Charles Redheffer was an American inventor who claimed to have invented a perpetual motion machine, He was later exposed when an engineer found a hidden cord that led to an upper floor. Upstairs he found an old man who was turning a hand-crank with one hand and eating bread with the other.
Danny Elfman came up with the theme to ‘Batman’ on a flight…
Danny Elfman came up with the theme to ‘Batman’ on a flight from London but since he couldn’t write music he kept running to the bathroom to record himself on a tape recorder whenever he had a new idea, causing the flight attendants to think he was a junkie.
In 1975 $10 million worth of Huey helicopters had…
In 1975 $10 million worth of Huey helicopters had to be pushed off the flight deck of the USS Midway and into the sea to make way for the emergency landing of an aircraft with Vietnamese evacuees on board.
In 1986, nurse Sandra Clarke could not stay with…
In 1986, nurse Sandra Clarke could not stay with a patient who asked her to stay. When she returned, the patient had died alone. In 2001, she was key in starting No One Dies Alone, a program where volunteers sit with terminal patients who have no one else. The program is now world-wide.
In 1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand…
In 1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand miles to Moscow so he could apply for the University of Moscow. Although he was not accepted, he walked to St. Petersburg where he was accepted, And with that education he developed the periodic table of the elements.
A chimpanzee has been observed wearing a piece…
A chimpanzee has been observed wearing a piece of grass into her ear, with no apparent function. After other members of her group started imitating her, researchers realized to be in presence of the first fashion statement observed in other animals.
A Russian child lived with a pack of dogs…
A Russian child lived with a pack of dogs for two years after he gave the dogs food. In return the dog pack protected him and made him pack-leader. He later relearned language and served in the Russian Army.
In 2007, a group of college students drove…
In 2007, a group of college students drove the speed limit (55MPH) on I-285 and backed up traffic for miles.
The Italian government is offering all 18 year olds…
The Italian government is offering all 18 year olds a €500 ‘culture bonus,’ which can be spent on books, concert tickets, theatre tickets, cinema tickets, museum visits and even trips to the country’s national parks.
A team sets up a polling booth in an isolated forest…
A team sets up a polling booth in an isolated forest in India each election so that a lone priest who lives there can vote, because the Election Commission mandates that no voter should “ordinarily travel more than 2km to reach the booth.”