History

Heroism is a powerful thing. It can inspire others to act valiantly, turn the tide of a conflict, and live on in history books for centuries to follow. And then there are some acts of heroism - acts so brave, so sacrificial, so unlikely - that <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-from-the-life-of-gladiator-spartacus/carly-silver" target="_blank">they&#39;re hard to even believe</a>.

In 480 BC, 300 Spartan soldiers&nbsp;(along with hundreds of others, it turns out) stood their ground against a Persian army that dwarfed them in size. But not all heroes are fighters. During WWII, Polish resistance member Witold Pilecki volunteered to be held captive in Auschwitz to investigate and send reports to the outside world. And in more recent history, the heroism displayed by the three men who waded through radioactive water during the Chernobyl disaster is truly astonishing.

If you&#39;re interested in&nbsp;heroic moments in history, unbelievable heroic feats, and true stories of sacrifice, look no further than this list. Vote up the stories that seem almost too cinematic to be real life.

Heroic Moments From History So Savage They Sound Made Up - But Aren't

Person

Heroic Moments In History So Savage They Sound Made Up

T.J. Peters

Ancient History

Every so often, researchers dig up treasure troves of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/whoa-archaeological-facts/pierce-nahigyan" target="_blank">cool archaeological finds</a>. While some of those <a href="/list/mysterious-ancient-scientific-discoveries-and-inventions/kellen-perry" target="_blank">ancient discoveries are a mystery</a> to us, others are easily explainable. We know what the people of yesteryear used anchors, keys, and helmets for, but the fact that those artifacts survived hundreds - sometimes thousands - of years is pretty amazing.

The objects listed here may seem mundane at first glance, but once you realize just how long ago they were made and used, the only thing left to say is, &quot;Whoa.&quot;

20+ Archaeological Finds That Made Us Say ‘Whoa’

General

Garri Chaverst

First Ladies

Before the 1950s, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale&nbsp;and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale were members of an affluent family. But it all came crashing down after a divorce tore them apart.&nbsp;Known as Big Edie and Little Edie, the two were incredibly&nbsp;attached to one another. When Big Edie fell ill in 1952, Little Edie, age 35, moved in with her -&nbsp;sealing their fates.

The pair&nbsp;owned a lavish estate called Grey&nbsp;Gardens, which&nbsp;fell into disrepair when they could no longer afford the upkeep. The mother-daughter duo barely scraped together&nbsp;enough money to feed themselves, much less the hundreds of stray animals occupying their home. The Beales&nbsp;relied on financial&nbsp;help from close relative and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-jackie-kennedy/lyra-radford" target="_blank">former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy</a>&nbsp;to avoid eviction, but the 1975 documentary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Gardens-Edith-Bouvier-Beale/dp/B0020QK5ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1524168073&amp;sr=8-1?&amp;tag=rankercom-20" target="_blank">Grey&nbsp;Gardens</a> revealed their wretched living conditions.

The tale of Big Edie and Little Edie&nbsp;serves as yet another dark chapter in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dark-kennedy-family-stories/lyra-radford" target="_blank">Kennedy family&#39;s story</a>.

Jackie Kennedy's Cousins Went From Wealth To Squalor In The Biggest Fall From Grace Ever

Noelle Talmon

A look behind the beautiful velvet robes, gold threads, marble statues, intoxicating incense, tasty body of Christ, and sinfully unforgiving dogma of the Catholic church.

The Dark Side of the Church

Firsthand Accounts

In the decades after the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, the Catholic Church worked to regain influence in the burgeoning democracy. While the Irish revolutionary period was marked&nbsp;by years of increasing equal rights for women, the mid-1920s to&nbsp;1930s&nbsp;saw a return to conservatism. The role of women was consigned to&nbsp;the household, and unwed women or those considered promiscuous&nbsp;were <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-magdalene-laundry/" target="_blank">subjected</a> to harsh judgments and penalties.&nbsp;

Out of this religious dogmatism rose the widespread use of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/05/catholic-church-ireland-magdalene-laundries-mother-baby-homes" target="_blank">Magdalene houses</a>, also known as the Magdalene asylums or laundries. These facilities, originally designed to <a href="https://www.history.com/news/magdalene-laundry-ireland-asylum-abuse" target="_blank">&quot;reform&quot; licentious women</a>, became popular in the mid-1800s&nbsp;and were supported by both the Catholic and Protestant churches. Over time, they became a fixture of Irish life, taken over by the Catholic Church with the support of the Irish government. What were once voluntary places of respite designed to give single women work skills to keep them off the streets turned into compulsory programs that involved years of unpaid servitude and prison-like conditions.&nbsp;

These Magdalene houses, as well as orphanages and industrial schools, held children and women against their wills under the auspices of religious charity, while the reality of life for those in the asylums was much worse than anyone could imagine. The last Magdalene house closed in 1996. In 2014, a<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3374922/The-house-tears-Secret-tapes-woman-spent-years-controversial-Irish-home-unmarried-mothers-reveals-unmarked-mass-grave-children.html" target="_blank">&nbsp;mass grave</a> with nearly 800 cadavers - most belonging to children - was discovered at a Magdalene house.&nbsp;In recent years, more and more survivors of these institutions have come forward to share their experiences&nbsp;and seek reparations for their experiences.

This list gathers firsthand accounts from women who lived in Magdalene houses in the 20th&nbsp;century. They are stories of governmental disregard, church-sanctioned&nbsp;barbarism, and personal tenacity.

Firsthand Accounts From Women Who Survived Ireland’s 'Magdalene Houses'

Ireland's Magdalene Houses: Firsthand Accounts From Survivors

Megan Summers

Kings & queens, princes & princesses. They're made of blood and bones like the rest of us, but they're told they can do whatever they damn well please. Sometimes, this causes problems.

Royal Pains

Royalty

The show Versailles includes&nbsp;no shortage of scandals, but the most shocking thing about it is many, if not most, of the salacious details it portrays about daily <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/extreme-versailles-moments-that-sound-fake-but-are-truekw-c/jim-rowley" target="_blank">life in the court of Louis XIV</a> are true. The Sun King led a sensuous and unorthodox life&nbsp;filled with mistresses, drama, and intrigue.

When it comes to the life of Louis XIV, the facts are almost stranger than fiction. From a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/who-was-the-black-nun-of-moret/nicky-benson" target="_blank">baby of African descent being born at Versailles</a> to a wild carriage race between the queen and the king&#39;s mistress, life for the French royals was never boring. And why should it have been? The court was filled with beautiful and ambitious women, and men who had won their place in history as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/louis-xiv-war-miniatures/cleo-egnal" target="_blank">war heroes</a>. With so many beautiful and striving people in one place, things were bound to get scandalous under the reign of Louis XIV.

The Biggest Scandals From The Court Of Louis XIV

Rachel Souerbry

Music History

In September 1985, the Parents&nbsp;Music Resource Center (PMRC) formed out of concern for the dangers of music on the American public. The PMRC&#39;s&nbsp;founders identified the most offensive musicians and lyrics in the hopes of instituting a rating system for music, much like the one that existed&nbsp;for movies. The music censorship interest group believed that the material presented in popular music was poisoning the minds of America&#39;s youth, and the music industry needed to clean up its act before children were corrupted by the evils of rock and roll.&nbsp;

Two of the most prominent members of the PMRC&nbsp;were Tipper Gore, the&nbsp;wife of then-Senator Al Gore, and Susan Baker, wife of Secretary of State James Baker. They&nbsp;were also part of a group of women known as the &quot;Washington Wives,&quot; and they had enough clout in DC&nbsp;to get a Senate&nbsp;hearing about regulating the music industry.&nbsp;

The PMRC is the reason&nbsp;parental advisory stickers are still found on some albums today. Before it got to that point, Congress listened to some of the so-called controversial musicians singled out by the PMRC. One of the controversial artists, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/untrue-rock-star-rumors/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">rock star</a> Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, faced off with the PMRC&nbsp;and broke down their arguments one-by-one&nbsp;in a public forum.&nbsp;Snider&#39;s speech to Congress didn&#39;t save rock and roll (or any other kind of music)&nbsp;from advisory labels, but he definitely made an impression and got in some good punches&nbsp;as he made it clear he wasn&#39;t going to take it anymore.&nbsp;

The Time '80s Rock Legend Dee Snider Sounded Off Against Censorship In A Speech To Congress

The Legendary Dee Snyder Speech That Destroyed An Uptight Washington

Melissa Sartore

Celebrity Trivia

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/joaquin-phoenix-movies-and-films-and-filmography/ranker-film" target="_blank">Joaquin Phoenix</a> is a wildly controversial actor. He&#39;s been simultaneously praised as a master of his craft&mdash;winning both a Grammy and a Golden Globe for his work on Walk the Line&mdash;and slammed for faking a mental illness in a two-year ruse put on for a fake documentary. However,&nbsp;Joaquin&#39;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-joaquin-phoenix-facts/anncasano">controversial nature</a>&nbsp;comes as no surprise, considering his shocking family history. From narrowly escaping the Family International Cult (formerly known as the Children of God), to the untimely&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/river-phoenix-sad-life-facts/katia-kleyman">death of River Phoenix</a> outside the Viper Room in 1993, the Phoenix family is plagued with misfortune.

Joaquin is the middle child in a family of five. His mother Arlyn, a Manhattan divorcee, moved to California in 1968 where she met Joaquin&#39;s father, John Lee Bottom, while hitchhiking. After having River, Joaquin&#39;s eldest brother, the Phoenix family <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-were-raised-in-cults/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">joined the infamous Children of God&nbsp;cult</a>. 

The Phoenix clan&nbsp;escaped the cult and eventually moved to Hollywood, where they&nbsp;launched the careers of all five of their children: Joaquin, Rain, Summer, Liberty, and River, who was the first to find mega-stardom after his role in Stand By Me.

Joaquin&#39;s family may have been destined for Hollywood fame, but trouble, heartbreak, and addiction also run deep&nbsp;in their veins.

14 Heartbreaking Stories From Joaquin Phoenix's Tragic Family

Heartbreaking Stories That Prove Joaquin Phoenix Has The Most Tragic Family In Hollywood History

Mariel Loveland

Lists about the family, life, and tragic end of one of America's most popular and controversial figures, 35th President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).

The Rise and Fall of Camelot

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Arguably the crime of the century, Kennedy&#39;s murder stunned&nbsp;the American people and set off an outpouring of grief around the world. But the days after JFK&#39;s assassination also involved additionally shocking events and dramatic moments, from his <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/jfk-funeral-small-poignant-details/jim-rowley" target="_blank">funeral service</a> to the search for his assassin.

In the immediate aftermath of the JFK assassination, Kennedy&#39;s alleged assassin, Lee Harvey&nbsp;Oswald, was&nbsp;shot to death live on American television. Oswald&#39;s background as a former resident of the Soviet Union, his Russian wife, and connections to communist Cuba added a cold war component to the assassination. The sketchy background of Oswald&#39;s assassin, Jack Ruby, also quickly&nbsp;fomented numerous conspiracy theories that became an integral part of any future discussion of JFK&#39;s&nbsp;assassination - one of these even claims <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lincoln-kennedy-similarities-urban-legend/zach-seemayer" target="_blank">countless eerie coincidences</a> between Kennedy&#39;s life and that of Abraham Lincoln. What happened following the assassination of John F. Kennedy - arguably one of the world&#39;s most important leaders - &nbsp;had historical, political, and social implications that still reverberate today.&nbsp;&nbsp;

What Happened Immediately After JFK Was Assassinated?

Phil Gibbons

British

Despite the fact that she was quite tiny, Queen Victoria&nbsp; looms large over most&nbsp;of the 19th century. She was every bit a woman of her time, engaging in the overblown sentimentality and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/odd-victorian-mourning-rituals/amandasedlakhevener" target="_blank">culture of death</a> so pervasive during the age that bears her name. When she died at 81, the queen left secret, detailed instructions on how to handle her body and what items to place in her coffin. There are, indeed, a number of&nbsp;strange Queen Victoria&nbsp;death&nbsp;facts worth exploring.

Victorians had something of an obsession with death and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/victorian-death-and-mourning-customs/lisa-waugh" target="_blank">death rituals</a>. One reason this was true was because people of the era literally lived in close proximity to death. Aspects of the Industrial Revolution shortened life expectancy, even in an age when 40 was considered old. Dead bodies were cleaned and prepared for burial by family members, and the corpses were put in their parlors for viewing.&nbsp;Friends and loved ones created jewelry made from the hair of the deceased;&nbsp;furniture and doorways were draped in black crepe;&nbsp;and even photos were taken of the dead, dressed and seated in chairs with other family members, as though they were still alive. Or families would gather for photos, all dressed in black,&nbsp;around a portrait of the dearly departed, sorrowful looks on every face.&nbsp;Death and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/collections/life-after-death" target="_blank">all that came with it</a> hovered far more closely to the living than it does today.

This was also the age of Romanticism, an artistic, literary, and cultural tradition that focused on both the natural and unnatural world. Some Victorians expressed a strong interest in the paranormal, the spectral, and otherworldly. Sentimentality and emotion also held sway during the 19th century. It&#39;s no wonder, really, that Queen Victoria&#39;s death wishes were anything but simple.

The Morbidly Creepy And Straight Up Weird Contents Of Queen Victoria's Coffin

The Morbidly Creepy Contents Of Queen Victoria's Coffin

Cheryl Adams Richkoff

Lists of fun facts, fascinating trivia, and wild, charming, and even heartbreaking stories about some of the most famous actors of classic film you feel like you already know.

Gonna Make You a Star

Judy Garland was an undeniably sparkling presence on film, from her breakthrough role in <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/wizard-of-oz-facts/philgibbons" target="_blank">The Wizard of Oz</a>&nbsp;to later successes like A Star Is Born. Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/judy-garland-true-story-movie/patrick-thornton" target="_blank">her life was marked by suffering</a>;&nbsp;all of the horrible things that happened to Judy Garland would dominate any faithful biography of the talented&nbsp;but tragic actress.

Stories about Judy Garland detail the dysfunctional parents, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/classic-old-hollywood-studio-system-abuses/anncasano" target="_blank">studio abuses</a>, early exposure to drugs and alcohol, and series of dreadful marriages that became&nbsp;the foundation of an existence that ended in 1969 at the age of 47. But terrible Judy Garland facts would also have to include her own choices and behavior. Garland was certainly the victim of the horrific world of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/reasons-old-hollywood-sucked/evan-lambert" target="_blank">old Hollywood</a>, but she seemed unable to break the cycle of bad relationships and financial ruin that ultimately took over her life and career.

As Dorothy, Judy Garland was able to successfully make it back home, to a house filled with love and stability. Sadly, in the real world, she would never be able to truly make it over the rainbow, as covered in the 2019 <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/judy-cast-actors-real-life/sarah-blumert" target="_blank">Judy biopic</a>.&nbsp;Here are some of the scandalous and heartbreaking aspects of the life of Judy Garland.

Tragic Stories From The Life Of Judy Garland

15 Tragic Stories About The Life of Judy Garland

Fun facts and wild true stories from behind the scenes of some of history's most beloved and infamous movies.

Movies in the Making

Sports Movies

In 1987, a short documentary about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL; 1943-1954)&nbsp;aired on television, catching the attention of producer and director Penny Marshall. The documentary inspired the making of the feature film&nbsp;A League of Their Own, which became a commercial and critical hit when it was released in 1992.

Behind the scenes, the cast members trained hard to convincingly portray baseball players, even suffering&nbsp;real injuries in the process. Many of the details in the film, such as the players being sent to charm school, having chaperones, and being forced to play in skirts, are based on the real experiences of the&nbsp;AAGPBL athletes.&nbsp;

While the film project hit some stumbling blocks along the way - the original studio placed it in turnaround and several of the actors originally cast dropped out or were replaced - <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/final-film-appearances/loganrapp?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the final film</a> remains one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-inspirational-sports-movies" target="_blank">most entertaining and inspirational</a>&nbsp;sports movies in Hollywood history. In 2012, it was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry. And in 2020, <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/a-league-of-their-own-series-amazon-1234727631/" target="_blank">Amazon announced</a> it had picked up a TV series version of the film; the show will follow a new set of characters as they attempt to become professional baseball players.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In the film, Tom Hanks&#39;s character memorably claimed, &quot;There&#39;s no crying in baseball!&quot;&nbsp;That may or may not be true, but what&nbsp;is&nbsp;true is that the making of&nbsp;A League of Their Own sounds as fun as the finished movie.

Behind-The-Scenes Stories From ‘A League of Their Own,’ The Most Rewatchable Sports Movie

Behind The Scenes Stories From 'A League Of Their Own'

TGWrites

Feminism

The relationship between Anne Sullivan and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-helen-keller/justin-andress" target="_blank">Helen Keller</a> went beyond pupil and teacher. It was based in Sullivan's ability to open up the world for Keller. Deaf, blind, and mute due to a childhood illness, Helen Keller learned to read, write, and speak through the tireless efforts of her instructor, friend, and companion, Anne Sullivan. &nbsp;Anne Sullivan's <a href="http://www.afb.org/asm/AnneEducationalPhilosophy.asp" target="_blank">teaching philosophy</a> was based on making learning active, enjoyable, and on going. Through finger-spelling, gestures, Braille, and vocal training, Sullivan&nbsp;gave Keller the gifts of language, expression, and liberation. She made the world available to Helen through her compassion, tireless efforts, and innovative pedagogy. How exactly did Anne Sullivan bring the previously unavailable outside world in to Helen Keller? Read on to find out.&nbsp;

How Exactly Did Anne Sullivan Teach Helen Keller To Communicate?

How Did Anne Sullivan Teach Helen Keller To Communicate?

Exploring the life and end Abraham Lincoln, the tall lawyer in the top hat who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until he was taken out by an enemy in April 1865.

Lincoln the Liberator

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford&#39;s Theatre in Washington, DC.&nbsp;Much has been written about <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-john-wilkes-booth/stephanroget" target="_blank">Booth</a>&#39;s motivations: that he was a Confederate sympathizer, or&nbsp;suffering from professional jealousy, or simply wanted attention. Regardless, when Booth left Ford&#39;s Theatre that night, he had indelibly changed the course of history, slaying&nbsp;a man&nbsp;now considered one of the nation&#39;s <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-u-s-presidents-from-best-to-worst" target="_blank">greatest presidents</a>.

In the weeks, months, and years following the event, the nation grappled&nbsp;with the consequences of Booth&#39;s actions. But for Booth himself, the results were much more immediate. In John Wilkes Booth&#39;s final days, he ran. He ran for 13 days, from Ford&#39;s Theatre all the way to a small farm near Port Royal, VA. The search to find him&nbsp;was <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/abraham-lincoln-assassination" target="_blank">one of the biggest manhunts</a> in history, with&nbsp;10,000 federal troops involved.&nbsp;

It&#39;s hard to say what kind of future Booth thought he had, or what he thought might happen to him if he were caught. But for nearly a fortnight&nbsp;days, from&nbsp;April 14-26, America held its breath and followed the thrilling hunt for the man who had slain President Lincoln.

A Timeline Of The Hunt For John Wilkes Booth

Quinn Armstrong

The royal family has no shortage of exquisite jewels. Due in part to the reach of the British Empire, monarchs have amassed caches of gemstones from around the world, along with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/surprising-things-queen-elizabeth-ii-owns/mallory-weiler" target="_blank">other treasures</a>. Some are placed in ceremonial objects like the <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-crown-jewels/#gs.h3lkhn" target="_blank">Crown Jewels</a>; others are worked into more wearable accessories. Tiaras may not be daily adornments for the princesses and duchesses of the various noble houses of England, but few objects are more intimately associated with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-rules-royal-family-must-follow/eric-eidelstein" target="_blank">royalty</a>.

From <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/rare-princess-diana-photos/katejacobson" target="_blank">Princess Diana&#39;s</a> family heirloom to a treasured piece worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, here are some of the royal family&#39;s most memorable - and beautiful - tiaras.

The Most Beautiful Tiaras Belonging To The British Royal Family

Sarah Hatheway

Life in the trenches during WWI was miserable. Projectiles flew overhead, rain drenched the men, and the rotting stench of human remains carried in the air. But the trenches were paradise compared to going over the top. In WWI, troops dug into trenches in France, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey, creating a&nbsp;perilous &quot;No Man&#39;s Land&quot; separating&nbsp;the two sides. Anyone who entered was ripped to shreds by enemy fire and barbed wire. Officers ordered their troops to go &quot;over the top&quot; and rush&nbsp;the enemy lines through barbed wire, blasting artillery shells, and a hail of enemy fire&nbsp;armed with only standard-issue gear.

Just as&nbsp;photos from the WWI trenches&nbsp;capture the destruction, the men who fought left detailed accounts of what it was like to receive their&nbsp;orders and go &quot;over the top.&quot; They witnessed comrades left on the battlefield to perish&nbsp;as trench warfare took its human toll. <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends" target="_blank">Nine&nbsp;million servicemen</a>&nbsp;lost their lives in the conflict, but it&#39;s hard to fully grasp the extent of the loss and destruction without hearing from the men who survived to tell their&nbsp;vivid stories.

WWI Soldiers Describe What It Was Like To Go 'Over The Top' In Trench Warfare

WW1 Trench Stories: Soldiers Describe What It Was Like Going 'Over The Top'

Genevieve Carlton

Lists about the true stories that inspired books, films, TV, and other stories you think you know. 

What Really Happened

Horror Movies and TV

The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, is one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-horror-films-ever-made" target="_blank">best&nbsp;horror films</a> of the 21st century. It looks amazing, it plays on the audience&rsquo;s worst fears, and it is based on a true story. But how true is it? There are a lot of films that say they are based on a true story just to get in an extra scare, but those claims rarely add up to anything more than a disclaimer on a movie poster. 

Throughout the &#39;70s, the Perron family claimed to have lived The Conjuring. The family members were thrown out of their beds, ghosts kissed them in the middle of the night, and they were preyed upon by the&nbsp;spirit of a witch named Bathsheba Thayer. 

Was The Conjuring a true story? The Perron family certainly believes that they were haunted by something while they lived in a farmhouse in Rhode Island. They even got in touch with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/strange-ed-and-lorraine-warren-cases/patrick-thornton" target="_blank">Ed and Lorraine Warren</a>,&nbsp;the paranormal investigators who helped turn <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-truth-of-what-actually-happened-at-amityville/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">the </a><a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-truth-of-what-actually-happened-at-amityville/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Amityville Haunting</a> into a household name.

Regardless of whether the haunting occurred&nbsp;the way that it was portrayed in the film, something very real seems to have happened&nbsp;to the Perron family, and like the photos that inspired&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/real-photos-that-inspired-exorcism-of-emily-rose/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">The Exorcism of Emily Rose</a>, their terror went on to help craft one of the scariest movies of the 2000s.

The True Story Behind 'The Conjuring' Is Even Creepier Than The Movie

The True Story Behind The Conjuring Is Even Creepier Than The Movie

Jacob Shelton

Weird History lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for lists and rankings in all categories

Weird History lists on Ranker

Weird History lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for hundreds of Weird History lists and rankings.

Weird, spooky, and tragic stories of people who passed in odd ways or on strange days.

Unusual Demises

There were some strange deaths that have occurred during the 20th century and these are the most bizarre ways that people passed in the 1900s. The following list includes some the most unusual ways of passing imaginable. There are plenty of strange ways to perish, but these might be the strangest&nbsp;of all&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;unique and extremely rare circumstances that you can think of.

What are the most bizarre ways famous people have died in the last century? Do you know someone who swallowed a toothpick at a party and then perished because of peritonitis? Did you know about an actress who passed when she fell down a chimney, thinking it was a balcony? If not, read this list of all the unusual deaths of 20th century people who died in strange ways.

Unusual Deaths: Bizarre Deaths Of The 20th Century

Bizarre Deaths | List of Unusual Ways To Die

Notable Famous Deaths

Before tickets even went on sale, every major motion picture employed dozens of people and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Here is how some of them screwed it all up.

Famous Film Fails

Accidents

Accidents happen on the sets of big budget movies, but most of them don't cost the cast or crew their lives. Film productions follow a number of regulations to keep performers and crew members safe, but while shooting scenes of manufactured peril, performers sometimes put themselves in situations where the slightest miscalculation can quickly become deadly. Some occurred on <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/the-most-nausea-inducing-great-films/randolph" target="_blank">nausea-inducing sets</a>; others happened in seemingly commonplace situations.What are some <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-who-died-of-euthanasia/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">examples of people</a> dying on movie sets? People have lost their lives on films as early as 1928's Noah's Ark. Here are some of the worst cases where mistakes and misfortune have collided to produce fatal consequences.

11 Classic Film Sets That Actually Killed People

Film

Deaths on Movie Sets | List of Fatal Accidents During Film Productions

Matt Blackwood

Looking closer at the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe, a period during which artists, architects, politicians, scientists, and writers embraced humanism, bringing their society from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

The Renaissance

Historical Figures

List of odd deaths that happened during the Renaissance, including some of the rumors and legends behind them. This list includes stories of people dying from laughter, a ruler who died due to shyness about using the restroom, and a man who was beaten to death with his own artificial limb. "The Renaissance" is a term used to refer to a broad cultural movement that swept across Europe from the 14th through the 17th century, as well as the period in European History that divides the Late Middle Ages from the beginnings of the modern era. Through the term is most typically used to refer to the Renaissance in Italy - which includes a number of the most famous writers, thinkers, and artists of the period - the Renaissance itself spread to a number of European nations, including Scandinavia, The Netherlands, England, France, Hungary, and Russia.Need more? Check out the most unusual murders of other eras such as the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/unusual-deaths-bizarre-deaths-during-the-middle-ages/notable-famous-deaths">odd deaths during the Middle Ages</a> and the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/unusual-deaths-bizarre-deaths-of-the-21st-century/notable-famous-deaths">bizarre deaths from the 21st century.</a>

The 9 Strangest Deaths of the Renaissance And Early Modern Eras

Renaissance Deaths | List of Strange Renaissance Era Killings

A look at major events that happened a long time ago and the people who played the biggest roles in shaping the world as we know it.

Historical Facts & Figures

True Stories

These are some of the most influential, famous, and historically important human beings of all time... who also happened to be huge, shameless perverts and/or deviants. Sure they were all a little predatory, but we wouldn&#39;t be where we are without these forward-thinking men who, in modern times, would have a red dot above their house in a government database.

You will definitely recognize some of these famous perverts, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself. Turns out he wrote a bunch of very untoward songs, including one about licking a certain body part that rhymes with grass.&nbsp;

These historical perverts were musicians, philosophers, emperors, kings, and writers. Were you surprised to learn these gasp-inducing facts? Check out more below.&nbsp;

The Most Historically Important Perverts Of All Time

Beau Iverson

Weird History

George Washington

Benjamin Franklin

Abraham Lincoln

Settlers of Catan

Ticket to Ride

Pandemic

Ronald Reagan

Steve Jobs

Bill Gates

Jesus Christ

Leonardo da Vinci

Isaac Newton

Are you already an expert in everything America? Great! No need to read about these fascinating facts and important events that have shaped the U.S. as we know it today.

US History You Should Know

poll

List of the most important leaders in U.S. history. Love 'em or hate 'em, these leaders shaped American history from its founding through today. Men and women who have truly defined America through their work and leadership, even if it did not mean serving political office, are ranked here on this master list of leaders. Pioneers who changed the landscape, from the Civil Rights Movement, to Women's Suffrage, to the atom bomb, appear on this list of American leaders who changed the world.The most important American presidents are ranked here, like Harry S. Truman and George Washington to name a few, along with First Ladies like Eleanor Roosevelt. Industry leaders like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller cannot be overlooked, nor can leaders who were not in the U.S. government itself, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Susan B. Anthony. Leadership takes many forms throughout American history, and famous American leaders pervade all of history, but this list gives props to those who were the most influential. Vote up the most important U.S. leaders below, or if the United States is too small for you, make sure to peruse this list of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-important-leaders-in-world-history">The Most Important Leaders in World History</a>.

John F. Kennedy

The Most Important Leaders in U.S. History

Most Important Leaders in US History | List of American Leaders

Mel Judson

This is a list of the most <a href="/list/important-historical-figures-not-taught-in-school/genevieve-carlton" target="_blank">influential people</a> of all of human history. This means that the individuals on this list have had a significant effect on how regular people live their lives today and have had a large impact on how modern society works. The names on this list include iconic religious figures, recognizable scientists and inventors, and some of the most powerful&nbsp;<a href="/crowdranked-list/the-most-important-leaders-in-world-history" target="_blank">important leaders in world history</a>. Vote for your top choices and re-rank this list your way.&nbsp;

What makes an individual worthy of a spot on a list of the most influential people ever? Certainly, some of the <a href="/list/greatest-minds-of-all-time/walter-graves" target="_blank">greatest minds of all time</a> deserve to be ranked highly. Examples include Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, and certainly <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/whoa-historical-figure-facts-09252020/mallory-weiler" target="_blank">Albert Einstein</a>. Each one of these incredible and inspirational&nbsp;people used the power of their minds to change the world. Not surprisingly, several names on this list are also among the most <a href="/crowdranked-list/famous-role-models-we_d-like-to-meet-in-person" target="_blank">famous role models we&#39;d like to meet in person</a>.

Featuring historical figures, interesting men, and impactful people, this list of the world&#39;s most legendary figures have had all kinds of effects on the biggest and historic events.

And modern-era figures also deserve to be listed here. Can anyone argue that Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg aren&#39;t among the <a href="/crowdranked-list/the-most-influential-contemporary-americans" target="_blank">most influential contemporary Americans</a>? It&#39;s time to add your opinions on who you believe are the most&nbsp;influential&nbsp;people&nbsp;in&nbsp;history, with your votes and your rankings.

William Shakespeare

The Legacy Of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The Most Influential People of All Time

Ranker Community

A list of the Americans who have had the most central influence on, or importance to, the modern era. This would include Americans who have most significantly altered the course of events from roughly the 1980s onward. So while someone like Ronald Reagan or Steve Jobs might very well apply, figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt or even Martin Luther King Jr. would probably not be considered contemporary enough to qualify.Americans from every walk of life and every industry have managed to profoundly influence the country. This can include efforts to alter the culture or perspective of Americans, technological or scientific innovations that forever <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/ways-internet-changes-how-we-think/hannah-collins?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">changed the way</a> we live, business achievements which altered the course of one or multiple industries, or political decisions that permanently shifted later events in America and the world.Vote for the important Americans below you think had the greatest impact on the way we live today. Or if you don't see your selection, add it by making your own list.

Mark Zuckerberg

The Most Influential Contemporary Americans

Famous Americans: List of the Most Influential Americans

Ranking the best board games and card games for fun interactive competition with family,  friends, and future frenemies.

Game Night

Popular Opinion

These are the best board games ever made, ranked by game&nbsp;aficionados and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-ps4-board-games/kyle-townsend" target="_blank">casual players alike</a>.&nbsp;What are the greatest board games ever? The classic games that have entertained families of players for decades? Or innovative new table-top role-playing games pushing the boundaries between fiction and reality? This list attempts to determine, once and for all, which are the greatest and most fun board games of all time.

A board game here is defined as any game in which pieces are placed on or moved around a flat surface, such as a board. This would include popular centuries-old board games such as Go, Chess, and Checkers, along with more modern <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-settlers-games/video-game-info?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">games like Settlers</a> of Catan, or even some role-playing games involving game pieces or miniatures. What are the best board games ever? What&#39;s the best <a href="/list/2-player-board-games/ranker-games?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">board game for two people</a>? What&#39;s the best board game for groups?

Some games still utilize game pieces but are built more around live interaction or conversation rather than traditional &quot;turn-based&quot; board games. These games &ndash; such as Scattergories or Taboo &ndash; may not meet the strict definition of a board game, but nonetheless resemble board game-style play and entertainment enough to warrant inclusion.

This list was determined by allowing users to make lists of suggestions for the greatest board games ever, and then holding an open vote on which games were actually the best of all time. Whether you are a hardcore board game geek or <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/board-games-for-teens/ranker-games" target="_blank">just a casual player</a>, your votes count here. Check out all the most popular board games, and don&#39;t forget to vote on the best board games on the list already to ensure they rise to the top!