The 7 Most Badass Last Stands in the History of Battle "Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter." - Hector of Troy, Iliad XXII, Lines 304-5 Throughout the course of history, certain individuals have stood out as being completely fucking awesome. Whether it's cleaving monsters' faces in half with a chainsaw bayonet in Horde Mode, defending a makeshift fortress from a sea of brain-devouring zombies or manning a machine gun nest against an unstoppable sea of charging soldiers; people have always been fascinated with badass stories of one man, by himself, taking on a endless waves of assailants, refusing to back down in the face of insurmountable odds, dying with his fingers still clutching his weapons and leaving behind a smoldering, heaping pile of severed limbs, carnage and dead enemies. These are badass one-man last stands. Agis III of Sparta, 331 BC Agis wasn't above petty vandalism to make his point. Further Reading: Livius.org JStor.org Diodorus.
OH MY VOLCANO!!! INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE. NEWS, COMMENTARY & INSIGHT Top 25 Most Ancient Historical Photographs For times immemorial, people have tried to reproduce their surroundings into pictures of their own. They have used techniques of paintings, carving and sculpturing and for years images have been projected onto surfaces. Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. 1. Source: (Link) Earliest known, surviving heliographic engraving in existence, made by Nicéphore Niépce in 1825 by the heliography process. 2. Source: (Link) The first permanent photograph (later accidentally destroyed) was an image produced in 1822 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. 3. Source: (Link) Boulevard du Temple, taken by Louis Daguerre in late 1838, was the first-ever photograph of a person. 4. Source: (Link) Robert Cornelius, self-portrait, Oct. or Nov. 1839, approximate quarter plate daguerreotype which is a procedure invented in 1839 using silver on a copper plate. 5. Source: (Link) 6. Source: (Link) 7. Source: Unknown 8. 9. Source: (Link) 10. Source: (Link) 11. Source: (Link) 12.
Atheists More Motivated by Compassion than the Faithful Atheists and agnostics are more driven by compassion to help others than are highly religious people, a new study finds. That doesn't mean highly religious people don't give, according to the research to be published in the July 2012 issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. But compassion seems to drive religious people's charitable feelings less than it other groups. "Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not," study co-author and University of California, Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer said in a statement. "I was interested to find that this experience – an atheist being strongly influenced by his emotions to show generosity to strangers – was replicated in three large, systematic studies," Saslow said in a statement. "The compassion-inducing video had a big effect on their generosity," Willer said.
Top 10 Civilizations That Mysteriously Disappeared Throughout our history, most civilizations have either met a slow demise or were wiped out by natural disasters or invasion. But there are a few societies whose disappearance has scholars truly stumped: 10. The Olmec One of the first Mesoamerican societies, the Olmec inhabited the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico. The first signs of the Olmec are around 1400 BC in the city of San Lorenzo, the main Olmec settlement which was supported by two other centers, Tenochtitlan and Potrero Nuevo. Where did they go? Around 400 BC the eastern half of the Olmec’s lands was depopulated- possibly due to environmental changes. 9. The Nabateans were a Semitic culture that inhabited parts of Jordan, Canaan and Arabia from around the sixth century BC. During the fourth century AD, the Nabateans abandoned Petra and no one really knows why. 8. The Aksumite Empire began in the first century AD in what is now Ethiopia and is believed to be the home of the Queen of Sheba. 7.The Mycenaeans 6. 4. 1.
LOL Theists Polish archaeologists in Sudan claim 'unique' human settlement discovery PR dla Zagranicy Nick Hodge 20.02.2013 14:32 Polish archaeologists working in Sudan have found remains of human settlements that appear to date back as far as 70,000 years. Photo: archeosudan.org If confirmed, the discovery in the Affad Basin of northern Sudan will challenge existing theories that our distant ancestors only began building permanent residences on leaving Africa and settling in Europe and Asia. “The Middle Palaeolithic discoveries in Affad are absolutely unique,” enthused Dr Marta Osypinska, one of the members of the team, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “Last season, we came across a few traces of a light wooden construction. The team will be cooperating at the site in the Nile Valley with academics from Oxford University, in a bid to further unravel the geological history of the area. More information on the project, which is funded by Poland's National Science Centre, can be found at web site archeosudan.org.
6 Famous Symbols That Don't Mean What You Think The entire point of using a symbol is that it conveys meaning and saves space -- you see one picture of a stick figure in a dress and you no longer need the phrase "This is the place where female humans can discharge waste." But what is fascinating is that sometimes the meaning of a symbol will get lost to history, but we'll just keep right on using it anyway. But would we do that if we knew ... Note: Did you know that Cracked used to be a magazine? Of course you didn't, none now live who remember that. #6. Kevin Jaako Apart from the cross, the most ubiquitous symbol of Christianity is the ichthys, known to us as the Jesus Fish, and today it appears predominantly in its natural habitat -- car bumpers. Getty"Seriously, guys? The Origin: It's a vagina. Jezebel / Wikipedia New Starbucks Haddockuccino, served in a vulva cup! GettyOr sex. #5. Getty It's one of the most ubiquitous symbols on the planet, appearing everywhere from cards to candy to jewelery to bikers' tattoos. thehairpinSo yeah. #4.
Sumerian Myths Sumerian civilization originated in what is now southern Iraq, just upriver from the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. "Civilization" in this context means a settled town or city-dwelling people who possess a stable agricultural technology (including domesticated animals) and have developed a hierarchical system of social classes (peasants, laborers, slaves, craftsmen [smiths, masons, carpenters, potters, etc.], farmers, fishermen, merchants, doctors, architects, priests and temple attendants, bureaucrats, scribes, advisers, priest-kings). Since the climate of southern Iraq is hot and dry, agriculture requires an extensive irrigation system of canals and dikes. Map of Mesopotamian Archeological Sites (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) Sumerian cities were close agglomerations of one or two story mud brick dwellings. The Sumerian CreationOnly one account of the Sumerian creation has survived, but it is a suggestive one. The Creation of Humans Questions:1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ancient Builders Created Monumental Structures that Altered Sound and Mind, Say Researchers Hal Saflieni Hypogeum on the island of Malta By Popular Archaeology The results of recent research suggests that ancient, or prehistoric, builders of the monumental structures found in such diverse places as Ireland, Malta, southern Turkey and Peru all have a peculiarly common characteristic — they may have been specially designed to conduct and manipulate sound to produce certain sensory effects. Beginning in 2008, a recent and ongoing study of the massive 6,000-year-old stone structure complex known as the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum on the island of Malta, for example, is producing some revelatory results. Researchers at the University of Malta are confirming the findings in an ongoing study. Inside Malta’s Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum. But the Hypogeum is not alone in its peculiar sound effects. The site of Göbekli Tepe. The Lanzon is a sacred statue or stela depicting the central deity of the ancient Chavín culture. So what does all of this mean? Article Sources