If we were to burn NH4Cr2O7 with HgSCN in the Dark Ages in Europe and show it to anyone, it is us who would be burning next on a fiery cross of Inquisition. And it’s no wonder, since this experiment produces a truly marvelous result. At first, as you ignite the mixture of NH4Cr2O7 and HgSCN, all you can see is that it is slowly burning with a reddish flame. After a while, however, a crater is formed in the middle of the burning pile, and then, suddenly, tentacle-like appendages start sprouting from the burning mixture. And you can almost hear the scream of the mad occultist – “Come forth, Kraken! Come forth!” But of course, this is simply a chemical reaction that is called the "Pharoah's Serpent". It was also often sold in firework stores until people realized that it was toxic.

The world's longest moustache (belonging to one Ram Singh Chauhan of Rajasthan, India) measures a staggering 11.5 feet, or nearly 4 metres.

Отава Ё – Яблочко (Otava Yo – Yablochko; Russian: Яблочко, “Little Apple”). Yablochko is a Russian folk song of chastushka style and dance, traditionally presented as sailors' dance. The choreographed version of the dance first appeared in the 1926 Reinhold Glière ballet The Red Poppy and from there is known in the West as the Russian Sailors Dance.

Just a few hours’ drive from the Belarus capital of Minsk, many villagers still live off the land. Nearly 80% of the country’s 9.5 million citizens live in urban areas, but for the rest, being close to nature can outweigh the hardships of country life. Here: Boys play in the Stviga River on a hot summer day near the village of Pogost, Belarus, August 16, 2017. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

An India Christian devotee reenacts the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the occasion of Good Friday in Mumbai, India, Friday, March 29, 2013. Christians all over the world are marking Good Friday, the day when Christ was crucified. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

The little new born wombat baby APARI sitting in its mothers pouch at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany, Thursday, March 29, 2018. Wombat mother TINSEL once was found in the pouch of its dead mother on a street in Australia and was raised by zookeepers before she came to Germany. The zoo tried for 40 years in vain to breed a wombat, until APARI was born as the first one last week. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

Competitors in the Big Air challenge at the Proryv-2016 festival of extreme sports in Moscow, Russia on March 27, 2016. (Photo by Xinhua/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Russian riot policemen beat young PREGNANT female anti-Putin activist during a protest rally against the Presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2012 in Moscow, Russia.