ancient man With big brain, dating back 500,000 years ago. Big head Piltdown Man led scientists to believe that he was the "missing link" between humans and apes.
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Mysterious murders at the Hinterkaifeck farm
In 1922, the mysterious murder of six people committed in the small village of Hinterkaifeck shocked the whole of Germany. And not only because the murders were committed with horrific cruelty.
All the circumstances surrounding this crime were very strange, even mystical, and to this day it remains unsolved.
More than 100 people were questioned during the investigation, but no one was ever arrested. Not a single motive that could somehow explain what happened was identified either.
The maid who worked in the house ran away six months ago, claiming that there were ghosts there. New girl arrived just a few hours before the murder.
Apparently, the intruder had been on the farm for at least several days - someone was feeding the cows and eating in the kitchen. In addition, neighbors saw smoke coming from the chimney over the weekend. The photo shows the body of one of the dead, found in a barn.
Phoenix Lights
The so-called “Phoenix Lights” are several flying objects that were observed by more than 1,000 people on the night of Thursday, March 13, 1997: in the skies over the states of Arizona and Nevada in the United States and over the state of Sonora in Mexico.
Actually, two strange events happened that night: a triangular formation of luminous objects that moved across the sky, and several motionless lights hovering over the city of Phoenix. However, the latest US Air Force recognized the lights from the A-10 Warthog aircraft - it turned out that at that time military exercises were taking place in southwest Arizona.
Astronaut from Solway Firth
In 1964, the family of Briton Jim Templeton was walking near the Solway Firth. The head of the family decided to take a Kodak photograph of his five-year-old daughter. The Templetons assured that there was no one else in these swampy places except them. And when the photographs were developed, one of them revealed a strange figure peeking out from behind the girl’s back. The analysis showed that the photograph had not been subject to any changes.
Falling body
The Cooper family just moved into their new house in Texas. In honor of the housewarming it was laid out festive table, at the same time we decided to take some family photos. And when the photographs were developed, a strange figure was revealed on them - it seemed that someone’s body was either hanging or falling from the ceiling. Of course, the Coopers didn’t see anything like this during filming.
Too many hands
Four guys were fooling around, taking pictures in the yard. When the film was developed, it turned out that out of nowhere one extra hand appeared on it (peeking out from behind the back of a guy in a black T-shirt).
"Battle of Los Angeles"
This photograph was published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942. To this day, conspiracy theorists and ufologists refer to it as evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth. They claim that the photo clearly shows that the beams of the searchlights are falling on the alien flying ship. However, as it turned out, the photo for publication was heavily retouched - this is a standard procedure that almost all published black and white photographs were subjected to for greater effect.
The incident itself, captured in the photo, was called a “misunderstanding” by authorities. The Americans had just survived the Japanese attack, and the tension was incredible. Therefore, the military got excited and opened fire on the object, which, most likely, was a harmless weather balloon.
Lights of Hessdalen
In 1907, a group of teachers, students and scientists set up a scientific camp in Norway to study a mysterious phenomenon called the Hessdalen Lights.
Björn Hauge took this photo one clear night using a shutter speed of 30 seconds. Spectral analysis showed that the object should consist of silicon, iron and scandium. This is the most informative, but far from the only photo of the “Lights of Hessdalen”. Scientists are still scratching their heads as to what it could be.
Time Traveler
This photo was taken in 1941 during the opening ceremony of the South Forks Bridge. The public's attention was attracted by a young man whom many considered a "time traveler" - due to his modern hairstyle, zip-up sweater, printed T-shirt, fashionable glasses and point-and-shoot camera. The whole outfit is clearly not from the 40s. On the left, highlighted in red is a camera that was actually in use at that time.
9/11 attack - South Tower woman
In these two photographs, a woman can be seen standing on the edge of the hole left in the South Tower after a plane crashed into the building. Her name is Edna Clinton and, not surprisingly, she ended up on the list of survivors. How she managed this is beyond comprehension, considering everything that happened in that part of the building.
Skunk monkey
In 2000, a woman who wished to remain anonymous took two photographs of a mysterious creature and sent it to the Sarasota County (Florida) Sheriff. The photographs were accompanied by a letter in which the woman claimed that she had photographed a strange creature in the backyard of her house. The creature came to her house three nights in a row and stole the apples left on the terrace.
UFO in the painting “Madonna with Saint Giovannino”
The painting “Madonna with Saint Giovannino” belongs to the brush of Domenico Ghirlandai (1449-1494) and is currently in the collection of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. A mysterious flying object and a man watching it are clearly visible above Mary's right shoulder.
Incident at Lake Falcon
Another meeting with an alleged extraterrestrial civilization occurred at Lake Falcon on May 20, 1967.
A certain Stefan Michalak was relaxing in these places and at some point noticed two descending cigar-shaped objects, one of which landed very close. Michalak claims he saw the door open and heard voices coming from inside.
He tried to speak to the aliens in English, but there was no response. Then he tried to get closer, but came across “invisible glass”, which apparently served as protection for the object.
Suddenly, Michalak was surrounded by a cloud of air so hot that his clothes caught fire. The man received serious burns.
Bonus:
This story happened on the evening of February 11, 1988 in the city of Vsevolozhsk. There was a light knock on the window of the house where a woman who was fond of spiritualism lived with her teenage daughter. Looking out, the woman saw no one. I went out onto the porch - no one. And there were no footprints in the snow under the window either.
The woman was surprised, but of great importance didn't give it. And half an hour later there was a bang and part of the glass in the window where the invisible guest was knocking collapsed, forming an almost perfectly round hole.
The next day, at the woman’s request, her Leningrad acquaintance, candidate of technical sciences S.P. Kuzionov, arrived. He examined everything carefully and took several photographs.
When the photograph was developed, the face of a woman appeared on it, peering into the lens. This face seemed unfamiliar to both the housewife and Kuzionov himself.
Each of these mysterious stories one could call it a detective. But in detective stories, as you know, all the secrets are revealed by the last page. And in these stories, the solution is still far away, although humanity has been puzzling over some of them for decades. Perhaps we are not destined to find answers for them at all? Or will the veil of secrecy ever be lifted? And what do you think?
43 missing Mexican students
In 2014, 43 students from the College of Education from Ayotzinapa went to demonstrate in Iguala, where the mayor's wife was scheduled to speak to residents. The corrupt mayor ordered the police to rid him of this problem. On his orders, the police detained the students, and as a result of the harsh detention, two students and three bystanders died. The remaining students, as we found out, were handed over to the local crime syndicate Guerreros Unidos. The next day, the body of one of the students was found on the street with the skin torn off his face. Later, the remains of two more students were found. Relatives and friends of the students organized mass demonstrations, triggering a full-blown political crisis in the country. The corrupt mayor, his friends and the chief of police tried to escape, but were detained a few weeks later. The provincial governor resigned, and several dozen police officers and officials were arrested. And only one thing remains a mystery - the fate of almost four dozen students is still unknown.
Oak Island Money Pit
Off the coast of Nova Scotia, on Canadian territory, there is a small island - Oak Island, or Oak Island. There is the famous “money pit”. According to legend, local residents found it back in 1795. This is a very deep and complex mine, in which, according to legend, countless treasures are hidden. Many have tried to get into it - but the design is treacherous, and after the treasure hunter has dug to a certain depth, the mine begins to be intensively filled with water. They say that brave souls found at a depth of 40 meters a stone tablet with the scrawled inscription: “Two million pounds are buried 15 meters deeper.” More than one generation has tried to get the promised treasure out of the hole. Even the future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, during his student years at Harvard, came to Oak Island with a group of friends to try his luck. But the treasure is not given to anyone. And is he there?..
Who was Benjamin Kyle?
In 2004, an unknown man woke up outside a Burger King in Georgia. He had no clothes on, there were no documents with him, but the worst thing was that he didn’t remember anything about himself. That is, absolutely nothing! The police conducted a thorough investigation, but were unable to find any traces: neither missing people with such characteristics, nor relatives who could identify him from a photo. He was soon given the name Benjamin Kyle, under which he continues to live to this day. Without documents or certificates of any education, he could not find a job, but one local businessman, having learned about him from a television program, out of pity, gave him a job as a dishwasher. He still works there now. The efforts of doctors to awaken his memory, and the police to find his previous traces, did not yield results.
Shore of Severed Legs
"Severed Legs Coast" is the name given to a beach on the Pacific Northwest coast of British Columbia. It received this terrible name because local residents several times found severed human legs here, shod in sneakers or sneakers. From 2007 to the present, 17 of them have been found, with the majority being right-wing. There are several theories explaining why legs wash up on this shore - natural disasters, work serial killer... some even claim that the mafia is destroying the bodies of its victims on this remote beach. But none of these theories looks convincing, and no one knows where the truth is.
"Dancing Death" 1518
One day in the summer of 1518 in Strasbourg, a woman suddenly began dancing in the middle of the street. She danced wildly until she fell from exhaustion. The strangest thing is that gradually others joined her. A week later, 34 people were dancing in the city, and a month later - 400. Many dancers died from overwork and heart attacks. The doctors did not know what to think, and the churchmen also could not exorcise the demons possessing the dancers. In the end, it was decided to leave the dancers alone. The fever gradually subsided, but no one ever knew what caused it. We were talking about something special form epilepsy, poisoning, and even a secret, pre-coordinated religious ceremony. But scientists of that time did not find an exact answer.
Signal from aliens
On August 15, 1977, Jerry Eman, who was monitoring signals from space at the volunteer Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Civilizations, picked up a signal at a random radio frequency, clearly coming from deep space, from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. This signal was much stronger than the cosmic noise that Eman was used to hearing on the air. It lasted only 72 seconds and consisted of a completely definite, in the eye of the observer, completely random list of letters and numbers, which, however, was accurately reproduced several times in a row. Eman disciplinedly recorded the sequence and reported it to his colleagues in the search for aliens. However, further listening to this frequency did not yield anything, as did any attempts to catch at least some signal from the constellation Sagittarius. What it was - a prank by completely earthly jokers or an attempt by an extraterrestrial civilization to contact us - no one still knows.
Unknown from Somerton Beach
Here's another perfect murder, the mystery of which has still not been solved. On December 1, 1948, in Australia, on Somerton Beach in southern Adelaide, the body of an unknown man was discovered. There were no documents with him, only a note with two words: “Taman Shud” was found in one of his pockets. This was a line from Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat, meaning "the end." The cause of death of the unknown man could not be determined. The forensic investigator believed that it was a case of poisoning, but could not prove it. Others believed it was a suicide, but this claim was also unsubstantiated. The mysterious case has alarmed not only Australia, but the whole world. They tried to establish the identity of the unknown person in almost all countries of Europe and America, but the efforts of the police were in vain, and the history of Taman Shud remained shrouded in secrecy.
Confederate Treasures
This legend still haunts American treasure hunters - and not only them. According to legend, when the northerners were already close to victory in Civil War, the treasurer of the Confederate government, George Trenholm, in desperation, decided to deprive the victors of their rightful spoils - the treasury of the southerners. Confederate President Jefferson Davis personally took on this mission. He and his guards left Richmond with a huge cargo of gold, silver and jewelry. No one knows where they went, but when the northerners took Davis prisoner, he had no jewelry with him, and 4 tons of Mexican gold dollars also disappeared without a trace. Davis never revealed the secret of the gold. Some believe that he distributed it to the planters of the South so that they could bury it until better times, others believe that it is buried somewhere in the vicinity of Danville, Virginia. Some people think he got his paw secret society“Knights of the Golden Circle”, who secretly prepared revenge in the Civil War. Some even say that the treasure is hidden at the bottom of the lake. Dozens of treasure hunters are still looking for him, but none of them can get to the bottom of either the money or the truth.
Voynich manuscript
The mysterious book, known as the Voynich manuscript, is named after the Polish-born American bookseller Wilfred Voynich, who bought it from an unknown person in 1912. In 1915, having taken a closer look at the find, he told the whole world about it - and since then many have not known peace. According to scientists, the manuscript was written in the 15th-16th centuries. central Europe. The book contains a lot of text written in neat handwriting, hundreds of drawings depicting plants, most of which are unknown modern science. Zodiac signs are also drawn here, healing herbs, accompanied by text, apparently, of recipes for their use. However, the contents of the text are just speculations of scientists who have not been able to understand it. The reason is simple: the book is written in a language still unknown on Earth, which is also practically indecipherable. Who wrote the Voynich manuscript and why, we may not know even in centuries.
Karst wells of Yamal
In July 2014, an inexplicable explosion was heard in Yamal, as a result of which a huge well appeared in the ground, the width and height of which reached 40 meters! Yamal is not the most populated place on the planet, so no one was injured from the explosion and the appearance of a sinkhole. However, this is strange and potentially dangerous phenomenon required an explanation, and a scientific expedition set off for Yamal. It included everyone who could be useful in studying the strange phenomenon - from geographers to experienced mountain climbers. However, upon arrival, they were unable to understand the reasons and nature of what had happened. Moreover, while the expedition was working, two more similar failures appeared in Yamal in exactly the same way! Until now, scientists have been able to come up with only one version - about periodic explosions of natural gas coming to the surface from underground. However, experts consider it unconvincing. The Yamal failures remain a mystery.
Antikythera Mechanism
Discovered by treasure hunters on a sunken ancient Greek ship at the beginning of the twentieth century, this device, which at first seemed like just another artifact, turned out to be, no less, the first analog computer in history! A complex system of bronze disks, made with precision and accuracy unimaginable in those distant times, made it possible to calculate the position of stars and luminaries in the sky, time in accordance with different calendars and the dates of the Olympic Games. According to the results of the analyses, the device was made at the turn of the millennium - about a century before the birth of Christ, 1600 years before the discoveries of Galileo and 1700 before the birth of Isaac Newton. This device was more than a thousand years ahead of its time and still amazes scientists.
Sea people
The Bronze Age, which lasted approximately from the 35th to the 10th centuries BC, was the heyday of several European and Middle Eastern civilizations - Greek, Cretan, and Cananese. People developed metallurgy, created impressive architectural monuments, tools became more complex. It seemed that humanity was moving by leaps and bounds towards prosperity. But everything collapsed within a few years. The civilized peoples of Europe and Asia were attacked by a horde of “people of the sea” - barbarians on countless ships. They burned and destroyed cities and villages, burned food, killed and took people into slavery. After their invasion, ruins remained everywhere. Civilization was thrown back at least a thousand years ago. In once powerful and educated countries, writing disappeared, and many secrets of construction and working with metals were lost. The most mysterious thing is that after the invasion, the “sea people” disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared. Scientists are still wondering who and where this people came from and what their future fate was. But there is no clear answer to this question yet.
Murder of the Black Dahlia
Books were written and films were made about this legendary murder, but it was never solved. On January 15, 1947, 22-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short was found brutally murdered in Los Angeles. Her naked body was subjected to cruel abuse: it was practically cut in half and bore traces of many injuries. At the same time, the body was washed clean and completely devoid of blood. This story of one of the oldest unsolved murders was widely circulated by journalists, giving Short the nickname “black dahlia.” Despite an active search, the police were unable to find the killer. The Black Dahlia case is considered one of the oldest unsolved murders in Los Angeles.
Motor ship "Ourang Medan"
In early 1948, the Dutch ship Ourang Medan sent an SOS signal while in the Strait of Mallaka off the coast of Sumatra and Malaysia. According to eyewitnesses, the radio message said that the captain and the entire crew were dead, and it ended with the chilling words: “And I am dying.” The captain of the Silver Star, having heard the distress signal, went in search of the Ourang Medan. Having discovered the ship in the Strait of Malacca, the sailors from the Silver Star boarded and saw that it was indeed full of corpses, and the cause of death was not visible on the bodies. Soon the rescuers noticed suspicious smoke coming from the hold and, just in case, chose to return to their ship. And they did the right thing, because soon the Ourang Medan spontaneously exploded and sank. Of course, because of this, the possibility of an investigation became zero. Why the crew died and the ship exploded is still a mystery.
Baghdad battery
Until recently, it was believed that humanity mastered the production and use of electric current only at the end of the 18th century. However, an artifact found by archaeologists in the region of ancient Mesopotamia in 1936 casts doubt on this conclusion. The device consists of a clay pot in which the battery itself is hidden: an iron core wrapped in copper, which is believed to have been filled with some kind of acid, after which it began to generate electricity. For many years, archaeologists debated whether the devices were actually related to the generation of electricity. In the end, they collected the same primitive products - and managed to get with their help electricity! So, did they really know how to install electric lighting in ancient Mesopotamia? Since written sources from that era have not survived, this mystery will now probably forever excite scientists.
Conspiracy theories? What theories are true, it’s just that governments keep it secret from us, scientific researchers are deceivers, and the media manipulates us - this is what millions of people all over the world think. They truly believe even the craziest conspiracy theories. Want to know which ones? Read our 20 incredible conspiracy theories and laugh heartily.
20 PHOTOS
1. According to the most incredible theory, the entire 2000 years of Christianity were based on lies. Jesus had a wife and they had a child. It’s just that the Apostle Peter could not come to terms with this and did not want to agree to equality of the sexes. That's why we have what we have. The mystery of Mary Magdalene and her relationship with Jesus, as well as their child, we will never know. Although, as you know, her descendants are members of the Merovingian family. Ask Dan Brown... (Pictured: Alexander Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection,” 1835). 
2. According to another crazy theory, Hitler survived World War II... in a basement. The murder of the Fuhrer was only a cover for his disappearance. At first he fled to Barcelona, from there he moved to South America, and then to Antarctica. He was hiding in a secret base, which is located under the ice, with his closest employees and planning a grand return. It was! Proof? Just a year ago, in Antarctica, in the images available on Google Earth, strange pits were visible that were very similar to the entrance to the base... (Photo: Das Bundesarchiv/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE). 
3. The death of Princess Diana touched people all over the world. However, the behavior of members of the royal family in the first days after the accident caused more comment than the tragedy itself. The aura of mystery, scraps of information and attempts to cover up the circumstances of the death of Princess Diana led to the fact that strange conspiracy theories began to grow like mushrooms after rain.
One theory suggests that the royal family was responsible for the accident. "This is murder!" - as the father of the princess's lover, Mohammed al-Fayed, believed for many years. He claimed that Princess Diana was pregnant at the time of the accident, which was allegedly unacceptable for the royal family because the child's father was Muslim. Supporters of this theory believe that the autopsy results were falsified, and the British secret intelligence service, MI6, was involved in this tragedy. (Pictured: Princess Diana's last post).
4. Aliens have infiltrated the ranks of the governments of various states and rule the world. Reptilians, or large scaly lizards from outer space, have mastered the art of secretly changing their appearance and transforming into humans. The most famous reptilians are US President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth, billionaires Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg... There are few of them, but they all rule over us. They communicate telepathically. We all work for them and, alas, we cannot reveal them. There is no hope for us... (Photo: imgur.com). 
5. The shadow government of the world, the Illuminati, the Freemasons... No matter what they are called, one thing is for sure, they rule the world. Democracy is just opiate for the people, an illusion of influence on reality. For hundreds of years we have been ruled by the chosen ones. Now it has become easier for them to cope with their task: they control our minds with the help of pop culture. Their goal is secret power. They will never come out of the shadows. (Photo: Qz10/Wikimedia Commons). 
6. It's not just the dark side of the Moon that is shrouded in mystery. Also, the landing itself still raises great doubts and even disbelief. Did a person really set foot on this silver ball? Or was the landing just a production at a film studio in Hollywood? Why are there no stars visible in the photo? How does the American flag miraculously flutter when there is “supposedly” no wind on the moon? You can continue asking questions like this ad infinitum. To this day, many people believe that the moon landing never actually happened. (Photo: Neil Armstrong/NASA)
7. Probably everyone has heard about the famous Area 51. It is there that the United States hides the truth about UFOs from the whole world. This area contains the corpse of an alien found in the wreckage of a crashed flying saucer in Roswell. Various secret experiments are carried out on it. You will not find this zone on maps, you will not be able to find it on Google Maps. Nothing is known about Area 51 except that it exists - this was confirmed in 2013 by the CIA. Currently, due to the fact that Base 51 has become too famous, it has been disbanded and many small centers have been created located throughout the United States. (Photo: Jim Trottier/CC BY-SA 2.0).
8. It seems that everything has been known about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. However, many Americans still have doubts. Maybe these were controlled explosions? Could this be a conspiracy between the intelligence services and the army, designed to create a pretext for starting a war? In conspiracy theories, anything is possible. Many believe that it was not planes that crashed into the towers, but missiles with holograms of planes. (Photo: Michael Foran/CC BY 2.0). 
9. Although scientists claim that global warming is a fact, and that it is human activity that has become main reason climate change, which could have catastrophic consequences for all of us, many are still convinced that this is a fiction. Well, who wants to believe that humanity itself can lead to the destruction of the planet. This is not true! People are so small, but the Earth is huge. After all, we are like ants in an anthill. How can we influence the functioning of the entire planet? This is impossible, unproven and unlikely. Many people think so... (Photo: Brocken Inaglory/CC BY-SA 3.0).
10. One of the conspiracy theories did not spare even the great Shakespeare. Many are sure that he did not exist. And if he existed, he certainly could not have written such great works, since he was uneducated a simple person(especially since nothing is actually known about his life). What is the probability that such a person could become the author of great plays, poems and sonnets? Someone else had to write them. The question is who? Well, for example, Francis Bacon... (Photo: portrait of William Shakespeare by an unknown author). 
11. After reading this material, the origin of man will no longer be a mystery to you. We were created by aliens! This is confirmed by ancient rock paintings, as well as paintings on temples and tombs. The aliens arrived in large flying saucers and landed in places that were marked by pyramids around the world. During the landing, all the dinosaurs were killed, then the aliens created us humans and... flew away, ceasing to be interested in us at all. That's exactly how it happened! (Photo: imgur.com).
12. Mysterious crop circles. They appear mainly in the USA and for good reason. Everyone knows that the United States is the main target of aliens. Mysterious crop circles do not appear there on their own. “Someone” makes them. The most likely explanation is, of course, that aliens use their spaceships to mark certain places and transmit messages. Can any amateur farmers do this? (Photo: Jabberocky/Wikimedia Commons). 
13. The famous “contrails” or “chemtrails” do not allow anyone who believes in conspiracy theories to sleep peacefully. The trails in the sky left behind by planes are supposedly harmful to health. The authorities do this purposefully to control the population by poisoning small groups of people over and over again. This phenomenon, of course, has a scientific explanation, but lovers of conspiracy theories have their own truth. (Photo: Arpingstone/Wikimedia Commons). 
14. Soon all people on Earth will be implanted with microchips. So in a simple way governments will know literally everything about us. They will be able to learn about our habits, monitor us, and diagnose diseases before we feel the first symptoms. And the electrical impulses sent by the chips will control our actions. How will we install these chips? It’s as simple as that, every person visits a doctor at least once in their life, and that’s where these devices will be implanted. Information about us is already being collected, and we don’t even know that we are just a number in a giant database... (Photo: Amal Graafstra/CC BY-SA 2.0).
15. Did the Titanic sink? Many people believe that this huge ship didn't drown at all. How can you believe that it was just an accident? For such a ship to simply break apart from hitting a piece of ice? No, it wasn't the Titanic. (Photo: F.G.O. Stuart/Wikimedia Commons) 
16. Conspiracy theorists believe that eugenics and genetics have a hidden purpose, namely the creation of human slaves. Governments and industry need people who will not think, but will only do what they are programmed to do. It’s very convenient when people don’t think about anything and don’t protest, right? Genetics and eugenics will help them with this. (Photo: Christoph Bock/CC BY-SA 3.0). 
17. Contact with aliens has long been established. NASA has been communicating with aliens for years, but is keeping this information from us all. Because we could take advantage of the inventions of extraterrestrial civilizations, and this is unprofitable for the ruling circles. (Photo: NASA). 
18. Many Americans hate their president for implementing health care reform or Obamacare. Fans of conspiracy theories believe that this was done for a reason. Obamacare will secretly help kill people who are over a certain age (experts say after 67). That is, Obamacare is nothing more than a tool for controlling the US population. (Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters) 
19. Lee Harvey Oswald, of course, did not assassinate US President John F. Kennedy. The shooters were either Russians, or Cubans, or the mafia, or even Vice President Lyndon Johnson. There are so many inconsistencies and uncertainties about the tragic events of that day and the several that followed that this is the most popular conspiracy theory to this day. (Photo: Walt Cisco/Dallas Morning News) 
20. Do you think you have free will? You can’t even imagine how wrong you are... Back in the 50s, it became known about subliminal methods of influencing a person’s subconscious. Do you think you're just watching TV? No, no, all television programs use the so-called 25th frame, invisible to the naked eye, which influences mass consciousness, manipulating us and forcing us to believe what the authorities want. (Photo: Glogger/CC BY-SA 3.0).
