Vlad The Impaler

In April 1916, a small group of poorly-armed Irish radicals made a stand against the British Army, in a bid for independence for their homeland. Over six days during Easter week, almost 500 people died in the uprising, and thousands more were injured, leaving Dublin one of the mo ...  Show more

In 1986, seven astronauts boarded Space Shuttle Challenger for what was meant to be a routine tenth flight of the orbiter. Seventy-three seconds after lift-off, the shuttle broke apart in front of millions of viewers, in what remains one of the worst disasters in the history of h ...  Show more

Vlad the Impaler - Vlad Dracula - is one of history’s most brutal figures, who has enjoyed a bizarre afterlife as a cult character. Although a hero to his Romanian countrymen, the name Dracula has since become a global byword for horror.

In this Hallowe’en edition of ...

Vlad Tepes, a 15th-century Wallachian prince, was the notoriously blood-thirsty basis for Dracula, Bram Stoker's classic gothic horror character. Check out our HowStuffWorks article to learn more about Vlad Tepes.

Vampire lore goes back to the ancient world (revenant legends abound from Rome to China) but vampire mythology doesn't come into its own until at least the Renaissance period. Was the inspiration for it all the bloodthirsty Wallachian ruler Vlad Tepes, the ruler who impaled tens ...  Show more

Born between 1428-1431, Vlad the Impaler was abandoned by his father as a boy and betrayed by everyone he trusted. He channeled his resentment into an unquenchable lust for power and violence—eventually becoming the ruler of Wallachia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc ...  Show more