
Mel Blanc Joins Warner Bros. in 1937
On May 30, 1908, Melvin Jerome Blank was born in San Francisco, California. At the age of six, his family relocated to Portland, Oregon. Young Blank developed a passion for music and picked up the bass, violin, and sousaphone, among other instruments. He had a fondness for making up voices, which amused his classmates and annoyed his teachers. Blank was told by a teacher when he was 16 years old, “You’ll never amount to anything. You’re just like your last name: blank.”
Following his graduation, Blanc was hired by KGW, an Oregon radio station, for The Hoot Owls, a late-night variety show that he wrote for and performed on. The incident forced Blank to change the spelling of his last name to “Blanc.”
The youngest musical director in the nation, Blanc was appointed by the RKO Orpheum Theater in Portland on March 26, 1931 (as stated in the previously cited Encyclopedia). Blanc developed his ability to create a range of voices through his work on radio, in part to compensate for the lack of any supporting cast members. Blanc was hired by San Francisco-based NBC affiliate KGO in May 1931 to emcee The Road Show. However, after the show’s failure, he moved to Los Angeles, where he eventually met and wed Estelle Rosenbaum in 1933.
After moving back to Portland, Blanc and his spouse started a new late-night program for KEX called Cobwebs and Nuts. Following the conclusion of the show in 1935, the Blanc family relocated to Los Angeles. In 1936, Blanc secured employment performing impressions on NBC Blue Networks’ The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny, in addition to other radio assignments in the vicinity. Blanc had been unsuccessful in her attempts to get a voice acting audition with Warner Bros. at that time. Then destiny intervened, and after the manager who had repeatedly turned Blanc down died in 1936, his successor gave him another chance and ultimately hired him.
After Blanc voiced a drunken bull in his first Warner Bros. project, Picador Porky, he was approached to take over as Porky Pig’s voice actor, according to Encyclopedia. 1937 saw the release of Picador Porky, which was not only Blanc’s first Warner cartoon but also the place where he improvised and came up with the famous “Th-uh-th-uh-th-that’s all, folks!” The same year also saw the appearance of Daffy Duck, and in 1940 Blanc contributed to the creation of Bugs Bunny, the character he would be most closely associated with throughout his career.
Bugs Bunny Saves Mel Blanc After a Serious Car Accident
As they say, the rest is history. According to Britannica, Blanc voiced 90 percent of the Looney Tunes characters, which catapulted her to international stardom. Subsequently, in January 1961, Blanc was hospitalized following a tragic accident. After a recording session in San Francisco, Blanc was driving home in his sports car, heading east on Sunset Boulevard, when he was struck by a college student right at the famous “Dead Man’s Curve.” When he was finally pulled from the wreckage, Blanc was unconscious, and the situation did not look good. Blanc had sustained multiple fractures, including two broken legs, a fractured pelvis, and numerous other broken bones. Blanc spent fourteen days unconscious. Dr. Louis Conway, the neurosurgeon attending to Blanc, and Blanc’s family, would try calling out his name, but to no avail. They feared the worst, as did Blanc’s fans around the world.
Curiously, this is where the story is connected to the Bugs Bunny cartoons. When Dr. Conway arrived in Blanc’s hospital room, the television was on and running a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The doctor had an idea because of the timing, whether it was a coincidence or a sign from God. A crazy notion, some might say. “So finally, he [the doctor] said, ‘Bugs, can you hear me?’ Believe it or not – and I was there with my mom – he responds in character, ‘Yeah, what’s up doc?’ I was stunned.” Blanc’s son, Noel Blanc, narrates what transpired next in an interview with Fox News. “He recuperated and even took on jobs while wearing a full-body cast.”
Among other things, Blanc continued to voice a wide variety of cartoon characters in the years after his accident. At the age of 22, Blanc’s son started working at Mel Blanc Associates, an advertising agency that Blanc had founded shortly before his accident with John Burton, a former executive producer of Warner Bros. (as per the previously cited Encyclopedia). Mel Blanc established the Mel Blanc School of Commercials in 1972, offering classes on voiceovers for radio and television, commercial acting fundamentals, and other subjects. However, financial issues forced the school to close after just two years. In 1988, Blanc provided the voice of the Looney Tunes characters that starred in the hugely popular live-action/animation hybrid movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That would be the last film Blanc worked on that was released while he was still alive, with Blanc passing away at 81 years old on July 10, 1989.
The breadth of Blanc’s legacy is astounding. He worked on several Looney Tunes character development projects. Additionally, Blanc’s 1937 opening line and “last words he ever said on-camera or off-camera,” “That’s All, Folks,” are inscribed on his tombstone.

Aitzaz Hasan, Pakistani school boy who sacrificed his life from suicide bomber
Aitzaz Hasan, a 15 year old Pakistani school boy, sacrificed his life while preventing a suicide bomber from entering his school of 2000 students. His father said "My son made his mother cry but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children."

Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island
During World War II a Dutch minesweeper evaded the Japanese for eight days disguised as an island. The crew covered the decks in cut trees and painted exposed surfaces to look like rocks. They moved only at night and anchored closed to shore by day, eventually escaping to Australia.

How 'Brad's Drink' Became Pepsi-Cola
Pepsi was first introduced as “Brad’s Drink” in New Bern, North Carolina, United States, in 1893 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his drugstore where the drink was sold. It was renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898, named after the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe.

A three-year-old boy discovers a $4 million pendant in England
A $4 million 16th-century gold pendant was discovered in 2010 by a three-year-old boy using his father's metal detector.

Smart girl saves her family more than 100 people in 2004 tsunami
In 2004, a 10-year-old girl saved her family and 100 other tourists from the Asian tsunami because she had learned about the giant waves in a geography lesson, it has emerged.

Before Hollywood, Christopher Walken Was a Teenage Lion Tamer with a Lioness Named Sheba
Before acting, Christopher Walken worked as a lion tamer in a circus at age 16. He performed with a lioness named Sheba and described the job as surprisingly calm—just another day before Hollywood stardom.

Estonians save a wolf from the ice by mistaking it for a dog
Two young construction workers in Estonia discovered what they thought was a dog caught in a frozen lake. They carried it to their car and brought him to an animal shelter, not realizing it was a wolf.

The Man Who Survived Falling Through a Thunderstorm, William Rankin
William Rankin was a fighter pilot who survived an ejection into a thunderstorm. He suffered frostbite, violent wind and lightning, severe decompression, and nearly drowned from breathing in rain water. He was in the cloud for over 40 minutes in total.

Man uses first-class ticket to eat for free at airport's VIP lounge for almost a year
A Chinese man purchased a First Class Ticket, which included admission to a VIP Lounge with free food. Over the course of a year, he rescheduled over 300 times in order to receive over 300 free dinners. When questioned, it was discovered that he is rescheduling his reservation to another date after eating. He eventually cancelled the ticket and got a full refund.

Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
In 1987 a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Dr. Who and wore a Max Headroom mask and uttered nonsense, and he still hasn’t been caught

Self-taught William Kamkwamba built a windmill for his town
A Malawian teenager who taught himself how to build a windmill out of junk and bring power to his village. He then went on to build a second, larger windmill to power irrigation pumps. He did this all from books he read in the library.

China Weather Control on 2008 Olympics with missile
One thing is certain: when it comes to ensuring nice weather for the world's largest party, the Chinese cannot be accused of being subtle. The Chinese government authorized the use of 1,104 cloud seeding missile launches from 4:00-11:39 p.m. on Friday night to reduce the possibility of rain ahead of the 29th Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing

Baby Lynlee 'born twice' after life-saving tumour surgery
Baby Lynlee was "born twice." First, surgeons brought her out of the womb to remove a spinal tumor. After the successful surgery, she was placed back and born again as a healthy baby girl.

Who invented the three-point seat belt?
While employed by Volvo in 1959, Swidish engineer Nils Bohlin created the three-point safety belt. Volvo first had the design patented, but soon as they discovered its importance as a new safety measure, they made the patent open to everyone. Millions of lives were genuinely spared by Volvo’s gift to the world.

Timothy Ray Brown, who inspired millions of HIV-positive people, died of leukemia
Timothy Ray Brown, also known as "The Berlin Patient," was the first person to be HIV-free. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 and had a bone marrow transplant in 2007 as part of his treatment. The transplant helped him overcome the otherwise incurable disease thanks to the rare, HIV-resistant donor.

Woman had no idea she had an identical twin until she saw a 'lookalike' on YouTube
When Anais Bordier saw a YouTube video of Samantha Futerman, who looked exactly like her, she messaged her on Facebook and discovered they were both adopted and born on the same day. They were identical twins who had been separated at birth and had found each other by chance and on social media.

The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
Located in Belize, there is a cave where the remnants of ancient Maya human sacrifices can be witnessed. However, reaching the back of the cave system requires swimming, wading through a cave river, and crawling through narrow, uneven rocky passages in darkness. Once there, visitors can walk among the numerous corpses of sacrifice victims, including The Crystal Maiden, an 18-year-old whose skeleton has become calcified to the point of sparkling.

The Man Who Kept a “Gold” Rock for Years—Only to Discover It Was a 4.6-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Worth a Fortune
A man cherished a heavy 17-kilogram rock for years, believing it to be solid gold. The surprising twist? Experts later revealed it was a rare, 4.6-billion-year-old iron meteorite—an ancient cosmic relic worth far more than gold. Dive into the fascinating story of this celestial treasure and what makes it so valuable.

A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet
In 1990, the captain of flight 5390 Timothy Lancaster got sucked out of his own plane when the window of the plane fell off. The crew held the captain’s leg for 30 minutes while the plane performed emergency landing. Everyone survived.

Kipekee, the world's only spotless giraffe, was born at Brights Zoo
The world's only spotless giraffe was born at a zoo in the United States. The giraffe born without spots on July 31 is the only one of her kind on Earth.

Man Trapped in the Sahara Desert Constructs a Bike From His Broken-Down Car to Save His Life
A man who became lost in the desert disassembled his broken-down car and turned it into a functional motorcycle, which he used to escape.

A little girl survived a 1-hour submersion in freezing creek water
On June 10, 1986, two-and-a-half-year-old Michelle Funk fell into an icy creek and was submerged for 66 minutes. When rescuers pulled her out of the water, she was not breathing, had no pulse, and appeared lifeless. The doctors used various techniques to rewarm her blood and bring her back to life. She was successfully resuscitated and went on to lead a healthy life.

Why Is the N Lowercase in 7-Eleven?
7-ELEVEN is thought to have a lowercase "n" in its logo because the company president's wife believed that a logo with all caps would seem harsh, while a lowercase "n" would make it more graceful.

The rescuing hug - the touching story of twins Brielle and Kyrie Jackson
Brielle and Kyrie Jackson’s lifesaving hug was captured when Brielle was struggling to breathe and going blue. As a final option, the nurse deviated from protocol and placed them in the same incubator. Kyrie wrapped her arm around her sister, who immediately began to stabilize

Drive-Thru Weddings in Las Vegas: The Ultimate Fast, Fun, and Legal Way to Say “I Do”
Inspired by fast food convenience, Las Vegas offers drive-thru weddings where couples can legally marry in under 5 minutes—without leaving their car. Some chapels even offer curbside Elvis impersonators and 24/7 ceremonies, complete with “to-go” marriage licenses.