Category: history

Posted on

Do You Know About the Hall of Records in Mount Rushmore? Let’s Learn About It!

Hollywood has posited that there might be secrets in or around Mount Rushmore in at least a couple of films, and while some liberties were taken, there is actually a secret lair inside the giant, carved, monument.

More than meet’s the eye, if you will.

Image Credit: Disney

Mount Rushmore is kind of a strange monument, as these things go. It contains the giant heads of four revered American presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln – and was never truly finished.

It was created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, whose original plan was to sculpt the outline of the Louisiana Purchase and then inscribe it with the important events between Washington and Roosevelt’s presidencies (which is arguably even stranger than what we got), and when that fell through, he got the idea for the hidden Hall of Records instead.

That one, to many people’s surprise, did come to fruition.

The Hall of Records was to be a sort of time capsule to store important American documents. Borglum planned it to be 80 feet tall and 100 feet long, lined with brass cabinets that contained the original documents of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, major contributions to art and science, etc, and was to be carved into the canyon behind the president’s heads.

Image Credit: MyCountry955

The only access was to be an 800-foot staircase.

Work began on the Hall in 1938, but was only partially finished (as were the heads) when Borglum died in 1941. His son finished the portraits, though they were never completed to the waists as they was the original plan, and the Hall of Records was abandoned as a big, empty cavern.

It wasn’t until 1998 that 16 porcelain panels were placed inside the chamber. They describe the construction of Mount Rushmore, including the reasons behind choosing those particular presidents, and a document history of the United States – basically a time capsule for some future time when all of that knowledge has been lost.

The panels are sealed inside a teak box inside a titanium vault, covered by a 1200-pound granite slab that contains a quote from Borglum’s original plans.

“Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were.

Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and rain alone shall wear them away.”

Yep, that’s what they say. Pretty poignant, right?

And this is what it looks like.

Image Credit: My Country 955

If you’re planning to visit Mount Rushmore you should know a couple of things – it’s a very long drive into the middle of nowhere, and also the Hall of Records has no direct access, so you will not be able to peek inside.

The Native history in the area is fascinating, though, and the Badlands and Black Hills are beautiful – so go and enjoy, and happy travels!

The post Do You Know About the Hall of Records in Mount Rushmore? Let’s Learn About It! appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

What’s the Scariest Fact You Know? People Responded.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the world can be a pretty scary place.

And I’m talking about the natural world, the actual human beings walking around, all of it is kind of terrifying.

You ready to get scared?

People on AskReddit talked about the scariest facts they know.

Let’s get weird!

1. Sounds painful.

“If a bear attacks it won’t k**l you immediately, it’ll just start eating.”

2. Horrible.

“If you have FFI (fatal familial insomnia) you will experience progressively worsening sleeplessness.

Your inability to sleep eventually turns into total insomnia at which point you’ll die. People who have this rare genetic condition will all die.

It’s inevitable; most people within a year of it’s onset… scary to think about.”

3. Scary plants.

“There’s a plant that grows in Australia called the Gympie-Gympie , touching the plant will result in an unbearable pain because of the small needles on the plant.

The pain is so unbearable people and animals k**led themselves because of it.

There’s also a plant called Hogweed that can cause severe burns and blisters that can scar you for life.”

4. Very strange.

“Totally blind people don’t see black, they don’t see at all.

For some reason that’s always frightened me.”

5. Yikes.

“Fun fact!

Being flayed (skinned alive) by a skilled tor**rer meant that you’d be likely to survive the ordeal. Believe it or not dying of shock, or blood loss wasn’t guaranteed.

Often people survived hours, or days with no skin. In these cases what finished them off was hypothermia.”

6. Can’t be stopped.

“Prion diseases exist.

They’re not bacteria or viruses, there isn’t an infection, per se, to attack.

They’re basically an alternate form of protein, and we can’t stop them.”

7. Frightening.

“A brain aneurysm can hit you any time, anywhere, with next to no warning.”

8. A little weird.

“All communication in the United States is controlled by fewer than 10 companies.

All major news in the US is controlled by 5 companies, including Disney and Comcast.”

9. Messed up.

“In certain parts of South Africa, girls are more likely to be r**ed than learn how to read.”

10. Be careful.

“You can have rabies for years before it even shows symptoms.

Then one day you get a headache and it’s a death sentence from there.”

11. Impressive.

“A moose can swim about 16 feet/5 meters underwater, which is why orcas are natural predators of them.

Imagine you’re diving underwater, suddenly there’s a moose sitting at the bottom eating sea grass, then it gets eaten by an orca.

That would be terrifying.”

12. Oh, great.

“Your skin is not 100% attached to your body.

With enough air pressure beneath the skin, your body will become a balloon with a solid core and it will be excruciating before the embolism k**ls you.”

13. Scary and true.

“Rose West is, alongside her husband Fred, one of the most infamous serial k**lers in modern British history who k**led several lodgers in her house. And if not for a single mistake, she would’ve gotten away with it.

When they were finally caught, all evidence actually pointed to Fred being the sole culprit and she shifted the blame onto him. Either out of a fu**ed-up sense of loyalty or despair for being betrayed, Fred committed suicide in custody which seemed to end the idea of bringing him and his wife to trial, relegating any other investigations into figuring out what crimes Fred had committed.

The police were still deeply convinced that either Rose knew more about the murders than she was letting on or she was a direct participant, but she was a tough egg to crack. The police tried every angle conceivable but she always deflected the blame onto Fred and there was never a crack in her story – too well rehearsed. She knew what to say, when to say it and they couldn’t trip her up.

However, while investigating both her husband and her own backgrounds, they discovered that Fred had a daughter from his first wife… and the police confirmed that not only was this girl one of Rose’s victims, Fred has an iron-clad alibi for when she died because he was in prison.

And when they confirmed that another victim found was the girl’s mother, the police had a clear motive – Rose k**led her step-daughter and told people she was back to living with her mother, and had Fred k**l his first wife to keep her quiet.”

Now we want to hear from you.

In the comments, tell us what you think is the scariest fact you know.

Please and thank you!

The post What’s the Scariest Fact You Know? People Responded. appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments

It’s not a secret at this point that science has, on several occasions throughout history, gone too far in its pursuit of progress.

Unethical experiments have been performed on human beings without the agency to resist, lies have been told, dangerous substances haven’t been protected, and psychological damage has been waved aside, even in rooms with children.

Below are 4 experiments that all under that umbrella, and the scientists involved all surely knew better before they even began.

4. Testicle transplants.

While Dr. Leo Stanley was in charge of the health of prisoners at San Quentin Prison in California, he surgically transplanted the testicles of executed criminals onto living inmates in a desire to find out whether raising testosterone levels would reduce an urge to criminal behavior.

More than 600 inmates suffered at his hands, some even being injected with liquefied animal testicles, when there were no human ones available.

Stanley claimed success after a Caucasian prisoner claimed to feel “energetic” after receiving a testicle from an executed African-American convict.

3. Unit 731

Image Credit: Free Use

In 1938, the Japanese government set up Unit 731 with the intention of developing biological weapons that could be used in warfare.

The unit used Chinese prisoners and Asian civilians as guinea pigs, without their knowledge and/or consent, and infected them with cholera, anthrax, plague, and other horrible pathogens.

Many died, but still, after WWII America (and other countries) provided safe passage to some of the researchers involved in exchange for ownership of their research.

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

Image Credit: Eric. E. Castro

In 1971, hoping to investigate the causes of conflict between prisoners and guards, took 24 students and assigned them to one role or another. They were then placed in a prison-like environment.

The researchers planned for the experiment to last two weeks, but had to pull the plug after only six days because they were unable to maintain any semblance of order.

One in every three “guards” abused the prisoners, sometimes violently, leading to at least two of the prisoners suffering emotional trauma.

We learned a lot about how power and certain situations can influence an individual’s behavior, but no one involved was quite the same afterward.

1. Two-headed dogs.

Vladimir Demikhov’s studies have helped medical science advance, and his attempts to graft the head of a puppy onto the neck of a German Shepherd, especially, led to huge advances in the field of organ transplants in humans.

It wasn’t so great for the dogs, though, who – although they could move independently of each other – did not survive long due to tissue rejection issues. Of the 20 two-headed dogs that were created, only one survived for an entire month.

Science never ceases to amaze me – in good ways and horrible ways, sometimes in equal measure.

What’s the worst science experiment you’ve learned about? If it’s not on this list, tell us about it in the comments!

The post Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments

It’s not a secret at this point that science has, on several occasions throughout history, gone too far in its pursuit of progress.

Unethical experiments have been performed on human beings without the agency to resist, lies have been told, dangerous substances haven’t been protected, and psychological damage has been waved aside, even in rooms with children.

Below are 4 experiments that all under that umbrella, and the scientists involved all surely knew better before they even began.

4. Testicle transplants.

While Dr. Leo Stanley was in charge of the health of prisoners at San Quentin Prison in California, he surgically transplanted the testicles of executed criminals onto living inmates in a desire to find out whether raising testosterone levels would reduce an urge to criminal behavior.

More than 600 inmates suffered at his hands, some even being injected with liquefied animal testicles, when there were no human ones available.

Stanley claimed success after a Caucasian prisoner claimed to feel “energetic” after receiving a testicle from an executed African-American convict.

3. Unit 731

Image Credit: Free Use

In 1938, the Japanese government set up Unit 731 with the intention of developing biological weapons that could be used in warfare.

The unit used Chinese prisoners and Asian civilians as guinea pigs, without their knowledge and/or consent, and infected them with cholera, anthrax, plague, and other horrible pathogens.

Many died, but still, after WWII America (and other countries) provided safe passage to some of the researchers involved in exchange for ownership of their research.

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

Image Credit: Eric. E. Castro

In 1971, hoping to investigate the causes of conflict between prisoners and guards, took 24 students and assigned them to one role or another. They were then placed in a prison-like environment.

The researchers planned for the experiment to last two weeks, but had to pull the plug after only six days because they were unable to maintain any semblance of order.

One in every three “guards” abused the prisoners, sometimes violently, leading to at least two of the prisoners suffering emotional trauma.

We learned a lot about how power and certain situations can influence an individual’s behavior, but no one involved was quite the same afterward.

1. Two-headed dogs.

Vladimir Demikhov’s studies have helped medical science advance, and his attempts to graft the head of a puppy onto the neck of a German Shepherd, especially, led to huge advances in the field of organ transplants in humans.

It wasn’t so great for the dogs, though, who – although they could move independently of each other – did not survive long due to tissue rejection issues. Of the 20 two-headed dogs that were created, only one survived for an entire month.

Science never ceases to amaze me – in good ways and horrible ways, sometimes in equal measure.

What’s the worst science experiment you’ve learned about? If it’s not on this list, tell us about it in the comments!

The post Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Read About the Heartbreaking Tragedies in the Life of Judy Garland

I’m sure there are people out there who only know Judy Garland’s name and face and voice from her iconic role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. Those people might even be lucky, because they don’t realize how horribly tragic and wasted her beautiful life can seem when you know all of the rest of it, too.

If you know a little and are interested in stomaching more, here are 7 pretty tragic truths about the life of one of Hollywood’s most misunderstood classic ladies.

7. She was assaulted by one of the owners of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Image Credit: Public Domain

Studio head Louis Mayer openly referred to Judy Garland, a minor, as “My Little Hunchback,” and also routinely assaulted her by touching her inappropriately whenever they were alone. When Garland confronted him he gaslit her, claiming he felt like a father figure.

He was also part of the decision to keep her looking as young as possible by taping down her chest, shoving her into a corset, and giving her parts that required her to look the part of a teenager.

Eventually, when she was too mentally exhausted to comply, he fired her in 1950.

6. She had a terrible stage mother.

Image Credit: Jonathunder

Frances Ethel Gumm – who would become Judy Garland – was born in Grand Rapids, MN in 1922. Even that was lucky, as her mother, Ethel, consulted a doctor about an abortion before ultimately going through with the pregnancy.

She was a vaudevillian who was determined to make more of her kids, putting 2.5 year old Frances on stage with her two older sisters before moving them all to California when her youngest was just 4.

Judy remembered her mother as “the real Wicked Witch of the West.”

Ouch.

5. Her minders starved her and encouraged substance abuse to control her weight.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Judy Garland was 17 when she starred in The Wizard of Oz, and though it would cement her stardom, it would come at a price. Studio executives were determined to starve her for the role, instructing her minders to steal her food and feed her black coffee and as many as 80 cigarettes a day instead.

She was also given stimulants and depressive drugs in order to finish the film and get through a promotional road show with Mickey Rooney, the entire process likely kickstarting her long and lasting substance abuse problems.

None of her co-stars thought to help; they were too busy being annoyed that a “child” was getting more attention than they were.

4. Her parents had an unhappy marriage.

Her father, Frank Gumm, was also on vaudeville. He and her mother had an onstage act together, but offstage, he consorted with other men as well as women, which reportedly drove the move to California.

Judy said,

“As I recall, my parents were separating and getting back together all the time.

It was very hard for me to understand those things and, of course, I remember clearly the fear I had of those separations.”

Her father died in 1935, right after she signed her first studio contract.

Nothing started or ended well for Judy.

3. Her first marriage ended after just 8 months.

Image Credit: Public Domain

In an attempt to get out from under the thumb of her overbearing mother and her abusive studio minders, Garland married bandleader David Rose when she was just 19.

She became pregnant quickly but had an abortion at the behest of her husband and others. The marriage ended in 1944, and they lived together only 8 months.

2. No one cared about her health.

Image Credit: Public Domain

The studio originally saw 13-year-old Judy as a wholesome, childish foil to their “bombshell” lineup, and strove to keep her looking that way for as long as possible.

She was forced to make herself look younger than she was, and the abusive control of her clothing, weight, and other aspects of her physical appearance are well documented.

1. Her second marriage was no better (it was worse).

Image Credit: Public Domain

She married Vicente Minnelli in 1945, after he directed her in one of her first “adult” roles in Meet Me in St. Louis.

They had a daughter, Liza, but the 20-year age gap, Minnelli’s bisexuality, and Garland’s erratic behavior and substance abuse quickly put a strain on things.

It ended after she found him fooling around with a male employee and then tried to slit her wrists.

They divorced in 1951.

Ugh. I mean, just ugh. Talk about setting someone up for failure.

Is there something we’ve missed on this list? Share it with us in the comments.

The post Read About the Heartbreaking Tragedies in the Life of Judy Garland appeared first on UberFacts.