For thousands of years countries in South and Southeast Asian employed elephants to crush and dismember prisoners and traitors. Owned by royal families and carefully trained, the elephants could make the process quick and easy, or long and painful. The sight of such occurrences were often written about by early European travelers much to the disbelief of others. Execution by elephant was a symbolic occurrence within many cultures.

Referred to as the QWERTY layout due to the order of the first row of keys, the arrangement of a keyboard's keys is known to most. Why are the keys in this order though? Explanations usually state  the commonly used keys were spaced apart to prevent them from jamming together during the typewriter era. Although true, there's more to QWERTY's success than that. Critics argue that the layout is inefficient, and suggest the little-known Dvorak layout is far superior.

Known originally to Native Americans as Six Grandfathers Mountain, Mt. Rushmore was renamed in 1885 for New York lawyer Charles E. Rushmore after an expedition he led. Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea of a large stone sculpture for the State in hopes of increasing tourism. Robinson selected scultptor Gutzon Borglum due to his previous experience creating the Confederate Memorial carving.

An Avro Lancastrian airliner named the Star Dust mysteriously disappeared minutes before it was set to arrive in Santiago, Chile with 11 passengers on board. Any plane that simply vanishes is sure to peak interest, but the Star Dust had even more reason for attention. Its passengers consisted of a British Queen's messenger, a Palestinian man reported to have a large diamond sewn into his jacket, and a nazi-sympathizer, amongst others.

The beginning of the handshake predates written history, making a definite explanation impossible. Many stories exist to explain the origin, ranging from comedic to spiritual. The most plausible explanation comes from the Medieval times, where the open right hand indicated you were not carrying a weapon. If two men met and displayed empty right hands, they could assume they would not be attacked by the other.