Roughly 750,000 died during Stalin's Great Purge in the 1930s and many ended up in mass graves across the Soviet Union. Ukrainian Institute of National Memory/ FacebookThe mass grave contains thousands of remains. As workers began to expand the Odessa airport in Ukraine, they came across a stomach-churning find — skeletons. Now, historians say that this former landfill was actually a mass grave — possibly Ukraine’s largest — and could contain up to 20,000 people.

More than 250 years later, Mir Jafar's name is still synonymous with "traitor" in India and Bangladesh today. Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Mir Jafar and Robert Clive after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. With a single act of treachery, Mir Jafar helped set the stage for nearly 200 years of British rule in India. History is rarely decided by individuals, but sometimes one person’s actions at the right moment can decide the fate of millions.

Mildred Harnack moved to Berlin with her German-born husband in 1929 and joined a Nazi resistance group — and was later sentenced to death by Adolf Hitler himself.Wikimedia CommonsMildred Harnack’s mugshot, taken in 1942. “Despite our being separated, let’s not be worried and anxious,” Mildred Harnack wrote to her family back home in Wisconsin in August 1942. But her family had reason to worry – war raged in Europe, and Harnack had moved to Berlin over a decade earlier.

Medieval villagers in England didn't trust the dead not to come back to life and so they made sure that corpses wouldn't have the chance.Historic England/PAAn illustration of the medieval village of Wharram Percy, where the human bones were excavated. Medieval villagers in England mutilated the dead to make sure that the corpses didn’t rise up from the grave after burial, new research shows. English archaeologists have discovered that people who used to live in the Wharram Percy village in Yorkshire, England during the Middle Ages used to chop, smash, and burn the recently dead, according to the Guardian.

Johnny Joo's photographs of abandoned locations give insight to a life after humans, but his work has a much deeper meaning than that.The remains of abandoned towns and buildings have provided inspiration for countless horror films and afternoon jaunts to the outskirts of town. But 25-year-old photographer Johnny Joo knows that abandoned places can offer much more than that: beauty. A countryside home with a collapsed roof.Johnny Joo An abandoned home, still containing all of the person's belongings.

How the Blizzard of 1888 wreaked havoc, killed hundreds, and forced American cities into the modern age.Library of Congress Nicknamed the Great White Hurricane, the Blizzard of 1888 was one of the most severe recorded storms in U.S. history. The weather leading up to the March storm had been unseasonably warm, leading most people to believe an early spring was on the way. And even when the early storm reports came in, many underestimated its size, leaving them inadequately prepared for a storm so devastating that we’re still feeling its after-effects today.

Upon hearing about the brothers' uncanny resemblances, researchers invited the Jim Twins to come to their facility for testing.Lisa Wiltse/Getty ImagesA pair of identical twins (not the Jim Twins). James ‘Jim’ Lewis, of Lima Ohio, was adopted in 1940 just three weeks after he was born. He was named James by his adoptive parents, and had a dog named Toy. As a schoolboy, he enjoyed math and carpentry but never spelling.

The shipwrecks found off the coast of Kasos range from a ship that sank in 3000 B.C.E. to one that went down during World War II.GMinistry of Culture, photo by N. KoukoulasThis stone anchor from the Greek Archaic period (8th century B.C.E. through the 5th century B.C.E.) was just one of the many incredible finds. Using a copy of the Iliad as a guide, an underwater archaeological team in Greece made an astounding discovery: a shipwreck graveyard off the coast of Kasos in the Aegean Sea that contains 10 vessels.

Witnesses who've allegedly encountered the Beast of Bray Road describe it as tall and hairy, with glowing eyes, long claws, and the stench of rotting meat.Through the rural community of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, runs Bray Road, a 17-mile stretch of thoroughfare dating back to colonial times when it was known as the King’s Highway. Like many roads in America, it is generally unremarkable — except for the terrifying creature that supposedly lingers in its vicinity.

After the beginning of the Gulf War, Sajida Talfah disappeared, never to be seen again.Wikimedia CommonsSajida Talfah and Saddam sit surrounded by their family. Very little is known about Saddam Hussein’s first marriage to Sajida Talfah. Given that, it is hard to separate the fact from the hearsay. Often, the little that is known concerning his wife is just as disturbing as the worst rumors. The Facts For starters, Saddam Hussein and Sajida Talfah’s marriage was an arranged one, negotiated by their parents when they were not yet ten years old.