"In 2001, Boy Scout, Cody Clawson, got lost near Yellowstone National Park. The 13-year-old was missing for over 18 hours, sleeping in a cave. He awoke to the sound of helicopters and ran outside to signal for help. Using his belt buckle to reflect the sunlight, the rescue crew was able to locate Clawson, and when they landed, the pilot was Harrison Ford.
”He said, ‘Good morning,’ and I recognized [his voice] because he said it just like he did in ‘Star Wars,’” Clawson recounted.
This wasn’t the first rescue by Ford. Just a year prior he rescued 20-year-old hiker, Sarah George, after dehydration incapacitated her while hiking Table Mountain in Wyoming. While Ford arrived by helicopter and not his llegendary Millennium Falcon, he did touch down in style. “He was wearing a T-shirt and a cowboy hat,” George said before confessing she vomited during the flight, adding, “I can’t believe I barfed in Harrison Ford’s helicopter.”"
"At 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, you’ll find Muhammed Ali’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But it’s not where you expect.
The late boxer’s star is located on a wall instead of the ground because Ali, a devout Muslim regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, didn’t want the name ‘Muhammad’ to be stepped on."
"In the 1860s, Aldgate Pump, in London, was known for its “bright, sparkling, and cool” water. After hundreds who drank from the pump died (in what became known as the ‘Aldgate Pump Epidemic’) it was discovered that the water was being infused with decaying organic matter and calcium from the bones of dead bodies at nearby graveyards.
That “agreeable flavor” was just corpse juice. Cool, cool, cool."
"Andrew Toles hasn’t played Major League Baseball since 2018, but the Los Angeles Dodgers just renewed his contract.
Toles was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in 2020 after he was found sleeping behind a building at the Key West Airport in Florida. Placed on the MLB’s restricted list (an official designation that permits teams to maintain players’ rights without them counting against active roster limits) in 2019, Toles hasn’t played for the Dodgers in six years.
In a beautiful act of compassion, the club renews his contract each spring, so Toles is able to maintain the health insurance he needs for his mental care and support. In his three seasons with the Dodgers, Toles slammed eight home runs, hitting .286 with 35 RBI and a .792 OPS over 96 games played.
Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, said of Toles in 2021, “Man, I would love to see him. I’d love to put my arms around him. I miss him. I really miss him.”"
"This may be hard to believe with today’s 24-hour news cycle, but on April 18th, 1930, a BBC news announcer with nothing to announce, simply stated, “There is no news.” The station then played piano music for the remainder of the 15-minute news segment."
"In 2015, physiotherapist and skilled skydiving instructor, Victoria Cilliers, jumped from an airplane, just as she’d done numerous times before. During this jump, however, neither her parachute nor reserve chute deployed. She suffered a broken pelvis, ribs, two broken vertebrae, and internal injuries after a miraculous landing on a recently plowed field.
Six days earlier, with her children at home, Victoria smelled gas in the kitchen, before discovering a leak from a gas fitting in a cupboard. “Are you trying to bump me off?” Victoria jokingly texted her husband, Emile Cilliers, after finding it.
He was.
Emile was sentenced to life in prison for creating the gas leak and tampering with his wife’s parachute, two nearly successful murder attempts on Victoria. Investigators discovered Cilliers was in debt and wanted to use his wife’s life insurance to cover it. Yikes."
"Weather forecasters are known to implement “wet bias,” a damage-control tactic that increases forecast usefulness by exaggerating and overestimating the probability of precipitation. The Weather Channel has admitted to employing wet bias during low rain probability, reporting a 20% probability of rain for a probability of only 5%.
In Nate Silver’s 2021 book, The Signal and the Noise, forecasters use wet bias to compensate for inaccurate perceptions of probabilities from the general public, as many viewers become angry when it rains after the forecast reports a low chance of precipitation."
According to researchers, octopuses throw debris and shells at each other (an unexpected observation as very few animals throw things) with 66% of throws made by females. About 17% of observed throws hit other octopuses (who sometimes attempted to duck)."
"Chief baker of the RMS Titanic, Charles Joughin, survived the ship’s tragic sinking by getting absolutely wrecked on brandy. The baker casually rode the ship’s stern rail into the sea and serenely paddled around the water until rescue crews arrived.
While alcohol in the blood generally increases the risk of hypothermia by widening blood vessels and moving warm blood away from vital organs ((known, medically, as vasodilation), hypothermia experts believe the -2 Celsius temperature of the Atlantic ocean water was cold enough to quickly tighten Joughin’s blood vessels and cancel out the alcohol’s effect on Joughin.
With liquid courage coursing through his veins, Joughin remained calm under pressure, refusing his place on a lifeboat and, instead, forcibly hurling reluctant women into boats, saving their lives.
Cheers to Charles! Cheers to brandy!"
"In 2016, trail engineer and knife maker, Todd Orr, survived not one, but two, bear attacks on the same day.
While on a hike in rural Montana, a grizzly bear charged Orr at full speed, biting his head and arms before retreating to the woods. Orr began to jog the three miles back to his car, but ten minutes in, the bear was back for more. This time she bit his arm and shoulder before standing on top of him.
Orr remained calm, lying face down and protecting his vital organs, while he waited for the bear to leave. He eventually made it back to his car and drove himself to the hospital where he made a full recovery. "
"The world’s tallest (yet, unfinished) church, the Sagrada Familia, has been under construction for more than 140 years. When completed, the tower of Jesus Christ will stand 566 feet tall with a 56-foot cross.
Construction on the gargantuan church, located in Barcelona, will finally be finished in 2026.
Thank God, amirite?"
"Squirrels, in theory, can survive a fall from virtually any height.
Instinctively spreading their bodies when falling, squirrels create wind resistance, slowing their rate of descent, while their fluffy fur acts as a cushion. However, it’s their size and mass that make them expert ‘fallers.’
I’m no scientist (and it’s pretty scientific), but acceleration due to Earth’s gravity is always the same, regardless of the object on which it’s acting. Since a squirrel isn’t very heavy (grey squirrels weigh about 0.5 kg) the force acting on it is small.
Force = mass*acceleration = 0.5 kg * 9.81 m/s2 = 4.9 N
For these reasons, the fastest speed a squirrel will fall (known as terminal velocity) is low enough that they’ll never fall hard enough to sustain fatal injuries… at least hypothetically."
After Marston’s death in 1947, Elizabeth and Olive continued living together for almost 40 years. "
"The final utterance of Chicago guitarist and singer, Terry Kath, before his death epitomizes the ominous phrase ‘famous last words.’
Kath visited roadie, Don Johnson, at his Los Angeles home on January 22nd, 1978, with guns in tow. The rock guitarist began playing with his .38 revolver before pointing it at his head and pulling the trigger.
The weapon didn’t discharge, but an alarmed Johnson asked Kath to stop. Instead, Kath picked up his 9mm pistol and pulled and pulled an empty clip from the weapon, reassuring Johnson that the gun was empty. Kath then inserted the clip and uttered his last words:
“What do you think I’m going to do? Blow my brains out?”
… before aiming the gun at his temple and pulling the trigger. Whether known to Kath or not (friends and members of Chicago thought Kath might be suicidal), the gun was loaded, killing him instantly. "
"Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Tom Hanks have an epic party together every other year… a colonoscopy party.
While the actors have to avoid solid foods in preparation for their procedures, Martin says they play poker and watch movies, while drinking the yucky stuff that really… clears out the system.
During an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, Martin joked that the bathroom ends up “looking like a Jackson Pollock.”
The friends ride together for their colonoscopies the following day and play cards to determine who will get the procedure last. “It was fun,” Martin said. “It’s a great way to do something that you should do.”
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer death for men and women combined, so, if you’re 45 or older, it’s time to schedule a colonoscopy (and start party-planning)!"
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