For nine years the popular website Futility Closet has collected arresting curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics. This book presents the best of them: pipe-smoking robots, clairvoyant pennies, zoo jailbreaks, literary cannibals, corned beef in space, revolving squirrels, disappearing Scottish lighthouse keepers, reincarnated pussycats, dueling Churchills, horse spectacles, onrushing molasses, and hundreds more. Plus the obscure words, odd inventions, puzzles and paradoxes that have made the website a quirky favorite with millions of readers -- hundreds of examples of the marvelous, the diverting, and the strange, now in a portable format to occupy your idle hours.

Bradford, Ohio is noted in history as being a "railroad town." Locals tell a story of floating orbs and a sanitarium in town. Is this simply an urban legend or are there really ghostly orbs coming from the former location of a long-gone sanitarium filled with spirits of the past? "Bradford, Ohio: Floating Orbs & A Sanitarium" answers these questions

The first in a series, Bonnie Geyer Florek brings you Totally Haunted UK. It is packed full of exciting tales of ghostly sightings and experiences from the most haunted county in the UK, Cornwall. Impossible to include every story and sighting in this extensive collection, the most haunted and unusual encounters have been included. From a variety of Cornwall locations, you will read of eerie experiences of people who have visited Cornwall, from around the world.

More than six centuries ago a stranger stumbled on a village in a remote valley in Northern Italy, seeking refuge from vengeance in the world outside. But there was something different about the valley, something strange about its people. Nothing was as it seemed. Did chance take him there, or were greater forces at work, calling him to play a role? Guided by fate, he would find himself at the center of an ancient mystery--and for a time the heritage of civilizations would rest in his hands. Before he was done, he would devise a gift like none before and vanish into history, leaving behind the seeds of rebirth and hope for future generations...
Sanctuary of the Gods is vividly told, bringing history to life for its readers. The main story takes place at the dawn of the Renaissance, when European civilization was beginning its painful rise back towards the heights it had achieved in the days of Greece and Rome. There are also three detailed flashbacks to earlier periods: -A similar time more than 2,000 years before, when Greek civilization first began -The high point of Greek civilization in the age of Alexander The Great -Rome's decline, in the years following the Empire's conversion to Christianity. Sanctuary of the Gods is a story of survival against all odds, of human triumph over death and annihilation. It shows how a tiny village in Northern Italy became the last secret sanctuary of the old pagan religion, surviving through nine hundred years in hiding only to perish in the Black Death that swept Europe in 1348, and how, in those dark and terrifying days, a handful of survivors created the Tarot cards so that the heart of their religion would not perish with the sanctuary, butwould survive in a hostile world, its origins forgotten, until the time was right for its rediscovery.
For readers who are intrigued by the story and want to get to the heart of it, to discover the truth behind the things they've read, an appendix is provided. There, in 120 pages complemented by numerous illustrations, what at first seems too incredible to be anything but fiction is transformed by the evidence into compelling fact.
Sanctuary is beautifully written with a clarity that brings the past to life and holds the reader's interest from beginning to end. For a Pagan or Tarot enthusiast, or for lovers of historical fiction, its appeal is apparent. But the story is powerful, and even readers who have never been interested in these subjects will find the book hard to put down. It gains the readers's attention because the characters and scenes described are lively and interesting, and because its vision is fresh and new, entirely unexpected. Be prepared for some surprises: the view from the Sanctuary is not like anything you have ever seen before...

Let me attempt to take you by the Hand and show you a few things.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Biblioteca Curiosa: A Complete Catalogue Of All The Publications Of The Elzevier Presses At Leyden, Amsterdam, The Hague, And Utrecht, With Introduction, Notes, And An Appendix Containing A List Of All Works, Whether Forgeries Or Anonymous Publications, Generally Attributed To ..., Volume 2, Issue 2; Biblioteca Curiosa: A Complete Catalogue Of All The Publications Of The Elzevier Presses At Leyden, Amsterdam, The Hague, And Utrecht, With Introduction, Notes, And An Appendix Containing A List Of All Works, Whether Forgeries Or Anonymous Publications, Generally Attributed To These Presses; Edmund Goldsmid Edmund Goldsmid Privately printed, 1887 Art; Typography; Art / Typography; Netherlands; Printing

Actor John Wayne despised horses. He called them "filthy, disgusting creatures," and tolerated them only because western movies couldn't be made without them. Abraham Lincoln, famous for freeing the slaves, married into a family that owned slaves. Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, was a proficient piano player. And speaking of Truman, did you know that the "S" in the middle of his name didn't stand for anything? Or did you know that actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld owned (at last count) 44 Porsches? Actor Ryan Gosling is adored by millions of women around the world. But most of them don't know Gosling used to be a member of the Mickey Mouse Club. So did Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, by the way. There are a lot more. 1001, to be exact. 1001 things you probably don't know about your favorite celebrities and famous people.

The earth is indeed an extraordinary planet and not just because of the infinite variety of life that it supports, the land itself is fabricated marvelously with wonders that possess inherent capacity to attract and allure people throughout the ages. The wonders of the world that are discussed in the book have been the subject of many books over the centuries, but our aim is to present something much more enlightening, stimulating, and engaging than straightforward description.

BOOK OF STRANGE TORTURE AND KILLING DEVICES. TAKES A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME OF THE VARIOUS WAYS MAN HAS COME UP WITH TO TORTURE AND KILL HIMSELF WITH. ALL COUNTRIES AND CULTURES HAVE THEIR OWN WEIRD OR STRANGE WAY OF HANDING OUT PUNISHMENT FOR VARIOUS CRIMES. THIS BOOK WILL HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE MORE COLORFUL WAYS OF TORTURING OR KILLING HUMANS. THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE MEEK. WHY I EVEN GOT SICK LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE GRUESOME MACHINES. THERE IS NO ONE TIME PERIOD THAT I FOCUS ON. JUST BOUNCING FROM TIME PERIOD TO TIME PERIOD. I HOPE THAT THIS BOOK HELPS YOU APPRECIATE LIFE. AND JUST THINK YOU CAN SAY I AM GLAD THAT IS NOT ME. OR AT LEAST I HOPE YOU CAN SAY THAT. WELL UNTIL WE MEET IN THE NEXT GROSS EPISODE OF STRANGE TORTURE AND KILLING DEVICES HAVE FUN. CreateSpace eStore: https: //www.createspace.com/475823