Are you looking to travel to some of the world's most popular, richest and most visited cities in the world. The following cities might prepare you and change your vacation plans. These cities receives more than 10 million visitors yearly and are considered to be visited in a life's time.

1 - Bangkok

The Thai capital became the first Asian city to top the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, edging out London, the previous No. 1, with 15.98 international visitors who generated an estimated US$14.4 billion. International visitor numbers rose a vigorous 9.8 percent in 2012. Bangkok's top five feeder cities are Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. Pictured: Royal State Barge cruises past the Grand Palace.

 2 - London

London was last year's No. 1 and still remains the top destination in Europe with 15.96 international visitors. Its revenue from these visitors (US$16.3 billion) was ahead of Bangkok's by nearly $2 billion. The top five feeder cities to London are Dublin, New York, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Pictured: Houses of Parliament and London Eye.

3 - Paris

Paris was the only city in the top 10 to lose international visitors since the last index was published. Its top five feeder cities are London, New York, Tokyo, Rome and Frankfurt. Pictured: Champs-Elysees at night

4 - Singapore

The Southeast Asian city-state sits at the crossroads of the Asia-Pacific region and has an active commercial sector, fantastic food scene and a world-leading airline. Pictured: a 'bumboat' cruising past the Merlion statue on the harbor.

5 - New York

The only city in the Americas in the top 10 for international travelers, New York also topped the Global Destination Cities Index in terms of revenue generated from them (US$18.6 billion). Top sources of international travelers were London, Toronto, Sao Paolo, Paris and Buenos Aires. Pictured: the Manhattan skyline and Empire State Building.

6 - Istanbul

The Global Destination Cities Index cites the location of Turkey's largest city, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, as a big reason for its popularity as a destination. If its growth in air travel connectivity continues at current rates, the report predicts it will enter the top five destinations by 2016. Pictured: Aya Sophia Mosque.

 7 - Dubai

The only Middle East destination in the top 10, Dubai had 9.89 million international visitors, nearly twice as many as the next most popular destination in the Middle East and Africa, Riyadh, and nearly four times as many as the third, Johannesburg. Along with Bangkok, it had the second largest year-on-year growth in the index, 10.9 percent. Pictured: Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 2,723 feet (829.84 meters).

8 - Kuala Lumpur

The index's authors say that Malaysian capital is an important link between Asia and the Middle East. Its top five international feeder cities were Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Melbourne and Manila. Pictured: Petronas Towers dominate the skyline.

9 - Hong Kong

The index's authors cite Hong Kong among China's important "origin cities" and it continues to be a destination as well. Pictured: Star Ferry crossing Hong Kong Harbour.

10 - Barcelona

Spain may be suffering through economic woes, but Barcelona remains a big draw, especially for travelers from farther north in Europe; top feeder cities were London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich. Pictured: Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.

10 Controversies That Could Change How We View The Bible

There’s probably no other book that sparks as much continuing controversy as the Bible. It pits believers against nonbelievers and biblical scholars against themselves. One of the biggest controversies is whether the Bible can be used as a historical document. Even so, as much as everyone claims to debate the Word of God on principle, sometimes the true stakes over which they’re fighting are nothing more than self-interest, such as careers and money.

NO.10 Mummy Masks

Are we reading the correct version of the Bible? Do we have the right to find out if we are?

Those are two of the controversies surrounding the destruction of papyrus mummy masks to find scraps of the Bible and other ancient documents. If you watch the video above (starting at 24:22 minutes), you’ll see Christian apologist Josh McDowell demonstrate the process we’re about to discuss.

Until recently, the earliest known copies of the gospels were from the second century AD. But we may be able to retrieve earlier fragments of biblical text from used sheets of papyrus that were fashioned into mummy masks with paint and glue for ordinary people in ancient times. Papyrus was so expensive back then that people used discarded sheets with writing—old business agreements, personal letters, and the occasional fragment of gospel text. By looking at dates on some of the retrieved documents, scientists can approximate the age of the undated documents. They also use carbon-14 dating and handwriting analysis.

In this case, the controversy surrounds a piece of the Gospel of Mark that supposedly dates to the first century, potentially the earliest known copy. This would show us what changes scribes made to the gospel over time.

Although each mask may yield as many as 25 texts, the masks are destroyed in the process, which some people feel is an unacceptable trade-off. However, Craig Evans, a professor of New Testament studies, defended the process in an interview with LiveScience. “We’re not talking about the destruction of any museum-quality piece,” he said.

Actually, no one’s talking much at all. The owners of these masks—whether private collectors, universities, or museums—have insisted that those involved sign nondisclosure agreements to keep them quiet. Someone leaked the information about the Gospel of Mark in 2012.

There’s also controversy over how the papyrus is extracted from these masks. If you watch the video above, McDowell seems almost giddy about soaking the masks in a mixture of Palmolive dishwashing liquid and water to dissolve the paint and glue, wringing them out with his unwashed hands, and using a tweezers to pull apart the papyrus sheets. He doesn’t care if these valuable papyri rip because the masks are privately owned. He also refers to these documents as a “career maker,” which some may consider to be an inappropriate way to approach the Word of God.

NO. 9 The Law$uit Over Biblical Archaeology

We’ve already talked about the controversial television special The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was directed by Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, executive-produced by James Cameron, and broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in 2007. The special suggested that there was a tomb in Israel that contained the remains of the biblical Jesus and His family, possibly including a son named Judah.

Obviously, those claims set off an intense religious debate, including accusations of profiteering against Jacobovici and Cameron. Many people believe that Jesus was resurrected, so it would be impossible to find His bones. Many also believe He never married or had children.

But even negative publicity can juice viewership and profits, so it’s not always unwelcome for filmmakers who tackle controversial subjects. In this case, Jacobovici eventually sued archaeologist Joseph Zias, a retired Israel Antiquities Authority official, for $1 million in damages for libel.

As part of his barrage of critical blog posts and emails, Zias had a habit of spelling Jacobovici’s first name with a dollar sign instead of an S. But what may have pushed Jacobovici over the edge was National Geographic dropping another of his projects, literally changing at least one way we might view the Bible. Jacobovici claimed he lost over $2 million in revenue as a result of Zias’s actions.

Many biblical scholars took sides, some agreeing that Zias went too far, others claiming that the two men should debate each other, not stifle free speech by facing off in court. In 2015, a Jerusalem court awarded $260,000 in damages to Jacobovici. After the decision, the filmmaker wrote on his website:

As a journalist, I’m committed to the principle of free debate in a democratic society. But free speech ends where libel begins, and Zias crossed every red line of a civilized debate. He accused me, among other things, of “forgery”, “planting archaeology”, “pimping the Bible” and “inventing Holocaust stories”. He also accused me of being in intimate contact with various criminal elements around the world. All these are horrible, made up lies that he circulated on the Internet and sent to various universities, publishers and broadcasters.

NO. 8 The Ophel Inscription  

An ongoing debate among biblical scholars is whether the Old Testament was written in real time or centuries after the events were supposed to have happened. Until 2008, it was usually believed that the Hebrew Bible was written in the sixth century BC because there was no evidence of Hebrew writing before that time.

Then a pottery shard from the 10th century BC inscribed with Hebrew writing was discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel. “It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research,” said Professor Gershon Galil, who deciphered the ancient text, to LiveScience.

Routinely, the two major camps in biblical archaeology duke it out as to whether each new find proves that the Bible is a historical document or not. Even so, this pottery shard wasn’t enough to confirm that the Old Testament was written in real time.

Then in 2013, the “Ophel Inscription” was found on a fragment of a clay jug near the Temple Mount (in the Ophel area) in Jerusalem. Touching off another dispute between the two camps, they couldn’t even agree on the language of the inscription, let alone what it said. But the fragment did appear to date to the 10th century BC. Although some scholars believed the writing was from a Near Eastern language other than Hebrew, Galil interpreted the writing as ancient Hebrew that classified wine stored in the container. He believes it refers to cheap wine given to slave laborers.

However, the cheap wine is not important. If Galil is correct, the Ophel Inscription suggests that Jerusalem was already an important city in the 10th century BC, with a class structure and a complex administrative system. Also, it suggests that writing was widespread at that time.

“Scribes that could write administrative texts could also write literary and historiographic texts,” Galil told The Times of Israel. Although it’s controversial, some scholars believe that if Jerusalem was populated by Hebrew speakers and writers in the 10th century BC, then scribes were probably recording the events of the Old Testament in real time, which would make the Bible more of a historically accurate book. A few more inscriptions from the 10th century BC have been found since then.

NO. 7 God’s Wife

Based on certain archaeological finds and references in the Hebrew Bible, some archaeologists and biblical scholars believe that God had a wife, Asherah, and that ancient Israelites worshiped both of them. Historian Raphael Patai first proposed this theory in 1967.

Then in 2012, researcher Francesca Stavrakopoulou reintroduced the idea, citing evidence from ancient artifacts and texts. According to Stavrakopoulou, Asherah’s statue was worshiped in Jerusalem in Yahweh’s temple. The Book of Kings talks about women at the temple weaving ritual garments for Asherah.

“Asherah was not entirely edited out of the Bible by its male editors,” J. Edward Wright, president of The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, told Discovery News. “Traces of her remain, and based on those traces, archaeological evidence and references to her in texts from nations bordering Israel and Judah, we can reconstruct her role in the religions of the Southern Levant.” Wright adds that Asherah’s name has often been translated as “Sacred Tree” in English-language Bibles. This was done to concentrate worship on Yahweh only.

However, the biblical references weren’t enough to establish that Asherah was Yahweh’s wife. Figurines, amulets, and other ancient texts helped. At Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai Desert, archaeologists discovered pottery with an eighth-century inscription requesting a blessing from “Yahweh and his Asherah.” More inscriptions like that have been uncovered, which Stavrakopoulou and others believe is strong evidence that Asherah was Yahweh’s wife.

Most biblical scholars concede that the ancient Israelites of the Old Testament worshiped many gods, but they still think that characterizing Asherah as God’s wife is too much of a leap of logic.

“We have to be cautious about trying to draw too much information about something like ‘religion’ from material culture,” Michael Press, an expert in Philistine culture and religion, told Haaretz. “Archaeologists have a very difficult job in reconstructing the world of ideas, how people thought, from material remains. There is a gigantic interpretive leap from concrete remains to abstract theory. And at best we only get glimpses of that sort of world of ideas and imagination.”

Other critics aren’t so diplomatic. Andy Rau on the BibleGateway Blog says there’s no evidence in the Bible that God had a wife. To claim otherwise, he believes, is to offer a conspiracy theory where much of the Bible was falsified after the fact.

NO. 6 The Location Of The Trial Of Jesus

 Although it’s one of the more important scenes in the Bible, archaeologists can’t agree on where the trial of Jesus took place. During an expansion of the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem near the turn of the 21st century, archaeologists believed they had discovered the sewage system and foundation walls of the ancient palace of Herod the Great. Many believe the trial of Jesus was held there before He was crucified. At that time, Herod was the King of Judea appointed by Rome. The supposed remains of his palace were found under an abandoned prison next to the modern museum.

The New Testament gospels appear to give conflicting accounts of the location of Jesus’s trial. In the Gospel of John, the trial is said to have occurred on a stone pavement close to a gate. That matches with Herod’s palace. But the gospels also use the Latin word “praetorium” to describe where Pontius Pilate examined Jesus. While some scholars believe that Pilate would have stayed in Herod’s palace, others say that a praetorium was a general’s tent in a Roman military camp.

Even though the debate isn’t settled, the prison is open to the public for tours. “There is, of course, no inscription stating [the trial] happened [at the prison site where Herod’s palace was unearthed], but everything—archaeological, historical and gospel accounts—all falls into place and makes sense,” archaeology professor Shimon Gibson told The Washington Post.

NO. 5 The Hushed-Up Pillar

In 2013, Israeli tour guide Binyamin Tropper happened upon an important historical artifact, a rare carved stone known as a “proto-aeolic capital” that was still attached to its base. This pillar appeared to be a monument at the entrance of a major archaeological site from the ninth or eighth century BC at Ein Joweizeh in the rural West Bank, close to Jerusalem. The site may be associated with a biblical Jewish king from that era and possibly provide evidence that certain stories in the Old Testament are true.

Eager to see the site excavated, Tropper told his boss, Yaron Rosenthal, about it. Rosenthal then notified the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). According to The Jewish Press, he got a surprising reply from an unnamed IAA official: “Yaron, please, you found it, but we know about it. Now forget the whole thing and keep your mouth shut.”

Rosenthal learned that the IAA had known about the pillar for 18 months. He was unhappy that the site was neither being excavated nor protected from damage. Even more concerning, it was on the Palestinian side of a security fence dividing South Jerusalem from the Palestinian Authority’s Bethlehem County. Rather than abide by the IAA’s wishes, Tropper decided to announce the find in the Hebrew press.

The pillar identifies the entrance to a 160-meter (525 ft) spring tunnel system, which may have been used to provide water for a palace or large farm from biblical times. But the politics of the situation makes an excavation difficult. The Jews see their significant archaeological discoveries as a way to prove their historical connection to the land. But the Palestinians prefer to deny ancient Jewish history in order to weaken modern Jewish control of the area. So the Palestinians would probably be reluctant to see a dig on land that they want to control. Currently, the land is privately owned by a Palestinian.

NO. 4 New Testament Forgeries And Lies

Forged, a book by biblical scholar Bart Ehrman, was published in 2011 to a storm of controversy. Ehrman charged that about half of the New Testament was forged by people who had a religious agenda in the ancient world but couldn’t make it work under their own names. “There was competition among different groups of Christians about what to believe and each of these groups wanted to have authority to back up their views,” he said in an interview with CNN. “If you were a nobody, you wouldn’t sign your own name to your treatise. You would sign Peter or John.”

Ehrman says that forgers lied for what they believed was the greater good. It was also a way for ancient Christian leaders to win their religious feuds with each other. In his book, Ehrman gives examples of Paul’s writing in the New Testament that vary in style: short sentences in some parts, longer sentences that don’t appear to be his style in others. Some of the passages even contradict each other. Finally, Ehrman claims that the apostles Peter and John were illiterate fishermen, so they couldn’t have written any of the New Testament.

It didn’t take long for other biblical scholars to tear Ehrman’s conclusions apart. One of them, Ben Witherington, refers to Ehrman’s book as “Gullible Travels,” complaining that people will believe anything, no matter how outrageous.

Witherington says that, except for 2 Peter, every book in the New Testament was written by a member of a small group of educated Christians, each of whom could write well and some of whom had witnessed the events described in the New Testament. They had close connections to Jesus and Paul.

According to Witherington, scribes were essential to correctly transcribing documents and making the prose more eloquent in ancient times. It was common for people like Paul to dictate their words to a scribe. However, Witherington admitted that forgeries were common at that time. Nevertheless, he doesn’t agree that Peter and John had to be illiterate just because they were fishermen. Witherington believes that fishermen had to write and sign contracts as part of their work.

Ehrman insists that he’s not trying to harm the Bible’s reputation. He just wants people to understand that the New Testament isn’t the Word of God. For him, it’s a human document written by people who lied about their identities.

NO. 3 The Bible’s View Of Homosexuality

In 2012, an anonymous group published the Queen James Bible (QJB), editing eight verses of the popular King James Version (KJV) in an attempt to make it impossible to interpret the Bible in a homophobic way. Steve Golden from Answers in Genesis believes the editors of the QJB “have only made a mockery of a beloved Bible translation.”

For example, in Leviticus 18:22, the QJB adds five words (shown here in italics) to the KJV: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind in the temple of Molech: it is an abomination.” This rewritten passage now condemns having sex with male prostitutes in particular temples, a type of pagan idolatry, rather than denouncing certain sex acts.

In general, Golden argues that pro-gay advocates have misinterpreted the Hebrew word for “ritually unclean” as relating to pagan idolatry only when it is used to condemn “something that is morally (ethically) repugnant in God’s sight, such as homosexuality ([as in] Proverbs 6:16).”

Golden also mentions two other chapters in Leviticus that specify sinful behavior, such as bestiality, child sacrifice, and incest. He then argues that the editors of the QJV must be consistent in applying their changes to these chapters as well, which would make bestiality, child sacrifice, and incest acceptable unless pagan idolatry were involved. So his conclusion is that homosexuality must be a sin whether or not it involves pagan idolatry.

Golden takes aim at other biblical scholars with Romans 1:26–27, which talks about men and women who “exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.” Here, he argues that the apostle Paul condemned both homosexuals and those who approve of them. However, John Shelby Spong, a retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, says in an interview posted on YouTube (shown in the video above) that he believes Paul was a repressed homosexual, whose self-loathing explains why he so forcefully opposed homosexuality.

In another view, David Field, former Vice-Principal of Oak Hill Theological College, believes those verses are aimed at heterosexuals who engage in homosexual intercourse that is unnatural for them. With many people now believing that we can’t choose our sexual orientation, Field says that homosexuals would not be condemned under those verses because “same-sex intercourse [is] the most natural thing in the world for them.”

NO. 2 Exodus And Abortion

In the religious debate over abortion, people often argue over the meaning of Exodus 21:22–25. In the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible, it says: “If men quarrel, and one strike a woman with child, and she miscarry indeed, but live herself: he shall be answerable for so much damage as the woman’s husband shall require, and as arbiters shall award. But if her death ensue thereupon, he shall render life for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

Pro-choice advocates interpret “miscarry” to mean that the unborn child doesn’t have the same life status as the adult woman. If the baby dies as a result of a miscarriage, then the man responsible is only fined, as with a misdemeanor. But if the woman dies as a result of being hit, then the man has committed a capital offense punishable by death.

Pro-life advocates often disagree with the use of the word “miscarry” in this version of the Bible. Even so, they argue that the baby’s death was accidental, unlike abortion which is the intentional taking of a life. They also claim that even an accidental death in this case is evil or the man wouldn’t be fined. Furthermore, the death penalty isn’t meted out for accidental death in the Bible as shown in Exodus 21:13–14 and 20–21, Numbers 35:10–34, and Deuteronomy 19:1–13.

John Piper, chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, points out that the New International Version of the Bible translates that passage as “she gives birth prematurely” instead of “she miscarry indeed,” which suggests that the baby was born alive. In this case, the man pays a fine if the mother or child is injured, but he’s put to death if the mother or child dies. Piper says there’s a Hebrew word for “miscarry” which wasn’t used in this passage.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach agrees with the pro-choice advocates. He says that, according to the Jewish interpretation of that Exodus passage, the fetus does not have the same status of life as the adult woman. Therefore, he believes that taking the life of an unborn child is not murder. He acknowledges that the Jewish interpretation of Exodus is different than the Catholic one.

NO. 1 Joshua’s Conquest Of Jericho

An oasis in the desert of the West Bank, Jericho is believed to be the earliest city in the world that was continuously inhabited. At various times, at least 23 civilizations have made Jericho their home. As told in the Book of Joshua in the Bible, Joshua led the Israelites to Jericho, the heart of the Promised Land. But when he arrived, he had to conquer the Canaanites with his army in a bloody battle reminiscent of the goriest Hollywood action movie.

According to the Bible, on the seventh day, Joshua circled the outside walls of the city seven times with the powerful Ark of the Covenant, the chest which contained the stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Then God caused the walls of the city to crumble, and Joshua and his men stormed in, killing everyone except Rahab and her family. Rahab was the prostitute who had helped Joshua’s spies.

So far, archaeological digs don’t support the biblical story of Joshua attacking Jericho. It appears that no one was living in Jericho at the time of Joshua, and no walls existed, either. (Some researchers believe there is evidence for Joshua’s conquest, just at a different time in history.)

However, it seems more likely that the Israelites slipped into the sparsely inhabited hill country more gradually as described in the Book of Judges. For some believers, that’s a relief. They can’t reconcile their loving, merciful God with the God who condoned such widespread slaughter.

It does open another interesting question, though. What if the ancient Israelites and the Canaanites of the Bible were once part of the same tribe, which appears to be supported by DNA analysis? According to biblical archaeologist Eric Cline, modern DNA testing may show that today’s Jews and Palestinians, who are locked in a violent conflict of their own, are distant brothers or cousins from that tribe. The inability to confirm the biblical story of Joshua’s conquest of Jericho may have far greater implications than whether the Bible is an accurate historical document.

10 Strange Mysteries From Around The World That Are Still Unsolved

All things that cannot be explained remain an intriguing conversation topic for many people around the globe. Some mysteries, however, are more interesting than the rest simply because of how weird they are.

No. 10 China’s Dwarf Village

Villages in general are not strange. Villages in China are also not strange. There are many
Rumor has it, according to those who live in Yangsi, that a mysterious disease befell the little village more than 60 years ago. Young children between the ages of five and seven were most affected, and the disease caused them to simply stop growing. Experts now know that stunted growth is only likely to appear in 1 in 20,000 people, so what happened in Yangsi is something very much out of the ordinary. Especially considering that historic sightings of the dwarfs claim that several hundred of them were residing in the Sichuan region at one point.

As if the mystery affliction wasn’t bad enough, some of the children struck by it started suffering from a variety of disabilities. As adults, some of the afflicted gave birth to children who also only grew to around 1 meter (3 ft) in height.

The Chinese government has never allowed visitors to the village, inevitably opening up the story to a host of urban legends. It has been said that the citizens felt dark forces had invaded their homes and started believing that they were cursed due to their ancestors’ anger over improper burials. Others apparently believe a turtle to be the source of the problem. Some of the villages cooked and ate a black turtle and, soon after, the strange disease hit Yangsi.

After all this time, however, it seems that the residents are growing out of the disease. The younger generation has seemingly been spared.

No. 9 Dorothy Eady And Omm Sety

Dorothy Eady was a toddler just like any other. She ran, played, and laughed all day, and was a treasure to her doting parents. Then, the unthinkable happened. One morning, Dorothy was running down the stairs at her home near London when she slipped and fell. So severe was the fall that the three-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene.

But then something very unexpected happened: Dorothy woke up. For another four years, her parents had their beautiful daughter back. In 1908, however, everything changed.

On a regular outing to the British Museum, Dorothy’s parents first became aware that the girl was behaving strangely. As soon as they reached the Egyptian section of the museum, Dorothy was transfixed. She couldn’t get enough of the artifacts and sat with a glass-enclosed mummy for a long
time, refusing to go home with her parents. Her parents even caught a glimpse of her running around the statues and kissing their feet.

After this incident, things took a turn for the worse. Dorothy became almost depressed and would stare at photos of ancient Egypt insisting that the country was her home and she needed to return to it. A picture of the “Temple of Seti the First at Abydos” got her especially excited one day. She rushed to her father and shouted that this place was her former home.

Before she found the picture of the temple, Dorothy had dreams in which she saw the buildings and greenery of ancient Egypt. Her interest and love for Egypt skyrocketed, and she joined study groups to learn more about reincarnation and spirituality.

She finally moved to Cairo after marrying an Egyptian man and gave birth to a baby that she named Seti. She herself would now be known as Omm Sety.

Omm’s marriage didn’t last. Her habit of going into a trance and scribbling random hieroglyphics at night about her spirit guide completely freaked her husband out.

Her writings eventually amounted to around 70 pages and detailed Omm’s life in ancient Egypt. It stated that she was a priestess at the Kom El Sultan temple and had a child by Pharoah Seti at the young age of 14. However, she had broken a priestess vow by losing her virginity and took her own life to prevent the Pharaoh from being punished for this crime.

The hieroglyphics also contained accounts of spiritual encounters with Seti and plans to reunite with him in the Egyptian underworld.

This fantastical story has been discarded by many as the ramblings of a crazy person, up until the day that Omm Sety helped archaeologists find the exact location of the Temple Garden. She also led them to an undiscovered tunnel at the north side of the Temple. Omm Sety died in 1981, after having lived the rest of her days at the Temple of Abydos. No rational explanation for her memories, dreams, and knowledge of Egypt has been offered, and many skeptics find themselves wondering if Dorothy Eady was in fact the reincarnation of the ancient Egypt priestess, Omm Sety.

NO.8 Francis Leavy’s Handprint

Francis Leavy was a dedicated firefighter during the 1920s. He loved his job, and his peers loved him. He was a pleasant man, always ready with a smile and a helping hand. On April 18, 1924, Francis’s colleagues became aware of a change in his demeanor. Suddenly, he was an unsmiling, grunting guy washing a large window at the Chicago Fire Department, not looking at anyone or talking.

After a few minutes, Leavy suddenly announced that he had a strange feeling—a feeling that he might die that very day. At that very moment, the phone rang and broke the heavy atmosphere brought on by the fireman’s words. A fire was raging at a building quite a long way from the fire department, and no time was to be wasted.

In just a few minutes, Francis Leavy and his fellow firefighters were on the scene, assessing the situation and helping those trapped on the top floors. Everything seemed to be on track to rescue everyone from the building. Then, suddenly, the flames engulfed the lower part of the building, and the roof caved in. As soon as this happened, the walls came crashing down, pinning many people under the rubble—including Leavy. Leavy’s grim premonition came true. He lost his life that day trying to save others.

The very next day, trying to come to terms with the loss of Leavy, his colleagues sat at the firehouse thinking about the events of the previous day. Suddenly, they noticed something strange on one of the windows. It looked like a handprint smudged onto the glass. Eerily, it was the very same window that Francis Leavy was busy washing the day before.

The firemen cleaned the window again, but the print stubbornly refused to disappear. For many years, the handprint remained on the window in spite of chemicals used to try and remove it. The strange mystery remained unsolved, but came to an abrupt end when a newspaper boy threw a paper against the window in 1944, causing it to shatter into pieces.

NO. 7 Jeannette DePalma

In 1972, a dog brought something very strange to the back door of his owner’s home. He had sniffed out an almost completely decomposed human forearm on a cliff top in Springfield, New Jersey and dragged it back to its master who realized with a great shock what it was. The man informed the police and, after a short search, they found the remains of the body to which the arm belonged. The remains were that of Jeannette DePalma, a teenager who had been missing for six weeks.

Not only did they find her decomposed body, but there were strange objects on the ground where it lay. Rumors began to fly that the girl had been sacrificed by a local coven of witches. Others believed that Satanists murdered her for occult ritual purposes.

The strangest thing about the murder, however, was the fact that no one wanted to speak about it when an article about the incident was in its planning stages. Even after 30 years, people who lived in the area refused to comment or give their opinions on what they believe happened. Not one person who was interviewed wanted their real name used, and this even included the local police department.

Leads in the case did not come in the traditional manner. People sent in anonymous letters omitting their addresses and names. One of the letters stated that logs had been placed around Jeannette’s body and that the writer of it couldn’t reveal his name for many reasons which he couldn’t reveal either.

Another anonymous writer wrote that he or she knew about a coven of witches in the area who were planning to murder a kid over Halloween. The writer was a child at the time and remembered being terrified of going out trick-or-treating for the holiday. Yet another letter stated that the writer’s mom knew DePalma and that they were about the same age in 1972. This letter also mentioned animals being murdered and strung up in the trees after the murder took place.

In all of the letters, witches or Satanism was mentioned. One of them reiterated that DePalma was a very religious girl who wouldn’t get mixed up with satanic practices. However, the writer also mentions that Jeannette DePalma started becoming a little “wild” as she got older.

The murder of Jeannette DePalma was big news for around two weeks after her body was found, and then the absolute silence around it started and remained. Her murderer has never been found.

NO. 6 Kalachi Village

Something strange is happening to residents of the Kalachi village in Kazakhstan. They just can’t seem to keep their eyes open. Every day, several villagers just fall asleep in broad daylight and remain asleep for at least a couple of hours. Some of them have reported only waking up after a couple of days. There is no apparent reason for these “sleep incidents,” and more than 100 residents have inexplicably fallen asleep when they weren’t tired over the course of a few years.

In September 2014, several children who were attending school on the first day of the new academic year also fell asleep for no reason. Medical experts were unable to come up with a verified explanation, much less a “cure” or form of prevention. Naturally, some of those who suffer from this “condition” are terrified that they might die in their sleep.

Some of the “sleepers” have reported strange feelings of memory loss, vertigo, and extreme nausea after waking from their sleep. Other symptoms even include hallucinations. In addition to all this, doctors have found that some of the people suffering from this ailment have suffered other health scares such as brain dysfunction and even strokes. The sleeping villagers are not good for the economy; not only are there hours of work lost, but fear is causing many people to leave the area. Radiation levels have been tested in the area but nothing abnormal has been found. Ongoing investigations have yet to turn up any clues as to why this strange affliction has befallen the little village. In 2015, scientists found high concentrations of carbon monoxide in the town. While the findings aren’t conclusive, they may provide one more clue in this mystery.

NO.5 Jo Girardelli

In the early 1800s, Jo Girardelli was the hot new fire act on the block. Taking on a whole new angle on fire acts, Girardelli was able to swallow red-hot objects without it causing her any pain or harm. Those who saw her perform were amazed at what was happening before their eyes.

Girardelli was able to “rinse” her mouth with nitric acid without it burning holes in her gums and cheeks. To prove that she really had the acid in her mouth and not some harmless fluid, she would spit it onto iron where it would immediately start eating through the metal. Girardelli also played around with boiling oil, filling her mouth with it and then spitting it out, causing a minor fire when it landed on wood.

Jo Girardelli didn’t stop there. All of her acts had to be bigger and better, so she started using hot wax and molten lead. She heated metal objects, such as shovels, over open fires and then pressed them against her skin. She even pressed her tongue against some of them. In all of these acts, her flesh remained just as it was before—completely unburned.

She remained a hot topic all over England, and no one was ever able to figure out just how she did what she did. Not even the skeptics were able to prove any trickery on her part. There is no record of Jo’s life after she moved from England, and her amazing acts remain as mysterious as ever.
She remained a hot topic all over England, and no one was ever able to figure out just how she did what she did. Not even the skeptics were able to prove any trickery on her part. There is no record of Jo’s life after she moved from England, and her amazing acts remain as mysterious as ever.

NO. 4 Le Loyon

Something creepy is taking place in the woods in western Switzerland. A man dressed in a military uniform with a gas mask over his face seems to be “haunting” the place.

For more than 10 years now, locals who live near these woods have reported seeing the man walk the same path every day. They have given him the name Le Loyon, and they are terrified of him. He doesn’t speak and, when he encounters someone, he simply stares at them, and then walks away in silence. A photographer who tried to take a picture of the mysterious man reported him to be almost 2 meters (6’6?) in height.

Children are too scared to play in these woods anymore, even though the man doesn’t seem to be threatening in any way. At one point, people saw him carrying what looked like flowers while slowly walking down a pathway in the woods. According to the authorities in charge of the area, there is nothing that can be done to get the man to leave the woods since he is not trespassing and has done nothing wrong.


At one point, his clothes were found abandoned in the woods with a note saying he was leaving because “The risk of a hunt for the Beast” was too great.

It is unknown where the man lives, why he wears a gas mask, and why he doesn’t speak. Several theories speculate that he might be mentally disturbed or have a skin disease which would cause him to not want to be seen by others. But, until someone gets him to take off the mask, or at least speak out, the mystery man will remain a mystery.

NO.3 Hoia Baciu

Believed by many to be the most haunted forest in the world, Hoia Baciu in Transylvania is the setting for many unexplained, spooky tales. It also doesn’t help that the trees are bent and twisted in seemingly unnatural ways, giving the woods a horror movie feel.

Several visitors to the Hoia Baciu have returned from their trip terrified, claiming that burns and rashes have appeared on their bodies for no apparent reason. Some even claim to have skipped a few hours during their exploration among the creepy trees. They have no explanation for why they cannot remember what happened during the ”missing” hours.

Many people are truly convinced that ghostly apparitions hang around in the forest, and the locals absolutely refuse to set foot in it. Especially since rumors of floating heads and voices emanating from the darkness started making the rounds.

It all seems to have started back in 1968 when Alexandru Sift took a photograph inside the forest of what many continue to believe was a UFO. Another persistent story tells of a shepherd venturing into the woods with 200 sheep, never to be seen or heard from again.

Ongoing ghost hunts have turned up no clue as to what might be behind all the weird events taking place here, but paranormal experts are not giving up the ghost just yet when it comes to studying Hoia Baciu and revealing its creepy secrets to the world.

NO.2 Cosmic Radio Bursts

Since their discovery in 2007, cosmic radio bursts or “blitzars” have been a source of fascination to scientists around the world. The nine blitzars that have been studied in the years since their discovery have all been plucked from historical data.

Then, in January 2015, scientists announced that they identified a blitzar in real time. This means that whatever event caused the radio burst to happen was happening at the time that the scientists caught it.

It is unknown what causes these radio bursts, and experts have guessed that it might occur due to collapsing neutron stars or flares. The bursts have a length of one millisecond and, during this miniscule amount of time, they create the same amount of energy that the Sun would create over the course of one million years.

Emily Petroff, a researcher in Australia, stated that these blitzars occur at a distance of more than five billion light-years away from Earth, and the real time blitzar was noticed near the Aquarius constellation. She went on to say that she and her team will continue looking out for blitzars so as to try and gather some information and, hopefully, one day get behind the mystery of their origin.

NO.1 Bukit Timah

During World War II, Japanese soldiers stationed in Singapore glimpsed a strange version of Bigfoot there. Many reported seeing a primate-like creature covered in gray hair and standing up to 2 meters (6’6?) tall in the Bukit Timah rain forest.

Sightings peaked during the war, but there are also a few present-day sightings reported every now and then. The Bukit Timah area is now a biodiverse nature reserve that housed several creatures, including tigers, not too long ago.

Although it is still a mystery as to what the soldiers and others were actually seeing in this area, some people believe they might have confused macaques for primates. However, according to most experts, this would be unlikely as the macaques in Singapore resemble the ones in Japan and the soldiers at least would know what they were looking at. The last sightings took place in 2007 when visitors told stories of seeing an ape-creature being run over by a taxi and another scratching around in trash cans.

remote ones in this country, but one stands out from the others. Scientists and experts are extremely interested in the inhabitants of Yangsi, situated in the Sichuan Province. The reason? Not only are there only 80 residents in the village, but almost half of them are dwarfs.

Language is perhaps the most important function of the human body – it allows us to get sustenance as a child, it allows us to get virtually anything we want as an adult, and it allows us many hours of entertainment through literature, radio, music, and films. This list (in order of least to most spoken) summarizes the most important languages in use today.

NUMBER 10: French

Number of speakers: 129 million
Often called the most romantic language in the world, French is spoken in tons of countries, including Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Haiti. Oh, and France too. We’re actually very lucky that French is so popular, because without it, we might have been stuck with Dutch Toast, Dutch Fries, and Dutch kissing (ew!).
To say “hello” in French, say “Bonjour” (bone-JOOR).

NUMBER 9: Malay-Indonesian

Number of speakers: 159 million
Malay-Indonesian is spoken – surprise – in Malaysia and Indonesia. Actually, we kinda fudged the numbers on this one because there are many dialects of Malay, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they’re all pretty much based on the same root language, which makes it the ninth most-spoken in the world.
Indonesia is a fascinating place; a nation made up of over 13,000 islands it is the sixth most populated country in the world. Malaysia borders on two of the larger parts of Indonesia (including the island of Borneo), and is mostly known for its capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
To say “hello” in Indonesian, say “Selamat pagi” (se-LA-maht PA-gee).

NUMBER 8: Portuguese

Number of speakers: 191 million
Think of Portuguese as the little language that could. In the 12th Century, Portugal won its independence from Spain and expanded all over the world with the help of its famous explorers like Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. (Good thing Henry became a navigator . . . could you imagine if a guy named “Prince Henry the Navigator” became a florist?) Because Portugal got in so early on the exploring game, the language established itself all over the world, especially in Brazil (where it’s the national language), Macau, Angola, Venezuela, and Mozambique.
To say “hello” in Portuguese, say “Bom dia” (bohn DEE-ah).

NUMBER 7: Bengali

Number of speakers: 211 million
In Bangladesh, a country of 120+ million people, just about everybody speaks Bengali. And because Bangladesh is virtually surrounded by India (where the population is growing so fast, just breathing the air can get you pregnant), the number of Bengali speakers in the world is much higher than most people would expect.
To say “hello” in Bengali, say “Ei Je” (EYE-jay).

NUMBER 6: Arabic

Number of speakers: 246 million
Arabic, one of the world’s oldest languages, is spoken in the Middle East, with speakers found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Furthermore, because Arabic is the language of the Koran, millions of Moslems in other countries speak Arabic as well. So many people have a working knowledge of Arabic, in fact, that in 1974 it was made the sixth official language of the United Nations.
To say “hello” in Arabic, say “Al salaam a’alaykum” (Ahl sah-LAHM ah ah-LAY-koom).

NUMBER 5: Russian

Number of speakers: 277 million
Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Yakov Smirnoff are among the millions of Russian speakers out there. Sure, we used to think of them as our Commie enemies. Now we think of them as our Commie friends. One of the six languages in the UN, Russian is spoken not only in the Mother Country, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the U.S. (to name just a few places).
To say “hello” in Russian, say “Zdravstvuite” (ZDRAST-vet-yah).

 NUMBER 4: Spanish

 Number of speakers: 392 million
Aside from all of those kids who take it in high school, Spanish is spoken in just about every South American and Central American country, not to mention Spain, Cuba, and the U.S.

There is a particular interest in Spanish in the U.S., as many English words are borrowed from the language, including: tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and taco grande supreme.
To say “hello” in Spanish, say “Hola” (OH-la).

NUMBER 3: Hindustani

Number of speakers: 497 million
Hindustani is the primary language of India’s crowded population, and it encompasses a huge number of dialects (of which the most commonly spoken is Hindi). While many predict that the population of India will soon surpass that of China, the prominence of English in India prevents Hindustani from surpassing the most popular language in the world. If you’re interested in learning a little Hindi, there’s a very easy way: rent an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prolific in the world, making thousands of action/romance/musicals every year.
To say “hello” in Hindustani, say “Namaste” (Nah-MAH-stay).

NUMBER 2: English

Number of speakers: 508 million
While English doesn’t have the most speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. Its speakers hail from all around the world, including New Zealand, the U.S., Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada. We’d tell you more about English, but you probably feel pretty comfortable with the language already. Let’s just move on to the most popular language in the world.
To say “hello” in English, say “What’s up, freak?” (watz-UP-freek).

NUMBER 1: Mandarin

Number of speakers: 1 billion+
Surprise, surprise, the most widely spoken language on the planet is based in the most populated country on the planet. Beating second-place English by a 2 to 1 ratio, but don’t let that lull you into thinking that Mandarin is easy to learn.

Speaking Mandarin can be really tough, because each word can be pronounced in four ways (or “tones”), and a beginner will invariably have trouble distinguishing one tone from another. But if over a billion people could do it, so could you. Try saying hello!
To say “hello” in Mandarin, say “Ni hao” (Nee HaOW). (“Hao” is pronounced as one syllable, but the tone requires that you let your voice drop midway, and then raise it again at the end.)

When choosing a family dog is important to think about age, size, temperament and energy level. All of which should suit your family’s lifestyle.

Next, the top 10 dogs that are specially suitable for kids.

Please notice, that despite numbered there is no particular order to the list provided.

1. Newfoundland

Nicknamed “Nature’s Babysitter,” the Newfoundland dog loves children and is very protective of them. Gentle, kind, and patient, this breed is almost like the Mother Teresa of dogs.

The Newfoundland best suits a family with large open spaces. And although it is known to drool and shed a lot, it is not considered a proper dog for the yard. This breed wants to be inside with its family. The Newfoundland is also a great swimmer and has been known to save lives in emergency situations.

2. Golden Retriever

Golden Retriever is a kind, smart, confident, and loyal dog. Neither aggressive nor timid, the Golden Retriever is extremely patient, which is perfect for kids. While it does need a lot of exercise, its love of play makes this an easy thing to achieve.

3. Labrador Retriever

This is one of the most popular dog breeds, and for good reason– it is protective, playful, loving, patient, and reliable. The Lab’s beauty is only matched by its sweet personality and intelligence. What does this mean for you? It’s your perfect family pet.

4. Collie

This is the dog Lassie made famous. Collies are a very gentle and predictable breed, rarely biting its human family and easily trainable, perfect for families that are unfamiliar with dogs. Collie was originally bred as a herding dog, so it may try and herd your children. This might be amusing at first, but it’s probably best to discourage the child-herding (no matter how handy you may think it could be). The Collie’s long hair means it requires regular grooming to keep its coat in tip-top shape. Collies get along great with children and love to please their owners and protect their family.

5. Bulldog

The great advantage of bulldogs? They’re sturdy, so they can take anything that rambunctious kids throw at them. And they won’t win any awards for “most energetic dog”. The Bull Dog is comfortable living in large houses, as well as apartments. A docile, friendly, and loyal dog, it gets along well with other pets and dogs, too.

6. Beagle

Originally kept as hunting dogs, Beagles fit well in homes with active kids, as they are sturdily built and never too tired to play a game. Energetic and friendly, beagles are also sturdy and mostly child-proof, and your kids will wear out before they do. They also make good nannies that can help you herd the young ones at bed time, and have endearingly humorous habits, like howling, which can be very amusing in small doses. They do shed, and require frequent brushing and bathing, however.

7. Bull Terrier

Bull terriers are intelligent, energetic and friendly dogs that can take a lot of roughhousing while remaining calm. Particularly suited to large families, they don’t complain too much when manhandled by children, and can actually help teach kids how to properly relate to dogs. Plus they’re just very cute and adorable. While they are energetic and require lots of play time, they will also help wear your kids out — the more the merrier — and will return the favor by being very protective of them. Often mistaken for the larger Pitt Bull, the Bull Terrier was bred to be a companion dog-friendly and loving towards grown-ups and kids alike.

8. Vizsla

This may be a breed you haven’t heard of before, but it’s actually one of the best dog breeds for kids. The Vizsla has a gentle disposition and manner, and is loyal, affectionate, and quiet, perfect for your little ones to play with. Additionally, it is obedient, confident and smart, forming close bonds with its family and able to learn new tricks quickly. Best of all, the Vizsla has very little “doggy” smell about it.

9. Irish Setter

The Irish Setter is playful, energetic, loves being around people, and plays well with children. This doggy needs lots of exercise, and is a good match for energetic kids. A smart and trainable companion, the Irish setter is perfect for people with lots of space. One word of warning, though — their life spans are among the shorter ones for larger breeds, so you should only choose an Irish Setter if you want to teach those inevitable life lessons while your children are in middle school.

10. Poodle

The poodle is a very smart and gentle dog. It’s also great for kids with allergies, as it sheds very little; it does, however, require scheduled grooming. This is a proud and elegant dog that is both caring and loyal. Otherwise, they are good-natured, and make excellent playmates for children.

 11. Extra: Mutts (Mixed-Breed)

Go to your local shelter, and consider rescuing a mixed breed dog. Look for a dog that matches the energy level of your family, keeping one thing in mind — mid size and larger dogs are great for families, while small breeds are not. If you have children, avoid Chihuahuas or Yorkies or anything you could pick up with one hand; look at terriers, retrievers, or other bigger dogs.
Good luck finding the best dog for your family!

Sometimes saying only “I love you” just doesn’t quite do the trick. Then again, can words ever truly express how much you love someone?
Well, maybe. We’ll let you decide.

We’re simply here to provide the best candidates for those sweet, cute, romantic sayings and poems that might eventually find themselves in your love letter, Valentine’s Day card, or marriage proposal. Without further ado, the top 15 “I love you” quotes.

15. “I love you more than there are stars in the sky and fish in the sea.”

Nicholas Sparks

14. “I love you for all that you are, all that you have been and all you are yet to be.”

Anonymous

13. “I can’t swear I’ll be here for the rest of your life, but I swear I’ll love you for the rest of mine.”

Trace Adkins

12. “I love you more than words can define, feelings can express and thoughts can imagine.”

Anonymous

11. “Sometimes there is only one thing left to say, ‘P. S. I Love You'”

Cecelia Ahern

10. “I love you like crazy, baby. ‘Cuz I’d go crazy without you.”

Pixie Foudre

9. “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.”

Pablo Neruda

8. “There are many ways to say I love you but not enough words to say how much.”

Anonymous

7. “A good speech has a beginning, a middle and an end, the best example being, ‘I love you.'”

Robert Brault

6. “When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you. When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you. When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you. Now that I love you, I’m afraid to lose you.”

Rene Yasenek

5. “I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”

Roy Croft

4. “If I could choose between loving you and breathing I would use my last breathe to say I love you.”

Anonymous

3. “I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”

Paulo Coelho

2. “For you see, each day I love you more. Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.”

Rosemonde Gerard

1. “Immature love says ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.'”

Erich Fromm

There you have it little lovebirds. If you can’t tell someone how much you love them with these “I love you” quotes, then you’re hopeless . . . hopelessly in love, that is.

The world has been shaped physically, through movements of the planet, but also intellectually and artistically. The world has come a long way over the past few centuries, and humans are responsible for shaping the way it is today.

A few stand out amongst the rest, and those are known as some of the greatest minds in history.
Order: by birth date

1. Archimedes of Syracuse (287 BC – 212 BC)

Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was an ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, engineer, and writer. He made great discoveries in the field of physics, and evidence shows that some of his blueprints for inventions could’ve actually worked.

Some of his designs included machines that could lift ships from the water and how to set a ship on fire using only a set of strategically-placed mirrors. Archimedes also designed siege engines and screw pumps. He was regarded as one of the most influential minds of his time and ours.

2. Plato (428/427 or 424/423 BC – 348/347 BC)

Plato

Greek philosopher Plato is known around the world for his teachings in literature, philosophy, and mathematics. Plato (428/427 or 424/423 BC – 348/347 BC) was the student of Socrates, another great and influential Greek philosopher, and he founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.

Through his teachings, Plato hoped to lay down the foundations for Western philosophy and science. One of Plato’s most famous works, Theory of Forms, began a unique perspective on abstract objects and led to a school of thought called Platonism. Several of his works have been published and used to teach a variety of subjects, including philosophy, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, religion, and ethics, and they have all been published in several different fashions.

3. Homer

Homer

Greek poet Homer is known as one of the most intelligent and greatest poets of his time and in history. Historians aren’t completely sure of when Homer was born and died, but evidence shows that he lived around the seventh and eighth centuries B.C.

Homer authored the famous Iliad and The Odyssey, which are still read and studied in today’s modern times. Homer’s works provided models in persuasive speaking and writing, and these had a great influence on Greek society.

Homer’s influential writings heavily influenced the Greek world, as well as the rest of the world.

4. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus

In the thirteenth century, the early stages of the earth and of human life, not much was known about the world. At the time, people had basic knowledge of what the world was like. For example, Christopher Columbus proved that the planet was round, not flat. Scientists and astronomers knew that much, and a little more.

People at the time were convinced that the Earth was the center of the universe, since it seemed that sun revolved around it. But Nicolaus Copernicus proved them wrong. Copernicus come up with the heliocentric model of the universe, which placed the sun as the center of the universe, not the Earth.

His book, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, discussed at length the structure of the universe in his mind. It was a landmark in the history of science and began the Copernican Revolution. Aside from excelling in the field of astronomy and mathematics, Copernicus was a translator, governor, diplomat, and polyglot, as well as economist. Copernicus developed a basis in economics, formulating a quantity theory of money, which is still present in economics today.

5. Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)

In the Renaissance era, Italian sculptor Michelangelo was famous. Michelangelo was a painter, architect, engineer, and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of the Western art. His intense knowledge led him to be a contender for the title of Renaissance Man, along with his fellow Italian, Leonardo da Vinci.

Historians and art critics alike consider Michelangelo one of the greatest artists of all time, coming up with works like David and Pieta, which were sculptures created before he turned thirty years old. Aside from sculptures, he also created two of the most famous works in fresco: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. He pioneered the Mannerist style as a skilled architect. During his lifetime, he was often called Il Divino, meaning “the divine one”.

6. Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)

Galileo Galilei Portrait

Another astronomer, Galileo Galilei, also made incredible leaps in the Scientific Revolution. Galileo was known for his improvements to the telescope and his support for Copernicus and the heliocentric theory. As a physicist, engineer, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher, Galileo made history with his discoveries.

His most important discoveries were telescopic confirmations of the phases of Venus, the four largest moons that orbited Jupiter, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in technology, using his skills and knowledge to improve devices like the military compass.

7. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

William Shakespeare

In the field of literature, William Shakespeare was one of the most famous figures. Shakespeare crafted plays, sonnets, and poems that were highly regarded by others, including royalty. He served as an actor, playwright, and poet throughout his life. Some of his most famous works include Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.

His plays have been translated into every major language possible and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Most his plays were tragedies and comedies, and were performed at the Globe Theater. Shakespeare’s standard form of poem was blank verse, composed in iambic pentameter. Even today, Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays are revered and well-known around the world.

8. Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)

Isaac Newton

After an apple dropped out of a tree and onto his head, Isaac Newton discovered the formula for gravity. Newton, an English physicist and mathematician, saw how the apple fell and created a theory that would later be known as the Universal Law of Gravitation.

This stated that any two bodies attract each other with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Newton also came up with three laws of motion, which changed our understanding of the universe and helped other scientists learn more about the planet. Newton was seen as a key figure in the scientific revolution for his discoveries.

9. Voltaire (1694 – 1778)

Famous for his wit, French philosopher Voltaire was a very versatile writer. In his writings, he attacked the beliefs of the Catholic Church and expressed his advocacy on the freedom of religion and the separation between church and state. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of plays and poems, all expressing his criticisms for the French institutions of his day. Aside from plays and poems, he also wrote scientific journals, novels, and essays about his beliefs. Despite the risks he faced, he was a very outspoken advocate.

10. Wolfgang Mozart (1756 – 1791)

In musical studies, Wolfgang Mozart was one of the most renowned pianists in Europe, basically defining the Classical Era with his work. Mozart showed prodigious ability from the earliest parts of childhood and became fluent on the piano and the violin. At five years old, he performed before European royalty and he became a court musician.

Throughout the rest of his life, he composed hundreds of pieces of music, mostly for keyboard. He also took to composing pieces for other musicians; he wrote Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 for clarinetist Anton Stadler in 1791. Mozart’s work also inspired others to compose and play music; notable musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn shadowed him. When Mozart passed, he left quite a few pieces unfinished, but the pieces that were finished are still performed today. His music heavily influenced Western art music and he is easily one of the most popular of classical composers.

11. Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)

Charles Darwin

If you’ve ever spoken or heard the phrase “survival of the fittest”, you’re talking about Charles Darwin’s line of work. In the seventeenth century, Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist who contributed greatly to the evolutionary theory, the theory that describes how animals, plants, and humans alike have changed over the centuries. He came up with the idea of natural selection, which stated that evolutionary change came through the production of variation in each generation and survival of different traits. This is known also as survival of the fittest.

Darwin also wrote a book, On The Origin of Species, based on his trip to the Galapagos islands, where he studied the different species of birds and how the variations between them came about. Before his death, Darwin made many contributions to the field of geology and natural history, and he is still seen as a pioneer to evolutionary study.

12. Dmitri Mendeleev (1834- 1907)

Dmitri Mendeleev

If you look at a periodic table and think it’s all just a bunch of numbers and letters, I can assure you that that wasn’t the case for its creator. Russian chemist and inventor Dmitri Mendeleev formulated the periodic table of elements and created the Periodic Law, which he used to correct the properties of some already-discovered elements and predict the properties of elements yet to be discovered. To create the periodic table, he grouped elements by their properties, since atom structure was unknown during his time. Mendeleev grouped similar elements together in columns and expanded the table until all known elements were added. Since Mendeleev’s time, scientists have added quite a few more elements to the table, using Mendeleev’s table as a base.

13. Marie Curie (1867 – 1934)

Marie Curie

Men aren’t the only ones who shape history. Polish by birth and French by marriage, Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist who conducted research on radioactivity. Curie excelled in physics and chemistry and used her knowledge to make new discoveries in those two fields. She was the first to discover the radioactive elements of polonium and radium.

These two elements were discovered after working with her husband, also a chemist. For her work in both fields, Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize, and became the first woman to do so. She also was the only woman to win in two fields of study, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. Curie was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris and is still regarded as a pioneer in chemistry and physics. As a woman who accomplished so many tasks and won so many awards, she has inspired thousands of women to engage in the study of science.

14. Stephen Hawking (1942 -)

Stephen Hawking

One of the greatest minds in history is still living today. Stephen Hawking is widely known for his wheelchair, his thick glasses, and his brain. Hawking is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. He is also Director of Research at the Centre of Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. Hawking rose to fame with a cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, and he also collaborated with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation.

Over the past few decades, Hawking has received a variety of awards for his accomplishments and for his book, A Brief History of Time, which was published in 1998 and stayed on the British Sunday Times best-sellers list for 237 weeks straight. Hawking has a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has progressed over the years. He is almost entirely paralyzed and is confined to a wheelchair. He can only communicate through a speech generating device, but his condition hasn’t stopped him from achieving greatness.

15. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein German: [ˈalbɐrt ˈaɪnʃtaɪn] 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation").He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "services to theoretical physics", in particular his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory.

Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led to the development of his special theory of relativity. He realized, however, that the principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational fields, and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916, he published a paper on general relativity. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe.