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.

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.

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

Visitors look at a giant puppet of a grandmother sleeping on a bed inside St George's Hall in Liverpool, northern England July 23, 2014. The grandmother is one of two giant models made for a World War I commemorative event. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Reuters)

A charity runner dressed as Father Christmas steps out of a portable toilet ahead of the “Santa Run” charity fun run in Stockholm on December 10, 2017. Hundreds of participants dressed in Santa suits and wearing white beards ran through the streets of the old town in Stockholm in an all charity run. (Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP Photo)

Members of the SubCielo company perform during the fifth annual Puerto Rico Circo Fest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, March 10, 2018. The festival is held simultaneously in several spots on the streets of the Old San Juan city on March 10–11. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP Photo)

An elderly woman sits next to shanties as a Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane flies over a slum area in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, Philippines, 06 March 2025. According to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), poverty rate dropped to 15.5 percent in 2024 from 18.1 percent in 2021, with 17.54 million people living below the poverty line, a decrease of 2.4 million from the previous survey two years earlier. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)

British singer Cheryl Fernandez-Versini aka Cheryl Cole arrives for the screening of “Ma Loute” (Slack Bay) during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 13 May 2016. (Photo by Sebastien Nogier/EPA)