Today we’re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy it, check out Unexplained Mysteries on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  He was the most talked-about man in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Grigori Rasputin’s life reads like a twisted fairy tale, but even the most well-studied historians have a hard time separating the man from the darkness of his many myths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy it, check out Unexplained Mysteries on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  He was the most talked-about man in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Grigori Rasputin’s life reads like a twisted fairy tale, but even the most well-studied historians have a hard time separating the man from the darkness of his many myths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you enjoy the true stories told in Assassinations, check out this episode from our series Dictators: Il Duce’s ineffective economic policies left Italy completely unprepared for World War II, and yet he forced the country into it anyway. What followed was a defeat so embarrassing that it remains legendary for its incompetency to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you enjoy the true stories told in Assassinations, check out this episode from our series Dictators: The Italian "Il Duce" had one of the most dramatic transformations of any politician in history. An ardent socialist for the first three decades of his life, he abruptly left the party and developed his own brand of nationalist, totalitarian belief. This system would become known as fascism, and it would change the course of history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Undiagnosed schizophrenia and misplaced religious beliefs all conspired to lead Mark David Chapman to believe he was destined for great things. In 1980, he read a magazine article that seemed to point him toward his fate—he was going to be the man to murder former Beatle John Lennon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: In the last years of his reign, this Emperor was known for his frequent and extreme executions. When his mistress discovers her name on his list of people who should be killed, she takes matters into her own hands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: Known as one of the most egotistical Roman emperors, Commodus famously commissioned statues depicting himself as the mythical hero Hercules. Ultimately his megalomania would be his downfall when in 192, a conspiracy formed by his mistress and the praetorian prefect went into action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Bonnier de la Chapelle confessed to the murder of Admiral Francois Darlan it appeared police had an open and shut case. But that was only the beginning as a series of conspiracy theories surfaced as to who was really behind the assassination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When German forces occupied France during World War II, French leaders such as Navy Admiral leader Fançois Darlan sided with Adolf Hilter and joined forces. The French government was fractured, and a resistance was soon forged, targeting the Admiral toward his removal from power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The death of Park Chung Hee would remain in the minds of the public for years after his assassination as citizens debated how his years in the Blue House influenced generations of politics in South Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From humble beginnings to becoming South Korea's second president in 1963, Park Chung Hee’s time in office pitted the booming economy against the rigid censorship of his authoritarian regime. But not everyone would endorse his brand of politics... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On July 8, 1905, Walter Smith turned himself in to authorities after admitting to shooting Guy Bradley. The bizarre events that transpired after Bradley’s killing would spark nationwide outrage—helping usher in the Conservation Movement of the early 20th Century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once good friends, the conflicts that developed between Walter Smith and game warden Guy Bradley would ultimately grow into an obsession for revenge and murder. Track the events leading up to Bradley’s horrific death in the Florida Everglades in 1905. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2001 assassination of Phoolan Devi devastated Indians at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and served to highlight the continuing issue of inter-caste violence. In the wake of her murder, Sher Singh Rana’s decade-long trial would further impact the community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s so-called “Bandit Queen,” assassinated in New Delhi on July 26, 2001. Sher Singh Rana confessed that he killed Phoolan to avenge her 1981 massacre of over 20 upper caste men. But Rana’s vengeful killing was part of a far bigger battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The death of Arkansas Congressman James Hinds in 1868 emboldened the Ku Klux Klan to commit even more acts of violence, spurring other equal-rights activists to fight all the harder. The century to follow would be marked by continued clashes between civil rights advocates and hate groups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the American Civil War, Congressman James Hinds advocated for civil rights legislation to help former slaves integrate into American society. The Ku Klux Klan took notice, ultimately making him the first sitting Congressman ever assassinated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prime Minister Boutros Ghali's murder signalled that the time for revolution was nigh. Egyptian nationalists staged protests, rioted, and even resorted to even more assassinations in an attempt to overthrow the colonialist British.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After centuries of colonial rule, newly elected Prime Minister Boutros Ghali strove to build bridges with the native Egyptian people and their British overlords. But his many compromises marked him as an enemy to the state in the eyes of nationalists like Ibrahim Nasif al-Wardani. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After being shot by Charles Guiteau, President James Garfield manages to survive for 80 days. However, because his doctors failed to adhere to modern medical practices, Garfield suffers a long and painful death. Meanwhile, the delusional Charles Guiteau eagerly awaits his rescue by Chester A. Arthur as the gallows pole comes closer and closer into view. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices