By some accounts, the slave army was ultimately defeated because of Crixus' "arrogance and presumption."Wikimedia CommonsThe famous revolt led by gladiators almost toppled Rome. Thanks to the iconic 1960 movie, the gladiator rebel “Spartacus” is known even to those with the barest grasp of Roman history. But despite the popularity of the story of the famous slave rebellion, surprisingly little is known about Spartacus’ right-hand man, Crixus. Spartacus’ Rebellion When gladiator trainer Lentulus Batiatus bought Spartacus and sent him to be trained in Capua, he could hardly have imagined that the name of his new property would be remembered for thousands of years.

Before moving images existed, photographers used a technique called stereoscopic pairs to add movement to an otherwise static photo.If you’ve seen photos taken before the year 1900, you may notice that some are displayed in identical pairs. It’s not the work of a wasteful photographer, but a specific kind of photo known as stereoscopic pairs. These images are kind of like the proto-GIF: If you alternated opening and closing your left and right eye, you would see the images “move” in one fluid scene.

During the Mexican Revolution, soldaderas fought valiantly and sometimes even outranked men on the battlefield. But their story was almost forgotten.Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesA group of rebel women and girls practice their shooting skills during the Mexican Revolution. 1911. During the Mexican Revolution, some of the strongest warriors were women. Known as the soldaderas, many of these female fighters joined revolutionary groups that were trying to help Mexico break free from the oppressive regime of Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.

Also known as "hanging in chains," gibbeting often involved locking criminals in human-shaped cages and hanging them up in public areas as a warning to others.Chronicle / Alamy Stock PhotoThe gibbet was a form of public execution meant to deter criminals. Throughout history, criminals have been subjected to punishments that now seem needlessly grisly and barbaric. And notable among these was the gibbet. Popular in 18th-century England, gibbeting commonly involved locking criminals in human-shaped cages and hanging them up for display in public areas as a warning to others.

On September 1, 1923, Japan was struck by the Great Kantō Earthquake, which triggered a series of disasters including firestorms, tsunamis, and landslides that left more than 100,000 dead and 40,000 missing.Public DomainAn illustration of the destruction following the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 by artist Takehisa Yumeji. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, but few in the country’s long history have been quite as devastating as the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923.