It was once almost universally accepted that Robert Peary was the first man to make it to the North Pole in 1909, but a re-examination of his records in the 1980s cast serious doubt on his claim.

When C.P. Ellis was tasked with working with Ann Atwater to desegregate Durham, North Carolina schools, he was an "Exalted Cyclops" of the KKK. Ten days later, he was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement.

After the Persians invaded her lands around 530 B.C.E., Queen Tomyris vowed to give their king his fill of blood. And she kept that promise.

In 1944, Finnish soldier Aimo Koivunen got separated from his unit and survived for weeks inside the Arctic Circle without food or shelter — fueled by a dose of meth large enough for 30 men.

Meet Annette Kellerman, the early 20th-century pioneer who broke swimming records, dove off 90-foot cliffs, and became the first woman to appear nude in a major motion picture.

In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu leaked details about Israel's top-secret nuclear program to the British press. He was later found guilty of treason and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

While working at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Sabrina Harman was infamously photographed with abused prisoners, including a pile of naked and hooded men.

The wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal died at the age of 38 — prompting her husband to build a grand mausoleum in her honor.

After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, some 20,000 Black Americans decided to escape the discriminatory policies in the South and made their way west, with many settling in Kansas.

Sparked by a publicity stunt performed by Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, flagpole sitting was a popular test of endurance in the United States during the 1920s, before falling out of fashion during the Great Depression.