TY sir.

This book did not cause WWII. In fact, of all the things that caused WWII, this is pretty much on the bottom of the list.

not trying to steal OP's thunder, but raise your hand if you've thought about making some type of Wiki thread at least once...

i've thought about it so many times lol

thanks for finally getting it done, op.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmerman_Telegram

How the USA almost ended up at war with Mexico during WW1.

The Telegram instructed Ambassador Eckardt that if the United States appeared likely to enter the war he was to approach the Mexican government with a proposal for military alliance. He was to offer Mexico material aid in the reclamation of territory lost during the Mexican-American War (the southeastern section of the area of the Mexican Cession of 1848) and the Gadsden Purchase, specifically the American states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Eckardt was also instructed to urge Mexico to help broker an alliance between Germany and Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud

BAMF from Afghanistan who played a huge part in fighting back the Soviet invasion and then later protecting his home from Taliban control. He warned the world of a major imminent terrorist attack by al Qaeda in 2001. It's believed that his assassination on 9/9/01 was necessary for al Qaeda to gain the support and protection from the Taliban necessary to green light the 9/11 attacks. In 2002 he was posthumously named a National Hero of Afghanistan and nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Flight 19's disappearance from the Bermuda Triangle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19

Operation Downfall, the planned Invasion of the japanese home islands near the end of WWII

Because of this I would not be here unless we dropped the bomb. My grandfather was a signalman and was waiting in India/China to go into Japan with the first wave.

People in the olden days had a lot of time on their hands...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerne_Abbas_giant

sounds mundane but these were interesting imo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

In mathematics the Mandelbrot set, named after Benoît Mandelbrot, is a set of points in the complex plane, the boundary of which forms a fractal. Mathematically the Mandelbrot set can be defined as the set of complex values of c for which the orbit of 0 under iteration of the complex quadratic polynomial z_n+1 = z_n² + c remains bounded.

aka someones new avatar

Big deal. Try multiplying by 3s when you get pulled over for a DUI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_David_Roberts

Gregory David Roberts - "In July 1980, Roberts escaped from Victoria’s maximum security prison in broad daylight to become one of Australia’s most wanted men.[3] He later claimed that he had been tortured while in solitary confinement, and that this was the main reason for planning an escape. After briefly going to New Zealand, he lived in Mumbai, where he became involved with the local mafia, and lived there for 10 years. Roberts was attracted to Mumbai because of its remarkable energy, the freedom of its people and their ability to overcome poverty. During his stay in Mumbai, Roberts was thrown into Arthur Road jail and tortured there as well, by being tied up, hung upside down and beaten with sticks. He was released from the jail some time later due to bribes paid by a senior member of the Indian mafia. Roberts ended up working for the mafia, smuggling drugs and passports. He also went to war in Afghanistan to fight with the mujahedin."

He wrote a book called Shantaram which outlines a lot of the stuff he did after his escape...pretty insane read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikerowesoft

Microsoft vs. MikeRoweSoft was a legal dispute between Microsoft and a Canadian high school student named Mike Rowe over the domain name "MikeRoweSoft.com".[2] The case received international press attention following Microsoft's perceived heavy-handed approach to a 12th grade student's part time web design business and the subsequent support that Rowe received from the online community.

as it happens, this guy plays poker http://blogs.cardrunners.com/manifest

Yeah, I remember the story from when he posted it on here like a long time ago.

Life-long learners in this thread.

Wow, what a sick picture.

some great links ITT. it's strange to think of some of the things you have never heard about and yet which are so bizarre or phenomenal it almost feels like they should be mandatory in any school syllabus.

must admit those Ukrainian teen serial killers and their videotaped shenanigans completely turned my stomach. I thought the Iraq beheading videos were bad and yet that is almost more disgusting

Hollow-face illusion

We perceive a concave face as convex. In other words, if it's sunken in something, it is still perceived as sticking out.

An example is the Badlands Guardian, which you can see with google satelite by zooming in to a few notches from closest. It's the result of erosion, so what looks like a face sticking up from the ground has actually been carved out of the hillside over time.

On the hollow-face-illusion page, be sure to check out the dragon video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Order_191

Special Order 191 was a military order issued by Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee in the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. A lost copy of this order was recovered in Frederick County, Maryland, by Union Army troops, and the subsequent military intelligence gained by the Union played an important role in the Battle of South Mountain and Battle of Antietam.

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A one in a million event helps the north prevent Lee's invasion of Maryland during a decisive battle, possibly leading to a very different outcome for the Civil War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_Incident

ok this dragon vid is tripping the hell out of me