The volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD that buried the Italian city of Pompeii, with its inhabitants suffering a deadly fate, is a piece of history etched into the minds of many. A seemingly farfetched yet very real story, it highlights the power of the planet we live on and still captures the imagination of millions of people today.

It was a surprising discovery when scientists examining the remains of a man who died in bed in the ancient city of Herculaneum after Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD found dark fragments resembling obsidian inside his skull.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago turned a victim’s brain tissue into glass. Scientists say they have figured out how this unusual phenomenon occurred.

A young man was lying in his bed when a viciously hot cloud of ash swept down from the erupting Mount Vesuvius and turned his brain to glass almost 2,000 years ago.

A young man killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE was likely overcome by a fast-moving cloud of gas at a temperature of more than 500°C in a process that transformed fragments of his brain into glass,