The days preceding Marie Antoinette's execution were excruciating. She was imprisoned, endured allegations of incest, and her hair went white overnight from shock.

Though the Groom of the Stool transported the king's portable toilet and recorded his bowel movements, the royal toilet attendant was nonetheless a coveted position.

Cleveland abduction victims Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, and Amanda Berry were forced to live in Ariel Castro's house of horrors for 10 years. He raped and beat them until they escaped in 2013.

"Feral Child" Genie Wiley was strapped to a chair in a makeshift straitjacket for 13 years. Her extreme neglect resulted in a rare opportunity for researchers to study human development, though perhaps at her expense.

No one thought Adolphe Sax would make it past childhood after his myriad near-death experiences. But he did — and invented an instrument that revolutionized the music world.

In stark contrast to the Hitler Youth, the Edelweiss Pirates resisted Nazism in any way they could at a time when doing so was a criminal offense.

In the 1960s, Ann Atwater could feel the breeze through the cracks in her house's walls. Then a housing advocate recommended she attend a community organizing training — and the rest is history.

The Knights of the Golden Circle sought to create a confederation that would encompass 2,400 square miles from the southern United States to South America — and run on the labor of slaves.

With the help of Charles Manson, Bobby Beausoleil went from just another struggling actor and musician to a world-famous murderer.

Kathryn "Kitty" Lutesinger told the police about a fellow Manson Family member who bragged about stabbing someone. That someone? A murder victim at Sharon Tate's house.

Mary Brunner immediately fell under Charles Manson's spell. She bore his son, aided in a murder, and attempted to hijack a plane in his name.