The subreddit Interesting to Read is all about mysterious, weird, and otherwise unconventional facts from around the world. Although this online community was created only in November 2023, it has already grown to 215,000 members—a testament to the need for an alternative to the recycled brain rot we see in reels on the apps that dominate our screen time. So, if you also want to learn random information that might save your pub trivia team one night, keep scrolling!
#1 Bob Fletcher, A Man Who Took Care Of The Farms Of Three Japanese American Families While They Were Interned During World War 2
By keeping their farms running and paying their taxes and mortgages, he ensured the families didn't lose everything. He was even shot at for supporting them.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#2 In 2018, The Parkland School Shooting Incident Happened. A 15 Year Old Named Anthony Borges Successfully Stopped The Shooter From Entering His Classroom By Using His Body To Keep The Door Shut
He got shot 5 times, saved 20 classmates inside the room, and went on to make a full recovery.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#3 Italian Diver Enzo Maiorca While Diving Into Siracusa Sea Felt Something Patting Him On The Back. He Turned Around And Saw A Dolphin, Which He Understood That He Did Not Want To Play But Express Something
The dolphin dived and Enzo followed. At a depth of twelve meters trapped in a net there was another dolphin. After managing with his daughter to release it, as the two dolphins emerged they emitted an almost human cry (this is how Maiorca described it).
Dolphins can be held under water for up to ten minutes then drowned. The trapped dolphin was a female who soon gave birth.
The male surrounded them and standing in front of Enzo touched his cheek (like a kiss), a gesture of gratitude. Enzo finished his speech by saying:
′′ Until man learns to respect and communicate with the animal world, he will never be able to know his true role on this Earth. ′′
Image credits: Cleverman72
#4 This Midwife At Auschwitz Delivered 3,000 Babies In Unfathomable Conditions Stanislawa Leszczyńska Was Instructed To M**der Babies, But Refused
Most of the babies died or were k****d, but the ones with blue eyes were taken away. Only about 30 of the newborns delivered by her survived Auschwitz.
"In the Auschwitz camp, I also acted as a midwife, because many women in the arriving transports of prisoners were pregnant. I worked there day and night without a replacement, in the most terrible conditions. The maternity ward was generally infected, full of vermin, dirt, and infectious diseases.
There was a lack of water, which I had to fetch myself, and bringing one bucket of water to wash the mother and the newborn took about twenty minutes."
She is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic church.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#5 On September 16, 1976, World-Champion Finswimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan Was Finishing A 13-Mile Training Run In Armenia When He Suddenly Heard A Disturbing Sound. A Trolleybus Had Fallen Over A Dam Wall And Plunged Into Yerevan Lake. The 23-Year-Old Immediately Sprinted To The Scene
The 23-year-old immediately sprinted to the scene, stripped down, and dove into the sewage-strewn water to save as many people as possible.
Despite near-zero visibility, Karapetyan swam 15 feet down to reach the trolleybus only to discover there was no open window. So, he decided to kick the rear window out, lacerating his legs in the process. Over the next 20 minutes, Karapetyan managed to bring 37 people to the surface, 20 of whom survived. Another nine escaped on their own through the window he'd broken open.
Karapetyan's heroism left him with permanently-scarred lungs after he developed pneumonia, and he spent the next three weeks in a hospital bed before he could walk again. But the following year, he participated in two final competitions — where he won a gold medal and broke his 11th world record — before retiring for good.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#6 A 67-Year-Old Woman Has Planted More Than 2 Million Trees In The Dessert In North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region In The Past 12 Years To Fulfill Her Son's Dying Wish
Before he died, a Chinese student Yang told his mother that he wanted to return home from his studies in Japan and plant an entire forest.
He was worried about the environmental problem of his country and wanted to change something there. Because they lived in a desert-dominated part of China that was not accessible by car, "Inner Mongolia" seemed to him the ideal ground for afforestation and the realization of his dream.
Unfortunately, he soon died in a car accident. His mother Yi Jiefang gave herself the task of fulfilling her son’s wish, so for 20 years she continuously planted trees in the desert in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.
Through planting trees, she wanted to plant the seeds of hope for those who have experienced the loss of a child. In order to afforest, she sold her house in Shanghai and some other material things, and her son's insurance policy also helped her buy a lot of seeds and accessories for work. She said that she could not take the money with her, but that the trees would still remain, and together with her husband, she founded an entire organization that aims to green China as much as possible.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#7 In 1995, A Pair Of Twins, Kyrie And Brielle Jackson, Was Born 12 Weeks Premature. Each Weighed Only About 2 Pounds. One Of Them Was Not Expected To Survive
At three weeks old, one twin went into critical condition. Her heart rate was soaring.
Her oxygen level was dropping quickly, and she was turning blue. The nurses tried everything, but nothing worked. They were about to lose her.
Then one nurse, Gale Kasparian, decided to put the stronger twin next to her sister in the same incubator, a novel procedure that had never been done before at the time in the US.
The standard practice at that time was to place twin babies in separate incubators to reduce the risk of infection.
Once the baby twins were together, the baby snuggled up to Kyrie, the stronger twin.
As soon as Kyrie put her arm around her sister, the vital signs, including breathing and heart rate of the weaker twin, instantly stabilized.
They called this the rescuing hug.
Without this rescuing hug, the weaker twin baby wouldn’t have survived.
The hug that changed medicine in the US.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#8 Harriet Tubman, A Tiny Little Woman , Aged 90, Of Less Than 5 Feet Tall, This Brave Soul Rescued Seventy People From Slavery. In This Final Photograph Taken Of Tubman, She’s Frail, And In Near-Constant Pain
When she was a young woman and still a s***e herself, her master had forced Harriet Tubman to help tie up a runaway s***e who had been recaptured. She flat-out refused, at great personal risk.
When the man ran away once more, she stood in the doorway, holding on to the doorframe and refusing to move an inch… an overseer threw a heavy piece of metal at her head, which damaged her skull and brain. For her entire life, she suffered severe headaches and could barely sleep.
And there she sits. Every bit the Queen she was. Her body is broken, mangled, aged. Her head in pain, tortured by never ending migrained. But she survived slavery. Helped many others survive it, too. And made it to old age in spite of it all.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#9 Zinaida Portnova, Known For Having Taken The Lives Of More Than 100 N**is By Poisoning Their Food At Just 16 Years Of Age
She was captured by the Gestapo and while being interrogated, she disarmed the N**i detective and shot him in the head. In her attempt to escape, she ex**uted 2 more N**is.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#10 Dolly Parton Was Born In A One-Bedroom Cabin In Rural Tennessee. Her Dad Was A Sharecropper Who Couldn't Read
As the family grew, the older children got more responsibilities and Parton the fourth of 12 children had to look after her younger siblings. Today, she spends her millions on those in need.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#11 In Columbia, During Slavery, African Women Would Observe Their Surroundings And Build Maps With Their Braids, Marking Roads And Escape Routes, Trails, Large Trees, Wooded Areas, Rivers And Mountains
These hairstyles became escape route codes that helped the enslaved to flee.
Cornrows were used during slavery to help slaves escape. Slaves used cornrows to transport and create maps to flee plantations. It is most documented in Colombia where Benkos Bioho, a king captured from Africa by the Portuguese who escaped slavery, built San Basillio de Palenque, a village in Northern Colombia around the 17th century.Bioho created his own language as well as an intelligence network and also came up with the idea to have women create maps and deliver messages through their cornrows.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#12 Frank Sinatra Was A Fervent Anti-Racist And An Early Activist. He Refused To Stay At Hotels And Play At Clubs That Did Not Admit Black People
His band would also provide equal pay and treatment for black musicians. It was through his relentless and tireless efforts that Las Vegas quickly became integrated.
In an interview in 2016, Frank Sinatra, Jr. had this to say about his father: "In the days when Las Vegas began to become popular, the black performers could play in showrooms, but they couldn't stay in the hotel. And it was Frank Sinatra who went to the board of directors, who had rather shady pasts, and he said, 'Are you guys going to come into the twentieth century, or aren't you?'... Somebody said 'Well, we have white people, we have black people." Sinatra, the story goes, said to them, 'The money is green. How about that?' And they began to look at each other, and the wheels were turning, and because of Sammy (Davis), Las Vegas became integrated.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#13 In 1962, A 37-Year-Old Man From England Named Brendon Grimshaw Suddenly Quit His Job And Bought A Small Island In The Seychelles For About $10,000
The island was called Moyenne and, at the time of purchase, had been abandoned for 50 years.
Everyone thought the man was crazy. Brendon eventually moved to the island permanently as its sole inhabitant.
While most people tend to buy islands for luxury, Brendon had a broader vision. He wanted to restore the island to its raw beauty, creating a natural paradise completely uncontaminated by man and tourism.
For the next 40 years, Brendon lived alone on the island; he managed to plant 16,000 trees by hand, built 5 km of nature trails and attracted around 2,000 new birds to the island.
Brendon had transformed a desert land into an island of incredible beauty, Moyenne was so beautiful that Brendon was offered 50 million dollars by a Saudi prince, but he turned it down.
Since Brendon died in 2012, the island has been owned by the Moyenne Island Foundation and is now a national park available to all thanks to his efforts.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#14 On Sept 5th 1942, United States Navy Messman Charles Jackson French Successfully Swam Through The Night For 6-8 Hours Pulling A Raft Of 15 Wounded Soldiers With A Rope Around His Waist In Shark Infested Waters
French was the first black swimmer to receive the Navy medal of heroism in 1943.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#15 Doctors Gave 3-Year-Old Sky Savren-Mccormick A 10% Chance Of Survival After A Rare Cancer Diagnosis. Hayden Ryals, A 26-Year-Old Bone Marrow Donor, Helped Save Her Life. Sky Survived And Later Attended Hayden’s Wedding As A Flower Girl
Image credits: Cleverman72
#16 Peter Mutabazi's Journey From A Tough Childhood In Uganda To Becoming A Devoted Foster Dad In USA Is Inspiring. After Adopting Tony A 13-Year-Old Abandoned At A Hospital, Peter Built A Loving Home And Now Advocates For Foster Children Everywhere Showing The World The Power Of Compassion
Image credits: Cleverman72
#17 George, Jack Russell Terrier Who Saved Five Kids From A Vicious Attack By Two Savage Dogs
Image credits: xPookie_Pie
#18 In June Of 1988, Hartford, Connecticut, Police Officer Peter Getz Carried A Lifeless 5-Year-Old Girl To Safety From A Burning Apartment Building. Nearly 20 Years Later, The Retired Officer Watched Her Graduate College
Image credits: Cleverman72
#19 Grover Krantz Was An Anthropologist Who Donated His Body To The Smithsonian Museum To Show How Skeletons Can Be Educational Tools
His only condition was that he wanted his beloved dog next to him even after death. The museum honored his request.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#20 Nicholas Bostic, A 25-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Man From Lafayette, Indiana, Ran Into A Burning House To Rescue 4 Children, Who Told Him There Is One More Inside. He Ran Back Inside Found The Six-Year-Old Girl, Jumped Out Of A Window And Carried Her To A Cop, Who Captured The Moment On His Bodycam
Image credits: Cleverman72
#21 Qian Hongyan, Known As China's "Basketball Girl," Lost Her Legs In A Car Accident At Age 4. Due To Her Family's Financial Struggles, She Couldn't Get Prosthetics, So She Adapted And Thrived, Relying Solely On Her Own Strength To Navigate Life
Her life is an inspiring story that will give you the strength to carry on through all your difficult days. Qian Hongyan has no legs. She lost them when she was 4 years old in a tragic accident when a speeding truck hit her and both of her legs had to be amputated. Her poor family could not provide her with prosthetic legs and so Qian learned to live and get by relying only on her own strength and with virtually no means.
Qian was provided with a basketball cut in half to balance her weight. Her hands became her strength.
The locals knew her as a basketball girl. After her photos went viral on the Internet, China Rehabilitation in Beijing offered Qian free artificial limbs.
Qian joined a swimming club for the disabled. At first, everything was difficult for her, but she continued to train and learn and became a successful athlete.
Qian wishes to compete in the Paralympics one day. Her success has turned her into a celebrity and she is a great inspiration for everyone around the world.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#22 In 2011, A Brazilian Fisherman Rescued An Oil-Covered Penguin And Nursed It Back To Health. Since Then, The Penguin Swims 5,000 Miles Each Year To Visit Him, Spending The Rest Of The Time Mating In Argentina
Image credits: Time-Training-9404
#23 That's Interesting
In 1925, a deadly diphtheria outbreak affected the lives of 10,000 + in Nome, Alaska. With the weather to harsh to fly in the anti-toxin. Togo the Husky lead the sledge dog team that delivered the serum, traversing 674 Miles at 12 years old.
Image credits: minkingfagglers
#24 When She Was Just 19 Years Old, Civil Rights Activist Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Was Sent To Death Row For Two Months — For Joining The Famous Freedom Rides Across The Jim Crow South
In 1961, she and a group of Freedom Riders were arrested in Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" and held at a maximum security prison. There, Mulholland sat on death row before she was ultimately released. But despite the harrowing experience, she refused to abandon the civil rights movement. Months later, she became the first white student to enroll in the historically Black Tougaloo College. While there, she met Martin Luther King Jr. and participated in sit-ins at segregated diners, where she endured abuse from countless white supremacists and segregationists.
Though Mulholland is now 79 years old, she has remained active in modern civil rights causes as much as she can. "I'm not marching anymore," she said. "My knees have been operated on too much. But I can make signs. I can offer to put people up in my house."
Image credits: Cleverman72
#25 Iqbal Masih, Sold Into Bonded Labor At Age Four, Worked Long Hours Weaving Carpets For Almost No Pay. After Escaping At Ten, He Helped Free 3,000 Children And Spoke Globally Against Child Labor. Tragically, He Was K****d At Age 12, But His Legacy Endures
Image credits: Cleverman72
#26 Jonathan Goldsmith, Aka The Most Interesting Man In The World From The Dos Equis Commercials, Has Been An Advocate For Landmine Victim Support, Has Assisted The Effort To Prevent And Cure Cancer In Dogs, Save The Siberian Tiger, And End Child S*x Trafficking In Cambodia
Image credits: UnluckyAd6021
#27 Carl Braden Was Arrested And Sentenced To 15 Years In Jail Because He Had The Audacity To Purchase A Home For A Black Veteran In The 1950s Who Wanted The Home But The Real Estate Agent Didn’t Sell To Negroes
He bought the home and then resold it to the Negro veteran.
The veteran and young family moved in and their house was attacked., shot at and bombed. The veteran had a young wife and a two year old child.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#28 Douglas Brent Was An American Navy Petty Officer Who Was Taken Captive During The Vietnam War, He Was Considered Dumb By His Captors And They Gave Him The Nickname "The Stupid". He Acted Like An I******e, Refusing To Speak, Instead He Continuously Hummed A Song
Throughout his imprisonment, he remained in a similar state, to the extent that the Vietnamese captors believed he had some form of cognitive impairment.
Upon his return to the United States after his release, Bent recited the names of about 256 fellow POWs who were being searched for by the US military.
Remarkably, Bent had memorized the names by associating them with the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," which he had used previously to hum during his captivity.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#29 This 600-Year-Old Painting Is One Of The Most Mysterious In History
This 600-year-old painting is one of the most mysterious in history. That mirror at the back is just 3 inches wide — yet it reflects the entire room in immense detail.
Look closer at it and you'll realize nothing is as it seems…
Jan van Eyck's masterpiece is an ordinary portrait: Italian merchant Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife, Costanza.
Image credits: Top-Revenue5728
#30 In 1973, An Elderly Janitor Died In A Hospice. His Name Was Henry Darger. A Kindly Old Man, He Mostly Kept To Himself. No One Knew Him As Anything Else Than Just, The Janitor. The Landlord Of Darger Had To Clean Out The Old Man’s Room, When He Passed
It was only then, upon cleaning the room out, that they discovered paintings. Drawings. Etchings. Writings, endless pages and papers… Darger literally created thousands of pieces of art.
A novel spanning nearly 15,000 pages. He had been incredibly productive, for well over sixty years. And most remarkable of all? He had never told a soul. He lived and died in Chicago, Illinois, and for his entire life, he kept his art a secret to the world.
Henry Darger lived for 81 years. Each day after he clocked out at work, he went home to create art at night. Hours upon hours of writing, revising, drawing, etching. He left no family and the landlord became a multi-millionaire selling the works. Darger is now one of the world’s most famous “outsider artists”. And died never knowing it.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#31 In 2014, 3-Year-Old Karina Chikitova Survived 11 Days In The Siberian Wilderness With The Help Of Her Dog, Naida. She Foraged For Berries, Drank From A River, And Stayed Warm By Cuddling With Naida. The Dog Eventually Guided Rescuers To Her Location After She'd Gone Missing
The faithful dog had remained by her side for nine days, kept her warm, and ensured the hungry wildlife never got close to Karina.
Karina was reunited with her companion when she was released from the hospital.
Instead of warmly greeting Naida, Karina scolded the dog for leaving her alone, demanding to know why her companion would leave her in the wilderness all by herself.
However, as time went by, Karina was able to understand that the dog essentially saved her life.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#32 A Violinist Played For 45 Minutes In The New York Subway. A Handful Of People Stopped, A Couple Clapped, And The Violinist Raised About $30 In Tips. No One Knew This, But The Violinist Was Joshua Bell, One Of The Best Musicians In The World
Image credits: Cleverman72
#33 As A Black Woman Growing Up In Nova Scotia In The 1910s And 1920s, Viola Desmond Faced Her Fair Share Of Discrimination. Denied Entry To Many Beauty Schools, Desmond Studied Instead In Montreal And New York City, And Later Opened Up Her Own School So That Black Women Could Become Beauticians
Image credits: Cleverman72
#34 Froze To Death And Lived
In 1999, Anna Bagelholm was skiing in Sweden when she accidentally fell into a frozen river. She was stuck in the ice for over 80 minutes as rescuers struggled to free her. When they finally pulled her from the freezing cold water she was given CPR, and she was defibrillated, but the rescue team were sure she was dead.
It took two hours to get her to the hospital, by which point her body temperature was 56 degrees Fahrenheit. At the hospital she was connected to an EKG, which showed no signs of life, so doctors declared her clinically dead.
The doctors didn’t want to give up on her, so more than 100 medical staff worked in 9-hour shifts to try and revive her. Miraculously, they were able to warm up her blood and achieve a heartbeat. They then put her on a ventilator for the next 35 days.
Anna eventually woke from the coma but was paralysed from the neck down. She was angry with her friends at first for saving her life, but somehow managed to make a full recovery and now works as a radiologist.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#35 With Just His Mouth, Prince Randian Could Roll Cigarettes, Light Them, And Even Shave His Face. He Went By Many Names, Including “The Snake Man,” “The Human Torso,” And “The Human Caterpillar”
Prince Randian was a Guyanese man who suffered from Tetra-Amelia Syndrome.
The syndrome is incredibly rare and is characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Because of this, Randian was "recruited" by American circus performer PT Barnum, and performed at many fairs across the country.
Despite his disability, Randian was able to shave, roll cigarettes, and use a pencil to write legible messages. Randian wore a one-piece woolen garment that fit snugly around his body, giving him the appearance of a caterpillar, and moved around the stage by moving his hips and shoulders.
He lived a long life in New Jersey and even fathered 3 children.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#36 In The Spring Of 1908, Three Women Entered The Longchamp Racecourse In Paris Leaving Everyone Speechless
The elite society event was known for showcasing the latest creations to the public, but no one had ever seen fashion like this before.
Dressed in blue, white and tan creations, according to the newspapers, spectators called the three women a "monstrosity", accused them of being half-naked and showing revolting cleavage. It was these three dresses, however, that forever changed fashion that day and launched the twentieth-century silhouette.
The creator was Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix, a young Parisian designer who had taken over her mother's historic fashion house and was starting to gain popularity in turn-of-the-century Paris for her corseted dresses featuring minimal boning and thicker material. elastic.
Long before Lycra or Spanx came along, she soon began making dresses made of stretch silk jersey, which outlined the hips and thighs and slimmed the figure. To present her creations to society, she hired three beautiful models and chose the Parisian runways of 1908 as her catwalk.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#37 This Haunting Picture Is Of A Dog Named Laika. In 1957 She Was Launched Into Space By A Russian LED Team That Had No Plans For Her To Ever Return
Sadly, she was chosen because of her friendly, and docile demeanor.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#38 Throughout Wwii The N**is Lived In Terror Of The Night Witches, An All-Female Flying Squad That Dropped A Whopping 23 Tons Of Bombs On The German Forces Invading Their Homeland
Consisting of young women aged just 17 to 26, they overcame extraordinary misogyny to fly some 30,000 deadly missions.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#39 In 1948, Tony Signorini Walked On Florida Beaches At Night Wearing 30 Lb. Three-Toed Lead Shoes. People Believed The Footprints Were From A 15 Feet Tall Penguin, Thought To Be Extinct. He Kept Up The Prank For Ten Years And Revealed The Hoax 40 Years Later
Image credits: Cleverman72
#40 The Ovici (Or Ovitz) Family Is Known As The Largest Documented Family Of Dwarves In History. What’s Even More Extraordinary Is That They Were Also The Largest Family To Survive Auschwitz Together, With Twelve Members, Ranging From A 15-Month-Old Baby To A 58-Year-Old Woman
Image credits: Cleverman72
#41 In 1888 Bertha Benz And Her 2 Sons Quietly Left Their House And Unknowingly Changed The World Forever. While Bertha’s Husband Carl Lay Asleep She Left A Note On The Kitchen Table Informing Him That They Were Leaving To Visit Her Mother In Pforzheim, Germany Some 60 Miles Away
In a time when “car” was not even a word yet, and people relied on horses to pull their wagons, one woman challenged the status quo. To prove to the world that her husband’s invention was the future of mobility, Bertha Benz went on the first long-distance journey with an automobile, facing all kinds of challenges but stopping at nothing. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tired of her husband's endless tinkering, Bertha Benz undertook the first long-distance journey in an automobile demonstrating its revolutionary potential.
On August 5, 1888, Bertha Benz was the first person to drive an automobile over a long distance. She brought worldwide attention to the Motorwagen, the precursor to modern-day automobiles. Although her husband, Karl Benz, is celebrated on paper as the inventor, it was Bertha’s money, marketing and chutzpah that put his car on the map.
Born Bertha Ringer in 1849 to a wealthy German family, she married engineer Karl in 1872. Bertha used her family money to finance her husband’s creation of a horseless carriage. Under modern day law, Bertha would have actually owned the patent rights. However, German law in the 1880s prohibited married women from even applying for a patent
Image credits: Cleverman72
#42 The Last True Hermit: Christopher Thomas Knight, Known As The North Pond Hermit, Disappeared Into The Maine Woods In 1986 At Age 20, Seeking Total Isolation. For 27 Years, He Lived Without Human Contact
Christopher Thomas Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit, disappeared into the Maine woods in 1986 at age 20, seeking total isolation. He drove his car away from society until it ran out of gas on a dirt road, then hiked into the woods with no map or plan. For 27 years, he lived almost completely without human contact. Only once in the 1990's he encounted a hiker and simply said "hi". He survived by stealing food and supplies from nearby camps and cabins. His stealth and the sheer number of burglaries—over a thousand—turned him into a local legend, with many doubting his existence. Knight’s hidden life ended in 2013 when he was caught mid-burglary by a game warden that was determined to prove the hermit was real, revealing a story of solitude and survival that continues to captivate imaginations.
Image credits: wsawyer12
#43 In 1841, He Was An Enslaved 12-Year Old Who Had No Formal Education And Could Not Read Or Write. And Yet, He Was Able To Discover A Technique For Pollinating Vanilla Orchids In A Quick And Profitable Way. Meet Edmond Albius, The Boy Who Revolutionised The Vanilla Industry
Image credits: Cleverman72
#44 In 2000, 19 Year Old Kevin Hines Jumped From The Golden Gate Bridge And Fell 220 Feet At 75 Miles Per Hour, Resulting In His Back Being Broken. He Was Saved From Drowning By A Sea Lion Who Kept Him Afloat Until Rescuers Could Reach Him.
He is now a motivational speaker at 42 years old.
Image credits: NastyChickadee
#45 A 2,000-Year-Old Peruvian Showing Advanced Surgical Techniques, Featuring A Metal Implant Used To Repair Damage Likely Sustained In Battle. The Surrounding Bone Exhibits Tight Fusion Around The Repair Site, Indicating That The Procedure Was Successful And The Individual Lived
Image credits: senorphone1
#46 In 1957, Marlon Green, An Air Force Pilot, Applied To Be A Continental Airlines Pilot. Green Had Applied To Other Airlines But Was Rejected Each Time. When He Filled Out His Application For Continental, He Left The “Race” Box Unchecked
Green filed a complaint with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission, a landmark case that ended up in the United States Supreme Court which ruled in Greens favor and helped dismantle racial discrimination in the American passenger airline industry.
While David Harris was the first Black pilot hired with a major airline, Marlon Green’s fight for the right to be in the flight deck cleared a path for generations of Black pilots to come. In 2010, Continental dedicated a 737 named for Captain Marlon Green. The aircraft, N77518, still flies for United today.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#47 The Person In The Photo Is The Monk Mihailo Tolotos, The Holder Of A Record That Many Could Never Match: He Lived His Entire Life Without Ever Having Seen A Woman In Person
Tolotos was born in 1856 and was abandoned on the steps of a monastery on top of Mount Athos, Greece, just four hours after his birth. He was adopted by the monks of the monastery and raised and educated there. The monastery of Mount Athos does not allow women and animals, while men who come to experience monastic life are tolerated.
Mihailo Tolotos died in 1938 at the age of 82 without ever having known what a woman looked like, except in illustrations, and without ever having had any kind of contact with one. Even today, inside the monastery where he lived, only men are allowed and the monks are not allowed to shave, wash, argue, discuss or inquire about what is beyond their walls.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#48 In 1695, Margorie Caught A Fever And, Believed To Be Dead, Her Family Held A Wake And Promptly Buried Her. Soon After She Was Laid To Rest, Grave Robbers, Who Regularly Ransacked Newly Buried Coffins, Dug Her Up And Attempted To Steal A Valuable Ring She Was Still Wearing
The evening after Margorie was buried, grave robbers showed up and began digging. Unable to get the ring off the finger, they decided to cut it off. As soon as it was cut, Margorie awoke from her coma and shot up into a sitting position screaming at the top of her lungs.
The fate of the grave robbers remains unknown. One story says that the men fell dead on the spot, while another says that they fled and lost all trace of them.
Margorie climbed out of the hole and headed back to her house.
Her husband John, a doctor, was at home with the children when he heard a knock on the door. He said to the children, "If your mother were still alive, I would swear that she was knocking her."
When he opened the door and found his wife standing there, dressed in her funeral clothes, dripping blood from her finger, he fell dead to the floor.
He was buried in the same place that Margorie had vacated.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#49 There Was An Early 1900s Act Named "Sober Sue", Who's Draw Was She Never Smiled. A Theater Offered $1000 To Any One Who Could Make Her Laugh, Attracting Big Comedians. Crowds Came Out To Watch Them Try, And Fail, Giving Them A Free Show. Later It Came Out That Sue Suffered From Facial Paralysis
Image credits: lexce12
#50 I Love That Smell
Image credits: ProfessorOfFinance
#51 Have You Ever Imagined A 2- To 3-Foot Worm Slowly Crawling Out Of Your Leg? This Nightmare Is Real For People Infected With The Guinea Worm, A Parasite That Has Haunted Humans For Thousands Of Years
A creepy medieval painting in Italy might hold the oldest-known image of this horrifying creature.
Imagine a 2- to 3-foot long (0.6- to 1-meter) worm slowly working its way out of your body… with the possibility of other worms doing so in the future. Such is the horror of the guinea worm, which has been plaguing mankind for millennia.
Some of the oldest guinea worms are known from the calcified remains of one found in an ancient Egyptian mummy and another possible case mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Now, scientists are studying a painting from an Italian church with what appears to be the oldest image of a guinea worm – one coming out of the leg of a 14th century French saint.
The worm is not presently known in Italy, and its range is limited to the countries of South Sudan, Chad, Mali, and Ethiopia in Africa, where great progress has been made in eradicating them. Although it is painful, the worm does not k**l the parasitized person.
The parasitic condition is called dracunculiasis. It seems to be clearly depicted in the altarpiece in the Painting Gallery in Bari in the southern Puglia region of Italy. The painting is of St. Roch, a 14th century Frenchman who legends say visited Italy and healed plague victims, but who later got the plague himself.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#52 In 2013, A Dog Named Killian Safeguarded A Baby Boy From An Ab**ive Babysitter By Growling And Placing Himself Between Them
Growing suspicious of the sitter’s actions, the parents of 7-month-old Finn Jordan hid an iPhone under the sofa to capture audio, which led to the sitter’s conviction.
Image credits: CandySweetx
#53 A Woman And Her Daughters Abandoned By Her Husband Because Of Their Eyes Color. Risikat Azeez Is A Woman From Central Nigeria Who Was Born With A Rare Condition : Her Blue Eyes, Meanwhile She Is A Black Person With No Caucasian Ancestors
In fact, Risikat is the only child of her parents born with this condition.
She met her husband Abdul-Wasiu Omo-Dada and apparently, he accepted her and loved her just the way she was.
But trouble began when she gave birth to their first child who also has blue eyes. It seems that her husband accepted her only because he expected their children to have black eyes like most black people.
Later, Risikat gave birth to a second child with the same condition.
Due to pressure from her family and her disappointment, her husband decided to abandon his family.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#54 She Was Born Facing Great Odds, Entering Into The World In A Jail. And Now She’s Ready To Embark On Her Dream To Attend Harvard University. Aurora Sky Castner, Texas Girl Born In Jail Graduates Top Of Class, Heading To Harvard In The Fall
Image credits: Cleverman72
#55 Elizabeth Diamond Found Out That She Had Stage Four Brain Cancer. Her Friend Laura Ruffino Was Deeply Concerned About The Future Of Elizabeth's Four Daughters And Made A Beautiful Promise To Them. Though Elizabeth Sadly Passed Away In 2015 Laura Kept Her New Role As A Mother By Adopting All 4 Girls
Image credits: Cleverman72
#56 Derrick Byrd, A 20-Year-Old From Aberdeen, Washington, Ran Into A Burning Home To Rescue His 8-Year-Old His Niece Mercedes, Even Though It Meant He Would Suffer Serious Injuries. Derrick Ended Up With Second- And Third-Degree Burns On His Face, Back, And Arms
Image credits: Cleverman72
#57 Sanju Bhagat Experienced One Of The Most Unusual Medical Conditions Known As Fetus In Fetu, A Highly Rare Disorder Where A Fetus Becomes Trapped Inside Its Twin. In Bhagat's Case, He Unknowingly Carried His Twin Within His Body Throughout His Entire Life
Image credits: senorphone1
#58 In 1994, 13-Year-Old Nicholas Barclay Vanished Without A Trace After A Neighborhood Basketball Game. When "He" Returned Home 3 Years Later, His Hair Was A Different Color. He Spoke With An Obvious Accent And He Was A Full-Grown Adult. Yet His Family Accepted This New Nicholas Without Hesitation
The Mystery of Nicholas Barclay and His Imposter, Frédéric Bourdin.
In 1994, a 13-year-old boy named Nicholas Barclay from Texas went missing after playing basketball with his friends. Three years later, he was found in Spain and reunited with his family. But something wasn’t right.
The boy who came back wasn’t Nicholas Barclay—he was a 23-year-old Frenchman named Frédéric Bourdin, a master imposter. This strange and twisted story has puzzled people for almost 25 years.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#59 About 22,000 To 23,000 Years Ago, An Individual, Most Probably A Young Woman, Undertook Two Perilous Journeys Separated By Several Hours, Carrying A Toddler At Least Once. It All Happened At Lake Otero, A Large Ice Age Lake
It all happened at Lake Otero, a large Ice Age lake, the shore of which was teeming with wildlife such as mammoths, ground sloths, camels, dire wolves, American lions, and other extinct megafauna.
The trail they left behind, located in present-day White Sands National Park in New Mexico, spans 1.5 km and comprises over 400 human footprints, giving the oldest evidence of human presence in the Americas and reshaping our understanding of when the first humans arrived there.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#60 Hugh Glass, 19th-Century Frontiersman Dragged Himself Over 200 Miles To The Nearest Fort After Being Mauled By A Grizzly Bear And Left For Dead By His Fellow Fur Trappers. Then He Began His Quest For Revenge
Image credits: Cleverman72
#61 In 1921, Ada Blackjack Joined An Arctic Expedition Team Consisting Of Four Men. She Spent Two Years Surviving Alone On Wrangel Island And Was The Only Member Of The Team To Make It Back Alive
Image credits: MrAceDoc
#62 71-Year-Old Bernard Gore Planned To Meet His Wife And Daughter At A Sydney Mall After Shopping But Mistakenly Exited Through A Door Into A Confusing Stairwell. He Was Found Dead Three Weeks Later, Unable To Find His Way Out
Image credits: TrumpInc
#63 Phillis Wheatley, The First African-American To Publish A Book In The U.S., Rose From Slavery To Literary Fame In 1773 With Her Profound Poetry. Her Journey Defied All Odds, Challenging Racial Barriers And Proving The Power Of Resilience And Intellect
Image credits: Cleverman72
#64 The Mystery Of The Dancing Plague Of 1518
In the summer of 1518, a woman emerged from her house in the French town of Strasbourg and started dancing. Within a week, hundreds had joined her. They danced day and night, seemingly oblivious to the fact they were dancing the skin off their feet. Many danced until they collapsed. Some may have even died. What on earth was going on?
The 1518 Dancing Plague of Strasbourg was just one of many spontaneous outbreaks of dancing that occurred throughout Europe from the 7th to the 17th Century. The history books are full of accounts of large groups of people breaking into dance. One of the earliest known cases occurred in the French town of Berberg in the 1020s where a Christmas Eve service was ruined by a group of peasants suddenly jumping up and singing and dancing for no apparent reason. In 1237, there was another outbreak in the German town of Erfurt. On this occasion, a large group of children took it upon themselves to leap and dance the twenty miles to the nearby town of Arnstadt, much to the bafflement of the residents of both towns. Many believe this was the origin of the Pied Piper of Hamelin story.
The outbreaks continued to pick up pace throughout the 13th Century, most notably in 1278 where the dancing antics of about 200 peasants on a bridge over the River Meuse caused it to collapse, leading to many casualties.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#65 In His S**cide Note, Mass Shooter Charles Whitman Requested His Body Be Autopsied Because He Felt Something Was Wrong With Him
The autopsy discovered that Whitman had a pecan-sized tumor pressing against his amygdala, a brain structure that regulates fear and aggression.
Image credits: rosamunddecristoforo
#66 In 1982 A Passenger On A Commercial Jet Was Looking Out The Window As The Plane Flew Over The Colorado Mountains When He Spotted Headlights Blinking Sos. The Passenger Brought This To The Attention Of The Pilots
A massive rescue operation was launched and rescuers found Alan Lee Philips stranded in a snow drift. It was in the middle of a sever snow storm and the temperature had dropped down to -22. If it wasn’t for the passenger in the plane Alan wouldn’t have survived the night.
Alan literally had someone watching over him. For 40 years Alan’s story has been hailed as miraculous, that was until D.N.A linked Alan to two cold case m*****s of two Colorado women.
It was Jan. 6, 1982, a bitter cold evening with blizzard-like conditions, when two female hitchhikers vanished from the popular ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado, and were later found shot to death.
*On that ill-fated day, Barbara Jo Oberholtzer, and Annette Kay Schnee vanished without a trace. It wasn't until six months later, when Annette's lifeless body was found, that investigators made a chilling connection. Annette wore an orange sock, a recent gift from her mother, and her other orange sock was discovered near Bobbie Jo's body. This grim discovery left no doubt that the same person had taken the lives of both women.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#67 On A Rainy Day In 1850, The New York Police Found A Disheveled And Lost Young Woman, Who Spoke An Unknown Language. She Was Taken To A Hospital, Where She Was Diagnosed With Amnesia And Her True Identity Was Discovered: Adele Hugo, Daughter Of The Famous Writer Victor Hugo
Adele's story moved the world: her unrequited love for the English soldier Albert Pinson led her to follow him to Nova Scotia, where he manipulated and abandoned her, leaving her with nothing in New York.
Returned to France, Adele was broken, humiliated and swore to remain silent forever. Her father, Victor Hugo, tried for 35 years to get her to speak again, but was unsuccessful.
For 65 years, from 1850 until her death in 1915, Adele remained silent, to remind herself never to fall in love again.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#68 This Is The Last Photo Ever Captured Of The Three Lighthouse Keepers Of The Flannan Isles, A Remote Chain Of Rocky Islands Off The Coast Of Scotland. One Day In December 1900, They Suddenly And Inexplicably Vanished, Never To Be Seen Again
Image credits: Cleverman72
#69 Natasha Anne Ryan (Born 1984) Is An Australian Woman Who Went Missing In 1998 As A Young Teenage Girl From Queensland. Police Assumed She Had Been M**dered By A Local Serial K**ler
Her body was never found. Her family held a memorial in 2001.
However, during Fraser’s 2003 trial, Natasha was found alive, hiding at her boyfriend’s house, where she had been living voluntarily since her disappearance. She even testified, confirming she never met Fraser.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#70 Third Man Syndrome Is A Particular Psychological Phenomenon In Which In The Event Of Conditions Of Extreme Resistance On The Verge Of Death, The Brain Sends Electrical Signals (Switches) Such As To Allude To The Presence Of An Additional Figure Next To The Exhausted Person
Sir Ernest Shackleton, in his book “South” described the phenomenon for the first time in 1919. He was convinced that a disembodied companion joined him and his men during the last leg of his 1914-1917 Antarctic expedition.
The team was stuck in the pack ice for more than two years and endured immense hardship in their attempts to reach safety. Shackleton wrote, "during that long and torturous march of thirty-six hours over the nameless mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it often seemed to me that there were four of us, not three."
In recent years, well-known adventurers such as mountaineer Reinhold Messner and polar explorers Peter Hillary and Ann Bancroft have reported experiencing the phenomenon.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#71 Omar Bin Omran, Who Vanished At 17 In 1998, Was Found Alive 26 Years Later Just 200 Meters From His Home. A Social Media Post Amid An Inheritance Dispute LED His Family To A Neighbor's Cellar, Where Omar Had Been Held Captive Under Haystacks
Image credits: Cleverman72
#72 Anna Haining Bates, Who At 7'11" Was One Of The Tallest Women To Ever Live, With Her 7'8" Husband Martin Van Buren Bates. 1870s
Image credits: Cleverman72
#73 When The Titanic Sank, It Carried Millionaire John Jacob Astor Iv. The Money In His Bank Account Was Enough To Build 30 Titanics. However, Faced With Mortal Danger, He Chose What He Deemed Morally Right And Gave Up His Spot In A Lifeboat To Save His Pregnant Wife And Other Children
Image credits: Cleverman72
#74 In 1956, Venice Witnessed An Extraordinary Event: For The First Time In Centuries, Its Famous Canals Were Drained And Cleaned
Image credits: Cleverman72
#75 An Open Air School In 1957, Netherlands In The Beginning Of The 20th Century A Movement Towards Open Air Schools Took Place In Europe. Classes Were Taught In Forests So That Students Would Benefit Physically And Mentally From Clean Air And Sunlight
Image credits: ComfortableOne3536
#76 This Is David Hampson Aka "The Silent Man" - A UK Citizen Who Is Repeatedly Arrested For Standing On A Certain Road To Block Traffic - He Never Speaks A Word, Not Even To The Court Or His Lawyer - Every Time He Is Released He Repeats The Same Crime And Remains Silent
David Hampson is known as the 'Silent Man'
Criminals come in all shapes and forms but they usually talk during interrogation, or at least offer an obligatory ‘no comment’. But not this man.
Known as the ‘Silent Man’, David Hampson has wrecked havoc on the Swansea commuter community with his incessant road blockages.
Hampson’s penchant for standing in the middle of a roach to block traffic has landed him in jail multiple times, but he just keeps doing it.
Apparently, the 53-year-old is totally mute as he commits the offence, during the police interview and even at court.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#77 The Universe 25 Is One Of The Most Disturbing Studies In The History Of Science Carried Out By American Scientist John Calhoun. He Designed A "Mouse Paradise" For Rats With Abundant Food, Water And Space In Order To Study The Social Dynamics Of A Growing Population. The Result Was Surprising!
The 'Universe 25' experiment is one of the most disturbing studies in the history of science, carried out by American scientist John Calhoun between 1958 and 1962.
Calhoun designed an ideal environment for rats, called "Mouse Paradise", with abundant food, water and space, in order to study the social dynamics of a growing population. Initially, the colony prospered, but after 317 days, population growth began to stagnate.
Upon reaching 600 mice, serious social problems arose: hierarchies were established, the strongest individuals began to attack others, and aggressive and maladaptive behaviors emerged, such as violence between females and a lack of reproductive interest in males. As passive, non-reproductive (beautiful mice) males dominated, the birth rate plummeted, juvenile mortality reached 100%, and the colony collapsed into cannibalism and homosexuality.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#78 When Steve Fugate Lost His Two Children To S**cide And Illness, He Hiked Across The United States For Over 12 Years With A Sign That Said "Love Life" To Remind People That They Can Always Overcome Life's Hardships, With The Right Mindset And To Never Give Up
Image credits: Time-Training-9404
#79 Hidden Outside The Cia Headquarters In Virginia, USA, Stands A Mysterious Copper Sculpture Called Kryptos. Created In 1990 By Artist Jim Sanborn, This Artwork Is Not Just A Visual Masterpiece—it’s A Complex Puzzle That Has Confused Codebreakers, Spies, And Curious Minds For Over 30 Years
Image credits: Cleverman72
#80 Tong Wenhong Joined Alibaba As A Receptionist. When Jack Ma Was Allocating Company Shares He Gave Tong 0.2% Shares Right Saying It Will Worth 100 Million When Alibaba Goes Public Into The Market. When Alibaba Finally Went Public In 2014 She Became A Millionaire With 320 Million Worth
Image credits: Cleverman72
#81 Abby And Brittany Hensel, The Well-Known Conjoined Twins, Each Hold Their Own Degrees But Find Themselves In A Unique Career Situation. As Fifth-Grade Teachers In Minnesota, They Share One Job And Receive Just One Salary, Even Though They Both Have Individual Qualifications
Image credits: Cleverman72
#82 The 1883 Eruption Of Indonesia's Krakatoa Volcano Was So Gargantuan That It's Almost Impossible To Comprehend
Image credits: Cleverman72
#83 The Strangest Marriage In The World Was In The 80s, The Swiss Corina Hoffman, On A Visit To Kenya
In 1986, Hofmann and her boyfriend Marco made a trip to Kenya. There, she met a Samburu wàrrior named Lketinga Leparmorijo and instantly found him irresistible. She left Marco, went back to Switzerland to sell her possessions, and, in 1987, returned to Kenya, determined to find Lketinga, which she eventually did. The couple moved in together, married, and had a daughter.
Hofmann moved into her mother-in-law's manyatta (compound) and learned to live as a Samburu woman, fetching wood and water. She opened a small shop in the village, to sell basic goods.
Hofmann suffered several hàrdships, including disèases (mainly malaria) and marital problems. Increasingly paranoid jealousy from her husband, possibly a side effect of his addiĉtion to the d.rug khat (miraa), severely dàmaged her relationship, and in 1990 she decided to return to Switzerland for good, taking her daughter with her. Later on, she wrote a book about her experiences. The book, titled The White Massai, became a phenomenal success. It has been translated into several languages, and in 2005, made into an eponymous movie starring Nina Hoss and Jacky Ido.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#84 On July 9, 1993, Toronto Lawyer Garry Hoy Was Performing His Favorite Party Trick: Throwing Himself Through The Windows Of His Office On The 24th Floor Of The Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower To Prove They Were Indestructible. But This Time, His Stunt Backfired
On July 9, 1993, Toronto lawyer Garry Hoy was performing his favorite party trick: throwing himself through the windows of his office to prove they were indestructible. But this time, his stunt backfired.
On the 24th floor of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower, Garry Hoy's incredible story begins and ends. The story has been widely reviewed online, but what happened is pretty simple.
On July 9, 1993, a reception was held for law students interested in apprenticing at Holden Day Wilson. Garry Hoy was giving a tour and decided to demonstrate his favorite party trick: throwing himself through the windows of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower so the students could see how strong the glass was.
Hoy had performed the stunt in front of an audience countless times before. In addition to demonstrating the strength of the windows, it was clear that he enjoyed showing off a bit.
On his first attempt, Hoy bounced off like every other time, but on his second attempt, something happened that left everyone horrified.
Image credits: Cleverman72
#85 In 2011, A 29-Year-Old Australian Bartender Found An ATM Glitch That Allowed Him To Withdraw Way Beyond His Balance. In A Bender That Lasted Four-And-Half Months, He Managed To Spend Around $1.6 Million Of The Bank’s Money
Image credits: SquirrellHazels
#86 Titanic Survivors Charlotte Collyer And Her 8-Year-Old Daughter Marjorie After They Finally Made It Back To America - 1912
Image credits: Cleverman72
#87 This Is The Last Photo Ever Taken Of Marco Siffredi — Just Before He Died Attempting To Snowboard Down Mount Everest
Image credits: Cleverman72
#88 From The 16th Until The 19th Century, Women Accused Of Being Scolds, Shrews, Or Having "Loose Morals" Were Often Fitted Masks Known As Scold's Bridles That Held Their Tongues With An Iron Gag
Image credits: Cleverman72
#89 The Inventor Of Vaseline Was Such A Firm Believer In Its Medicinal Properties That He Claimed To Have Eaten A Spoonful Of It A Day; During A Bout Of Pleurisy In His 50s, He Ordered His Nurse To Cover Him From Head To Toe In The Substance, And Soon Recovered. He Lived To Be 96
Image credits: Cleverman72
