The Harbin International Ice and Snow festival attracts thousands of visitors with its impressive ice sculptures made from crystal clear ice.Source: Palm Beach Post While spring, summer and fall have their upsides, there’s no better time of year than winter. Overflowing mugs of eggnog and warm evenings by the fire are just the start–the season is full of family, warmth and an extra couple of days off of work. Winter also marks the start of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which officially launches each January in Harbin, China, and is home to some of the world’s most breathtaking ice sculptures.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ashanti Empire ruled over much of modern-day Ghana — and tirelessly fought back against British colonization.Out of the dense forests of West Africa rose the Ashanti Empire, a kingdom that grew to an unprecedented position of power in the 1700s and 1800s. Though the Ashanti state first emerged as a tiny outpost, it eventually evolved into a complex and wealthy kingdom that held dominion over millions of subjects and an area the size of Wyoming.

On December 12, 1910, Dorothy Arnold disappeared from New York City's Fifth Avenue while dress shopping. Her maddening case has never been solved.Shortly before Christmas 1910, the heiress to a perfume empire Dorothy Arnold vanished without a trace while shopping for an evening dress at a New York City department store. Her maddening disappearance sent New York City into a tailspin of speculation, but her family’s extreme secrecy in handling the case was perhaps even more peculiar to onlookers.

Green Beret Roy Benavidez earned the Medal of Honor when he ran into enemy fire armed with only a knife to save his fellow soldiers, sustaining such severe injuries that medics placed him into a body bag. When Roy Benavidez landed in Vietnam for his second tour of duty in 1968, he’d already proven his fortitude. Just three years earlier, Benavidez had stepped on a land mine during his first deployment in Vietnam, and doctors said he would never walk again.

Millions around the world watched on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia was ripped apart upon re-entry, and NASA investigations later revealed that the tragedy was likely preventable.The Space Shuttle Columbia had made 27 successful trips to space and back, but its 28th, dubbed STS-107, was subjected to numerous delays and problems. Its launch was originally scheduled for Jan. 11, 2001, but ultimately wouldn’t happen for another two years, on Jan.