Major Claude Hensinger jumped out of a B-29 bomber during World War II when the engine caught fire. He was saved by his parachute. Later, he requested that his fiancée Ruth make him a gown out of the same parachute. The dress is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute. […]
Bill Haast immunized himself by injecting snake venom into his blood for several years. He holds the Guinness World Record for surviving the most lethal snake bites, having been bitten over 172 times. Bill became known as “Snake Man” around the world and lived for over 100 years. […]
A 2,000-year-old mummy of a Chinese woman, Xin Zhui, also known as “Lady Dai,” was preserved in 21 gallons of an “unknown liquid.” With her original hair, organs, eyebrows, and eyelashes intact, the mummy still has blood in her veins. Her skin and ligaments are soft and as flexible as that of a living person. […]
Read More… from Xin Zhui And The Story Of The Stunningly Intact Lady Dai Mummy
In 2013, a 60-year-old Japanese man found out that he had been accidentally switched at birth. His biological parents were wealthy, but he was given to a struggling, single mother. While the infant who took his place grew up with all the luxuries and became the president of a real estate company, he grew up poor and became a truck driver. He later sued the San Ikukai Hospital in Tokyo that made this awful mistake in 1953. […]
In 2017, a woman named Glenna Duram shot her husband five times before attempting suicide. Soon after, the couple’s pet African Grey parrot, the only witness to the crime, started repeating the words “don’t f*****g shoot!” It is thought to have been the pair’s last exchange. Duram survived and was found guilty of first-degree murder. […]
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. […]
Read More… from Timothy Ray Brown, who inspired millions of HIV-positive people, died of leukemia
Crows have the intelligence of a 7-year-old human, making them one of the smartest non-primate animals on the planet. They use tools, have a long-term memory that includes facial recognition, and comprehend analogy. […]
Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming, but he never attempted to turn it into an antibiotic. It wasn’t until ten years later that Howard Florey discovered Fleming’s obscure paper and understood the mold’s potential. Up to 200 million lives may have been saved as a result of Florey’s work. […]
As part of an experiment, a set of triplets was intentionally separated at birth and given to three sets of parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It was discovered in 1980, when two of the triplets attended the same college. […]
Richard Jewell, an American security guard, discovered a bomb during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and assisted in the evacuation, but was later wrongfully accused and faced public scrutiny. He was cleared, but it had a lasting impact on him until his death in 2007 at the age of 44. […]
