gnostek‹›1 / 2Parthian-era bronze statue believed by some scholars to represent General Surena.Surena1010%Greatest Persian generalsSurena annihilated seven Roman legions at Carrhae in 53 BC — 20,000 dead, 10,000 captured — then was executed by the Parthian king within the year, fame deemed more dangerous than Rome itself.+ See More01At Carrhae, Surena killed roughly 20,000 Romans and captured 10,000, destroying Crassus's entire eastern army.02He killed the triumvir Crassus — one-third of Rome's ruling power — ending Rome's richest man.03King Orodes II had Surena executed shortly after the victory, reportedly fearing his general's growing prestige.
gnostek+16‹›1 / 23Timur800%Heroes of the medieval eraOutside Delhi in 1398, Timur's men assembled towers of 90,000 skulls. He killed perhaps 17 million people — roughly 5% of the world's population at the time.+ See More01Timur's campaigns may have killed 17 million people, an estimated 5% of the global population.02He ordered 90,000 skulls stacked into towers outside Delhi after its sack in 1398.03Timur was born lame — 'Timur the Lame' became Tamerlane — and never lost a single battle.
gnostekBloodgate7114%Worst sports cheating scandalsHarlequins winger Tom Williams bit a fake blood capsule to fake an injury; team physio Steph Brennan then sliced his lip with a scalpel to cover it up. A doctor lost her medical license over a substitution rule.+ See More01Physio Steph Brennan made a real cut on Williams's lip with a scalpel to produce genuine blood post-capsule.02The scheme was designed to exploit the 'blood bin' rule, allowing a specialist kicker back onto the field.03Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards was banned from rugby for three years; Brennan lost her medical registration.
gnostek‹›1 / 2Tesem500%Fascinating CaninesThe Tesem, a sleek prick-eared hound depicted on pre-dynastic pottery circa 4000 BCE, was buried in pharaonic tombs with its own name-stele and food offerings. Amenhotep II had four interred with him at death.+ See More01Tesem hounds received individual name-stelae — engraved stone markers — inside royal Egyptian tombs.02Amenhotep II had four Tesem dogs buried alongside him in his tomb at the Valley of the Kings.03Pre-dynastic pottery from 4000 BCE shows Tesem dogs on leashes — among the earliest leash depictions on Earth.
gnostek‹›1 / 31995 Tour de France5020%Tour de France crashesFabio 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.+ See More01The 1995 Tour continued racing the day after Casartelli's death, with Stage 16 treated as a tribute ride.02Motorola teammates finished Stage 16 holding Casartelli's bike upright across the finish line together.03Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc faced immediate criticism for not cancelling the stage entirely.
gnostekJaved Iqbal (serial killer)500%most gruesome serial killersJaved Iqbal dissolved 100 boys in vats of acid in Lahore, then mailed a handwritten confession and a diary to police. He was sentenced to be killed by acid in the same vat — a sentence never carried out.+ See More01He documented all 100 murders in a diary and photographed each victim before disposal in acid.02His sentence: to be strangled, cut into 100 pieces, and dissolved in acid — identical to his method.03He was found dead in his cell in 2001, officially ruled a suicide, before the sentence could be executed.
gnostekFerrer movement9022%Anarchy: Real World ExamplesFrancisco Ferrer opened a Barcelona school in 1901 with no grades, no priests, no corporal punishment. Spain blamed him for a workers' uprising he didn't lead and executed him by firing squad in 1909.+ See More01Ferrer's Escuela Moderna gave boys and girls identical curricula — heretical in 1901 Catholic Spain.02He was convicted of 'intellectual authorship' of the 1909 Tragic Week riots despite no direct evidence.03His execution triggered protest riots across Europe, toppling the Spanish prime minister within weeks.
gnostek‹›1 / 3The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess000%Wii games that make you miss childhoodLink turns into a wolf in a world drained of color, guided by a sharp-tongued imp named Midna who rides his back and slowly, reluctantly, becomes his closest companion. The friendship arrives before you notice it.+ See More01Midna sits on wolf-Link's back throughout the game, her weight and posture changing with her mood.02The Twilight Realm visually desaturates the entire Hyrule palette to grey-gold, a deliberate artistic mourning.03Midna became one of the most beloved Zelda companions ever written — despite being openly rude to Link for hours.
gnostek‹›1 / 7Werner Herzog000%People who would be the ultimate dinner party guests (living today)Herzog boiled and ate his own shoe — with garlic and duck fat — after Errol Morris finished a film Herzog bet he never would. The documentary of the meal runs 28 minutes. He called the shoe "quite acceptable."+ See More01Herzog cooked the shoe with garlic and duck fat before eating it in front of an audience.02Les Blank filmed the entire meal; the resulting short, 'Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe,' runs 28 minutes.03He made the original bet to push Errol Morris to finish 'Gates of Heaven' — and Morris did.