Confined in a Soviet prison camp in 1941, Polish painter Józef Czapski chose a unique way to cope: He lectured to the other prisoners on Marcel Proust's novel In Search… Read the rest of the article: Using literature to retain your humanity in a Soviet prison camp

In May 1840 London was scandalized by the murder of Lord William Russell, who'd been found in his bed with his throat cut. The evidence seemed to point to an… Read the rest of the article: In 1840 London was scandalized when Lord William Russell was found dead in bed with his throat cut

In 1934, two Englishwomen set out to do what no one had ever done before: travel the length of Africa on a motorcycle. In this week's episode of the Futility… Read the rest of the article: In 1934, two women set out to travel the length of Africa by motorcycle

The second-bloodiest riot in the history of New York was touched off by a dispute between two Shakespearean actors. Their supporters started a brawl that killed as many as 30… Read the rest of the article: An 1849 dispute between two actors led to one of the bloodiest riots in New York history

In 1855 a band of London thieves set their sights on a new target: the South Eastern Railway, which carried gold bullion to the English coast. The payoff could be… Read the rest of the article: In 1855, a band of London thieves pulled off the first great train robbery

In 1943 an isolated sledge patrol came upon a secret German weather station in northeastern Greenland. The discovery set off a series of dramatic incidents that unfolded across 400 miles… Read the rest of the article: During World War II, an isolated sledge patrol in Greenland came upon a secret team of Germans

In 1930 Harold Lasseter claimed he'd discovered an enormous deposit of gold in the remote interior of Australia, and a small group of men set off into the punishing desert… Read the rest of the article: For 90 years, fortune hunters have been seeking a legendary outcrop of gold in the Australian desert

In 1914, 132 sealers found themselves stranded on a North Atlantic icefield as a bitter blizzard approached. Thinly dressed and with little food, they faced a harrowing night on the… Read the rest of the article: In 1914, 132 Newfoundland sealers were trapped on the ice during a blizzard

In 1947 actress Gay Gibson disappeared from her cabin on an ocean liner off the coast of West Africa. The deck steward, James Camb, admitted to pushing her body out… Read the rest of the article: Actress Gay Gibson met a mysterious death on an ocean liner in 1947

In June 1940, German forces took the Channel Islands, a small British dependency off the coast of France. They expected the occupation to go easily, but they hadn't reckoned on… Read the rest of the article: During World War II, a 56-year-old British noblewoman stood up to Nazi occupiers on the tiny island of Sark

In 1800 a 12-year-old boy emerged from a forest in southern France, where he had apparently lived alone for seven years. His case was taken up by a young Paris… Read the rest of the article: In 1800, a wild boy emerged from a forest in southern France, where he'd lived alone for 7 years

In 1830 Joseph Palmer created an odd controversy in Fitchburg, Massachusetts: He wore a beard when beards were out of fashion. For this social sin he was shunned, attacked, and… Read the rest of the article: In 1830, Joseph Palmer was persecuted for the social sin of wearing a beard

In 1904 a Manhattan church outing descended into horror when a passenger steamboat caught fire on the East River. More than a thousand people struggled to survive as the captain… Read the rest of the article: New York's deadliest disaster before 9/11 was a 1904 steamboat fire that killed over a thousand people

In 1944, an American soldier discovered a Yorkshire terrier in an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea. Adopted by an Army photographer, she embarked on a series of colorful adventures that… Read the rest of the article: In 1944, an American soldier discovered a Yorkshire terrier in a New Guinea foxhole

In 1954 a social psychologist started a war between two teams of fifth graders at an Oklahoma summer camp. He wanted to investigate the sources of human conflict and how… Read the rest of the article: In 1954, a social psychologist started a war between fifth graders

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits and stump your friends — play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no… Read the rest of the article: Six lateral thinking puzzles

The first woman to circumnavigate the world did so dressed as a man. In 1766, 26-year-old Jeanne Baret joined a French expedition hoping to conceal her identity for three years.… Read the rest of the article: The first woman to circle the world did so disguised as a man

At the height of her fame in 1943, movie star Gene Tierney contracted German measles during pregnancy and bore a daughter with severe birth defects. The strain ended her marriage… Read the rest of the article: A chance encounter with German measles dramatically changed actress Gene Tierney's life

In February 1943, hundreds of German women joined in a spontaneous protest in central Berlin. They were objecting to the roundup of some of the city's last Jews — their… Read the rest of the article: In 1943, hundreds of German women managed to win the freedom of their Jewish husbands

In 1871, while the Great Chicago Fire was riveting the nation's attention, a blaze six times as deadly was ravaging a desperate town in northeastern Wisconsin. In this week's episode… Read the rest of the article: In 1871, the deadliest wildfire in American history struck Peshtigo, Wisconsin