True Story Facts

A Croatian music teacher survived a train plunging into a frozen river, a plane door blowing open mid-flight, a bus crash into a river, two separate car fires, being struck by a bus, and driving off a cliff. He walked away from all seven. Then in 2003, he won the Croatian national lottery. He gave most of the money away and said he was finally happy.

Dashrath Manjhi carved a road through a rocky hill in Bihar, India, using only a hammer and chisel - alone - for 22 years. When he finished in 1982, the journey from his village to the nearest town dropped from 55 km to 15 km. He started because his wife, Falguni, died in 1959 after a fall on the ridge path left her unable to reach a doctor in time. The road is still used today.