History Uncovered's Most Popular Stories Of 2023

From the real-life 'Last Samurai' to the most infamous murders in history, explore our most visited stories from this year. [History Uncovered]( [Archaeologists Baffled By Discovery Of A Woman Buried Next To Her Husband — With Her Face Hollowed Out]( [33 Vintage Pictures Of Claudia Cardinale, The Italian Bombshell Who Conquered 1960s Cinema]( [When Claudia Cardinale's "Pink Panther" costar David Niven first laid eyes on her, he reportedly said, "Claudia, [besides] spaghetti, you're the best invention of Italy."]( [The Bizarre Stories Behind 11 Of The Most Bitterly Ironic Deaths In Human History]( [One of America's most prolific mystery writers, Edgar Allan Poe faced a mysterious death of his own in October 1849. He was found lying delirious in a Baltimore gutter, and theories about his demise range from alcoholism, mercury poisoning, or rabies to a voter fraud scheme gone wrong.]( [The True Story Of The Frenchman Who Became The Real-Life 'Last Samurai']( [Fighting alongside the Shogunate rebels who wanted to maintain traditionalism in Japan, Brunet joined a legion of 3,000 in a battle against 7,000 Imperial troops that lasted half a year, ultimately ending in the defeat of the samurai, largely because they did not use Western weaponry the way the Imperial troops did.]( [She Became History's Youngest Mother — When She Was Just 5 Years Old]( [In 1939, parents in a remote Peruvian village noticed that their 5-year-old daughter had an enlarged belly. To their horror, the doctor discovered that she was seven months pregnant.]( [11 Infamous Murders Even More Chilling Than You Realized, From The Black Dahlia To Lizzie Borden]( [Meet The Bodybuilder Sylvester Stallone Called The Strongest Man He Ever Met]( [Born to a family of shepherds in Sardinia in 1941, Franco Columbu would go on to become a boxer, a bricklayer, and an internationally renowned powerlifter known as the "Sardinian Strongman." Over the course of his career, Franco Columbu won Mr. Olympia, Mr. Universe, Mr. World, Mr. International, Mr. Europe, and Mr. Italy. He even came within spitting distance of winning the World's Strongest Man competition in 1977 — despite being one of the shortest and lightest lifters to compete.]( [The Dark History Behind The 'London Bridge Is Falling Down' Nursery Rhyme]( [When the bridge was first built, people allegedly believed that sealing a live person inside of its structure would keep it from collapsing.]( [The Bizarre Story Of Jean Libbera, The Sideshow Performer Who Carried A Parasitic Twin His Entire Life]( [Jean Libbera's parasitic twin Jacques had two small arms, two small legs, and a partially formed head embedded in Jean's torso, but depended entirely on Jean's circulatory and nervous systems to survive.]( [The History Of The Judas Cradle, The Torture Chair Allegedly Used To Slowly Impale Heretics And Witches]( ["The heart-piercing cry makes even the executioners wince. The edges bite into the crotch of this soon-to-be Judas, tearing tendons, nerves, and lymph nodes."]( [A Thrift Store Sold This Vase For $3.30 — But This Meiji-Era Treasure Is Actually Worth More Than $10,000]( [Inside Seven Compelling Theories About President John F. Kennedy's Assassination]( [The CIA has long been linked to conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination, with former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison claiming that the agency orchestrated the murder to stop the president from ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and from seeking peace with the Soviet Union and Cuba.]( [Decimation: How Ancient Roman Military Leaders Killed Ten Percent Of Their Own Soldiers As Punishment]( [In ancient Rome, military leaders used decimation, or "removal of a tenth," to punish their own soldiers who deserted their posts during battle or otherwise displayed cowardice or insubordination. The guilty unit would be forced to draw lots, and the 10 percent of soldiers with the shortest straws would be executed — by their fellow troops.]( [Inside The 70-Year Construction Of the Crazy Horse Monument That Will One Day Dwarf Mount Rushmore]( [When this massive monument is finally finished, it'll stand 563 feet high, 641 feet long, and depict Crazy Horse sitting triumphantly atop his horse and pointing toward his tribe's ancestral lands.]( [Listen To The Latest History Uncovered Podcast]( [Each Christmas, children around the world eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus. However, the iconic representation of Santa Claus is a relatively modern invention that originated with the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," written in 1823 as well as an illustration by cartoonist Thomas Nast. But the story of Santa Claus is far from the only Christmas legend told today.]( [Become An All That's Interesting Member]( [For just $4.99 a month, you'll enjoy All That's Interesting without ads, receive a quarterly letter from the editor, and get exclusive access to premium podcast episodes.]( [Unsubscribe]( [Update Subscription]( [History Uncovered On Instagram]( [History Uncovered On Facebook](