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Friday, February 17, 2017

11:16 AM

Crazy things You might not know about ancient Egypt.

When you think about ancient Egypt, what comes to mind? Pyramids, pharaohs, cats maybe? These are Crazy Things You Might Not Know About Ancient Egypt.

1. Both men and women wore makeup.They believed that makeup had healing powers.

2. Children didn’t wear clothes until they were teenagers.

3. Rich Egyptians usually wore wigs. Poor Egyptians usually wore pig tails or just had their hair long.

4. Egyptians believed that the Earth was flat, circular, and that the Nile flowed right through the middle.

5. During mummification, the brain was pulled out through the nostrils. Every other organ was also removed and placed in a jar. The only organ left in the body was the heart because it was believed to contain the soul.

6. Many ancient tombs were found to contain toilets.

7. The world’s oldest dress was found in Egypt and is estimated to be 5,000 years old.

8. The Ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows off to mourn the deaths of their cats.

9. Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone!

10. Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt was actually Greek.

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Thursday, February 16, 2017

10:50 AM

10 Most Cruel Death Methods of All Time!

Death by a Thousand Cuts - Originally from China, this was one of the most brutal execution methods ever fashioned. It was a punishment reserved only for the harshest of crimes, such as treason and fratricide. During this procedure, sharp knife was used to kill the criminal, gradually removing portions of his flesh over a long period of time. The victim was tied to a wooden frame, usually in a public place.. The flesh was then sliced from the body, at first only from victim’s breasts and thigs. Then his limbs were gradually amputated, followed by ears, nose and genitals. After 10-20 minutes, victim was decapitated or stabbed to the heart.

Sawing- Sawing in the half was an incredibly cruel execution method, used mostly in the Medieval Europe. During the process, the criminal would be hung upside-down from a tree or gallows, and a large saw would be then used to slice his or her body in half, starting with the crotch, all the way to the chest and head. The victims were hung upside-down, the brain was receiving sufficient bloodflow to keep them alive and concious until the saw finally reached the main arteries in the abdomen.

Crucifixion- The Crucifixion was an ancient execution method, in which the criminal’s hands and feet were bound or nailed to a wooden, cross-like structure. It was a capital punishment reserved for slaves, traitors, ”heretics”, and usually the worst of criminals. There were various methods of performing the crucifixion. Usually, the prisoner had to drag the crossbeam of his cross, weighing around 100 pounds, to the place of execution. Subsequently, his outstretched arms were bound to the crossbeam, or sometimes nailed through the wrists, and the crossbeam was raised and fixed to the already standing upright post

Boiling- The criminal was stripped naked and then thrown into a cauldron full of boiling liquid, or cold liquid which was then heated to the point of boiling. Sometimes, the executioner controlled the speed of boiling by raising and lowering the victim to the cauldron using a system of ropes. The liquid used could be water, oil, tar, acid, wax, wine or even molten lead. Death was caused by severe scalding caused by the boiling liquid, gradually destroying the skin, fatty tissues, exposed muscles and eventually forming breaches in major arteries and veins. During the reign of King Henry VIII, this was a punishment especially reserved for poisoners.

The Catherine Wheel- The Catherine wheel, also known as the Breaking wheel, was a medieval torture and execution device. The criminal was tied to a large cartwheel, with his arms and legs stretched out. The wheel was then slowly revolved while the executioner smashed his limbs with an iron hammer, heavy metal bar, or even using another cartwheel, breaking the bones in many places. After the bone shattering process was complete, severed limbs of the person were woved between the wheel spokes. After the execution, the wheel was often placed on a tall pole so that birds could eat the body of the sometimes still-living criminal.

Impalement- Impalement on a pole was one of the most gruesome methods of execution. Criminal was be forced to sit on a thick, sharpened wooden pole. The pole was then slowly raised upright and the criminal was left to gradually slide further down the pole only by his or her own weight. The pole then emerged through victim’s chest, shoulder or neck. Sometimes, it could take more than three days for a person to finally die, in slow and painful way. Impalement was especially prevalent in 15.th century Romania, during the reign of Vlad Dracula, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. He reportedly executed more than 80,000 people this way, and often enjoyed having a meal while watching them die

Flaying - Skinning alive, also known as flaying, was one of the most gruesome execution methods ever conceived, especially prevalent during the classical antiquity. It was used mostly on captured soldiers and dangerous criminals. In most used method of flaying, person’s hands were tied above his or her head, while the executioner gradually cut off all the skin using a very knife, starting at the face. Often, attempts were made to keep the skin intact. Another method involved severely burning the victim, and then gradually peeling his or her skin off.

Rat Torture- Often known simply as ‘‘the Rat”, this was especially cruel and gruesome method of execution, originally used in the medieval China. Described as ”the most brutal torture technique ever devised”, it employed live rats eating through the victim’s flesh.At the beginning, large pottery bowl filled with a couple of rats was placed open side down on the naked prisoner’s body. Large amount of red-hot charcoal was then piled on the top of the bowl, gradually heating the air inside. Rats, terrified of the heat, then slowly gnawed their way outside through the victim’s flesh. Only a small percentage of victims survived this gruesome procedure. Most of them died due to intense internal bleeding and septic shock from severely infected wounds.

Brazen Bull- The brazen bull, sometimes called sicilian bull, was a execution device designed by Perilaus of Athens in year 560 BC. The bull was hollow, crafted entirely from bronze, and it had a door in one side. The criminals were locked inside the bull, and a fire was set under the statue. The fire heated the metal until the criminal inside died from severe burns. The scorched bones were then often made into bracelets and sold at market. The bull’s head was constructed with a system of tubes and pipes, to convert the screams of the prisoner to sounds similar to the bellowing of an infuriated bull.

The Boats- This incredibly cruel method of execution originates from the ancient Persia. Sometimes also called ”scaphism”, criminal was contained inside a pair of narrow rowboats with his head, hands, and feet protruding outside from this container. The person was then forced to ingest large amounts of milk and honey until developing a severe diarrhea, and mixture of milk and honey was also rubbed on the exposed parts of his body, attracting flies and other insect species. Then he was left afloat on a still pond or a lake. The defenseless person’s fecal matter slowly accumulated within the container, attracting more flies, which ate and bred within his or her exposed and increasingly gangrenous flesh. Person was then repeatedly fed each day to prevent fatal dehydration and starvation, often prolonging the torture to several days or even weeks. Death, when it eventually occurred, was caused by a combination of various factors, most often bceause of septic shock, starvation or dehydration.

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3:52 AM

What is Déjà vu

Have you ever visited a store for the first time and had it feel eerily familiar? Or maybe you're deep in conversation with a friend and you suddenly get the feeling that you've had the exact conversation before, even though you know that you haven't. If you've ever found yourself in either of these situations, you've experienced déjà vu.

The term déjà vu is French and means, literally, "already seen." Those who have experienced the feeling describe it as an overwhelming sense of familiarity with something that shouldn't be familiar at all. For example you are having dinner with a group of friends, discussing some current political topic, and you have the feeling that you've already experienced this very thing -- same friends, same dinner, same topic.

There are many different theories as to why déjà vu happens. As much as 70 percent of the population reports having experienced some form of déjà vu. A higher number of incidents occurs in people 15 to 25 years old than in any other age group.

There are more than 40 theories as to what déjà vu is and what causes it, and they range from reincarnation to glitches in our memory processes. Since déjà vu occurs in individuals with and without a medical condition, there is much speculation as to how and why this phenomenon happens. Several psychoanalysts attribute déjà vu to simple fantasy or wish fulfillment, while some psychiatrists ascribe it to a mismatching in the brain that causes the brain to mistake the present for the past. Many parapsychologists believe it is related to a past-life experience. Obviously, there is more investigation to be done.

Defining types of déjà vu is a very slippery area. Alan Brown,

a professor of psychology at South Methodist University and author of "The Déjà Vu Experience: Essays in Cognitive Psychology," has three categories for déjà vu.

Associative déjà vu - The most common type of déjà vu experienced by normal, healthy people is associative in nature. You see, hear, smell or otherwise experience something that stirs a feeling that you associate with something you've seen, heard, smelled or experienced before.

Biological déjà vu- There are also high occurrences of déjà vu among people with temporal lobe epilepsy. Just before having a seizure they often experience a strong feeling of déjà vu.

Chronic déjà vu.- Four senior citizens in the United Kingdom have experienced déjà vuin a constant state. They refused to watch the news because they felt like they already knew what was going to be said. Or, they wouldn't go to the doctor because they felt like they had already been and didn't see the point.

Alan Brown proposed what he calls the cell phone theory (or divided attention). This means that when we are distracted with something else, we subliminally take in what's around us but may not truly register it consciously. Then, when we are able to focus on what we are doing, those surroundings appear to already be familiar to us even when they shouldn't be.

Dutch psychiatrist Hermon Sno proposed the idea that memories are like holograms, meaning that you can recreate the entire three-dimensional image from any fragment of the whole. The smaller the fragment, however, the fuzzier the ultimate picture. Déjà vu, he says, happens when some detail in the environment we are currently in (a sight, sound, smell, et cetera) is similar to some remnant of a memory of our past and our brain recreates an entire scene from that fragment.

Although déjà vu has been studied as a phenomenon for over a hundred years and researchers have advanced tens of theories about its cause, there is no simple explanation for what it means or why it happens. Perhaps as technology advances and we learn more about how the brain works, we will also learn more about why we experience this strange phenomenon.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

12:35 PM

Unsolved Mysteries

There are many unsolved mysteries in life. Although we may demand a logical explanations for these mysterious things, as of now we will have to settle with mere speculations. Until these mysteries are resolved, enjoy our 5 greatest unsolved mysteries ever

, 1. Mackenzie Poltergeist in Greyfriars- The Mackenzie Poltergeist is one of the most famous attractions in the Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh as people who join the tour experience bruises, scratches, and some even faint as they enter and see the Black Mausoleum where Sir George Mackenzie lies.

, 2. SS Ourang Medan - “Man from Medan” in Malaysia is perhaps one of the most fascinating and mind-boggling mysteries that ever existed in seafaring history. Everything began with an SOS message in 1947 that mentioned the captain, along with the rest of the crew, was dead. Even the telegrapher died during the transmission of the message. When the Silver Star was able to receive the distress call and went to inspect the ship, they confirmed the deaths of all aboard. Speculations of ghosts, hazardous chemicals, and even aliens have been raised, but there is still no conclusion as to what actually happened.

3. The Lost city of Atlantis- The City of Atlantis has been imagined as the crowning city of Neptune, where mermaids and mermen live. But based on what Plato has discussed during his time, specifically with his two dialogues Timaeus and Critias, it specifically mentioned the existence of Atlantis based on the stories being heard during the journeys, and how Atlantis was in its prime state, thus giving a clue that the place did exist as Plato was a real entity. Now that it sunk into the deep, many are still wondering if it is real, knowing that there are certain objects underwater that may be the remnants of this once beautiful city.

4. Stonehenge- While Stonehenge is a very fascinating structure due to the big rocks that stand atop one another, the biggest mystery isn’t how it was created but why.

5. Zodiac Letters- During the 1960s and 1970s, there was a certain criminal in the San Francisco Bay area that was identified as the Zodiac killer for the mind-boggling letters he sent to the police and to the press. Although one of the four letters were cracked, which contained a very disturbing message, the other three have never been identified, even until now.

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4:15 AM

10 Unlucky things that happened on 13th

Friday the 13th is a seriously unlucky day. It even has a phobia named after it – friggatriskaidekaphobia. Part of it may stem from religion – more specifically, The Last Supper when Judas Iscariot was the 13th diner. Also, Friday was the standard day for public hangings throughout Britain, and it’s believed there were 13 steps leading up to the gallows and 13 knots in the noose. Look at these unluckly happenings in our list.

1. Hurricane Charley hit south Florida on August 13th, 2004, battering the state for over six days and causing over $11 billion in damages.

2. Justin Bartlett was imprisoned in Texas and slated to be executed in 1992. This death row inmate was given a reprieve on Wednesday the 11th of January just before his scheduled execution. However, he unceremoniously died two days later on Friday the 13th from poisoning during his last meal on that Wednesday.

3. November 13th, 1970 saw one of the worst natural disasters in all of history. In just one day, 500,000 people in Bangladesh were killed by the intense tropical Cyclone Bhola.

4. Some scary people have been born on Friday the 13th, including master of thriller film director Alfred Hitchcock and former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

5. On Friday the 13th, October 1972, a plane crashed in the Andes mountains. Of the people on board, 12 immediately died, more died in the ensuing avalanche, and the ones who survived became cannibals. On the same day, a plane from Leningrad to Moscow also crashed, killing all 160 people on board.

6. Bush-fires ravaged the Australian state of Victoria on Friday the 13th, January 1939. The fires killed 36 people on that day alone and destroyed 75% of the state.

7. Joshua Dudley’s uncle died in late 1995. His lawyers called to tell him he inherited an estate worth $3 million from his uncle. Dudley was at the Fabergé egg exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art when he received the call – his happy dance caused $4 million in damages.

8. New Yorker Daz Baxter chose to stay in bed on Friday the 13th in August 1976 to keep away from potensial bad luck. It seems bad luck came to him as his apartment block collapsed, and he fell six stories to his death.

9. On Friday the 13th, 2010, a 13 year-old boy was struck by lightning at 13:13 p.m in England. He miraculously survived with only a small burn.

10. Since millions of people are scared to travel or work on any given Friday the 13th, the world loses an estimated $900 million every time this day comes around.

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