Top 5 Odd Superstitions About Food

5. Hollow Bread  

It was once (and perhaps still is) a superstition that if you found a hole in a loaf of bread you cut, it symbolized a coffin and meant that someone was soon to die. If a person found a loaf in this state, there would be days of discussion to guess who it might be that would be stricken down. Of course, these days we are less likely to cut our own loaves of bread, so this one is likely to die into obscurity.

4. Egg shells  

It was once a superstition that if you did not crush the ends of an egg after eating it, a witch would gather the shells and use them to craft a boat that she could use to sail out to sea to raise storms. This is a very ancient superstition which seems to originate in the 1580s. If you shattered the end of the shell, it would create enough holes to make it useless as a boat. We won’t even go into the logic of how a full-sized human might be able to stand in an egg shell – that was obviously not on the minds of our superstitious forebears.

3. Crossed Bread  

This innocent old superstition dictated that all loaves of bread must be marked with a sign of the cross before baking. The idea was that the cross would prevent the devil from sitting on the loaf – and thereby prevent him from cursing or spoiling the bread. The upside to this superstition is that bread rises much better in the oven when crossed – though obviously not from the influence (or lack thereof) of the wicked one.

2. Salt   

We all know of the superstition surrounding the spilling of salt, but here is a slightly more unusual one. It used to be considered bad if you helped another person to the salt – there was even a little phrase that evolved from the superstition: “help to salt, help to sorry.” Salt is such an important part of human life that it is no wonder that it appears so frequently in the history of superstition.

1. Tea Rituals   

It used to be considered bad luck for two people to pour tea from the same pot. In addition, if you left the lid off the teapot while brewing tea, it was meant to mean that a stranger would visit soon. There were even a series of small rituals you could perform to determine the exact day, hour, and gender of the visitor by means of tapping the wrist.

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Top 5 Fascinating Graveyards You Must See

5. La Recoleta Cemetery
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Always topping lists of places to visit in Buenos Aires, the Cementerio de la Recoleta is a fascinating glimpse into Argentine history. The most famous tomb is undoubtedly that of Eve Peron’s, but there are many more Argentinean politicians, poets and personalities. The cemetery is designed much like a city, with wide avenues branching off into alleyways, all lined with “houses” for individuals and families. Many are exceptionally well maintained, but there are many more that no longer have family members to maintain them and have thus fallen into disrepair. There are stories of crypts being used as maintenance closets, with cleaning supplies stored on top of coffins. Among the tombs that have been maintained, you will find many sculptures that have been declared national historic monuments, as well as a myriad of styles, from Egyptian to Gothic to Art Deco. Another interesting note: among Argentina’s rich and famous deceased, you may also find a colony of feral cats that have made Cementerio de la Recoleta their home, and who are often fed by the locals.

4. Saint Louis Cemetery

New Orleans, Louisiana

This is actually three cemeteries. Each is worth visiting, though Saint Louis Cemetery #1 is, in my opinion, the most interesting, and the one I will be referring to. The tombs in Saint Louis are above ground, and the stone buildings are actually concealing bodies only a few feet away from the visitor. The reason for this is supposedly because the ground water level in New Orleans is impractical for burials, though there is some dispute of this. Saint Louis #1 is more than a little run down, and a tour guide is strongly recommended. Voodoo is alive and well in New Orleans and the tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie LaVeau is supposedly located in the Glapion family crypt in Louis #1. When I visited, graffiti made this particular tomb hard to miss, but that was a few years ago, and I can’t vouch for what it looks like now. As an aside, when I visited I did not go with a tour. Aimless wandering through the one square block cemetery found many tombs that had been broken into, and more than a few remains scattered. This cemetery is not for the fainthearted.

3. Forest Lawn Memorial Parks

Glendale & Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California

Also: Hollywood Forever (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) Three places for the price of one! First, Forest Lawn: A unique entry… The creators of these parks wanted to approach the creation of a final resting place with a sunnier outlook. The result is practically a theme park for death. Traditional headstones are ditched in favor of markers set into the ground, and replicas of artwork –paintings and statuary- and famous buildings from all over the world, abound. If, for instance, you want to see the complete collection of Michelangelo’s sculptures but can’t afford to bounce around Europe, look no further. This cemetery contains the only complete collection in the world that is made from casts of the originals and marble from the same quarry Michelangelo used. Between Glendale and Hollywood Hills you can find the final resting place of what may seem like most of Hollywood (and you’ll find the rest at Hollywood Forever). Curiously, some of the graves are in a restricted section, among them Hollywood elite such as Humphrey Bogart, Nat King Cole and Mary Pickford, but most are available to the public. Some of the more visited markers are those of Walt Disney, L. Frank Baum, Errol Flynn, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Tex Avery, Scatman Crothers, Bette Davis, Marty Feldman, Buster Keaton, Fritz Lang, Liberace, Telly Savales (buried with a lollipop!), and many, many more. Hollywood Forever is located nearby, adjacent to the north wall of Paramount studios. It is less popular because it spent the latter part of the 20th century being run down and financially mismanaged. It was purchased by its current owners in 1998 and refurbished. Movies are screened there in the summertime, drawing hundreds of visitors. Famous occupants include Mel Blanc, Cecille B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., George Harrison, Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, Rudolph Valentino, and my all time favorite actor, Peter Lorre.

2. Green-Wood Cemetery

Brooklyn, New York

Boasting 600,000 graves spread out over 478 acres, this site is a popular tourist attraction for those visiting New York City. Like Père-Lachaise, there was a campaign to promote the cemetery involving moving famous bodies there and donating monuments. Unlike Père-Lachaise, the plan didn’t really work, and from the time it was opened in 1838 until the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 made it easier to get there, the cemetery did not get that many permanent residents. Those that did come to stay had plenty of room to do so, however. There are hundreds of ornate tombs for famous and non-famous residents alike, but the site still seems wide open. Most New Yorkers who made their name in the second half of the 19th century (a prolific chunk of time for famous New Yorkers) can be found here. There are also war memorials and monuments, including an Obelisk that serves as a grave marker for 103 of the nearly 300 victims of the Brooklyn Theater Fire.

1. Old Jewish Cemetery

Josefov, Prague, Chzech Republic

Easily the oldest cemetery on this list, with the earliest discernable headstone dating back to 1439, the Old Jewish Cemetery operated until 1787, which means it closed before most of the entries on this list had opened. The headstones bear this out, jumbled at strange angles and deeply weatherworn. Ropes divide the walkway from the headstones, and tickets can be bought to see the cemetery individually or in addition to visiting the surrounding synagogues. Interestingly, while many Jewish cemeteries were destroyed during the holocaust, Hitler specifically requested this one remain intact, as he apparently intended to build a museum here after his assumed victory.

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The 5 Most Brutal Deaths in the Bible

It’s common knowledge that Jesus was a bit of a softy, pushing his peace and love agenda until his death and well after his foray into zombie-ism, but people tend to forget that His father operated on an absurdly short temper. God’s Old Testament policy can be summed up succinctly with “talk shit, get hit.” What follows are five of the most brutal deaths you’ll find in the Bible.

1.King Eglon

The Who: As far as biblical douche bags go, Eglon’s name isn’t exactly memorable. He wasn’t quite a power player, but the dude was still a dick: during the time of the Judges he suppressed the people of Israel because hey, why not? He was also a bit of a glutton, which while not always the ear mark of a tyrant, it is still a sin, so we’ll stack that against him, too.

The Death: Jolly Old Eglon was approached by Judge Ehud, who claimed to have a very important message for the king. Eglon sent all of his aides away. Ehud then uttered the most bad-ass line in the entire Bible, “I have a message from God for you,” and stabbed Eglon right in the stomach. The grievous wound combined with his Fat Albert physique lead to the dagger being swallowed by his girth. Depending on which translation you’re reading, excrement also leaked out of the wound, so there you go.

Ehud escaped and locked all the doors. When Eglon’s aides returned they assumed that their king was relieving himself and waited to enter. Finally, unable to wait any longer, they broke in and found their king a bloated, bleeding, unpleasantly feces-soaked corpse.

2.Samson

The Who:

Samson is pretty much the Old Testament equivalent to the Incredible Hulk. Though born during a time when God was punishing the Israelites by having them live under the rule of the Philistines, Samson was blessed with unparalleled strength so he could brutally slay the captors of his people and return them to God. Throughout his narrative he’s prone to fits of anger that leave thousands of people corpsed. To put it bluntly, Samson was metal.


The Death:

The catch to Samson’s fists of fury was that he wouldn’t cut his hair. Naturally, that had to happen; his lover Deliah was bought out by the Philistines to discover his secret, and though he did lead her on for quite some time he eventually told her. She cut his hair and he was promptly captured and blinded by swords, because that’s really the only way to avenge the deaths of thousands.

The Philistines forced the blind and weak Samson to grind grain. However, they didn’t keep tabs on the whole “hair” thing. Once his hair grew back and Samson realized that he’d found a holy loophole, he prayed to God to restore his strength so he can at least go out with a bang. Samson then knocked over two pillars in a temple, bringing the whole damn thing down and killing more Philistines than every single one of his murderous rages before combined. But because God’s forgiveness doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, Samson died with his enemies having learned a lesson about keeping your promise to God but having absolutely no time to apply it.

3.Sisera

The Who:

Commander of a Canaanite army who took his turn at oppressing the Israelites, a popular hobby of the day. He commanded several hundred iron chariots and in legends outside of the Bible could shake walls and kill wild animals with his voice. He also conquered every enemy he faced. Consider him the evil, more vocal Samson, if you will.

The Death:

Sisera does have one official loss under his belt. An Israelite force of ten-thousand turned the tables at the Battle of Mount Tabor. After his own forces were swept away by a river, Sisera called it a night and fled to Heber in the Kenite’s settlement. Heber, an apparent associate of his, offered to hide him out until the heat died down. The mighty Sisera was hidden underneath a rug, and that was that.

While a rug may have been good enough to fool the average Israeli army, no one took Heber’s wife Jael into account. While Sisera was asleep Jael took a spike and a hammer and crushed his freaking skull, pinning it to the ground and killing him at once. With Sisera dead the Israelites lived in peace for forty years. Interestingly enough, some narratives claim that Jael first tried to exhaust Sisera through sex, apparently doing the deed with him seven times before doing God’s work with the ol’ spike and mallet. However, because this sin was committed so she could better carry out the work of God (i.e. killing a sleeping man with a giant nail), it’s not frowned upon. Go figure.

4.Absolom

The Who:

Third son of King David, Absolom was the most handsome man in his father’s kingdom. His good looks were framed by long, flowing hair. God’s twisted sense of irony should tell you that last bit is an important detail, so please do take note of it.

Absolom was, however, a bit of a cocky bastard and staged a revolt against his father (but not before sleeping with his concubines, because hey, rebellion). Israel and Judea joined his cause, forcing David and his own supporters to get the hell out of Dodge and flee as Absolom took the capital. But David wasn’t about to be outfoxed by his own son. Instead he sent an aide to infiltrate his son’s court and force an attack. Shit was gonna get real.

The Death:

The two armies met in the Ephraim Wood and Absolom was completely routed. While fleeing, his manly locks got stuck in a tree. His mule ran out from underneath him, leaving him to hang high and dry. David’s commander Joab took advantage of the situation and executed him – still hanging from the tree – with a group of spearmen and swordsmen. David was upset by this, but it’s kind of his fault since he did trick his son into attacking him.

5.Abimelech



The Who:


The son of Judge Gideon, Abimelech’s name is a proof of inheritance and was used to assert his right to rule after the death of his father. However, he was the son of his father’s concubine and not a true heir, so he had to claim the title by force, killing his seventy or so step-siblings. The youngest brother managed to escape before Abimelech was made king of Mannasseh.


The Death:


The town of Thebez revolted, presumably because they felt his birth certificate was a forgery. Not too fond of negotiations, Abimelech attacked the town to remind them who wears the big pants. It was during this dick-punch crusade that he met his end when a woman atop a wall threw a millstone at his skull. Once he realized he was about to give it up to the spirit in the sky, Abimelech ordered one of his soldiers to kill him so no one could say he was slain by a woman. While you may or may not agree that his technicality makes a difference, it doesn’t change the fact that his head was crushed by a freaking millstone.

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5 Common Myths About World War II

World War II is often touted as the most important conflict in world history (though our vote goes to “whatever conflict our ancestor was able to survive”). Given such a tall pedestal, you think people would be better at separating its fact from its fiction, but apparently that isn’t so. Much of what is taught about World War II has become distorted with time. The reasons these errors made have made it into history books ranges from simple matters of perspective to successful propaganda campaigns. What follows are five of the most popular myths.

1.France Just Gave Up

There’s an old running gag among the American public that France simply pussed out when World War II was brewing in Europe. The basis of this seems to be that the Nazi’s simply rolled into France without much resistance. Of course, this isn’t true at all, and on behalf of my country I’d like to offer an apology to any French folks reading this. Also, please send more toast.

What happened between May and June in 1940 was a combination of evolution in warfare and poor planning. When the Nazi’s attacked France they did so with the then unheard of Blitzkrieg strategy, laying waste to everything as fast as they could and effectively scattering the French army. Germans referred to this as the “silver bullet” because Hitler just couldn’t let the werewolf thing go.

Anyway, at this point the French military was trained to fight using what they had experienced in World War I. Coincidentally; they had yet to experience blitzkrieg and had no time to form a proper counter strategy. British forces reached the same conclusion and fled across the Channel. France continued fighting for six weeks despite all sense of organization being completely shattered.


Many historians agree that most armies at the time (if not all) wouldn’t hold up against blitzkrieg. Not only was the strategy relatively new, but Germany was also leading the world in terms of technology, meaning new weapons like the Panzer tank.




2.Hitler Became Furher by One Vote

Continually circling the drain that is Internet e-mail forwards is an often repeated list of history changing events determined by one vote. The list is comprised entirely of disastrous results determined or narrowly missed by a single vote and is designed to encourage people to vote whenever they can, presumably because Rock the Vote was a miserable failure.

However, the list is almost always entirely false. One of the more commonly cited “facts” is that Hitler came into power in 1932 by a single vote. Ten seconds of research would tell anyone that this wasn’t at all the case, but then again, the sorts of people who pass on information they read in the body of a Yahoo! e-mail aren’t exactly known for their research prowess.

In July 1921, Hitler walked away from the National Socialists German Workers Party, presumably to work on some art school applications. Two years later he was asked to rejoin, but he would only do so on his own terms: dictatorial power. The party, apparently not great at playing hard ball, voted with this stipulation in mind. The end result: five-hundred and fifty-three in favor, one opposed. That’s… totally different. That’s the sort of thing that discourages people from voting, really.

3.Polish Horses vs. German Tanks

Germany’s invasion of Poland helped further solidified Germany’s power in Europe during the war, so you would think that an event with that much impact would be better researched. Turns out that no, no it isn’t, and Nazi propaganda is to blame.

Popular myth dictates that when German Panzers rolled into Poland in 1939 they were met by Polish cavalry units. That is to say, men on horseback armed with lances and sabers were deployed to fight tanks. It ended just as well as you would expect.

Shortly after the event, Hitler portrayed Poland as a backwards country in comparison to Germany. To this day people still cite the cavalry versus tanks thing. Problem is, it’s complete bullshit. Polish cavalry were deployed to fight the invading Germans, yes, but not to combat tanks. Instead, the cavalry were fighting infantry soldiers. When the tanks appeared they routed the cavalry. So no, no one thought a group of quadrupeds were going to out fox war machines.

4.Pearl Harbor Was Intentionally A Sneak Attack

The moment that thrust America into the war and a day “that would live in infamy,” Pearl Harbor saw Japanese pilots launch a surprise attack against an American naval base in Hawaii. After the deaths of over two-thousand Americans the public was all too ready to throw its support behind entering the war, be they real or fictional.

However, there’s a great deal of controversy surrounding that attack, much of it perpetuated by the belief that Japan disregarded the conventional rules of war by not formally declaring war on America before launching its attack as to better utilize the element of surprise. Once again, this one has been supported by popular culture for some time now, but the truth disagrees with it.


Admiral Yamamoto, the man who planned the attacks, had stipulated that the attack should only commence thirty minutes after the declaration had been made and received by the United States. This way there would still be an element of surprise to the whole thing (who could prepare for war in half an hour?) but the conventional rules of warfare wouldn’t be broken.


The famous “14-Part Message” had been transmitted to the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C., but translating the five-thousand word message took too long and wasn’t delivered in time before the attacks. Meanwhile, Japanese newspapers ran a story on the front page about the declaration the day before. Somewhere, someone got ahead of themselves.


There’s some debate that the Japanese military intentionally disregarded Yamamoto’s orders in favor of a complete sneak attack, or that the message was transmitted late. We’ll never know for sure.

5.D-Day Was the Turning Point for the War In Europe

Another popular one here in the States: the invasion of Normandy was the turning point for the war in Europe that finally told Hitler to shove off. Thanks to ass-busting American pride (and some British and Canadian guys, whatever) the Nazi’s were forced into an early grave and the day was saved. You’re welcome, everyone else.

This is completely true, but only if you can somehow ignore a little something called the Eastern Front. Russian forces were responsible for the deaths of over four-million German soldiers – eighty percent of their military division – as well as crushing much of the Luftwaffe, or air force.

It would be foolish to think that this had no impact on German forces or the invasion of Normandy itself. When the Allies landed, German forces were in pretty bad shape, much of that due to war efforts being redirected to the Eastern Front. That didn’t stop them from posing a serious threat in Normandy, but they were severely under supplied and lacked the strength of the Luftwaffe’s support. Had Germany had the proper air support, things probably wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

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Top 5 the Most Expensive Things in the World

1. The Most Expensive Yacht
Eclipse
$1.2 billion
This yacht belongs to Russian oligarch and Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich. It has anti-missile system, bulletproof glass, and laser defending system.

2. The Most Expensive House
Antilla
$1 billion
This skyscraper belongs to Mukesh Ambani rupee trillioner and is situated in Mumbai. Its height is 173 meters and it includes a landing sight, recreation center and 6-level parking lot. The maintenance staff consists of 600 people.

3. The Most Expensive Car
Mercedes-Benz W196
$24 million
This car is so expensive for its exclusivity: it has won Grand Prix in 1954 – 1955. In 1990 W196 was sold by auction for $24 million.

4. The Most Expensive Motorcycle
Dodge Tomahawk V10 Superbike
$700,000
This bike has 680 kg in weight and has 4 wheels. Its maximal speed is 483 km/h.

5. The Most Expensive Hotel Room
Royal Penthouse Suite in President Wilson hotel, Geneva
$65,000 for one night
The Penthouse which consists of four bedrooms and six bathrooms occupies the whole upper floor. You can get there by special personal elevator. All doors and windows are made of bullet-proof material.

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Top 5 Serial Killers

1. Jack the Ripper
This is probably, one of the most famous members of “butchers’ guild”. In spring 1888 he inspired fear over London killing prostitutes. Though 7 women became his victims, Jack the Ripper was never nobbled. He became famous due to hundreds of books and movies about him.

2. Charles Manson
Another legendary killer became famous in the 1960ths. He led a quasi-commune, which was later called Manson’s Family. In 1969 some members of the Family committed a whole number of murders and Manson was commuted to life imprisonment as he was considered to be an instigator of all crimes.

3. Harold Shipman
Also known as Doctor Death he has been killing people for 23 years. All his 218 victims were his patients, mostly aged people. Shipman killed without any reason. He just liked to imagine himself a god. His victims mostly died of heroin lethal doses. Shipman was commuted to life imprisonment in 2000.

4. Andrew Chikatilo
This Russian maniac is well known all over the word. He was executed in 1994 for 53 (65 according to some data) premeditated murders: 21 boys, 14 girls, and 17 grown-up women.

5. Anatoliy Onoprienko
This is one of the most bloodthirsty maniacs of former Soviet Union. For years he has been travelling around Ukraine and killing people mostly for no reason. He is still alive and serves his life imprisonment in one of Ukrainian prisons for murdering 52 people.

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