History & Culture

In 1986, federal prisoner Ronald J. McIntosh escaped during an unsupervised prisoner transfer. Eight days later, he returned in a stolen helicopter and broke out his girlfriend, bank robber Samantha Lopez, from federal prison in a daring daylight rescue.

The largest nuclear bomb ever built, the Tsar Bomba, caused damage up to approximately 1,000km away.

Nicholas Alkemade, a pilot during World War 2, survived falling 18,000 feet after jumping from a burning Lancaster bomber.

Depression-era bank robber "Pretty Boy" Charles Floyd reportedly destroyed mortgage documents during at least one or two heists. While the legend claims he freed hundreds from debt, FBI historians note this was likely occasional rather than routine—but the rumors helped cement his Robin Hood reputation among struggling Oklahoma farmers.

In 1910, as Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet, people bought "Anti-Comet Pills", special "comet umbrellas", and gas masks, because there was public hysteria that all life on Earth would be destroyed by gas - called cyanogen - that was detected in the tail.

In 585 BC, a solar eclipse occurred in the middle of a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. They promptly ceased fighting and signed a peace treaty.

The record for most passengers on an airplane was set in 1991 when 1086 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated on a Boeing 747 to Jerusalem. The plane landed with 1088 passengers as two babies were born during the flight.

Thomas Edison taught his second wife Morse code so they could communicate in secret by tapping into each other’s hands when her family was around.

Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was left stranded on a deserted island in 1704, but survived for over 4 years, partly by using feral cats to protect him from ravenous rats that attacked during the night.

Former US President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) enjoyed buzzing for his Secret Service agents and then hiding under his desk as they frantically searched for him.

In 1942, there was a man in Mississippi called the Phantom Barber who would break into people's houses at night and cut their hair.

In 1987, an 18-year-old freshman named Mike Hayes funded his education by asking 2.8 million people for one penny.

Ching Shih, once a prostitute, became one of the most powerful pirates to have ever sailed. She commanded one of the most formidable pirate fleets in all of China during the early 1800s, with hundreds of ships under her command.

In 1963, a man found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home that lead to a huge underground city that once housed up to 20,000 people, complete with schools, livestock pens, and food stores, dating back over a millennium.

Li Ching-Yuen was a Chinese herbalist who became famous for claims he lived to be 256 years old (1677-1933). While his extreme longevity is almost certainly legend, he was a real person who became a celebrity in 1920s China, with newspapers reporting the Qing government had congratulated him on his 150th and 200th birthdays.

No one really knows who invented the fire hydrant, because its patent was burned in a fire.

In the late 1600s, London was plagued by an attacker who would spank his victims with a rod and shout "Spanko!" before running away.

The shortest war on record was fought between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

Ancient gladiators were mostly vegetarians whose diet consisted mainly of grains, beans, and dried fruit, washed down with a vinegar and plant ash tonic.

At the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.379 seconds.