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El Chichon eruption implicated in Mayan upheaval. Image copyright SPL.

El Chichon eruption implicated in Mayan upheaval

1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place. A century ago, one section of Vienna played host to Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin.

1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place

In January 1913, a man whose passport bore the name Stavros Papadopoulos disembarked from the Krakow train at Vienna's North Terminal station. Of dark complexion, he sported a large peasant's moustache and carried a very basic wooden suitcase. "I was sitting at the table," wrote the man he had come to meet, years later, "when the door opened with a knock and an unknown man entered.

"He was short... thin... his greyish-brown skin covered in pockmarks... I saw nothing in his eyes that resembled friendliness. " The writer of these lines was a dissident Russian intellectual, the editor of a radical newspaper called Pravda (Truth). The man he described was not, in fact, Papadopoulos. He had been born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, was known to his friends as Koba and is now remembered as Joseph Stalin.

Breathtaking film contains the earliest footage ever taken in London, showing places as you've never seen them before. Ancient Babylonians 'first to use geometry' Image copyright Mathieu Ossendrijver Sophisticated geometry - the branch of mathematics that deals with shapes - was being used at least 1,400 years earlier than previously thought, a study suggests.

Ancient Babylonians 'first to use geometry'

Research shows that the Ancient Babylonians were using geometrical calculations to track Jupiter across the night sky. The Concrete Pillars On Top Of British Hills: Trig Points. Two centuries-old tombs unearthed beneath historic New York City park. City workers have discovered two burial vaults underneath Washington Square Park in New York City, uncovering the remains of at least a dozen people interred around two centuries ago.

Two centuries-old tombs unearthed beneath historic New York City park

Hwæt! Beowulf Online. The manuscript of Beowulf, the greatest poem in the Old English language, can now be viewed online for the first time.

Hwæt! Beowulf Online

Made around the year 1000, most likely during the reign of King Æthelred the Unready (978-1016), this manuscript committed to parchment a tale that (in some modern scholars' opinions) had been passed down for centuries, between generations of storytellers. The opening words of Beowulf, beginning "Hwæt" ("Listen! "): London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 132r. The Origins of the King James Bible. Mysterious Russian Statue Is 11,000 Years Old - Twice As Old As The Pyramids. Wikimedia A mysterious wooden idol found in a Russian peat bog has been dated to 11,000 years ago - and contains a code no one can decipher.

Mysterious Russian Statue Is 11,000 Years Old - Twice As Old As The Pyramids

The Shigir Idol is twice as old as the Pyramids and Stonehenge - and is by far the oldest wooden structure in the world. V-J Day 70th anniversary: The Kiss. Above the fireplace is a painting of the USS Bunker Hill, the mighty aircraft carrier crippled by kamikaze pilots in the closing months of the war.

V-J Day 70th anniversary: The Kiss

Below, on the carpeted floor, is a statue based on an iconic Life magazine photograph taken 70 years ago today during celebrations marking V-J Day, the end of World War II. It's a defining image of a turbulent time: a sailor kissing a nurse in New York's Times Square. World War II veteran George Mendonsa, of Rhode Island, claims he's the sailor in the iconic 1945 Life Magazine photo of a couple smooching in Time Square. For the 92-year-old veteran, those events are closely intertwined.

He's the amorous sailor in the photo, he'll tell you -- even though the magazine has long said the identity of the couple remains a mystery. The Wright Brothers - They Began a New Era. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Simon and Schuster, 320 pp., $30.00.

The Wright Brothers - They Began a New Era

Remains of English Jamestown colony leaders discovered - BBC News. Scientists say they have identified the remains of four men who were among the early leaders of Virginia's Jamestown settlement.

Remains of English Jamestown colony leaders discovered - BBC News

Jamestown was the first successful British colony that gave rise to modern day America. The bodies were exhumed in November 2013 in the church where Pocahontas married Captain John Rolfe in 1614. It took two years of detective work and the latest scientific techniques to identify the badly-preserved bones. It's now known the remains belong to important figures who lived in Jamestown between 1607 and 1610, when the colony almost collapsed.

"This was a time of food shortages, Indian attacks and disease," says James Horn, president of Jamestown Rediscovery. "We have two men from the first expedition of 1607 and two men from the second expedition that saved Jamestown and English America in 1610. Researchers confirm: The Largest Pyramid in Mexico has been found. Researchers discover immense pyramid in Mexico, larger than Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Sun.

Researchers confirm: The Largest Pyramid in Mexico has been found

Researchers in Mexico have discovered a Pyramid that, according to initial measurements, is larger than the Great Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan. Initial excavations were done in 2010. The 2000 Year-Old Computer - Decoding the Antikythera Mechanism (2012) 8 Track Tape. The Economist - Return based on college career. $5 Dollar Bill from 1890s. How did Henry VIII secure his legacy? Atomic bomb test at bikini atol. Royal descendants of John William Friso. The royal descendants of John William Friso, Prince of Orange currently occupy all the hereditary European royal thrones, with Friso and his wife, Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel, being the most recent common ancestors of all the European monarchs. Due to the intermarriage of the European royal houses, many monarchs are descended from Friso in more than one way.

Through history, Friso has also been the ancestor of many monarchs whose thrones no longer exist. Albania[edit] Money recovered from Titanic. 6,000-Year-Old Temple Unearthed in Ukraine. A team of archaeologists led by Dr Mykhailo Videiko of the Kyiv Institute of Archaeology has discovered the remains of a 6,000-year-old temple at a Trypillian culture village near modern-day Nebelivka, Ukraine.

A 6,000-year-old temple found at the Trypillian mega-site of Nebelivka in Kirovograd region, Ukraine. Image credit: Nataliia Burdo / Mykhailo Videiko. Trypillian culture derives its name from the village of Trypillia in Kyiv region, Ukraine, where artifacts of this ancient civilization were first discovered in 1896.

History

Pope's guards celebrate 500 years. They are known as the "Defenders of the Church" and this weekend the Vatican Swiss Guard celebrated 500 years of service. In that time they have protected 42 successive popes, although more recently the Vatican has been guarded by Italian security forces and plainclothes police. But personal safety of the pope is still the guards' full responsibility. The guards first arrived in Rome on 22 January 1506. At that time, Helvetian soldiers were employed as mercenaries, renowned for their courage and their loyalty. Richard III's DNA throws up infidelity surprise. Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree.

Scientists who studied genetic material from remains found in a Leicester car park say the finding might have profound historical implications. Depending on where in the family tree it occurred, it could cast doubt on the Tudor claim to the English throne or, indeed, on Richard's. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. But it remains unknown when the break, or breaks, in the family lineage occurred. Moved by Fire: History’s Promethean Moment—Vol. 2, No. 4—The Appendix. The view from Nantac Rim, looking northeastwardly across the Nantanes Plateau. Steve Pyne If all that changes slowly may be explained by life, all that changes quickly is explained by fire. Why We Say “O’Clock” How the Word “OK” Was Invented 175 Years Ago. Ancient Egyptians transported pyramid stones over wet sand. Physicists from the FOM Foundation and the University of Amsterdam have discovered that the ancient Egyptians used a clever trick to make it easier to transport heavy pyramid stones by sledge.

Tiananmen Square uncropped picture. Normandy after victory. Machu Picchu before and after. What medieval Europe did with its teenagers. 2,100-Year-Old King's Mausoleum Discovered in China. A 2,100-year-old mausoleum built for a king named Liu Fei has been discovered in modern-day Xuyi County in Jiangsu, China, archaeologists report. Liu Fei died in 128 B.C. during the 26th year of his rule over a kingdom named Jiangdu, which was part of the Chinese empire.

Although the mausoleum had been plundered, archaeologists found that it still contained more than 10,000 artifacts, including treasures made of gold, silver, bronze, jade and lacquer. They also found severallife-size chariot and dozens of smaller chariots. Was Neville Chamberlain really a weak and terrible leader? Monument Valley - Arizona. Stanislav Petrov: The man who may have saved the world. Media playback is unsupported on your device. New timeline for origin of ancient Egypt. 20 Historic Black and White Photos Colorized. Giant Maya Carvings Found in Guatemala. Voices from the Days of Slavery, Audio Interviews (American Memory from the Library of Congress) Photos Could Prove Amelia Earhart Lived as Castaway. Old school IBM data center - Toronto. The lost city. Death of Yuri Gagarin demystified 40 years on. Lost Egyptian City. Here's what Pangea looks like mapped with modern political borders.

Inside the Paris apartment untouched for 70 years: Treasure trove finally revealed after owner locked up and fled at outbreak of WWII. World War II Code Is Broken, Decades After POW Used It : The Two-Way. What Mt. Rushmore was supposed to look like. Menswear Named After Real Men: 10 Jackets, Shirts, and Hats With Surprising Etymologies.

Historical Pictures. How the US Built Its Super-Secret Spy Satellite Program. Why We Have a Seven Day Week and the Origin of the Names of the Days of the Week. The ‘America’ Map - Review of ‘A Renaissance Globemaker’s Toolbox’ The Beauty of Maps: A Documentary. British have invaded nine out of ten countries - so look out Luxembourg. National Days World Map. The FBI Records Vault. But Will Congress Keep History from Repeating Itself? British Isles. 4 reasons why the Franklin discovery is important. King Richard III killed by blows to skull. The Corpse That Fooled Hitler. D-Day Landing Sites Then and Now: Normandy Beaches in 1944 and 70 Years Later.

The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine. The first atomic bomb. The History of the Teddy Bear: From Wet and Angry to Soft and Cuddly. Britain’s Nuke-Proof Underground City. Franklin search: Canada confirms ship as HMS Erebus.