Adventurers

Julie Andrews is iconic in The Sound of Music—but the film left out the single darkest detail about the real Maria von Trapp.

Before he was a famous explorer, Sir Francis Drake was involved in one of the most horrific massacres of the entire Elizabethan era.

Ragnar Lothbrok was a Viking legend—But his story is more disturbing than people think.

From her perverse bedroom exploits to her chilling punishments, the pirate queen Ching Shih had one of the most dramatic lives in history.

As a young man, a friend told Casanova that he was bound to pay the price for his depraved lifestyle eventually. Casanova laughed him off—unaware that his friend's words would come true in the most gruesome way possible.

The Vikings were raiders from Scandinavia who, during the period now called the Viking Age, terrorized coastal Europe for hundreds of years. Most were formidable warriors, but few among them were as terrifying as the King’s elite bodyguard: the huscarls. While most Vikings wielded simple spears, the huscarls had a much more brutal weapon.