Mother Teresa was the founder of the religious order Missionaries of Charity which she remained the head of until shortly before her death of pneumonia in 1997. Some years prior to her death, the Archbishop of her diocese performed an exorcism on her because she believed she was under attack from the devil. Mother Teresa has now been beatified - the first step to sainthood, by the Catholic Church.

Carole Landis was an American film actress. She landed many roles as the “second lady” in notable films of the 1940s. Landis was also an accomplished author. Landis was plagued by depression her entire life and attempted suicide in 1944 and 1946. By 1948, her career was fading and her marriage with Schmidlapp was failing. She was reported to be crushed when her lover refused to divorce his wife for her and, unable to cope any longer, she committed suicide at Pacific Palisades, California, by taking an overdose of Seconal. She was 29 years old.

Tiny Tim was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He was most famous for his rendition of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” sung in a distinctive high falsetto / vibrato voice. In September 1996, he suffered a heart attack just as he began singing at a ukulele festival at the Montague Grange Hall. He continued to play concerts despite the warnings that, due to the fragile state of his heart, he could die at any moment. While playing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” at a Gala Benefit at The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis on 30 November of that year, he suffered another heart attack on stage. He was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died after doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Jesse James was an American outlaw in the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. After his death, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West, although his robberies benefited only him and his band. After his life of crime, with his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse James thought that he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Robert and Charley Ford. Little did he know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in the famous outlaw. On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James prepared for departure for another robbery when James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. Robert Ford took advantage of the opportunity, and shot James in the back of the head.

Elvis Presley was an American singer, musician and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly referred to by his first name, and as the “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” or “The King”. After his divorce in 1973, Presley became increasingly unwell, with prescription drugs affecting his health, mood and his stage act. His diet had always been unhealthy, and he now had significant weight problems. He overdosed twice on barbiturates, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first. His health plummeted as his weight ballooned. In 1977, Presley was found on his bathroom floor by fiancée, Ginger Alden. According to the medical investigator, Presley had “stumbled or crawled several feet before he died”; he had apparently been using the toilet at the time. Death was officially pronounced at 3:30 pm at the Baptist Memorial Hospital.

Lenny Bruce was an American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial led to the first posthumous pardon in New York history. On August 3, 1966, Bruce was found dead in the bathroom of his Hollywood Hills home at 8825 Kings Road. The “official” photo, taken at the scene, showed Bruce lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other narcotics paraphernalia. His official cause of death was acute morphine poisoning caused by an accidental overdose.

Ted Bundy was an American serial killer. Bundy murdered numerous young women across the United States between 1974 and 1978. After more than a decade of vigorous denials, he eventually confessed to 30 murders, although the actual total of victims remains unknown. At 7:06 a.m. local time on January 24, 1989, Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. His last words were, “I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.” Then, more than 2,000 volts were applied across his body for less than two minutes. He was pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m. Several hundred people were gathered outside the prison and cheered when they saw the signal that Bundy had been declared dead.

John Dillinger was a notorious bank robber in mid-western America. Some considered him a dangerous criminal, while others idolized him as a present-day Robin Hood. He gained this latter reputation (and the nickname “Jackrabbit”) for his graceful movements during bank heists, such as leaping over the counter (a movement he supposedly copied from the movies) and many narrow getaways from police. On July 22, 1934, Dillinger went to the movies with his girlfriend, Polly Hamilton, and Anna Sage, a brothel madam in Gary, Indiana. Because of the nature of Sage’s profession, she was considered an undesirable alien by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and deportation proceedings had begun. She made a deal with the FBI to help them get Dillinger in exchange for dropping the deportation proceedings. When they exited the air-conditioned theater that hot summer night, Sage tipped off the FBI agents, who opened fire as Dillinger ran, drawing his weapon, killing him.

Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic who is perceived as having influenced the later days of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, his wife the Tsaritsa Alexandra, and their only son the Tsarevich Alexei. Rasputin had often been called the “Mad Monk”. It has been argued that Rasputin helped to discredit the tsarist government, leading to the fall of the Romanov dynasty, in 1917. The murder of Rasputin has become legend, some of it invented by the very men who killed him, which is why it becomes difficult to discern exactly what happened. What is known is that he was poisoned (unsuccessfully), then shot (unsuccessfully), and then drowned (successfully).

was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, “in great distress, and… in need of immediate assistance”. He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning. Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name “Reynolds” on the night before his death, though it is unclear to whom he was referring.

Kurt Cobain was an American musician who served as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Seattle-based grunge band Nirvana. With the lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from Nirvana’s second album Nevermind (1991), Cobain with Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with them a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. On April 8, 1994, Cobain’s body was discovered at his Lake Washington home by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system. Apart from a minor amount of blood coming out of Cobain’s ear, Smith reported seeing no visible signs of trauma, and initially believed that Cobain was asleep until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now”. A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were also found in his body. I have included this photo as a bonus, for the obvious reason that it only shows Cobain’s leg.

This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.

Contributor: JFrater

This picture looks like it could be just an ordinary touristy snapshot. But it actually shows General Grant (left) and five officers on Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, after Grant whipped the Confederates in November 1863. Sticking out of Grant’s mouth is one of his ever-present cigars (which would eventually give him the throat cancer that killed him).

A quartet of black children wearing Army hats (at least they look like children) sit in the ruins of Circular Church on Meeting Street in Charleston, birthplace of secession.

If the dating of this photo is correct, then it was taken during the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 15-16, 1864. It shows the outer edge of the Union lines.

Men and noncoms of Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, at Fort Lincoln, Washington D.C. The bottom rail is on top, as these soldiers were among the 180,000 black men who served in the Union army during the war—and helped deliver ultimate victory.

It looks like a scene from World War I, but this photograph shows dead Confederates in the trenches at Petersburg, Va., 1865.

Fugitive slaves crossing the Rappahannock River toward the North, August 1862.

This photograph shows what happens when an ammunition train goes BOOM! George Bernard saw the results when he photographed the remains of CSA General Hood’s 28-car ammunition train, which Hood’s retreating army burned after loosing Atlanta to Sherman, September 1864.

This was the late Shelby Foote’s favorite photograph because it “shows three Confederate soldiers who were captured at Gettysburg, You can see exactly how the Confederate soldier was dressed. And one of them has his arms up—like this—as if he knows he’s having his picture taken but he’s determined to remain the individual that he is. There’s just something about that photograph that strikes me as an image of the war.” (This remark appears during the episode on Gettysburg in Ken Burns’ The Civil War.)

At first, it seems like something of a happy scene, with many people standing around and what looks like garland decorating the tent. But that’s a surgeon’s saw the man at center is holding, and the original caption says the photo is showing an amputation.

Alexander Gardener photographed Lincoln and General McClellan on the Antietam battlefield, October 1862. Notice how much taller Lincoln is compared to McClellan and his staff, and also notice McClellan’s strutting pose. McClellan styled himself the savior of the nation, but a couple of weeks after this picture was taken—and more than a month after the battle—Lincoln fired McClellan for good.

Peachtree Street, Atlanta, after Sherman captured that city in 1864. Looks a far cry from the glorious Technicolor splendor of “Gone with the Wind,” doesn’t it.

Most pictures of generals are stuffy and stiffly formal because of the nature of photographic technology at that time but George N. Bernard managed to capture this image of General William T. Sherman on his horse at Fort No. 7 before Atlanta, August 1864.

Timothy O’Sullivan took this and several similar pictures from the church, whose pews the generals are sitting on. At left, General Grant looks over the shoulder of General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. In other pictures in the series, Grant is sitting on the pew facing the photographer. Put these pictures together and you have the closest thing to a movie that came out of the Civil War. Significant also because during this pause in the campaign, General Lee was getting ready to pull Grant into a trap at the North Anna River. But Grant sensed the trap and disengaged, sidestepping once more to the South.

It looks like a European town destroyed by artillery or bombers during either of the world wars. But this picture shows the devastating results from the fire that swept Richmond when the Confederate government retreated.

Lincoln’s remarks were very short, as the photographer had barely gotten ready when Lincoln was finished. Hence, the blurry nature of this historic event.

This remarkable photo of Union soldiers waiting to advance is usually misidentified as being taken during the siege of Petersburg, 1864-1865. The Library of Congress has it labeled as such. But according to James McPherson, it was actually taken a year earlier, before the Chancellorsville campaign.

James Gibson took this photo of a field hospital at Savage’s Station, Va., during the Seven Days campaign east of Richmond.

Alexander Gardener photographed these dead rebels of Starke’s Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia where they fell along the Haggerstown Turnpike. Gardner took this picture two days after the battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg to the CSA). Gardener’s boss, Matthew Brady, took his photographs and made them into a display for the public—one that shocked people who had never before seen war dead (which was practically everyone).

This picture was taken a few days after his unfortunate assault at Cold Harbor. The strain on his face is palpable. By the time this photo was taken, Grant and Lee had lost a combined 80,000 men (50K Union, 30K Confederate) at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Cold Harbor.

This is one of the most historically valuable photos ever taken of the war because it is the only known photograph that shows Confederate soldiers on the march in enemy territory. (Maryland was indeed enemy territory to them, because slave-holding Maryland elected to remain in the Union.) What’s haunting about this photo is that, statistically speaking, before the end of the month one-third of all the men in that picture would be dead, wounded or missing. The photo is the property of the Historical Society of Frederick County (Maryland), and no larger size is available.

Contributor: STL Mo

Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries
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10 More Unsolved Mysteries of the World

The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp is a humanoid cryptid which is said to inhabit areas of swampland in and around Lee County, South Carolina. He is described as being seven feet tall (over 2m), bipedal, and well built, with green scaly skin and glowing orange eyes. It is said to have three toes on each foot and three fingers on each hand which end in a circular pad on them that stick to walls. The first reported sighting of the creature was made by Christopher Davis, a 17 year old local, who said he encountered the creature while driving home from work at 2 AM on June 29, 1988. According to his account, Davis stopped on a road bordering Scape Ore Swamp in order to change a tire which had blown out. When he was finishing up he reported having heard a thumping noise from behind him and having turned around to see the creature running towards him. Davis said the creature tried to grab at the car and then jumped on its roof as he tried to escape, clinging on to it as Davis swerved from side to side in an effort to throw it off. After he returned home, Davis’ side-view-mirror was found to be badly damaged, and scratch marks were found on the car’s roof–though there was no other physical evidence of his encounter.

In the month that followed the Davis sighting there were several further reports of a large lizard like creature, and of unusual scratches and bite marks found on cars parked close to the swamp. Most of these are said to have occurred within a three-mile (5 km) radius of the swamps of Bishopville. Two weeks after the Davis sighting the sheriff’s department made several plaster casts of what appeared to be three-toed footprints - measuring some 14 inches (360 mm) in length - but decided against sending them on to the FBI for further analysis after biologists advised them that they were unclassifiable.

The Hopkinsville Goblins case, is a well-known and well-documented alleged Close Encounter event in the history of UFO incidents. The event occurred near the towns of Kelly and Hopkinsville, Kentucky beginning on the evening of August 21, 1955 and continuing through the next morning. UFO researcher Allan Hendry wrote “[t]his case is distinguished by its duration and also by the number of witnesses involved.” Multiple eyewitnesses would claim that, for several hours stretching over a late evening and early morning, they repeatedly saw five glowing, silvery creatures, each three feet tall and seeming to float above the ground. The witnesses additionally claimed to have used firearms to shoot at the creatures, with little or no effect.

On the evening of August 21, 1955, Billy Ray Taylor was visiting friends for dinner when he observed strange lights in the sky to the west. He called the others outside. The group saw a luminous, three-and-a-half-foot-tall being with an oversized head, big, floppy, pointed ears, glowing eyes, and hands with talons at their ends. The figure, either made of or simply dressed in silvery metal, had its hands raised. When the creature approached to within about 20 feet of the Taylor home, the men began shooting at it, one using a shotgun, the other man using a .22 rifle. The creature, they said, then flipped over and fled into the darkness. As the men stepped from the porch to look for the body, a taloned hand reached from the roof and touched them. For the next few hours, all members of the household witnessed the creatures repeatedly moving toward the house. This is such an odd story that I strongly recommend you read the full article at Wikipedia.

Summerwind Mansion, formerly known as Lamont Mansion, is a now derelict cellar hole on the shores of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, North East Wisconsin. It is reputed to be one of the most haunted locations in Wisconsin. Due to abandonment, the elements and fire, little of the mansion currently remains standing. Summerwind was originally constructed during the early 20th century as a fishing lodge. In 1916 it was purchased by Robert P. Lamont, who employed Chicago architects Tallmadge and Watson to substantially remodel the property and convert it into a mansion. Lamont remained in Summerwind for approximately 15 years, during which time the maids told Lamont that the mansion was haunted, but he did not believe them. However, he is then reported to have abandoned the property suddenly in the mid 1930s after witnessing an apparition in the mansion’s kitchen.

After remaining vacant for some time, the house became the residence of Arnold and Ginger Hinshaw and their four children, who moved in during the early 1970s. It is from this time onwards that most of the haunting reports originate. After taking up residence, the Hinshaws reported a number of strange occurrences, ranging from flickering shadows that appeared to move down the hallways and soft voices that stopped when they entered rooms, to unexplained electrical/mechanical problems and sash windows that raised themselves. They also reported seeing the ghost of an unidentified woman who appeared several times in the vicinity of the house’s dining room. Within six months of moving into Summerwind, Arnold suffered a breakdown and Ginger attempted suicide. Arnold was sent for treatment and Ginger moved in with her parents in Granton, Wisconsin.

In June 1988 Summerwind was struck by lightning several times, resulting in a fire that destroyed much of the mansion. Oddly, lightning struck the house, not the taller trees around it. Today, only the house’s chimney stacks, foundations, and stone steps remain.

The Clapham Wood Mystery is the name given to a collection of unusual events which are associated with the Clapham Wood, West Sussex, England, resulting in the area developing its own lore in popular culture. Events have included reports of people making unusual sights or experiencing unusual phenomena, and of family pets disappearing or sickening. There have also been several human deaths associated with the location. Since the 1960s the area has experienced a rash of UFO sighting, reports of people, experiencing nausea or the sensation of being pushed by unseen forces, or of witnessing patches of strange grey mist developing suddenly on pathways through the woods. Some people have also reported a strong sense of being followed. Studies with a gieger counter have revealed slightly elevated levels of background radiation in the area, which is surprising since the area is situated on chalk which is normally low in radiation. Early photographs of the wood appear to show a large crater or depression somewhere in the wood, though now the area is highly wooded and difficult to search.

Four deaths have occurred either in or close to the woods and have since become part of the lore surrounding it. The first death was in June 1972 when police officer Peter Goldsmith disappeared while hiking in the region. His body was discovered 6 months later. The second death was that of Leon Foster whose body was discovered in August 1975. He had been missing for 3 weeks. The third death was of Reverend Harry Neil Snelling, the former vicar of Clapham. He disappeared in October 1978 and his body was not found until 3 years later. English coroners ruled open verdicts in all three cases.

The Bridgewater Triangle is an area of about 200 square miles (520 km2) within southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. Since colonial times the area has been a site of alleged paranormal phenomena, ranging from UFO and “black helicopter” sightings (including many with multiple points of corroboration including police and a local news team), to poltergeists and orbs, balls of fire and other spectral phenomena, various “bigfoot” sightings, giant snakes and ‘thunderbirds’, as well as the mutilation of cattle and other livestock. Central to the area is the mysterious and largely untouched Hockomock Swamp, which means “the place where spirits dwell”, and which was called “The Devil’s Swamp” by early settlers. The Triangle also has been known to house several Indian burial grounds.

One of the most common phenomena reportedly observed in the area is “spooklights” or what otherwise matches the description of will-o’-the-wisp, sometimes known as ghost lights which are typically seen in boggy or swampy areas. The behavior of this phenomenon is consistent with mysterious lights allegedly observed within the Bridgewater Triangle, including those which are said to appear along train tracks every January.

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon was the name given to the person or persons believed to be behind a series of apparent gas attacks that occurred in Botetourt County, Virginia, during the early 1930s, and in Mattoon, Illinois, during the mid-1940s. The first reported gasser incident occurred at the home of Cal Huffman, in Haymakertown, Botetourt County, where there were three reported attacks over the course of a single night.
At about 10:00 pm on December 22, 1933, Mrs. Huffman reported smelling an unusual odor, and was overcome by a feeling of nausea. The odor and the nausea returned again at about 10:30pm, at which time Cal Huffman contacted the police. A third attack occurred around 1:00 a.m., this time affecting the entire house; in total, eight members of the Huffman family were affected by the gas, along with Ashby Henderson, a guest staying at the house.

The next recorded incident occurred in Cloverdale on December 24. Clarence Hall, his wife, and their two children returned from a church service at about 9:00 p.m. They detected a strong, sweet odor and immediately began to feel weak and nauseated. Police investigating the case discovered that a nail had been pulled from a rear window, near where the gas appeared to be the most concentrated, and presumed that the nail hole had been used to inject it into the house. A third incident occurred on December 27, in which Troutville resident A. Kelly and his mother reported similar signs and symptoms to the Huffman and Hall cases. A fourth and fifth incident occurred on January 10, when Mrs. Moore, a guest in home of Haymakertown resident Homer Hylton, reported hearing voices outside before gas was injected into the room through a damaged window. The second attack that night was reported in Troutville, at the home of G. Kinzie.

At least 10 other cases were reported in Botetourt, and 10 years later, over 20 new cases were reported in Mattoon. One witness claimed to have seen the gasser and described “him” as a tall thin woman dressed as a man and footprints belonging to a woman were discovered at some of the scenes.

In the mid-eighteenth century, hunters in the Ochamchir region of Georgia (a Province of Russia on the edge of the Black sea) captured a ‘wild woman’ who had ape-like features, a massive bosom, thick arms, legs, and fingers, and was covered with hair. This ‘wild woman’, named Zana by her captors, was so violent at first that she had to spend many years in a cage with food being tossed to her. Eventually, she was domesticated and would perform simple tasks, like grinding corn. She had an incredible endurance against cold, and couldn’t stand to be in a heated room. She enjoyed gorging herself on grapes from the vine, and also had a weakness for wines, often drinking so heavily she would sleep for hours. As Colin Wilson points out in The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries, this is likely how she became the mother of many children to different fathers. These children usually died when she tried to wash them in the freezing river. The villagers started to take her children away from her and raise them as their own; unlike their mother, the children developed the ability to communicate as well as any other villager. Zana died in the village about 1890; the youngest of her children died in 1954. Her story was researched by Professor Porchnev who interviewed many old people (one as old as a hundred and five) who remembered Zana, as well as two of her grandchildren. The grandchildren had dark skin, and the grandson, named Shalikula, had jaws so powerful that he could lift a chair with a man sitting in it. It is believed that Zana may have somehow been a surviving member a previous evolutionary state of man. [Source]

The Devil’s Footprints was the name given to a peculiar phenomenon that occurred in Devon, England on 8 February 1855. After a light snowfall, during the night, a series of hoof-like marks appeared in the snow. These footprints, measuring 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide and eight inches apart, continued throughout the countryside for a total of over 100 miles, and, although veering at various points, for the greater part of their course followed straight lines. Houses, rivers, haystacks and other obstacles were travelled straight over, and footprints appeared on the tops of snow-covered roofs and high walls which lay in the footprints’ path, as well as leading up to and exiting various drain pipes of as small as a four inch diameter. Reports of similar anomalous, obstacle-unheeded footprints exist from other parts of the world, although none is of such a scale as that of the case of the Devil’s Footprints.

Mary Reeser, born in 1881, was found almost completely consumed by fire in her Florida home in 1951. The odd thing about the discovery of her body was that part of her left foot was left completely unscathed, and the extremely high temperature required to cremate a human body did not cause damage to the room or objects around the pile of ash which remained. The FBI investigators called in Professor Krogman from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, in the hopes that he might explain the mystery. He said: “I find it hard to believe that a human body, once ignited, will literally consume itself — burn itself out, as does a candle wick, guttering in the last residual pool of melted wax […] Just what did happen on the night of July 1, 1951, in St. Petersburg, Florida? We may never know, though this case still haunts me. […] I cannot conceive of such complete cremation without more burning of the apartment itself. In fact the apartment and everything in it should have been consumed. […] I regard it as the most amazing thing I have ever seen. As I review it, the short hairs on my neck bristle with vague fear. Were I living in the Middle Ages, I’d mutter something about black magic.” The mystery has never been solved.

There won’t be many people reading this list who have not heard of the Amityville horror movie - and the majority will no doubt have watched it. What you may not know is that it is based on true events. The authors of the original book (George and Kathy Lutz) were convinced right up to their deaths that the story was true. In 1975, the couple moved in to a home in Amityville, New York. Unbeknownst to them, 13 months earlier, the son of the previous owners shot and killed all six members of his family - claiming to have been directed by voices in his head. The killer (Ronald DeFeo) is still in prison in New York and will remain there until his death. Most strangely, all six of the victims were found lying face down in their beds with no signs of a struggle or sedatives having been administered.

Within 28 days of moving in to the house, George and Kathy Lutz fled - claiming a series of horrific experiences forced them to leave. The family experienced foul smells, loud voices, physical attacks, and unexplained noises. All members of the family, at one time or another, witnessed glowing red eyes in the house. Kathy discovered a small hidden room that was painted red and the family dog refused to go near it. A priest was called in to bless the house and he also witnessed some of the phenomena which he later testified to on camera. The current owners, and those after the Lutzes claim to have had no unusual experiences in the house. The distinctive Dutch style windows have been remodeled to keep curiosity seekers away.

This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.

Contributor: JFrater

Original: Bob Marley

One of many covers that The Clash and Strummer did over the years, and also The Clash is also a highly covered band. It was not uncommon in the late 70s and early 80s for English and American bands to cover reggae songs and ‘bring them to the masses’ .

Original: Tears for Fears

From the Donnie Darko soundtrack, this cover of the Tears for Fears track is an infinitely better version of the song, and also a perfect piece of music for the dark themes explored in the movie.

Original: John Kongos

Classic Ryder take on great rambling dance hall shuffle from South Africa. While the lyric ‘Oh he lied, oooh he’s twistin’ my melon man’ sounded perfectly logical coming from Shaun Ryders Ecstasy fuelled mind, it wasn’t his line.

Original: Brenda Lee

Neil Tennant always had an ear for the sublime hook. And with this cover of Brenda Lee’s 1972 song, that was also covered by Elvis Presley (1972) Wilie Nelson (1982), the Petshop Boys took the song to a UK Number One.

Original: Public Enemy

An agitated mesh of distorted trip hop layered electronica, growls and most the introduction to the world of the stunning Martina Topley-Bird on lead vocals. Tricky credited Public Enemy with being a massive influence on him, but along with Massive Attack and Portishead, Tricky was massively influential in creating the Bristol Sound, or Trip Hop.

Original: The Four Lads

A strange piece this one, but every time I hear it, I can’t help but start nodding and tapping my feet. From the hugely underrated album Flood this song by the two Johns was one of their break through hits, alongside Particle Man and Birdhouse in your Soul.

Original: Trent Reznor

Reznor was famously was quoted as saying ‘that song isn’t mine anymore’ and earned Cash a Country Music Award for Single of the Year. The music video for the Cash version features footage from his life.

Original: Alphaville

Broke this Sydney band on the world stage when their cover of the German trio Alphavilles 80s hit Forever Young was played on an American soap opera The OC.

Original: David Bowie

Was played endlessly by MTV following the news of Kurt Cobain’s passing. This cover of the Bowie song from the 1994 Nirvana album Unplugged in New York showed that there was a lot more to Cobain than the howling grunge sound that Nirvana among others had pioneered.

Original: Prince

Sinead O’Connor had a world wide number one hit in 1990 with this cover of the Prince track originally performed by The Family in 1985. O’Connor’s version is the definitive version, and after the song became a number hit in the US, Australia, Germany and the UK, Prince even began to perform the song at his live shows.

Original: Leonard Cohen

Was always going to make this list, for its break through that it gave Jeff Buckley. Although Cohen’s version is actually more moving, the Buckley cover reached a newer generation that had not heard of Cohen.

Contributor: Spart

A one-Decepticon army, Sixshot transformed into a robot, a tank, a spaceship, a gun, an off-road vehicle and a winged wolf. Although Sixshot did not feature much in the original cartoon series, his one and only appearance was fairly memorable, single handily taking out all of the Aerialbots. Sixshot did not have much of a role in the original Marvel comics either, but he was featured prominently throughout the Japanese cartoon series.

With a laser for one of his hands, and a face that consists of a single ‘eye’, Shockwave was always one of the coolest looking Decepticons. His voice was creepy, and he was always in charge of guarding Cybertron for the Decepticons. Shockwave had a larger role in the Marvel comics, and was even leader of the Decepticons for a time.

Jazz is one cool cat. “Do it with style or don’t bother doing it” is Jazz’ motto. Optimus Prime’s slang-talking right hand man always stood out from the rest of the Autobots. Voiced by Scatman Crothers, Jazz was always the hippest cat on the show. He was armed with a sounds and light-show weapon that would not be out of place on a dance floor, and he even appears to be wearing shades – the intergalactic symbol for coolness.

Created by Starscream, Bruticus was immediately a brutal force capable of defeating the Decepticons’ then most potent weapon, Devastator. Bruticus makes the list because he’s formed by one of the coolest teams in the Transformers universe – the Combaticons. Military vehicles are very cool, and since the Combaticons’ personality components are Decepticon prisoners liberated from a detention centre that makes them super cool. The sum of five super cool robots is one mega cool, giant robot – it’s basic math.

Even more spectacular than Bruticus, Predaking is the fusion of the five Predacons. To quote the show, “as a weapon Predaking is without equal; as a warrior he is without restraint. He can lift one million tons without straining a circuit.” Now that’s pretty cool. He would be higher on the list, but losing a fight against loud-mouth Sky Lynx costs him some coolness points.

Devastating by name, devastating by nature. Devastator was the Decepticons’ most lethal weapon in the early series. Usurped later by the likes of Bruticus, Predaking, et al., Devastator was the only one to appear in the movie.

The green and purple colour scheme is striking – even though I don’t know of many construction vehicles in that colour scheme. Devastator was a hulking juggernaut in every sense, and the Autobots were usually kept busy trying to stop him, even going so far as to try and re-programme him in one memorable episode.

All the Dinobots are cool – dinosaurs are always cool – but Grimlock stands head and shoulders above the rest. He is king, after all.

Grimlock values power and strength over all else. He took on Optimus Prime in one episode, and he literally kicked Unicron’s butt in the original movie. Apparently he was smarter in the comics, even becoming leader of the Autobots for a time. He’s armed with a gun and a sword which is cool.

The fearsome, ruthless, and charismatic Decepticon leader was fearless to the end. Left shattered in the Transformers movie after his final battle with Optimus Prime, the other Decepticons jettisoned him into space on the way back to Cybetron. Bumping into Unicron on his way to oblivion, Megatron initially rejected Unicron’s offer of a new body, refusing to be anyone’s slave. How cool is that?

Megatron’s cunning, along with his massive fusion cannon and raspy voice, makes him very cool. His most devious plans from the cartoon include infecting the Autobots with rust, convincing mankind to banish the Autobots from earth and then reprogramming their ship’s course into the sun, and dragging Cybertron into Earth’s orbit, effectively destroying the Earth and everything on it in the process.

Megatron’s right-hand man was always a tricky customer in the cartoon. The perfect spy, he was always fooling people into thinking he was just a humble tape player. Hardly a charismatic character, Soundwave had no detectable personality and an awful singing voice.

Soundwave is a one-Decepticon arsenal with the various cassette troopers that live within his tape deck. He had one of the coolest voices on the show, his shoulder cannon was nifty, and his transformation gets points for originality. His cassette player may be out-dated nowadays, but 80’s retro is so in right now.

Undoubtedly the most iconic Transformer ever, Prime’s sad demise in the 1986 movie devastated children around the world. He was subsequently resurrected in the cartoon, only to die again, and then be resurrected once more.

With a penchant for turning the tide of battle at crucial moments, Prime is an awe-inspiring and charismatic leader, with all the best lines. There’s no Transformer cooler than Prime, who manages to walk the thin line between being a goody-goody and being a complete badass.

Contributor: GRUMPYNZ

Great Moment: The Catch

The Catch was the winning touchdown reception from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the January 10, 1982 NFC Championship American football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the most memorable events in NFL history. Montana threw a high pass to the back of the end zone. 49ers receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab with his fingertips from the back of the end zone for the winning touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game.

Great Moment: Diego Maradona’s goals for Argentina against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup

AKA The Hand of God and the Goal of the Century. The Hand of God, one of the most controversial goals, was scored as the result of an illegal (but unpenalised) handball by Diego Maradona in the quarter-final match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup between England and Argentina. Five minutes later, Maradona scored another goal, the Goal of the Century, also known as “Greatest Goal in FIFA World Cup History”, was an award given for the greatest goal ever scored in a FIFA World Cup tournament. Maradona then began his 60-metre, 10-second dash towards the English goal, leaving behind five English outfield players (Hodge, Beardsley, Reid, Butcher and Fenwick) as well as goalkeeper Peter Shilton to make the score 2–0 to Argentina.

Great Moment: Rocky Marciano Retires As Heavyweight Champ Undefeated at 49-0

was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1952 to 1956. Marciano, with forty-three knockouts to his credit (87.8% knockout rate), remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career.

Great Moment: Kerri Strug’s one footed Vault

Was an gymnast for the 1996 Olympics, upon her first attempt Strug under-rotated the landing of her first attempt, causing her to fall and damage her ankle. Strug thus limped slightly to the end of the runway for her second attempt. She landed the vault briefly on both feet, almost instantly hopping onto only her good foot. Strug raised her arms after her vault, saluting the judges. She then needed assistance off the landing platform due to the injury. The completed vault received score of 9.712, which ended all doubt about whether the Americans would receive the gold.

Great Moment: Jackie Robinson Signs a Major League Contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers

He was the first African-American major league baseball player of the modern era in 1947. his Major League debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers ended approximately eighty years of baseball segregation. In the United States at this time, many white people believed that blacks and whites should be segregated or kept apart in many aspects of life, including sports.

Great Moment: Bob Beamon long jumps 29′ 2 1/2 inches to shatter the world record by more than two feet

On October 18, 1968 at Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Beamon set a World record for the Long jump with a jump of 8.90 m (29 ft. 2½ in.). Destroying the last record by about 2 ft. Sports journalist Dick Schaap wrote a book about the leap, called The Perfect Jump. The record stood for 23 years until Mike Powell broke it by only 2 inches in 1991.

Great Moment: Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech

A native of New York City, he played for the New York Yankees until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly referred to in the United States as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Over a 15-season span between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games. On July 4, 1939, a dying man stood before over 60,000 people and told them he was the “luckiest man on the face of the earth” for being able to play in ballparks for 17 years, and recieve nothing but kindness and encouragement from his fans. Lou Gehrig became a symbol of what sports, and maybe life is all about. accepting your destiny, giving it your all, and enjoying every moment, good or ill.

Great Moment: Mark McGwire over Sammy Sosa, 70-66, for the new home-run crown

There was much media speculation as to where Maris’ HR record would be broken in 1998, and a debate as to who would break it, Ken Griffey, Jr. or McGwire. As the 1998 season progressed, it became clear that McGwire, Griffey, and Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa were all on track to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record. The race to break the record first became a media spectacle as the lead swung back and forth. On September 8, 1998 at 8:18 p.m. et, McGwire hit a pitch by the Chicago Cubs’ Steve Trachsel over the left field wall for his record-breaking 62nd home run, setting off huge celebrations at Busch Stadium. McGwire finished the 1998 season with 70 home runs, four ahead of Sosa’s 66.

Great Moment: Bobby Thompson’s shot heard round the world

Thomson became a celebrity for hitting a game-winning home run in a playoff game, off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the 1951 National League pennant. The home run (nicknamed the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”) is perhaps the most famous in baseball history. The Dodgers and Giants split the first two games. This forced the decisive contest on October 3rd at the Polo Grounds. The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Giants’ cause appeared lost. But Thomson’s homer turned what looked like a certain defeat into a 5-4 victory. The moment was immortalized by the famous call of Giants play-by-play announcer Russ Hodges who cried, “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”

Great Moment: Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100 Points in a Single Game

Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, named by the National Basketball Association as one of its greatest games, took place between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962 at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. With 46 seconds left, Chamberlin had 98 pts. Chamberlain got free from the five Knicks, jumped high and stuffed the ball through the hoop for an alley-oop slam dunk to hit the century mark. The arena exploded in a frenzy. Over 200 spectators stormed the floor, wanting to touch the hero of the night. Some confusion remains about whether the game’s last 46 seconds were played. According to the NBA, play was halted and never resumed.

Great Moment: Cal-Stanford Play

The Play refers to a last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the University of California Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982. Given the circumstances and rivalry, the wild game that preceded it, the very unusual way in which The Play unfolded, and its lingering aftermath on players and fans, it is recognized as a highly memorable play in college football history and among the most memorable in American sports.

Great Moment: Jesse Owens Debunks Aryan Myth

Adolf Hitler was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany. He and other government officials had high hopes German athletes would dominate the games with victories. Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of “Aryan racial superiority” and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior. Owens surprised many by winning four gold medals. one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4×100 meter relay team.

Great Moment: Michael Phelps wins 8 Gold Medals at the Olympics

In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals, the record for the most medals won at a single olympics. With this record, he surpassed Mark Spitz, who had held the previous gold medal total with the seven. In the 2008 Olympics Michael Phelps set 7 new world records, only missing the 100 m Butterfly, where he beat Milorad Čavic by 0.01 seconds.

Great Moment: Michael Jordan’s Final Shot

Michael Jordan is often referred to as the best player to play the game. He is a 5 time NBA MVP and 6 time NBA finals MVP. Michael Jordan played his last game with the bulls
in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals at the Delta Center, the Chicago Bulls led the series 3-2, but trailed the game 86-85 with 10 seconds left. Jordan started to dribble right, then crossed over to his left. Jordan then released a shot that would be rebroadcast innumerable times in years to come. The perfect way to go out. We can all just pretend the wizards never really happened.

Great Moment: 1980 USA Hockey Team Defeats Soviet

Rag tag bunch of mostly teenaged amateurs, barely together a few months and playing a sport invented and perfected elsewhere, take on the most polished, professional and unbeatable team in the history of international hockey, and win it. In exhibitions that year, Soviet club teams had gone 5–3–1 against National Hockey League teams, and a year earlier the Soviet national team had defeated the NHL All-Stars 6–0 to win the Challenge Cup. The Soviet and American teams were natural rivals due to the decades-old Cold War. In the final seconds of the game the crowd began to count down the seconds left. Sportscaster Al Michaels, who was calling the game on ABC along with former Montreal Canadians goalie Ken Dryden, picked up on the countdown in his broadcast, and delivered his famous call “…Eleven seconds, you’ve got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk…five seconds left in the game…Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” US won the game 4-3. This victory was voted the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century by Sports Illustrated.

Great Moment: Mike Tyson Takes A Bite of Evander Holyfield’s Ear

Tyson and Holyfield fought on June 28, 1997.
The most controversial event in modern sports, the fight was stopped at the end of the third round, with Tyson disqualified for biting Holyfield on both ears. The first time he bit him they stopped the match but later resumed. However after the match resumed Tyson did it again except this time he got disqualified and Holyfield won the match. One bite was severe enough to remove a piece of Holyfield’s right ear, which was found on the ring floor after the fight.

This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.

Contributor: Paulb

It is a very good idea to get to know your neighbors well - even in times of a normal economy. Your neighbors can keep an eye on your home while you are away, they can feed the pets, and they can lend you a cup of sugar if you need one! In the event of a depression they can be even more useful - you can create a small community where you can share necessities that one may have and others lack, you can set up patrols (if the situation were so dire as to need it), and you can even have shared meals which can help to keep waste and costs down.

If you have a considerably large amount of money, you will probably want to consider investing some of it in metals - such as gold and silver (though these are already seeing massive price increases). Of course, if you have a fortune you probably already know this, but it doesn’t hurt to remind people. In the event of a collapse of your nation’s currency, you will need a backup - and precious metals have been shown in the past to be an excellent one.

If you regularly take medication, try to stockpile as much as you can. In a depression you may find that you can not afford drugs, or - in a worst case scenario, the drug companies may go under! Additionally, store up bottles of aspirin and other common over-the-counter drugs that we all tend to use from time to time throughout the year. As you use these drugs, be sure to use the ones that are the closest to their expiry date - to prolong the life of the others.

Right now. Begin saving as much money as you can. Cut down on all of your expenses (except debt repayment) and save every penny. If we end up in a depression, you are going to need it. This is also a good time to start thinking about selling any items in your home that you may not need. If it becomes very likely that a depression is going to hit, sell everything non-essential - that means the TV, DVD player, stereos, etc. I would recommend that you keep your computer (preferably a laptop in case you lose your home and need to move around) as it will come in handy when the depression ends.

You should try to get rid of as much debt as you can right now. While you can pay your mortgage now, you may not be able to in a month - and as banks are feeling the pinch, they are not going to tolerate even one missed payment. This can obviously lead very easily to you losing your home. If you think the recession now is painful, try suffering it on the streets! This is a tip to help you cope before the depression hits. If you find yourself in an untenable situation and the depression has already arrived, forget this tip and read the bonus item carefully.

If you own stock, it is now a good time to consider the types of companies that are likely to do well in a depression - these are the companies you should move your stocks in to. The companies most likely to survive and profit are dry food manufacturers, diaper and toilet paper manufacturers, and any company making products that are seen as essential to survive. “Comfort” and “sin” stocks like cigarettes, alcohol, etc. are also stocks that do extremely well during bad times as people rely on them to blot out their suffering.

Some trades are more in demand during a depression than others. For example, a baker, a handyman, or an electrician should be able to find work during the worst economic downturn, but a change control facilitator may not. Invest in some good old fashioned skills now and not only will it help you survive a depression, it may well be a complete career change for you in the future.

Right now you should be hoarding dried and canned foods. Also tablets for purifying water and other nice-to-haves like toilet paper, candles, and batteries. I know this sounds like preparations for a nuclear holocaust, but the effects could be horrifyingly similar. Keep all of your goods in a dry clean area. I would also recommend a book on the basics of cooking, so you can convert your flour to bread and perform other culinary miracles that require nothing processed or pre-packaged. This is a skill that will be invaluable whether we have a depression or not.

If you think you are in a job that is likely to not be needed during a depression, you should consider relocating to an area that has a lot of wildlife and land. If you lose your house, an investment in an RV now (not on credit!) could be your life-saver. You can drive it to a new town, find a private area where you won’t be disturbed, and park up while the depression rides out. Make sure you find an area where you can rely on plentiful fresh water and animals - which brings us to item one…

If things get so bad that people begin to steal off each other, this will come in very handy. You can use it to protect your family and belongings, as well as to kill animals for food. And if you really are in dire straits, you can use it to rob someone else! (Okay - I didn’t mean that - we should all try to help each other out - not kill each other). A gun will be most useful in hunting so be sure to buy one that is practical for shooting birds and larger animals. You will also want to buy a book on how to skin, clean, and prepare wild animals for human consumption.

Okay - this is going to appear very controversial - but this is about surviving a depression; this is a matter of living or dying. If you are about to go bankrupt, are out of work, and see no hope in the foreseeable future of correcting this situation, use your credit cards right to the limit to put yourself in a better position - whether it be buying food, or moving somewhere you might be able to find work. If we really do enter another great depression, you will have to be prepared to do things you would normally not do in order to ensure the survival of your family and yourself. Under any other circumstances, this would be a very very bad thing to do.

Wiley Post who was the first pilot to fly solo around the world and his good friend Will Rogers a famous comedian, humorist and social commentator were set out to fly around the world together. This photo (that’s Will Rogers in the hat and tie, standing on the wing) was taken on August 15, 1935 shortly before taking off from a lagoon near Point Barrow Alaska. During take off Post’s experimental Lockheed Explorer sea plane crashed when its engine failed killing both men.

Interesting Fact: The airport in Barrow Alaska was renamed Wiley Post - Will Rogers Memorial Airport.

On January 13, 2005 the bodies of Canadian couple John and Jackie Knill were discovered on a Thailand beach resort. They were two of the many victims killed from the December 26 2004 tsunami. Weeks later a Seattle man doing relief work found a damaged camera and discarded it but kept the memory card in the camera. After downloading the images he discovered pictures of the Knill’s enjoying their vacation, as well as shots of a huge wave approaching the shore. With each picture it shows the wave getting closer and closer to shore. The last picture taken of them before the wave hit (shown above) was shot just after 8.30 am on December 26.

Interesting Fact: The Seattle man that discovered the images recognized the Knills from a missing person’s web site and contacted the couple’s two sons in Vancouver Canada. The man then drove from Seattle to Vancouver to give the sons their parent’s last images.

The photograph above is the last known picture of Einstein, taken in March, 1955. There are not a lot of details concerning this photo but he is probably at his home near Princeton, New Jersey. A month later on April 17, 1955, Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an aortic aneurysm, which had previously been diagnosed and reinforced. He went to the hospital and took a draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance commemorating the State of Israel’s seventh anniversary with him. Unfortunately he did not live long enough to complete it. The following day Einstein died at the age of 76.

Interesting Fact: Einstein’s brain was removed within seconds of his death (without the permission of his family) in hope that future neuroscience would be able to discover what made Einstein so intelligent. Recent scientific studies have suggested that regions involved in speech and language are smaller, while regions involved with numerical and spatial processing are larger.

Many believe Celebrity photographer George Barris took the last pictures of Marilyn Monroe. However, it was actually Life Magazine’s photographer Allan Grant. The pictures were taken July 7, 1962 during an interview at her home. Six pictures appeared in Life including the one pictured above.
Just under a month later on August 5, 1962, the LAPD received a call at 4:25AM from Dr. Hyman Engelberg proclaiming that Monroe was dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. The official cause of Monroe’s death was classified as “acute barbiturate poisoning”, and was also recorded as a “probable suicide. Many questions still remain unanswered about the circumstances of her death and the timeline from when Monroe’s body was found.

Interesting Fact: The Life Magazine issue featuring Monroe’s interview was dated August 3 1962, just 2 day before her death.

Photojournalist Bill Biggart was covering the events of September 11th and was Tragically killed as the second tower of the World Trade Center came down. Four days later Biggart’s body was recovered from the rubble and his personal effects, including his cameras were given to his wife. Biggart’s widow later handed over the camera bag to a good friend and fellow photographer. She was convinced that no pictures had survived because the falling debris had blown off the backs of the two film cameras and the lids of the film canisters had been peeled back. His friend turned his attention to the digital camera that was covered by ash. The lens had been sheared off but when he opened the chamber that held the flash card he discovered it was in pristine condition. The card contained 150 pictures including the last picture taken shown above which is time stamped 10:28 am and 24 seconds. The time was 10:30am when the second tower came down.

Interesting Fact: When Biggart’s wife reached him on his cell phone shortly after the first tower fell. He told her not to worry, and would meet her in 20 minutes at his studio. “I’m safe,” he assured her, “I’m with the firemen.” It was the last time they ever spoke. About 20 minutes later, the second tower collapsed

Last year when the long-awaited inquest into Lady Diana’s death began, this picture was released that shows