
Elvita Adams made the decision to end her life on December 2, 1979.
The 29-year-old Bronx woman was reportedly living on $100 welfare checks after losing her job. Her landlord was threatening to evict her and her 10-year-old son because she couldn’t pay the rent. So, depressed and unsure of what to do, she ended up on top of the Empire State Building.
Elvita Adams jumps from the Empire State Building And Those Before Her
The 102-story midtown Manhattan structure is well-known throughout the world. It was finished in 1931. Elvita Adams wasn’t the first person to decide to jump from the Empire State Building, despite her height of 1,250 feet. The renowned skyscraper in New York City has been the site of over 30 successful suicide attempts. The first occurred in 1931, even before the building was finished, when a fired man leaped from the 58th story.

The tragic tale of Evelyn McHale, who landed atop a limousine while wearing gloves and pearls, earned her the moniker “the most beautiful suicide.” The image of McHale’s 1947 leap, taken by a photography student, went viral and was featured in Time magazine as well as artwork by Andy Warhol.
However, since Elvita Adam’s suicide was the first and “most beautiful,” it would go unnoticed. It would stick in people’s memories because, in spite of the leap, nothing happened.
Adams had wandered over from the Bronx to Manhattan on that Sunday evening in early December just to see the lights.
She is cited as remarking afterwards, “I wanted to reach out and touch them because they were so pretty.” Adams leaped over the fence surrounding the 86th floor observation platform of the building. But something amazing happened, so she would never find death.
Although wind isn’t usually considered miraculous, Elvita Adam’s body was blown back by an extraordinary gust of wind, landing her just one flight down. The wind speed on that particular day was reported to have been between 23 and 38 mph. Adams leaped to the 85th floor and landed on a ledge that was 2.5 feet below the surface.
Adams was reportedly moaning when security officer Frank Clark heard her and reached out of the floor window to pull her in. After that, she was brought to Bellvue Hospital in excruciating pain, possibly from a fractured hip or pelvis. Following her treatment, a hospital representative stated that she was in “satisfactory condition” and she was put under psychiatric observation.
Related Topic You Might Find Interesting:
- Reason Behind The Suicide Of Christine Chubbuck Live On Air
- A man who was saved from committing suicide 16 years ago now assists people dealing with mental health issues
After The Fall
Elvita Adams is quoted as saying, “I’m not sure if the wind pushed me back, or pushed me off,” and “All I remember is the pain, I was in so much pain that I wasn’t afraid,” in the wake of the incident from the hospital.
As she had to climb over the fence, it was more than likely a suicide attempt, according to a police officer named Joseph Bay, who made this statement in an article that appeared in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, the local newspaper in New York, the next day.
What transpired to Evita Adams after her rescue is unknown. Many years later, in 2011, the one-woman play I’ve Been Elvita Adams was produced. The off-beat play speculates off the idea that, after her attempt to end her life, Adams went on to become a standup comic.
It was probably not the case. But perhaps with a helping hand from the serendipitous encounter and a fresh outlook, Elvita Adams managed to get the assistance she required.

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.

How Being Bugs Bunny Helped This Voice Actor Out of Coma
Mel Blanc; the voice of Bugs Bunny, had been in a serious car accident that put him in a coma. After many unsuccessful attempts to get him to talk, a doctor asked “Bugs, can you hear me” Mel responded in the voice of bugs bunny, “Whats up, Doc? The doctors used this to lead him out of his coma.

Woman survives skydiving accident, discovers she's pregnant
2005, a woman performing her first solo skydive jump survived a parachute malfunction which caused her to slam face first into a parking lot at 50 MPH. During surgery doctors discovered she was pregnant. She made a full recovery and the baby was fine.

Australian man dies, comes back to life, and wins the lottery twice
Bill Morgan, an Australian, is a man who has beat the odds. He escaped death by surviving a horrific automobile accident and heart attack before collapsing into a coma and going on to win the lotto twice. He went from losing virtually everything to winning far more than he could have imagined.

chand baori stepwell in Rajasthan India, Ancient cooling technique
This Chand Baori stepwell in Rajasthan, India is over 1200 years old. It’s called Chand Baori. The air at the bottom of the well is 5-6 degrees cooler than at the surface, so in addition to being a water source, it was used as a community gathering place where locals could escape the heat.

Hyperinflation of the Zimbabwe dollar turning phasing out their local money in 2015
Hyperinflation of the Zimbabwe dollar made it one of the lowest valued currencies in the world. So the country abandoned it in 2009, and switched to using foreign money. In 2015, to complete the process of phasing out their local money, the government offered to exchange it at a rate of one US dollar for 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars.

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.

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.

'Press Your Luck' Was Hacked in 1984 by an Ice Cream Man
in 1984 an contestant made it onto the game show Press Your Luck. He discovered using his stop-motion VCR that the presumed random patterns of the game board were not random and memorized the sequences. On the game he was on, he won 45 consecutive spins. winning $110,237 in cash & prizes.

Mom hears son's heartbeat 3 years after his death when she meets organ recipient
She agreed to donate her son's organs after his sudden death in June 2013 at the age of 7 months. The grieving mother was able to listen to her late son’s heart beating inside the little girl who received the organ after his death.

Inspiring story of Emma Schols who Saved Her Six Kids From A Burning House
Emma Schols, a Swedish mother, saved all six of her children from a devastating house fire in 2019, running from room to room through flames while bleeding and losing skin. Against all odds, she survived with severe burns covering 90% of her body.

The fearless Annie Lee Cooper
Annie Lee Cooper was fired in 1963 after attempting to register to vote. She attempted it once more in 1965, but the sheriff ordered her to leave after prodding her in the neck with a club. She then punched him, causing him to fall to the ground. She was imprisoned before ultimately registering to vote. Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the sheriff was ousted and subsequently imprisoned for collaborating to transport drugs, but Annie Lee Cooper lived to reach 100 years old and bears her name to this day.

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.

Morgan’s Wonderland, the world’s first ultra-accessible amusement park
Gordon Hartman was heartbroken when his special needs daughter, Morgan, was rejected by a group of children playing by the hotel poolside. He then set out to build a place where all children can play together. This led to the development of the world’s first ultra-accessible amusement park, Morgan’s Wonderland

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.

Leo Grand: from homeless to mobile app developer
In 2013, A young programmer offered a homeless man the choice between $100 cash or coding lessons. Leo Grand chose the lessons, and his first mobile app was “Trees for Cars," which helps drivers find carpooling partners.

stranded hikers rescued by a life-saving iPhone feature
Stranded hikers were rescued by a life-saving iPhone feature that an awful lot of folks don't know a lot about.

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.

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.

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.

Apple Watch saves a 78 year old man from life threatening fall
An Apple watch saved the life of a 78-year-old man from North Carolina. When the man was unconscious and collapsed on his driveway, his Apple watch quickly sent an alert to emergency services.

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.

Unique Dining table with a hole for your cat to peek and join you dinner.
Dinos, a Japanese internet shop, has launched a new range of cat furniture, which includes this oak table with a hole in the middle and a perch underneath. It places your cat companion in the center of the table, making your cat the main focus of your meal, as it should be, because cats are the true proprietors of “your” home.

The accidentally discovery of Riace bronzes
Stefano Mariottini was snorkeling off the coast of Monasterace near Riace in 1972 when he noticed a human hand sticking out of the sand and called the police, thinking it was a corpse. It was actually two statues of "Warriors from Riace" - 5th century BC Greek bronze statues.

A man joins a search operation without realizing he is the missing person
Beyhan Mutlu, a Turkish national, was reported missing by local media and unintentionally joined search teams looking for himself in a forest. He was drunk and lost in the woods when he ended up in a group with others looking for himself.