"I do believe that rats are smarter than most people perceive them to be, and that most animals are smarter in unique ways than we think." Kelly Lambert/University of RichmondThe study found that rats experience a release of stress after perfecting a new skill, like driving. In a new experiment that we didn’t know we needed, scientists built tiny cars out of plastic food containers and taught rats how to drive them.

Millennia ago, the Romans split Spain's mountains in search of gold. Here's what the world heritage site known as Las Médulas looks like today.The Romans marched into Iberia in the second century BCE. The ruins of their architectural achievements are still scattered around the country in Segovia, Mérida, Tarragona, Zaragoza, and many other places. Las Médulas also bears a quiet testimony to the power of the empire. The mining site is located in the northwest of Spain, near where the region of Castilla y León meets the border of Galicia.

The Mystery Of The Ghost Ship MV Joyita Wikimedia CommonsThe MV Joyita was found adrift and abandoned in the South Pacific in 1955. The MV Joyita was an American merchant vessel built in 1931. The U.S. Navy acquired the ship during World War II and later sold it to a private owner. The vessel changed hands a number of times, and its last captain would be a British sailor named Thomas H.

The Champawat Tiger killed more than 400 people in a four year span until finally the British got serious about hunting it down.Realistically, most people today have nothing to fear from tigers (although zookeepers are not as safe as may be assumed), but back in early 20th-century India, death by tiger was a terrifyingly real possibility. There was a good reason Rudyard Kipling cast the tiger as the villain in The Jungle Book.

Henry VIII of England had three legitimate heirs who went on to rule as Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I — but even during his reign it was common knowledge that he had illegitimate offspring as well.King Henry VIII of England, who reigned from 1509 until 1547, is perhaps best known for his six wives and his desperate desire to produce a male heir. So who were Henry VIII’s children?

After the 1872 gubernatorial election in Louisiana, KKK members and former Confederates stormed a courthouse occupied by Black militiamen — and killed as many as 150 of them.Public DomainFollowing the Colfax Massacre, Black families in the small Louisiana town buried their dead. Over 150 died in the massacre. In 1873, the losing side of the most recent Louisiana gubernatorial election took up arms and marched on a local seat of government.

From their roots in ancient pagan celebrations of the winter solstice to their ban in colonial America, the history of the Christmas tree is longer and more complicated than most people realize.Few symbols encapsulate the Christmas season quite as well as the Christmas tree. Each year, homes around the world are illuminated by their festive lights. Strands of tinsel and ornaments reflect brightly in the window as the people inside warm themselves by the fire, sipping eggnog and awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.

From September 11th to government weather control, we explore the most prominent and popular conspiracy theories of our history.Popular Conspiracy Theories: H.A.A.R.P The US government’s High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (H.A.A.R.P) is a joint scientific research project of the Air Force and Navy based in Alaska. The purpose of H.A.A.R.P is to study “the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes”.

Source: Maggie Hopp While New York City mayor Bill De Blasio has recently presented the topless Times Square performers as supposed threats to the “family friendly” space, the truth is that the hyper-packed commercial intersection has been a hotbed for sin for decades — and Maggie Hopp has the photos to prove it. Source: Maggie Hopp Source: Maggie Hopp Originally commissioned to document buildings and signage in Midtown in violation of the Blight Ordinances, New York-based photographer and real estate agent Maggie Hopp shot a series of photos documenting the dark and thriving sex trade of Times Square in an era charged by sex — think Midnight Cowboy and the popularity of “sexploitation” films.

The Confederates were sure former slave-turned-Union spy Mary Bowser wouldn't be able to read the sensitive documents they left out around her — they were wrong.National ArchivesThe Confederate White House in Richmond, where Mary Bowser was planted as a Union spy. Oftentimes, the outcome of a war is determined not out on the open battlefields, but in the shadows. Espionage has played an important role in virtually every great military conflict in history and the American Civil War was no exception.