"In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Florida Panhandle was responsible for two-thirds of all loss of limb accident claims in the U.S. This was largely due to one place: Vernon, Florida, unofficially known as Nub City.

Residents learned that if they took out a life insurance policy with an accident dismemberment clause and lost, for example, both legs or both arms, or an arm and a leg, they would receive the full insurance pay-out.

One man took out 30 insurance policies and received a million-dollar pay-out. No one could be convicted of fraud because jurors found it really hard to believe that anyone would cut off their own limbs for insurance money."