Nebuchadnezzar II claimed divine inspiration for his restoration work, stating that the gods Zababa and Ishtar motivated him to undertake the project. After completing the renovations, he proclaimed: ...

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime is facing scrutiny for widespread human rights violations amid weeks-long protests. Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands have been jailed. But it is ...

Erich von Däniken, who has died aged 90, was among the first writers to suggest that human civilisation, and even human ...

Two small clay cylinders, buried for roughly 2,500 years in the ruins of an ancient temple tower, have given archaeologists ...

How a mix-up over Ramanujan films and a book on non-European mathematics reveals the profound difference between intuitive ...

A prophecy about Alexander the Great is found in the Jewish Book of Daniel, which was written 200 years before his birth.

This article was originally published on mentalfloss.com as 5 Historical Reasons People Used to Dread the New Year.

Women who died in childbirth, young men who died in war, infants who died before baptism—these especially pitiable dead were ...

After more than a decade of educating aspiring Catholic priests in his native Philippines, the Rev. Jay Jacinto was ready for a change. Jacinto, 48, was ordained in 2005. He worked in the Philippines ...

Editor's Note: This story contains spoilers. Movies — along with theater — have long interested Father Scott Bailey, a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver. So when acclaimed Hollywood director Rian ...

A Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing Iowa altar boys in the 1980s has died, according to a Florida diocese where he lived until his death. The Rev. Leo Riley was accused of misconduct toward ...