So many prospectors flocked to San Francisco during the gold rush in California that the city's population rose from 1,000 to 25,000 between 1848 and 1849.

Researchers were preparing for construction of a business park in Creuzier-le-Neuf when they happened upon a vast 2,300-year-old necropolis stretching across a whopping 7,000 square feet.

First known as a black metal musician in his native Norway, Varg Vikernes later became infamous for his murder of former bandmate Euronymous in 1993 as well as his neo-Nazism.

The Dust Bowl devastated the Great Plains in the 1930s, destroying millions of acres of crops, killing livestock, and forcing farmers to abandon their land and migrate west to find work.

Harrison Okene was working off the coast of Nigeria in May 2013 when a freak wave caused his tugboat to sink — trapping him 100 feet beneath the surface of the sea.

After he was captured and sent to the "Hanoi Hilton" in 1967, U.S. Navy sailor Doug Hegdahl played dumb to trick his captors and then spent the next two years gathering key information to relay to U.S. military officials upon his release.

On September 25, 1980, John Bonham died in his sleep by choking on his own vomit following a day of heavy binge drinking.

For more than 50 years, photojournalist Stephen Shames has used images to illustrate social issues across America and beyond — standing up for those whose voices often go unheard.

A 3D "digital twin" of the RMS Titanic is revealing surprising new details about how the ship sank and the fate of its passengers and crew.

The dagger, which may have been used for ritualistic purposes during the Iron Age, was embedded in a chunk of clay that fell from a cliff during a heavy storm.

Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful powered and controlled airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903, forever changing transportation, warfare, and industry.