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L.M. Montgomery was just as optimistic and hopeful as Anne Shirley—but as the years wore on, life dealt her a series of heartbreaking blows.

Treachery is always painful. Religions, families, friends, countries—they’ve all felt the sting of betrayal, and can suffer from it for decades and even centuries.

Behind the big parties and big hairpieces, however, the history of Louis XIV is accompanied by a scandalous canon of intrigue, intimacy, wine, colonial violence, war, and fashion.

These days the world's most innovative scientists don't really get as much attention as they should. That's because real, profound genius often comes hand-in-hand with being absolutely bonkers. From making their employees sample soup to test their loyalty to forbidding followers from eating beans, find out which famous scientists were certified crazy, and what they did to gain that reputation.

Catherine of Braganza and Charles II’s relationship went from fear to hatred to love—which makes their tragic ending all the more heartbreaking.

The story of Empress Elisabeth proves that all the beauty and privilege in the world can’t prevent a life of heartbreak and tragedy.

Anthony Bourdain has thrilled readers and viewers with stories about the foods of the world, the people who grow, produce, and cook it, and the culture and circumstances that shape it. Bourdain’s unique perspective on food was heavily influenced by his decades-long tenure as a restaurant chef.

Though they may not be as known as the men they ruled or fought alongside, history is full of strong, tough women whose brilliance, courage, and cunning left an indelible mark, forever changing the world.

As you can imagine, this line of rulers has been involved their fair share of bizarre occurrences—so let’s go back to the beginning and look at the weirdest parts of each monarch’s reign.

For some reason, people still believe these historical myths to be true, even though they’ve been proven wrong.

Ibrahim “the Mad” (1615-1648) was the 18th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. As one might guess, he was not renowned for his sound rule. Inheriting the throne in 1640, Ibrahim also came into a dynasty in turmoil.

Elizabeth I may have had many ladies-in-waiting in her royal court, but she only trusted Bess of Hardwick to do her dirty work.