Shigechiyo Izumi

A Jake and Dinos Chapman fused mannequin piece from the exhibition Come and See at the Serpentine Gallery

The Kwakwaka'wakw continue the practice of potlatch. Illustrated here is Wawadit'la in Thunderbird Park , Victoria, B.C. , a big house built by Chief Mungo Martin in 1953. Wealthy, prominent hosts would have a Big House specifically for…

Logo of 1Malaysia Development Berhad

Shigechiyo Izumi

Shigechiyo Izumi was certified as the oldest person ever at 120 years — until investigators found his birth registry was his grandfather's entry. His actual age was likely 105.

1995 Tour de France

Fabio Casartelli died on Stage 15; the peloton rolled neutralized through Stage 16 the next morning, completing the course where he was killed — the race did not stop.

Jake and Dinos Chapman

The Chapmans bought original Goya Disasters of War etchings — pages witnessing Napoleonic atrocities — and painted Ronald McDonald clown faces over the mutilated corpses. Goya's plates beneath remain untouched.

Iamblichus

He rose ten cubits off the ground — glowing gold — while his students watched twice. A Syrian Neoplatonist who made ritual magic philosophically respectable. What do you do with a man who keeps floating?

Potlatch

Pacific Northwest chiefs burned blankets, smashed canoes, and gave away slaves to humiliate rivals — the more you destroyed, the higher your rank. Canada banned the ceremony in 1885.

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin designed curved cattle chutes that now move a third of U.S. livestock more calmly — by imagining the animal's eye-level view of shadows, dead ends, and unexpected sounds. She drew the first blueprints at her aunt's Colorado ranch.

Kim Philby

Kim Philby headed British intelligence's anti-Soviet section while simultaneously reporting to Moscow Centre. For nine years he sat across the table from the people hunting his handler — and warned Soviet networks whenever they got close.

1MDB scandal

Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund — created to build schools and hospitals — bought a $250 million superyacht, a Picasso, and financed The Wolf of Wall Street. The fund lost $4.5 billion. The prime minister who authorized it won an election first.

Revolt of the Batavi

The Batavians were Rome's most trusted cavalry — exempt from taxes, garrisoned near the emperor — until 69 AD, when their commander Julius Civilis led them to annihilate five Roman legions in a single revolt.