Roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin. In the 1880s, hosiery businessman LaMarcus Thompson didn’t like that Americans were going to places like saloons and brothels and created the first roller coaster on Coney Island to persuade them to go there instead. […]
Read More… from Roller Coasters were First Invented to Distract People from sin
Robert Landsburg, a photographer who upon realisation that he is going to die in the mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 lay down on top if his equipment to preserve the photographs he had taken of the events. Landsburg‘s body was found 17 days later, buried in ash with his film intact. […]
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. […]
Read More… from Smart girl saves her family more than 100 people in 2004 tsunami
Bolivia’s largest prison has a society within itself and no guards inside the walls. Inmates elect their own leaders, make their own laws, get jobs to pay for their cell’s rent, and can even live with their families. […]
Read More… from San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia: community inside prison
Nike’s inspiration for their slogan “Just do it.” came from a man who was about to get executed, and his final words to the firing squad was “let’s do it!” […]
Read More… from The story of Nike’s famous tagline “Just do it”
JBJ Soul Kitchen is a community restaurant by Jon Bon Jovi with no prices on the menu; customers donate to pay for their meals. If you are unable to donate you may do volunteer work in exchange for your family’s meal. […]
Read More… from JBJ Soul Kitchen: Bon Jovi’s community restaurant
In 1999, a man bought a Boeing 727-200 for $100,000 and uses it as his house, then spent another $120,000 moving it from the Hillsboro airport and setting it up on his undeveloped property. […]
Read More… from Bruce Campbell converted a Boeing 727-200 into a home
Before alarm clocks were invented, there was a profession called a knocker-up, which involved going from client to client and tapping on their windows (or banging on their doors) with long sticks until they were awake. It lasted into the 1920s. […]
Read More… from Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain’s Workers in 1900-1941
On October 24, 1593, while performing his guard duties at Manila’s Governor’s Palace in the Philippines, Gil Perez stopped to lean against a wall and sleep for a while. He opened his eyes to find himself in an unusual environment. Gil was in the Plaza Mayor in Mexico City. They imprisoned Perez, but the authorities in Mexico City decided to release him and return him home. […]
Read More… from Did Gil Pérez Really Teleport from Manila to Mexico Overnight? The 1593 Mystery
The Seagaia Ocean Dome, located in Miyazaki, Japan, was the biggest indoor waterpark in the world. An “Ocean” six times the size of an Olympic pool, filled with 13,500 tons of unsalted, chlorinated water kept heated at 28 degrees Celsius and recognized as the largest simulated pool by the Guinness Book of World Records, measures 12,000 square meters of the sandy beach made from 600 tons of stone. […]
Read More… from Water park in japan, ocean dome: Largest indoor water park in the world