Our history is full of various strange, and at times downright shocking facts. We all know that much of school curriculum removed so as not to traumatize the fragile child’s psyche. But is this right? Users of popular social network Reddit decided to tell us what they know about history and what scary facts their teachers never told them.
“During Stalin’s time, when Russia was in the stage of industrialization, he took away all the food and crops the farmers had been growing for so long, and the common people began to starve. This led to people starting to eat other people. Many cases have been recorded where parents even ate their children to avoid starvation" - R3ddittor. 
“During the Great Siege of Malta, the commander of the Turkish forces, Mustafa Pasha, ordered the bodies of knights found on the battlefield to be beheaded and nailed to wooden crosses and let them float into the bay as a mockery of their Christian enemies. In retaliation, the enraged Master La Valette ordered to cut off the heads of all Turkish prisoners, load them into cannons and fire them towards the Turkish camp” - Fakezaga. 
“This was a group of Japanese scientists who carried out various terrible experiments on people from China during World War II. The way these people were abused was captured in photographs, and when I read about it, I dreamed that they would simply disappear, because I had no strength to look at all this horror. I read about this incident in a book some time ago, but I remember some things clearly. 
Frozen people who were on the verge of life and death were thrown into boiling water; patients with syphilis were forced to have sex with completely healthy people; a child was cut out of a woman’s womb while she was on weak painkillers and so on. And I am sure that there were no experiments there. Everything they did to people was purely for fun. They were curious what would happen if... What was the worst thing about this book? 
So this is that the main “scientist” escaped punishment. Not only that, he recorded everything they did, and it was these recordings that gave him his ticket to freedom. Apparently, many of his studies were useful and greatly expanded our understanding of human body" - davisbobavis. 
“Japanese soldiers killed, tortured and raped thousands of innocent Chinese. In addition, they cut off the genitals of both men and women, abused children in every possible way, and also forced people with venereal disease to have sex with healthy people. This is just terrible" - ThatGuyYouKnow905. 
“Massacre at Bath School in Michigan. In 1926, a man named Andrew Kehoe was removed from his position as local clerk. In retaliation, a year later, he first killed his wife, and then bombed the school and killed many children and some teachers. He was an electrical engineer and suffered a head injury that may have caused his insanity. Or maybe he was just abnormal from birth." - IFudgedTheMath. 
“Rosemary Kennedy's lobotomy, which returned her to the age of two and left her disabled for life. The woman did not know how to walk or speak” - Silly_Bun. 
“Francisco Macias Nguema, the first President of Equatorial Guinea, once invited all his political rivals to a large stadium on Christmas Eve under the pretext of some social event. When they all gathered and took their places, the soldiers, dressed in Santa Claus costumes, began machine-gunning the spectators while singing popular Christmas songs." - FuzzyMeep7 
“The Aztecs committed acts of mass human sacrifice of slaves. In one such event, over 10,000 slaves had their hearts ripped out while they were still alive. By the time the Spaniard Cortez arrived, thousands of people from the captured tribes had joined him to rid himself of the Aztec empire. More than 90 percent of the army that fought against the Aztecs were indigenous tribes" - deroque. 
“On one island there was a guard named Kostya Venikov, a young man. He looked after beautiful girl, and also protected her. One day he had to go away for a while and he said to one of his comrades: “Take care of her.” Unfortunately, Kostya’s friend could not cope with all the people who were on this island. People caught the girl, tied her to a poplar tree, cut off her breasts, muscles, and basically everything that could be eaten. They were hungry, they had to do it. When Kostya returned, she was still alive. A young guy tried to save his girlfriend, but she lost too much blood" - Spinner1975. 
“At one point, Christopher Columbus gave a live sex slave to feed his dogs.” - Junko__Enoshima. 
“The genocide in Rwanda lasted 4 months. Four fucking months and a million corpses. Most died from machetes" - Mumtaz3580. Throughout the history of medicine, so many medical oddities, miraculous recoveries, strange questions and unresolved mysteries have been recorded that millions of articles and books have been written. Although strangeness is undesirable for the scientific approach, the manifestation of miracles makes someone happy and strengthens faith.
Unfortunately, many medical mysteries remain unresolved. It is not always possible to put together the pieces of an intriguing mystery. A person begins to understand that he still has a lot to learn about what previously seemed to be completely studied - about our body.
An example of this is the ten most shocking medical histories, proving the mystery of man and his incredible capabilities.
Coming out of a coma after 19 years. Stories of emerging from a coma after many years are not entirely unusual. But such cases always attract, because a person seems to be rushing through time. This happened to a Polish railway worker who remained unconscious for 19 years. The story begins in the 1980s, when Poland was under the communist regime. The confused country entered a period of despair and poverty. Railway worker Jan Grzebski suffered a severe head injury from securing a carriage. He was taken to the hospital, where doctors told his family the sad news. In addition to injuries sustained at work due to an accident, Ian suffered from brain cancer. The man fell into a coma for 19 long years. Doctors believed that he would not be able to live more than three years. However, Yang's family and his wife believed that he would be able to come to his senses. The patient was surrounded by care and everything necessary for survival. The story ended in an amazing way - Mr. Grzebski woke up on April 12, 2007, after 19 years of coma. The doctors just shrugged their shoulders. The world around has become completely different, capitalism and democracy have arrived. Imagine the worker’s surprise when he learned that communism had fallen 18 years ago, and that 11 grandchildren were waiting for him at home. Ian said: "What amazes me today is that all these people walking around with mobile phones, constantly complaining about something. But I have nothing to complain about." This statement is a valuable reminder for all those who are dissatisfied with life. Unfortunately, we often do not appreciate the simplest things in life until we are deprived of them.
Children with werewolf syndrome. Of course, Indian boy Prithviraj Patil and Thai girl Supatra Sasuphan have their own dreams. They behave just like any other children around the world - they love to play and swim, draw and eat ice cream. But what sets them apart from their peers is something unusual. congenital disease- hypertrichosis, also known as werewolf syndrome. This terrible disease is quite rare and unusual. Since 1638, only 50 such cases have been recorded. Children suffer from uncontrolled hair growth. The result is thick strands of animal fur that cover their heads and body parts. Neither medicine nor science could find an answer about the origin of such an anomaly. It's so sad to read the newspaper headlines about these children "half man, half wolf", "real wolf cub". Such people no longer suffer from the syndrome itself, but from a cruel society.
Man is a conductor of current. Sometimes people attract public attention by claiming that they can control electricity. One of these “wizards” is Jose Rafael Marquez Ayala. This Puerto Rican resident appears to be a human superconductor, as he can pass enormous amounts of energy through his body. electric current. Jose withstands various impacts of this kind without receiving any damage or experiencing side effects. At the same time, he can even set fire to paper with his fingers. If this story is real, then it is truly amazing.
Miraculous recovery after falling from the 47th floor. The New York Daily News reported that on December 7, 2007, brothers Alcides and Edgar Moreno were working on a platform, cleaning the windows of one of the city's skyscrapers. Suddenly 5 meter structure fell down from a height of 47 floors. Edgar died on the spot, but Alcides managed to survive by cheating death. Doctors performed at least 16 operations - the patient broke his ribs, both legs and right hand, severely damaging the spine as well. Doctors describe the victim's recovery as "miraculous" and "unprecedented." According to their estimates, within two years Alcides Moreno will fully restore his health.
A teenager who lived 118 days without a heart. South Carolina's Jeanne Simmons is a walking medical miracle. The girl was able to live for about four months without a heart while she waited for a new organ to replace her damaged one. Simmons suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which means a weak and enlarged heart that simply couldn't pump blood efficiently. Surgeons at Miami Holtz Children's Hospital performed the initial transplants on July 2, 2008, but the heart stopped working and was quickly removed. Zhanna herself continued to live without a heart, and her blood was pumped artificially, using pumps. Dr Ricci, director of pediatric cardiac surgery, said: "She essentially lived 118 days without a heart, with only two pumps keeping her blood circulating."
Life without pain. Gabby Gigras is an energetic 9-year-old child who looks no different from her peers. But the girl is different from most of us because of a very rare and unusual condition known as CIPA. This is a congenital insensitivity to pain, accompanied by anhidrosis. Only 100 cases of this disease have been documented worldwide. Gabby was born without the ability to feel pain, cold or heat. This gift may seem amazing to many, but in fact this condition is quite destructive. Pain sensitivity is important because pain works similarly as a warning and defense mechanism. Gabby's parents noticed something was wrong when their daughter was five months old. For some reason the child bit his fingers until they bled. Later, the unfortunate child even lost an eye and suffered severe injuries due to excessive scratching and scratching. A number of measures were taken to protect Gabby from such incidents. Desperate parents did everything possible so that the child could live in such difficult conditions. Brave Gabby became the main heroine documentary film"Life Without Pain" directed by Melody Gilbert. It tells the exciting story of an unfortunate girl.
Allergy to water. Water is integral part our life. We take hot baths, brush our teeth, clean the house, or simply quench our thirst with it. People simply cannot live without water. All the more interesting are cases of diseases when an allergic reaction is observed to this liquid. Believe it or not, some people suffer from rare forms of hives known as "Water urticaria" and "Water itch." Both are allergic reaction to the water. They are so unusual that only no more than 40 such cases have been described in the world. Examples include Ashley Morris, a 21-year-old Australian, and Michaela Dutton, a 23-year-old Englishwoman. For girls rare view allergies, the only case out of 230 million skin diseases is water urticaria. If water gets on their body, itchy red streaks, swelling, and blisters will appear all over their body. For both girls, the shower is a painful torture. Michaela cannot drink water, coffee or tea, and she cannot even eat fruit. These foods cause a burning sensation, a rash on the skin, and a swollen throat. But the body seems to tolerate Diet Coke. Ashley also tries to avoid contact with water as much as possible - she stopped playing sports and any physical activity, which could cause sweat. Water urticaria is such a rare disease that doctors cannot even fully understand the complex mechanism of this strange skin disease.
A family that can't sleep. FFI stands for fatal familial insomnia, a rare genetic disorder. Those who suffer from FFI constantly try to fall asleep but are unable to do so. The disease steals not only sleep, but also the mind. Ultimately, life turns into a continuous twilight world for several months before death. Cheryl Dinges, 29, is one of the members the whole family suffering from this syndrome. All of her relatives carry the FFI gene. Such conditions are so rare that only about 40 such families are known worldwide. Fatal familial insomnia has already killed the girl's mother, her grandfather and her uncle. Cheryl herself refuses to be tested, even knowing that her sister did not inherit the unfortunate gene. FFI begins with mild cramping, panic attacks, and insomnia. Over time, patients begin to experience hallucinations and insomnia becomes so severe that people are no longer able to sleep. Patients eventually go crazy and eventually die. The mutated protein was named PrPSc. If only one of the parents has the modified gene, then the child has a 50% chance of inheriting and developing FFI.
Butterfly children. Sad story Sarah and Joshua Thurmond's illness began when doctors diagnosed them with Epidermolysis bullosa (congenital pemphigus, EB), a rare genetic disease. It is characterized not only by blisters all over the body, but also by extreme fragility of the skin. Erosion and blisters occur due to the lack of fibrous protein in the skin layer, which is responsible for the strong bond of tissues. Joshua suffers from one of the most severe forms of EB. His sister also carried the disease, but she passed away at the age of 20 in 2009. Medical research shows that people born with EB live to an average of 30 years, with a maximum age reached of 40 years. “Silk skin babies,” “Crystal baby skin,” and “Butterfly babies” are terms used to describe the unfavorable conditions in which young patients have to live. Their skin is as sensitive as the wings of a butterfly. The slightest pressure can cause painful sores. Brave Sarah and Joshua learned to live in constant and extreme pain. To ease their suffering and prevent infection, children are forced to wear special bandages. Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for EV. These children will never know how great it is to run, swim or jump.
The birth of a mummy. Zahra Aboutalib from Morocco has given birth to a child she has been carrying for almost half a century. This shocking story began in 1955 when Zahra went into labor. She was taken to the hospital, and after examination the woman was offered a caesarean section. But then Zahra saw her roommate die due to a serious operation. The woman decided to refuse medical help and give birth herself. Zahra was taken back to her small village outside Casablanca. Soon the pain went away, and the child stopped moving. The woman decided that the baby “fell asleep.” This view may seem absurd to us, but according to Moroccan folk beliefs, “sleeping children” can live in a woman’s womb, protecting her honor. When the woman turned 75, the excruciating pain occurred again. Doctors performed an ultrasound and discovered that her "sleeping baby" was actually a case of ectopic pregnancy. What is surprising is not even how Zahra survived, but the fact that the dead fetus was accepted by the body as another organ. Under normal conditions, if a fetus growing incorrectly is not detected in time, then deformation and rupture of the female organs containing it will occur. Then the mother has little chance of surviving. In the case of Zahra, doctors performed a five-hour operation and removed the already calcified fetus. It weighed more than 2 kilograms and was about 40 centimeters long. Infant petrification is an extremely rare medical phenomenon. The Royal Society of Medicine says there are only 290 such cases documented.
