Henry “Box” Brown escaped slavery in the American south by mailing himself to freedom. He had friends pack him into a small box, and ship him as cargo from Richmond to Philadelphia. He survived, and went on to work as a magician.
In 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote…
In 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote a novel about an ocean liner sinking in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg. That is 14 years before the Titanic sunk in the same place and in the same way. And if this was not enough, the novel was titled: “The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility”. The ship in the novel, just like in real life, was touted as “unsinkable” and therefore did not have enough lifeboats aboard to accommodate all the passengers.
26 years before Titanic…
26 years before Titanic, William Thomas Stead wrote a story called “How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic by a Survivor.” The title’s pretty descriptive, with the concern of the story being a lack of adequate safety precautions, specifically lifeboats. Stead himself would die on Titanic.
Parachuting beavers were a real thing in the US following World War 2
Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials struggling to manage a growing beaver population in the 1940s and 1950s struck on an unusual solution.
The rangers took advantage of a surplus of parachutes following World War II to launch a program to trap and air drop beavers into the remote the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.
How to become Rich and Famous?
The Tree That Was Arrested
There is a banyan tree that has been officially under arrest (and chained) for over 100 years. In 1898 an intoxicated British officer ordered the mess sergeant to arrest the tree as he thought that it was moving towards him. Since then, the tree has remained in chains.
The “Windy City” name has nothing…
The “Windy City” name has nothing to do with Chicago weather. Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its politicians were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”
Principal Akbar Cook…
Principal Akbar Cook installed a free fully-stocked laundry room at school because students with dirty clothes were bullied and missing 3-5 days of school per month. Attendance rose 10%. The Principal Cook went on to create a Lights On program where students can stay late at school, get a hot meal and stay off the streets.
When Carl Jung and Sigmund…
When Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud met for the first time, they talked for 13 hours straight.
Similar to the fact that…
Similar to the fact that the American South may referred to as “The Bible Belt”, or the Great Lakes Region is referred to as “The Rust Belt”, the Mormon Corridor (in the Midwest of the US)is nicknamed “The Jello Belt” because they consume twice the amount of Jello as the average American.