Room 39 allegedly uses money from drug smuggling, money laundering, and human trafficking to keep North Korean elites living in luxury.

In MI6’s early days, British naval officer Mansfield Smith-Cumming ran a spy agency full of daring eccentrics who used swords disguised as canes, poison-tipped rings, and invisible ink made from their own bodily fluids.

After escaping from prison several times in the early 19th century, Eugène-François Vidocq turned himself in — and went on to revolutionize policing.

In the 1930s, an Irish politician named Eoin O'Duffy embraced fascism and tried to turn Ireland into a dictatorship — but he ultimately failed.

First opened in 1933, the White Sea-Baltic Canal was built on the backs of gulag prisoners. By the time it was done, more than 25,000 laborers had lost their lives.

In spite of Jasper Maskelyne's hair-raising tales of magical ingenuity and vanishing acts on the North African front, many of his adventures were later revealed to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

In 1954, over 5,000 prisoners in the Kengir camp rose up against the guards, forcing them to flee the grounds. And for 40 days, the inmates got a brief taste of freedom.

In what is now considered the largest intelligence breach in FBI history, Robert Hanssen’s scandal made him millions in diamonds and cash, but cost the FBI $7 million — and the lives of three informants.

Known for her prowess on the battlefield and her penchant for cross-dressing, Yoshiko Kawashima became a polarizing figure in Asia during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

In 1698, Scottish colonists set sail to modern-day Panama with the goal of building a settlement there. But the plan turned out to be a total disaster.

In 1921, 11 sailors boarded the Carroll A. Deering in Barbados to head back to the United States. But weeks later, the ship was found wrecked — with no crew in sight.