Most insane marriage rituals

 Marrying animals to exorcise ghostsPracticed in: some regions of India

The Western culture is no stranger to superstition, especially during a wedding. Most brides would sooner set fire to the church and postpone the ceremony than to get married without something old, new, borrowed and blue. And don’t even think about trying to catch a glimpse of your wife-to-be before the nuptials or that’s 3 stitches to the temple right there on the spot.
But the Santhal tribe in India decided to one-up us all and cranked the wedding-crazy dial all the way up to 11. They believe that if a baby girl has a tooth rooted to her upper gum, it’s the obvious sign she will be eaten by a tiger or something in the near future, because ghosts hate her. Therefore, she

Most bizarre competitions

 High Heel Marathon

High heel race is an unusual event, which is held in many cities, such as Sydney, Paris, Moscow and Amsterdam. But the citizens of Milan were lucky most of all – not every day the winner of such race gets a couple of delicious, lust luxury open-toe sandals from Manolo Blahnik.
Up to 300 girls took part at this competition who must overcome a distance of 80 m running on high heels. The heels should be a minimum 7 cm height and 1.5 cm in diameter. All these fashion

Weird taxes

 Soul tax

Peter the Great, czar of Russia, imposed a tax on souls in 1718, meaning everybody had to pay it (it’s similar to a head tax or a poll tax). Peter was antireligious (he was an avid fan of Voltaire and other secular humanist philosophers), but agreeing with him didn’t excuse anyone from paying the tax—if you didn’t believe humans had a soul, you still had to pay a “religious dissenters” tax. Peter also taxed beards, beehives, horse collars, hats, boots, basements, chimneys, food, clothing, all males, as well as birth, marriage, and even burial.

Bizarre doll houses

$82,000 English Doll House

A dollhouse selling for a big sum of $82,000 is bound to create waves in the news world. We hear that the exquisiteness of this stunning toy is such that it will capture the heart of anyone who lays their eyes on it. Complete with the tiniest of detail been taken care of, the scale down version of a well-furnished home took 15 years of labour to be completed.

Most bizarre showers

  The 18-head Shower

With all of the crazy inventions people come up with today, it comes as no surprise that this baby would be invented. What? You want to be freakishly clean and you enjoy a solid stream of water to caress your nether-regions? Well, look no more! As you can see in the picture, this shower does enjoy the advantage of sporting 18 different shower heads. With adjustable settings (i.e. temperature, water pressure, etc.), you really can’t go wrong with this. Oh wait, yes you can. How? Well, one only needs to look at its price tag. $100,000. Yes, that is 5 zeros you are looking at. I need to find

Most famous military commanders

 Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon was a General during the French Revolution. He would eventually take absolute control of the French Republic as Emperor of the French. He became King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. He reformed the government and economy of the island of Elba when he was exiled there.

The best cults

The full name of this cult is the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God was a breakaway group from the Roman Catholic Church that formed in Uganda in the late 1980s. As the name implies the group strongly emphasized the Ten Commandments. This emphasis meant they even discouraged talking: out of fear of breaking the commandment about giving false witness. They also believed that their strict adherence to the Ten Commandments would be advantageous after the apocalypse.
In March of 2000, around 300 followers died in a fire in what is considered a cult suicide. Investigations conducted after the fire discovered mass graves, raising the death toll to over 1,000. This may mean it was larger than the Jonestown murder/suicide in 1978, but some speculate the death toll was around 800. There are also allegations that the event was more of a mass murder by the leadership.

Most evil disney villains

 Jafar
Aladdin

The evil sorcerer is seen in his advisor attire in a majority of the movie. However, he goes through quite a few transformations. These include: an old cripple, sultan, cobra and a frightening genie. He pretends to be a faithful advisor to the Sultan in an attempt to steal his throne and rule Agrabah.

Most evil womens

Mary Ann Cotton Born: 1832; Died: 1873. Englishwoman Mary Ann Cotton is another for-profit serial killer, predating Belle Gunnes by thirty years. Married at age twenty to William Mowbray, the newlyweds settled in Plymouth, Devon, to start their family. The couple had five children, four of whom died of ‘gastric fever and stomach pains’. Moving back to the north-east, tragedy seemed to follow them; three more children born, three more children died. William soon followed his offspring, dying of an ‘intestinal disorder’ in January 1865. British Prudential promptly paid a 35 pound dividend, and a pattern was established. Her second husband, George Ward, died of intestinal problems as well as one of her two remaining children. The power of the press, always a force to be reckoned with, caught up with Mary Ann. The local newspapers discovered that as Mary Ann moved around northern England, she lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother and a dozen children, all dying of stomach fever. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol, March 24, 1873, for murder by arsenic poisoning. She died slowly, the hangman using too short a drop for a ‘clean’ execution.

Legendary Michael Jackson

 Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans, Jackson promised to record a song about the disaster to aid charity. He worked on the project with artists from London and Los Angeles, according to reports in the autumn of 2005 — but the single never eventuated.

Night club fires

Beverly Hills Supper Club. The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire is the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day weekend. 165 persons died and over 200 were injured as a result of the blaze. Located in Southgate, Kentucky, The Beverly Hills Super Club was a major attraction, drawing headline talent from Las Vegas, Hollywood, and New York. That night’s entertainment was singer and actor John Davidson. The building had been a popular night spot since 1937 and by the time of the fire in 1977, several additions had created a sprawling complex of rooms, corridors, and service areas connected by narrow corridors.
More than 3,000 guests and staff were inside the club on the evening of the fire. The main show was in the Cabaret Room and it was estimated that over 1,300 patrons had been squeezed into the room. Other guests were in several restaurants, bars, private party rooms, and other rooms. Sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 PM, a fire started in the Zebra Room which had hosted a wedding reception. The fire was discovered around 9:00 AM by waitresses. Attempts were made to control the fire with fire extinguishers, but it was too late. The cause of the fire was never completely determined though it is thought that the use of aluminum wiring may have contributed.
At 9:08 PM, busboy Walter Bailey interrupted the show in the Cabaret Room, taking the stage to ask patrons to leave and pointing out the exits to the left and right of the stage. Some of the spectators obeyed and began to leave the Cabaret Room through the exits. Bailey was hailed as one of the heroes of the night, receiving official recognition and a letter from then U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Bailey said later that for years he rejected the title of hero and wondered if he’d done enough.
The fire burst into the Cabaret Room at 9:10 PM, preceded by thick smoke that spread all over the room, quickly engulfing it. Those who had not evacuated quickly panicked; many of them would be found dead piled up near the main entrance. The flames spread so rapidly that a full evacuation of the sprawling, crowded building was not possible.
Firefighters concentrated on the Cabaret Room where it was known that many people were trapped, but at midnight the roof had collapsed, and authorities doubted any more survivors would be found. John Davidson escaped via a door that had recently been constructed near the talent dressing room. His road manager also escaped, but his musical director perished.

Incredible theoretical megastructures

Stellar Engine. Stellar engines are a class of hypothetical megastructures which use a star’s radiation to create usable energy. Some variants use this energy to produce thrust, and thus accelerate a star, and anything orbiting it, in a given direction. The creation of such a system would make its builders a Type-II civilization on the Kardashev scale (a method of measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement). The three classes of engine are:
A class A stellar engine is a stellar propulsion system, consisting of an enormous mirror/light sail — actually a massive type of solar statite large enough to classify as a megastructure, probably by an order of magnitude.
A class B stellar engine is a Dyson sphere (item 3), which uses the difference in temperature between the star and the interstellar medium to extract usable energy from the system.
A class C stellar engine combines the two other classes, employing both the propulsive aspects of the Shkadov thruster, and the energy generating aspects of a Class B engine.

Amazing cities

Minnesota Experimental City. The Minnesota Experimental City (MXC) was the brainchild of a private partnership between the University of Minnesota and the Federal Government in the 1960s and would be intentionally open to observation and evaluation by urban studies experts. Like its name suggests, the city would be a combination of experimental ideas never before tried on such a large scale.The city would accommodate about 250,000 people, and it would focus on open spaces such as parks, farms, and wilderness. Only one sixth of the area would be paved and the city would be partially covered by a geodesic dome (designed by Buckminster Fuller). This design is extraordinarily strong, is hurricane and tornado proof, and is widely used today. The city would be car-free, with cars parked at the edge and people-movers whisking people into the center of the city. A futuristic and highly advanced automated highway system, in which magnetic, driverless cars were used, would connect people to the outside world.
Perhaps the most drastic and controversial departure from conventional cities was that there would be no schools. Instead, the practice of lifelong learning would be practiced. Lifelong learning states that everyone is a teacher as well as a student and that education takes place through social interactions, observations, and joining groups and clubs among other things.

Budgetary problems as well as logistics quashed the city’s groundbreaking.

Grueling endurance events

North Pole Marathon. By competing in the world’s coolest marathon, the North Pole Marathon, you will become one of a truly select few to race at the top of the world – at the Geographic North Pole. And you will feel on top of the world when you manage to overcome the extreme sub-zero temperatures to finish 26.2 miles in one of the remotest parts of the planet. But first you must ask yourself if you have got the nerve and drive to travel to the North Pole and run on Arctic ice floes, with 6 to 12 feet separating you from 12,000 feet of Arctic Ocean? Can you handle the extreme cold? Are you fit enough? Do you want to push yourself to the edge? If the answer is yes, then you are ready for the North Pole Marathon. Join race director Richard Donovan, the first marathoner at both the North and South Poles, in a trip of a lifetime. Remember, this marathon is not run on land – it is run ‘on’ water, frozen water, in the high Arctic Ocean.

Most weird places

The North Yungas Road (Road of Death or Death Road) is a 61 kilometres (38 mi) or 69 kilometres (43 mi) road leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 kilometres (35 mi) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger with estimates stating that 200 to 300 travelers are killed yearly along it. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen. The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Because of the extreme dropoffs of at least 600 metres (2,000 ft), single-lane width – most of the road no wider than 3.2 metres (10 ft) and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain, fog and dust can make visibility precarious. In many places the road surface is muddy, and can loosen rocks from the road.

Amazing predatory insects

The Dragonfly is the ultimate aerial killer of the insect world; its design is so perfect, that it has remained almost unchanged for the last 300 million years. It is among the fastest flying insects, reaching almost 90 kms (56 miles) per hour (which is even more amazing if we consider its small size and apparent fragility). It can dive-bomb, hover like a helicopter, and even fly backwards, and its enormous eyes, which cover almost all of its head, give it near-360 degree vision, so that no insect escapes its attention.
Dragonflies feed on any flying insects they can catch, and also on spiders, which they capture from their webs. Although they usually hunt and devour prey at high speed in the air, they can also snatch spiders and insects from exposed surfaces. Dragonfly larvae are also formidable predators; they are aquatic, and use their protractile, sharp mouthparts to stab other small animals to death, including small fish, frogs and other dragonfly larvae.

Airline disasters

Manchester United Football Team 1958. On 6 February, 1958, British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the “Busby Babes”, along with a number of supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 people on board the aircraft died in the crash. The team was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, against Red Star Belgrade, but had to make a stop in Munich for refueling, as a non-stop trip from Belgrade to Manchester was out of the aircraft’s range. After refueling, the pilots attempted to take off twice, but had to abandon both attempts due to problems with the port engine. Fearing that they would get too far behind schedule, the Captain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favor of a third take-off attempt.
By the time of the third attempt, it had begun to snow, causing a layer of slush to build up at the end of the runway. When the aircraft hit the slush, it lost velocity, making take-off impossible. It ploughed through a fence past the end of the runway, before the port wing hit a nearby house and was torn off. Fearing that the aircraft might explode, the Captain tried to get the survivors as far away as possible. Despite the risk of explosion, goalkeeper Harry Gregg remained behind to pull survivors from the wreckage. An investigation by the West German airport authorities originally blamed the Captain for the crash, claiming that he had failed to de-ice the wings of the aircraft, despite statements to the contrary from eyewitnesses. It was later established that the crash had, in fact, been caused by the build-up of slush on the runway, which had resulted in the aircraft being unable to achieve take-off velocity.

Capable Apes

Zippy was a chimpanzee actor and regular feature on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Howdy Doody Show and other American comedy television shows in the 1950’s and 60’s. He entertained audiences with his bike riding, roller-skating and genuinely handsome smile. Indeed, Zippy was so popular that a line of stuffed dolls were produced in his likeness and, today, these toys are among the most cherished vintage items. Other chimpanzee actors meriting a brief mention are Jiggs, the first “Cheeta” from the 1930’s Tarzan movies, Evie from Battlestar Galactica, Punkun from the Japanese show Tensai Shumira Zoo, and Mikey from the Manchurian Candidate, Saturday Night Live and the World Series of Poker.

Creepy Mysteries

Devil’s Footprints On the night of 8–9 February, 1855, and one or two later nights, after a light snowfall, 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 traveled 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. There were also attendant rumors about sightings of a “devil-like figure” in the Devon area during the scare. Many townspeople armed themselves and attempted to track down the beast responsible, without success. Recently, on the night of March 12, 2009, more strange marks, corresponding to those left in 1855, were found again in Devon – these new footprints are shown above.

Weird tattoos flaunted in movies

Memento (2000) If we are talking about crazy tattoos than we cannot miss out on this one where the lead actor suffers from anterograde amnesia and prefers to write down all his important detail and things to do on his body. Find Him and Kill Him sounds very crazy in the real life but it suits in the movie because of the story line that is created. There are no tribal or celtic design tattoos used in the movie. However, the movie shows us one more important use of tattoos on our body. There are telephone numbers, things to do, list of appointments and other information that are tattooed on the chest and wrist of Guy Pearce which makes him look like a lost man who does not even remember that Post-It pads are available in any of the nearest stationery store. Though, the movie received a number of nominations people were really surprised to see the new trend of tattooing in Hollywood.

People who died performing

Jon-Eric Hexum was an actor and model, born in the 50’s in New Jersey. He played various roles in American television programs before landing his big lead role in the series ‘Cover Up’ in 1984, in which he played a model turned weapons expert and CIA agent. As with most shows that include guns, the prop .44 Magnum was loaded with blanks, however, it is reported that Hexum was unaware that this prop gun would still shoot out paper wadding which was used to seal gun powder in the shell. During the shooting of a scene where he was to empty the gun of real bullets and load it with blanks, a technical problem meant the scene was delayed, and Hexum fell asleep. Upon waking he realized the scene still wasn’t done and began playing with the gun. It is reported he was playing Russian roulette with the gun, which was loading with 3 empty cartridges and 2 blanks. He put it to his head and said “Let’s see if I’ve got one for me” before pulling the trigger. While the paper wadding didn’t penetrate his skull, it hit with enough force to dislodge a quarter-size piece of skull and propel it into his brain. The accident happened on 12 October, 1984, and, despite 5 hours of surgery, Hexum died 6 days later – he was declared brain dead due to the massive bleeding in his brain. His mother flew his body to San Francisco to be harvested for organ transplants before he was buried.

Weird and cool vehicles

Avrocar. In case you were wondering if flying saucers exist, the answer is: yes, they do! This is not built by aliens though, but by Avro Company. The vehicle was 18 feet long in diameter and could carry up to two people. The company first offered it to Canadian government, but after the rejection they received great deal of interest by United States military. However, it proved to be unstable and the project didn’t succeed.

Weird shoe designs

Heelless shoes 2007. I decided to put a couple of modern shoe designs here too, as they are just too bizarre to miss. Heelless shoes made their debut on Antonio Berardi’s runway in 2007, and were made famous by Victoria Beckham in 2008. And despite their unnatural and extremely uncomfortable look, according to their English Italian designer, they do not cause the wearer any pain. He has said “They are perfectly balanced. When the girls come for fittings, they look a bit daunted, but by the end they say it’s just like wearing a regular shoe.” But medical experts have their concerns, saying that the shoes could lead to permanent damage to the feet, knees and spine if worn regularly.

Unusual Islands

Howland Island
Howland lies about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is only about fifty miles north of the equator. Like many small Pacific islands, it was claimed by the United States and mined for its guano deposits. There was also an attempt at colonization, but it was interrupted by World War II, when Howland was attacked by Japanese bombers the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, killing two of the colonists and requiring the other two to be evacuated. No further attempt at colonization was made after the war. Howland is now a nature preserve and is probably best known for being the stop on Amelia Earhart’s around-the-world flight at which she never arrived.