During World War I, German saboteurs ignited 2 million pounds of munitions on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor, triggering one of the largest explosions to ever occur on American soil.

Less than half of the racers in the 1904 Olympic marathon finished the notoriously perilous race — and only after the winner was dragged across the finish line.

After meeting Adolf Hitler when she was 17 years old, Eva Braun became the Nazi dictator's long-time mistress before marrying him on April 29, 1945.

In 1806, well-respected farmer James Purrington suddenly decided to murder his wife and seven of his children, leaving his neighbors in small-town Maine shocked and horrified.

In July 1949, Norma Padgett accused four Black men of sexually assaulting her and violent mobs quickly formed to bring her attackers to justice — destroying the lives of four innocent men.

A decade before MLK's assassination, a Black woman named Izola Ware Curry stabbed him with a letter opener at a Harlem book signing, nearly leaving him dead.

The subject of the movie Men of Honor, Carl Brashear battled racism to become the U.S. Navy's first Black master diver — even after losing one of his legs.

After the 1872 gubernatorial election in Louisiana, KKK members and former Confederates stormed a courthouse occupied by Black militiamen — and killed as many as 150 of them.

Blinded as a 3-year-old boy, Louis Braille went on to become a renowned French educator in the 19th century, developing the famous Braille system that’s still used today.

Witnessing an elephant give birth inspired a couple to create a new childbirth technology. Unfortunately, it was too ridiculous to use.

From 1971 to 1972, a serial killer known only as the "Freeway Phantom” stalked Washington, D.C., abducting and murdering six young Black girls.