Wim Delvoye is a notorious tattoo artist, who became famous when he started tattooing live pigs. He first began in 1997 and after animal rights activists found out about what he was doing, he had to move to China to continue his business. There is nothing special about the tattoos that Wim Delvoye creates, they look mediocre at best, and the only reason why he’s famous is his acts of animal cruelty. Nevertheless, Wim states that the pigs feel just fine and are well fed and taken care off. Full anesthesia is used to ensure that the pig doesn’t feel pain during the course of the whole procedure. During this time three tattoo artists work on the tattoo simultaneously to complete it as quickly as possible. Skins of those pigs are then sold for as much as £50k a piece.

This tiny hedgehog is in a prickly position as hes unable to grow spikes, leaving him needing round-the-clock care. The woodland critter was found with no spikes and has been taken in by a family hoping to nurse him back to health so he can be released into the wild. Named Mr Prickleless, the hedgehog was rescued by Dina Nixon and her daughter Jennifer, 25, after being taken into a rescue centre in December last year. It is not known what happened to his spikes, but Dina has vowed that if they ever do return he will be returned to the wild. But for now the hedgehog has taken shelter in a rabbit hutch in her garden. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924

Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.

Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.

A woman loyal to the Houthi movement holds a rifle as she takes part in a parade to show support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen September 6, 2016. The Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign against the Huthis and their allies in March 2015, after the rebels closed in on Gulf-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his southern refuge of Aden, forcing him into exile. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

“Winter shapes, Moscow river”. Moscow river at this part is never covered by ice. When the temperature is very low it's possible to see a strong fog. Morning light and pipes of the oli factory creates a fantastic landscape. Photo location: Moscow, Russia. (Photo and caption by Sergey Rumyantsev/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.

Porters carry the carcasses of a shark (L) and a Marlin (R) to the local market in Hamarweyne near the port of Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean coast on November 18, 2014 in the Somalia capital as fishermen bring in their catch. (Photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP Photo)