The place to learn about the past and present,
Read of how a little girl survived a 1-hour submersion in freezing creek water one Summer in Utah. On a hot June day the birds were singing, the bees buzzing, and mum’s voice on the phone wafted through the warm air, so warm after a late start to Summer. Her reassuring tones set her blond-haired... Continue Reading →
In perhaps the greatest 'hold my beer' escapade to date, Thomas Fitzpatrick stole a plane to prove he could fly from Jersey to New York in just 15 minutes. Read about how he won his crazy bet. Bulky sedans rumbled sedately along the right-angled streets, and haggard creatures of the night here and there passed... Continue Reading →
The embarrassing episode for the Chicago Police Dept. when they discovered a teenager had managed to get hold of a uniform and go under cover as a cop. Find out what duties he performed during his 'shift' and try to figure out how he slipped through the net. It was just past lunchtime and a... Continue Reading →
To fly is a dream, and every kid imagines acquiring enough helium balloons for a little aerial adventure. Big kid Larry Walters actually pulled off the stunt for real in an epic flight over Los Angeles. Read about how he did it here. Who hasn’t held a bunch of helium balloons as a kid and... Continue Reading →
God surely showed his hand when an exceptional spate of coincidences rescued 15 of his choristers from being blown to smithereens It was a frigid evening on the first day of March in 1950 and the clock was ticking towards utter tragedy for the fifteen members of the West Side Baptist Church choir, in Beatrice, Nebraska.... Continue Reading →
Read about the reaction when, in Iowa 2005, fortune cookie lucky numbers caused 25 times more players to win the state lottery than anticipated. You know how at the end of a Chinese restaurant meal you get a little fortune cookie to crack open with some lucky numbers and wise words of oriental counsel inside?... Continue Reading →
Boston was hit by one of the weirdest disasters ever heard of, when the city docksides were deluged by a wave of sticky molasses. Read about the suffering it inflicted and how the city's streets reeked for years after. Molasses (Black Treacle) is a thick, heavy substance refined from sugar cane. In Boston, 1919, the... Continue Reading →
When a man commissioned a strange structure to be built on behalf of a mysterious group, it left stone masons scratching their heads. Find out what was inscribed on it and why it was the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. In June 1979, a man using the pseudonym Robert C. Christian approached the Elberton Granite... Continue Reading →
The story of the man who built himself an armoured bulldozer to attack and destroy his town has since passed into legend. But was Marvin Heemeyer just a spite filled brute, or a symbol of the 'little guy' perennially oppressed by corporate power? A man by the name of Marvin Heemeyer sat in his Komatsu... Continue Reading →
To build a solid, major road, hundreds of miles long in one hour defies belief, but that is what the Iowa State authorities performed in 1910. Read how they pulled it off. In the USA in 1910 the motorcar’s popularity was really taking off with the launch of the Model T Ford two years earlier.... Continue Reading →
History and Things 