The Littlest Skyscraper: How J.D. McMahon’s 480-Inch Con Fooled Investors in 1919

An airplane crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. Among other damage, plane parts severed the cables of an elevator and the woman inside fell over 70 stories. She lived and holds the world record for the longest survived elevator fall.

Sony's PlayStation was never meant to be an actual product. Instead, it was intended to be a CD-ROM console that would support Nintendo games. However, when Nintendo backed out of the deal at the last minute, Sony went ahead and launched what soon became one of the most successful gaming consoles of all time.

On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines flight 243 was on the way to Honolulu from Hilo when a huge portion of the upper part of the fuselage blew off the airplane.

In the bustling vaudeville scene of early 20th century New York, a mysterious performer known as "Sober Sue" captured public imagination not for jokes or songs, but for her unshakable stoicism—she never smiled or laughed. A local theater even offered a tempting reward of $1,000 to anyone who could make her laugh, drawing crowds and famous comedians eager to claim the prize. Despite countless hilarious attempts, Sue remained expressionless, a mystery that baffled performers and audiences until it was revealed that she suffered from facial paralysis, explaining her unchanging demeanor.

To prevent tourists from stealing their beer glasses, some bars in Belgium require people to hand over one of their shoes as a deposit which is then put in a basket and hung from the ceiling. These shoe baskets have also become an attraction.

After the death of her husband, Mary Ann Bevan had no income to support herself and her children. She then decided to enter a contest where she won the title of “ugliest woman” and was later hired by a circus. She endured this ridicule from the world to provide for her family.

In 1859, wealthy settler Thomas Austin released 13 wild rabbits on his Australian estate. By 1920, their population grew to 10 billion.

Henry Ford was the first Industrial Giant to give his employees both Saturday and Sunday off in the hope of encouraging more leisurely use of automobiles and thus popularizing the concept of the "weekend."

Poto and Cabengo, as the two girls called each other, communicated in their own language. The twins were ignored by their parents and secluded from the outside world because their father felt they were developmentally retarded, and their unique language evolved as a result of that neglect.

For years, scientists didn’t know what caused mysterious cave networks in South America. In 2010, they learned that the caves were actually tunnels dug by ancient giant sloths

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.

Albert Einstein's brain was taken by the opportunistic pathologist who performed his autopsy hours after he died and kept in two jars for 30 years. The stolen brain of Albert Einstein was preserved in a cookie jar for 30 years until being discovered by a journalist.

Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled Britain for 70 years, has away at the age of 96. She was the country's longest-reigning monarch. Here are some little-known facts about her.

In 2009 in a coal mine of Columbia, scientists discovered fossils of the world’s largest species of snake. The species is called “Titanoboa cerrejonensis,“and it is from around 60 million years ago. It would have had measured about 48 feet long and weighed about 2,500 pounds

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.

Blanche Monnier, she was a French woman noted for her beauty, she wished to marry an old lawyer that her mother disapproved of, so she locked her in a small dark room in her attic for 25 years.

Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses, supplying roughly 25% of all overseas nurses worldwide.

On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. The survivors were in brutal conditions - high altitude, bitter cold, and the lack of food—and faced the most terrible choice—eating the frozen flesh of their dead friends or starving to death themselves.

In 1887, Susanna Salter became the first female mayor in the United States, elected in Argonia, Kansas. Her nomination was initially a prank by men opposing women in politics. However, she won by a landslide and served effectively, inspiring the women’s suffrage movement and breaking barriers for women in leadership.

Treadmills were originally a punishment used to harness human power on a giant wheel used to grind grains, hence the name "treadmill." The History of Treadmill

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.

Terry Fox was a 21-year-old one-legged cancer patient who ran 3,339 miles across Canada in 143 days before dying.

In 1971, a high school student was sucked out of an airplane after it was struck by lightning. She fell 10,000 feet to the ground while still strapped to her chair and survived. Only to endure a 9-day trek to the nearest civilization.

The deadliest snowstorm ever recorded occurred in Iran in 1972. It lasted for a week, burying areas in 26 feet of snow and killing over 4,000 people, including the entire populations of three villages.

In 1985, after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico City, nearly all newborn babies survived a collapsed hospital. They are known as “Miracle Babies” for surviving 7 days without nourishment, water, warmth or human contact.