Category: News
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Scientific proof: Ismail Ibn Sharif could easily have had 888 kids
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (1634-1727), the Emperor of Morocco from 1672 until his death, is legendary for his impressive offspring. Contemporaries report that the Ibn Sharif, who claimed to be a descendant of Mohammed, fathered 888 kids. Researchers of University of Vienna created a model to proof that it is biologically possible to procreate that amount…
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How the catholic church turned ordinary skeletons into spectacular saints
The Vatican exported thousands of skeletons from their catacombs to Northern Europe in the 16th century. They were exhibited as saints, with spectacular golden jewelry and outfits. During the Enlightenment the dressed-up human remains lost their magical aura, and were kept in deep churches’ storages. Dr. Paul Koudounaris recovered them and made some astonishing pictures…
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Late Antique-treasure looted by an amateur archaeologist
A Roman treasure dating from the early 5th century was dug up last week near Germersheim in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Not by official archaeologists, but by an amateur who conducted an illegal attempt to recover the treasure after he found it with his metal detector. He dug up the metal objects and destroyed the historical context…
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Nazis wanted to use mosquitoes as a biological weapon
At the end of the Second World War the nazis examined the use of mosquitoes as a biological weapon. Recently examined reports of the concentration camp Dachau proofs this. According to the researchers, nazi-doctors examined how the life-span of infected mosquitoes could be prolonged, so they would survive the transport to enemy territory. Officially, the research-program…
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Charlemagne was indeed large for its age: 1.84 meters.
The bones of the former emperor of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne or Charles the Great, proof that the ‘founder of Europe’ was a large man. Contemporary sources already mentioned that Charles the Great, who died 1200 years ago on the 28th of january 814 was extraordanary large for his day. His…
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Noah’s Ark was in fact a round vessel: a giant coracle
Our concept of a ship usually is that of an oval shape with a pointed bow. Noah’s Ark, the vessel that saved all living species from a massive flood (according to the Old Testament) may well have had a different shape. A recently deciphered 4000 year old clay tablet from Mesopotamia bears an inscription that’s…
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Shipwreck might rewrite New Zealand’s history
A shipwreck found in 1982 in Kaipara Harbour, near Auckland, might rewrite the history of European settlement of New Zealand. Carbon dating of the wooden ship which was only completed recently shows that the ship was built around 1705. Since the kind of wood used for the vessel would last no longer than 50 years,…