In the 1940s and '50s, the biggest stars of Golden Age Hollywood rang in the new year at the famed Romanoff's restaurant in Beverly Hills or producer Sam Spiegel's annual A-list affairs — but by the 1970s, Manhattan's notorious Studio 54 was the place for celebrities to be on New Year's Eve.

In 1999, many worried that the world's computers couldn't handle the change to the year 2000 — and some even thought that the apocalypse was near.

Rodents of unusual size, or ROUS, are bloodthirsty creatures in The Princess Bride, but their closest counterparts in the real world are capybaras or the massive Bosavi woolly rats of South America.

Historians debate whether or not Judge Holden ever really existed, but the Blood Meridian antagonist was said to have been the most ruthless member of the Glanton gang of scalp hunters that roamed Mexico and the American Southwest in the mid-1800s.

Though gifts were much simpler than modern-day presents, with many children receiving dolls, train sets, and stuffed animals, the joy of Christmas morning was clearer than ever.

These monumental discoveries left even the experts stunned.

Various cultures throughout history believed in dragons, likely as a way to explain fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.

Fine jewelry, rare coins, and other treasures found in the graves of three Viking women dating to the ninth century C.E. suggest the women were wealthy and held high status in their community.

The Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo, and Bonanno crime organizations make up the Five Families of New York City's Italian-American Mafia, and though their power peaked in the mid-20th century, their blood-soaked saga continues to this day.

Since its discovery in 2011, the tomb of lesser-known emperor Liu He has given up a wealth of archaeological treasures, including 2 million bronze coins as well as some 20,000 other stunning artifacts.

Victor Salva is best known as the writer and director of the Jeepers Creepers films, but a decade before the first of those was released, he spent 15 months in prison for molesting 12-year-old actor Nathan Forrest Winters on the set of his film Clownhouse.