

The youngest person executed, George Stinney Jr was proven innocent
George Stinney Jr., an African-American 14-year-old, was the youngest person in the United States to be executed in the electric chair. In the midst of the Jim Crow era, he was executed in the Deep South in 1944.

George Stinney Jr. grew up in the segregated mill town of Alcolu, South Carolina, where railroad tracks separated white and black residents. Stinney’s family resided in a run-down business house until the young kid was suspected of murdering two white girls and was forced to flee.
It took a jury of white men 10 minutes to find Stinney guilty — and it would take 70 years before Stinney was exonerated.
The Murder Of Betty June Binnicker And Mary Emma Thames

Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7, were exploring for flowers on their bicycles in Alcolu in March 1944. During their quest, they came across Stinney and his younger sister Aime and inquired if they knew where they might obtain maypops, the yellow delicious fruit of passionflowers.
According to reports, that was the last time the girls were seen alive.
Binnicker and Thames, both white, did not return home that day. Hundreds of Alcolu villagers, including Stinney’s father, banded together to hunt for the missing girls after they vanished. Their bodies were not discovered in a muddy ditch until the following day.
There was no evident trace of a struggle when Dr. Asbury Cecil Bozard inspected their bodies, but both girls had died terrible deaths including multiple skull trauma.
Thames had a two-inch-long cut above her right eyebrow, as well as a hole boring straight through her forehead into her skull. Binnicker, meantime, had taken at least seven hits to the head. The rear of her head was later described as “nothing but a mess of smashed bones.”
Binnicker and Thames had wounds made by a “round device roughly the size of the head of a hammer,” according to Bozard.
A rumor circulated in town that the girls had stopped at the home of a prominent white family on the day they were murdered, but this was never proven. And the cops didn’t appear to be on the lookout for a white killer.
Officers from Clarendon County responded to Stinney’s residence after receiving information from a witness that Binnicker and Thames had been spotted chatting to him. George Stinney Jr. was immediately handcuffed and interrogated in a small room for hours without the presence of his parents, a counsel, or any witnesses.
A Two-Hour Trial

H.S., a police officer, “I arrested a boy by the name of George Stinney,” Newman stated in a handwritten statement. He then made a confession and told me where to find a 15-inch-long piece of iron. He said he dumped it around six feet away from the bicycle in a ditch.”
As reports of a lynching grew across the village, Newman refused to identify where Stinney was being held. As his trial drew nearer, not even his parents knew where he was. At the time, 14 was thought to be the age of responsibility, and Stinney was suspected of murder.
George Stinney Jr.’s trial began about a month after the girls’ deaths in a Clarendon County courthouse. Charles Plowden, a court-appointed attorney, did “little to nothing” to defend his client.
During the two-hour trial, Plowden failed to summon witnesses to the stand or provide any evidence that might cast doubt on the prosecution’s case. Stinney’s supposed confession was the most important piece of evidence brought against him, however there was no written record of the kid admitting to the murders.
Stinney hadn’t seen his parents in weeks by the time of his trial, and they were frightened of being attacked by a white crowd if they came to the courthouse. As a result, the 14-year-old was surrounded by strangers – possibly as many as 1,500.
The all-white jury found Stinney guilty of murder after less than 10 minutes of deliberation, with no recommendation for compassion.
The teen was condemned to death by execution on April 24, 1944.

Poto And Cabengo: The Secret Language Of Twins
Poto and Cabengo, as the two girls called each other, communicated in their own language. The twins were ignored by their parents and secluded from the outside world because their father felt they were developmentally retarded, and their unique language evolved as a result of that neglect.

The true story of Josephine Myrtle Corbin, the lady born with four legs and two private parts
Josephine Myrtle Corbin, an American sideshow performer born in 1868, had a rare condition known as dipygus, which caused her to have four legs, each smaller inner leg paired with one of her outer legs. Corbin joined the sideshow circuit, captivating audiences as the "Four-Legged Girl from Texas."

Shizo Kanakuri’s 1912 Olympic Marathon Finished 54 Years
At the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.379 seconds.

Henry Ford, The man popularizing the concept of the weekend off
Henry Ford was the first Industrial Giant to give his employees both Saturday and Sunday off in the hope of encouraging more leisurely use of automobiles and thus popularizing the concept of the "weekend."

Martin Couney, Saved Thousands of Premature Babies Wasn’t a Doctor at All
Martin Couney never qualified as a medical doctor. However, in the 1900s, he saved thousands of premature babies by exhibiting them in incubators at his Coney Island sideshow. Over the course of his career, he is said to have saved about 6,500 babies that had previously been written off by mainstream medicine.

The Baltic Way: the longest unbroken human chain in history
On August 23, 1989, about 2 million people from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania formed a human chain that united all 3 countries to show the world their desire to escape the Soviet Union and the communism that brought only suffering and poverty. This power stretched 600 km.

The Amazing Truth About The German U-Boat That Was Sunk By A Toilet
During WWII, a German captain and an engineer flushed the submarine's high-tech toilet incorrectly, causing the vessel to rapidly fill with water. British planes patrolling the sea attacked them as the submarine was brought to the surface. While many members of the crew were killed in the attack, the captain escaped!

The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
In 1986, while doing a night shift at the hospital, Sandra Clarke, a registered nurse, was asked by an elderly patient to stay. She promised to be back after checking on her other patients, but by the time she returned, the gentleman had passed away. Clarke became one of the key figures in launching No One Dies Alone, a program that allows volunteers to sit with terminal patients who have no one else.

The 440-pound bear named Wojtek and his World War II battle against the Nazis
Polish troops raised an orphaned bear cub during WWII. He enjoyed drinking beer, and was trained to salute. He became officially enlisted as a member of the forces, and helped carry artillery during battle.

What Was the Beast of Gévaudan?
Between 1764 and 1767, a mysterious animal called the Beast of Gévaudan terrorized the French village called Gévaudan. It attacked and killed about 100 adults and children. While most believe it was a wolf, some say it may have been a wolf-dog hybrid, hyena or even a lion, but without any genetic evidence, the beast will remain a mystery forever.

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident: Enemy became friends
During WWII, a German pilot spotted an American pilot’s crippled plane in the sky. Tailing it, he noticed that gunner was dead, crew injured, and they posed no threat. Instead of destroying the plane, he led it to safety. 40 years later, the two pilots reunited.

D.B. Cooper: Man who hijacked a plane and jumped out with a $200,000
On November 22, 1971, DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727, drank a whisky, smoked a fag, and then jumped out of the plane with $200,000. He was never again seen.

What exactly was the US's 'Ghost Army' during WWII?
During WW2, there was a special unit of men dubbed the ‘Ghost Army’. The unit was made of artists, creative and engineers and their job was to create deception about the enemy. From inflatable tanks to phony convoys to scripted conversations in bars intended to spread disinformation, they used all possible tricks to fool the enemy.

Inside The Mysterious Death Of The Famed Gothic Writer Edgar Allan Poe
Hours before his death Edgar Allen Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore. He was incoherent, wearing another man’s clothes, and unable to explain how he got there. The cause of his death is an unsolved mystery.

The history of Flour sack clothing fashion
After Kansas mill owners found women reused flour sack materials into apparel in the 1920s and 1930s, they started applying patterned designs to give families with more fashionable patterns and material.

Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
In 1987 a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Dr. Who and wore a Max Headroom mask and uttered nonsense, and he still hasn’t been caught

Irena Sendler: woman who rescued Jews during holocaust
Irene Sendler was the Zegota resistance group's head of the children's department. She risked her life to smuggle children out of the Warsaw ghetto, place them with Polish families or orphanages, give each child a new identity, and keep records so that they could be returned to their families. In 1943, the Gestapo arrested and sentenced her to death, but she was rescued by Zegota.

Nuclear bomb accidentally dropped on North Carolina in 196
4 January 1961: The 4241st Strategic Wing's Boeing B-52G-95-BW Stratofortress, serial number 58-0187, was on a 24-hour airborne alert mission off the United States' Atlantic Coast.

Why was the Eiffel Tower almost demolished
The Eiffel Tower was intended to be a temporary structure for the World's Fair in 1889, but it was nearly dismantled and sold for scrap metal. It was saved because of its potential use as a radio antenna, and it now serves as a tourist attraction as well as a working broadcast tower.

Before Radar: How Giant Acoustic Mirrors Detected Enemy Aircraft in WWI and WWII
Long before radar revolutionized air defense, enormous acoustic mirrors and specialized sound locators stood as the first line of defense against enemy aircraft. Designed as giant “ears,” these structures amplified distant engine noises, allowing operators to detect incoming planes by sound alone. Dive into the intriguing world of these pioneering listening devices, their operation, limitations, and enduring legacy in military history.

The story of a man who spent 72 hours with 72 venomous snakes to prove they only bite when provoked
In the 1980s, an Indian man spent 72 hours in a glass cabin with 72 snakes, some of which were extremely venomous. His aim was to prove that snakes only attack when provoked. Remarkably, he was not bitten once in those 72 hours and even set a Guinness World Record in the process.

Saudi Arabia camel carvings dated to prehistoric era
Archaeologists were shocked to discover that a series of camels carved into desert rock faces in north-western Saudi Arabia are actually prehistoric, dating from 7,000-8,000 years ago - before either the Pyramids of Giza or Stonehenge were built.

Quaker Oats Fed Children with Radioactive Oatmeal
In the 1940s and 1950s, Quaker Oats and MIT conducted experiments on radioactive iron and calcium-containing cereal. The diet was part of a study to see if the nutrients in Quaker oatmeal traveled throughout the body. In January 1998, a $1.85 million settlement was reached for 30 victims who came forward.

15 interesting facts about Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled Britain for 70 years, has away at the age of 96. She was the country's longest-reigning monarch. Here are some little-known facts about her.

Top 10 most cruel medical procedures that are being used today
We are all aware that medicine has advanced dramatically over the last fifty years. There are several modern medical approaches available today, but this was not always the case. However, the past of medicine is a dark one. Medical leeches, lobotomy, vascular surgery, cranial stenosis, and even electroshock therapy are all options. These are only a couple of the cruel healing techniques that are still in use today.