Dinosaurs terrorized Earth’s lesser creatures for nearly 200 million years. But many details of their daily lives are lost to history forever—or at least until a reliable time machine is built.

Don’t let that bum you out, though, because scientists are really good at gleaning loads of information from the most seemingly inconsequential remains. From ulcers to foreplay, these scenes of dinosaurian daily life probably won’t be in the next Jurassic Park.

10 They Suffered From Parasites And Ulcers

Fossilized poo nuggets (aka coprolites) reveal surprisingly valuable information.

The ancient feces show that the ruthless reptiles suffered the same affliction as your cat: parasites. Fecal remains from a fossilized Iguanodon graveyard in Belgium were loaded with cyst-causing Entamoeba organisms as well as trematode and nematode worm eggs, parasites that remained mostly unchanged in the intervening 125 million years.^[1]

Not even the tyrant king T. rex was immune from tiny invaders. Researchers have on occasion found holes in Tyrannosaurus jaws, which they attribute to protozoans, little single-celled parasites that cause ulcers and lesions in the mouth and throat.

9 Some Land Dinosaurs Swam After Prey

If the carnivores weren’t terrifying enough, there’s evidence that some of them could even swim after their prey.

One such scene is immortalized on a river bottom in Szechuan Province. It’s left behind by a theropod, a three-toed predator a la T. rex but smaller. It swam for about 15 meters (50 ft), scratching a series of claw marks in pursuit of quarry that jumped into the water.

Each mark shows the impression of three parallel claws. And not in a haphazard cat-in-the-bathtub way, but in a “coordinated, left-right, left-right progression.”^[2]

So not only were theropods assassins on land, but they could traverse water capably as well. It’s possible that swimming was an innate behavior for some dinos, as it is for dogs.

8 Nonflying Birdlike Dinosaurs Ate Flying Birdlike Birds

Researchers found two Sinocalliopteryx so fortuitously preserved that their last meals were still visible.

Sinocalliopteryx was related to Compsognathus, the ankle-biting “Compy” of Jurassic Park and Dino Crisis fame. Only Sinocalliopteryx was larger, up to 2.4 meters (8 ft) long, and covered in a light feathery fuzz. It wasn’t flight-worthy, but it did prey on creatures that were.

In one dinosaur’s stomach, researchers discovered Sinornithosaurus remains from a cat-sized, feathered theropod that could fly short distances. The other Sinocalliopteryx contained two crow-sized primitive flyers called Confuciusornis.^[3]

The avian meals may have been scavenged, but they’re in similar states of digestion. So it’s likelier that Sinocalliopteryx was a skilled killer who terrorized early birds of the Cretaceous about 125 million years ago.

7 Sauropods Had Special Claws For Digging Nests

The lumbering long-necked sauropods had a weird arrangement of claws that were unlike other animals. When their feet were flexed, the claws lined up along the front like scrapers.

Sauropod footprints disprove the better grip hypothesis because the claws weren’t “engaged.” Instead, sauropods might have used their scrapers to excavate trench-like nests in which they safeguarded their eggs.

Sauropods were also potentially good dancers. Researchers analyzed some more footprints in Morocco and recreated the dinosaur tracks. They found that the prints occasionally faced sideways and sometimes almost backward.

Before evolution made them ultra-gigantic, the daintier sauropods could rotate their forefeet for better agility depending on walking speed and center of mass.^[4]

6 Hadrosaurs Communicated Via Built-In Megaphones

Hadrosaurs are the duck-billed dinosaurs, members of the mostly herbivorous, ornithischian (bird-hipped) clade. Nature’s conveyor belt pumped out hadrosaurs in crested and uncrested varieties, with the lambeosaurs sporting crests on their heads.

It wasn’t just for show. The crests’ tube-filled interior acted as a resonating chamber. It amplified hadrosaur vocalizations, which could have coordinated herding efforts, warned off predators, and/or wooed potential lovers.

Some hadrosaurs, like Edmontosaurus regalis of around 73 million years ago, had a jiggly rooster’s comblike thingy on its noggin. Although it didn’t make noise, it probably signaled reproductive health or age or identified different species for mating purposes.^[5]

5 Some Made A Career Out Of Egg Snatching

Oviraptorosaurs (egg thieves) are feathered, beaked, birdlike dinosaurs that include the famous raptors. Most are horrible, but the newest member of the family not so much.

The endearing Gobiraptor minutus prowled Mongolia’s Gobi Desert around 70 million years ago when the landscape was less a desert and more wetland, crisscrossed by rivers and busy with life. Unlike many other theropods, G. minutus secured its niche with a uniquely omnivorous diet.

Its robust beak and strong jaws allowed it to take advantage of all sorts of overlooked food groups. Instead of tearing the flesh from its enemies and friends, it subsisted on small, crunchy dinosaur bar snacks, such as mollusks, seeds, and eggs.^[6]

4 Triceratops Horns Weren’t (Primarily) For Fighting

The Triceratops and its horned ceratopsian kin didn’t earn their menacing horns and fancy frills for protection but for sex appeal.

Researchers argue that the trademark horns and ornate armor serve mainly to differentiate between species and to add sex appeal. They seem like implements of war or thermal regulation but could instead be an evolutionarily efficient way to avoid shacking up with the wrong species.^[7]

Triceratop-esses didn’t waste their time on genetic scrubs. So a set of mighty frills and horns instantly displayed a male’s hereditary health, as tail feathers do for peacocks.

3 Dinosaurs Engaged In Birdlike Foreplay

Not much is known about dinosaur sex, but in at least one way it resembled bird sex. The revelation comes from a bunch of ancient ruts clawed into a hunk of 100-million-year-old limestone.

The “scrape-like dinosaur tracks” are bathtub-deep, more than 1.8 meters (6 ft) across, and curiously end in a claw mark. These 50 or so ruts, which appeared in pairs, confused researchers.

Then they remembered that modern birds leave similar markings as a prelude to mating. To captivate females, males swagger about and scratch the ground to exhibit their nest-building skill. If these ruts are truly the result of “pseudo-nest-building” foreplay, they’re the first evidence of dinosaurian lovemaking habits.^[8]

2 Some Dinosaurs Were Night Owls

Some vertebrates like birds and lizards have a ring of bone around their eyes called the sclerotic ring. Animals that are active during the day have smaller sclerotic rings and smaller pupils that let in less light but allow for greater depth of focus.

In contrast, nocturnal animals feature wide rings and large central apertures relative to eye size. This larger pupil accommodates a higher number of photons for better visibility in low-light conditions.

Based on sclerotic ring remains, the massive, long-necked herbivores were active both day and night, probably foraging during the cooler twilight periods. And raptors (as well as other carnivores) stalked prey by night.

Along with the previously mentioned fact that some dinosaurs could swim, this makes the Mesozoic so much more terrifying.^[9]

1 T. rex Was Surprisingly Stealthy

Despite its size and apparent clunkiness, T. rex may have used ninja-like stealth to ambush foes.

Scientists looked at footprints from a variety of dinosaurs and then plugged the feet into computer simulations. The theropod feet proved to be the strangest. They were elongated and twice as long as they were wide.^[10]

Sounds clumsy, like trying to run in clown shoes. But unlike other feet, they’re the right proportion for “seismic wave camouflage.” This means that the sound of T. rex footsteps wouldn’t have changed with distance, so unassuming prey animals had no idea how close they were to a thrashing. Less ruthless dinosaurs like herbivores lacked this advantage.

+ Young Dinosaurs Lived Unsupervised

The long-necked, trunk-legged sauropods—history’s largest land animals—easily surpassed 30 meters (100 ft) in length.

A juvenile Diplodocus named Andrew reveals how. Young sauropods were more like ancestral species than adults, which had peg-like teeth fixed in broad snouts. The babies had narrow snouts full of spatula-like teeth. Peg teeth and square snouts are great for chewing on soft ferns, but the young spatulate teeth allowed for consumption of rougher foods.

Researchers say that the juveniles may have lived without parental supervision in age-restricted foraging groups, munching away on tough plants that no one else wanted. As a bonus, isolation helped them to avoid getting trampled by the lumbering adults.^[11]

++ Some Dinosaurs Were Adorably Tiny

The name “raptor” inspires dread, but some unique, recently discovered tracks in South Korea reveal an adorable, sparrow-sized raptor that you could hold in the palm of your hand.

The Lilliputian footprints are about 110 million years old and just 1 centimeter (0.4 in) long. Tiny prints like this are rarely found. But here, they’ve been luckily preserved by Cretaceous lake deposits which also safeguarded similarly little tracks left by frogs, birds, and turtles.

These are the smallest dinosaur tracks ever found. They indicate a creature of raptorian persuasion because one claw is lifted, or retracted, while the other two contact the ground. If the newly named Dromaeosauriformipes rarus is indeed a new type of dinosaur and not a chick, it would be the smallest yet.^[12]

Ivan writes about neat things for the Internet. You can contact him at [email protected].

The writings of great men like Plato and Marcus Aurelius are studied today with the same fervor and admiration they enjoyed thousands of years ago. However, we often overlook the poor folk who lived ordinary lives and dealt with ordinary problems. Etchings from some of these men have survived thousands of years and give us extraordinary glimpses into everyday life in ancient empires.

10 An Egyptian Soldier Abroad Just Wanted To Go Home

In AD 214, an Egyptian man named Aurelius Polion left his home to fight in the Roman legion. He was stationed in Pannonia Inferior near modern Hungary, which was 1,600 kilometers (1,000 mi) from home. The boy was terrified—not of dying in battle but of being forgotten by his family.

“I sent six letters to you,” Polion wrote to his family, “but you never wrote to me.”

He believed that his family had forsaken him. Still, he wanted to be with them more than anything else—so much so that he would have abandoned his post if they had written him a single word.

“The moment you have me in mind,” he promised, “I shall come to you so that you may know that I am your brother.”

9 A Babylonian Trader Struggled With A Powerful Merchant

A Babylonian man named Nanni holds the unique honor of writing history’s first letter of complaint in 1750 BC. Ea-nasir, a copper merchant, had tricked Nanni into buying a low-quality product. When Nanni’s messenger complained, he was told, “If you do not want to take them, go away!” He wasn’t refunded a single coin.

Nanni was furious, but there wasn’t much he could do. According to other translated documents, Ea-nasir was powerful in the copper business and a trader probably couldn’t succeed without going through Ea-nasir.

Still, Nanni furiously chiseled these words into his tablet: “Take cognizance that from now on, I will not accept here any copper from you!” Reality must have sunk in, though, because he added a meek “that is not of fine quality.”

8 A Priest Helped A Starving Chinese Woman Get Back To Her Mother

In AD 313, a Chinese woman named Miwnay was stranded in a town called Dunhuang, living in abject poverty, and desperately trying to get home to her mother.

Miwnay may have lost her husband. In a letter to her mother, she wrote that her journey home was delayed by her husband’s relative, who disapproved of her trip. The other in-laws followed suit, and every person she came to closed their doors.

“I live wretchedly,” Miwnay wrote, “without clothing, without money.” She only got by through the charity of a priest, who promised to give her a camel and take care of her on the journey.

Miwnay sent a letter home promising to be back soon. However, the letter was confiscated by a Chinese garrison and locked in a tower for 1,500 years. Miwnay’s mother never saw the anguished words her daughter wrote.

7 A Sumerian Work Crew Was Paid In Beer

In 3000 BC, a group of Sumerian workers left their homes to work for a powerful man. This was at the dawn of civilization before the country used currency. Workers were paid in beer instead of coin.

As a receipt for their payment, a Sumerian bookkeeper tacked up a clay tablet that survives today. The tablet only says that the men were given beer for work—but it’s a fascinating look into what life was like before money.

Most men could provide shelter and food for their families by the toil of their hands, but they didn’t have the resources to make wine. So early men left their families to work for someone more powerful—and get drunk.

6 An Angry Roman Drew Jesus As A Crucified Donkey

In AD 200, a Roman named Alexamenos was a member of the Christian faith and his community didn’t care for it. One man, who must have hated Alexamenos, etched a crude drawing of a man worshiping a donkey-headed man on a cross. Scribbled underneath were the words: “Alexamenos worships his God.”

It was a hateful act, but it wasn’t unique. In the early days of Christianity, many Romans believed that Christians were cannibals. Even Marcus Aurelius’s tutor went on record saying that Christians held rituals “initiated by the slaughter and the blood of an infant.”

Jesus was often called the “Donkey Priest” as an insult. A few people even seem to have believed that Jesus literally had the head of a donkey. So when Alexamenos saw the crude drawing on the wall, the message was clear. He was not trusted—and he was not wanted.

5 An Egyptian Worker Refused to Take A Sick Day

In 1500 BC, Egyptian workers lived in a town called Deir el-Medina near the Valley of the Kings. These men would make the trek to the tombs of the pharaohs to work, leaving their families for a week at a time.

Papyrus scrolls show that the workers were given paid leave when sick and a physician would be dispatched to their homes to take care of them.

A reprimanding record tells us that one worker named Merysekhmet drudged through his work while ill, refusing to take time off. For two days, he worked despite the pain—until he couldn’t do it anymore.

Merysekhmet was forced to take a few days off to recover. But as soon as he was able, he headed back to work on a project that would outlive even the kings for whom he built it.

4 The People Of Pompeii Loved To Party

Before Pompeii was buried in a volcanic eruption, the city was a party town filled with obscene art and brothels—and graffiti.

Messages like “I screwed the barmaid” showed up on tavern walls. “Celadus the Thracian makes the girls moan!” was scribbled in a gladiator’s barracks. The most memorable of all was on the walls of a brothel. “Weep, you girls!” it said. “My penis has given you up! Now it penetrates men’s behinds.”

The people of Pompeii drank and enjoyed themselves, but they loved, too. One proud man wrote on the walls of a home: “If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girlfriend.” A woman wrote that she wouldn’t sell her husband “for all the gold in the world.”

But in a city frozen in time, it’s the simplest message that seems the most meaningful. “Gaius and Aulus,” it reads. “Friends forever.”

3 A Greek Tourist In Egypt Missed His Mother

Around 278 BC, tourists from Greece and Italy started flocking to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to see the tombs. They also left graffiti that shows an incredible reverence for the site.

Some etched their names or their jobs on the sides of walls while others wrote of their amazement for the place where they stood. However, one unique piece of graffiti at the Colossi of Memnon stands out.

The Colossi had been damaged in earthquakes, and air seeping through the cracks tended to make a high whistling sound. When one Greek tourist heard the whistle, he believed that Memnon had cried out the name of his mother.

He wrote what he’d heard on the foot. Then he added a message to someone else. “I missed you, O my mother,” he wrote, “and I prayed that you might hear him, too.”

2 The Men Who Built The Pyramids Left Their Marks

Some young men in Egyptian villages had never seen more than a few hundred people in their whole lives—until someone came and ordered them to work on the “royal labor project” as a form of taxation.

They were sent on great journeys across the country, leaving their homes for the first time. Then they saw what they were going to build—the pyramids, a wonder of the world towering above the horizon.

It must have changed everything these men understood about what was possible in this world. While they worked, they lived in lean-tos, ate at a local bakery, and sometimes died on the pyramid walls and were buried nearby.

Even so, each crew left their tag on the walls they’d worked on, making sure that their part in building something that would be remembered for millennia would not be forgotten.

1 Sumerian Accountants And Slave Traders Just Wanted To Do Their Jobs

The oldest names written in history are the names of common people doing nothing more than working through the daily drudge of their jobs.

The first written name we have is an accountant from 3100 BC. The tablet reads, “29,086 measures of barley [over the course of] 37 months” and is signed “Kushim.” The first tablet with more than one name is an ad from a slave trader that reads, “Two slaves held by Gal-Sal: En-pap X and Sukkalgir.”

These writings were likely mundane moments in the lives of these men. They were repeating things they did every day at work. Kushim was counting barley, Gal-Sal was selling slaves, and En-pap X and Sukkalgir were dreading a new life of servitude.

+Further Reading

It is always surprising to see how much the ancient’s lives had in common with our own (minus free and easy debt of course). Here are some other lists of a similar nature from the archives:

10 Ways We’re All Picturing The Ancient World Incorrectly
Top 10 Ancient Jobs That Sucked Big Time
10 Surprising Facts About The Ancient World
10 Discoveries Of Ancient Cultures Nearly Lost To History

Great and powerful families have ruled over countless lives since the first civilization was born. There are empires that have stretched across continents and held power over billions of people.

Over the last 100 years, though, almost all of those empires fell. Revolutions around the world have cast out the people who once held that power, stripped them of their wealth, and left them to fend for themselves. Today, heirs to those empires live in ways that are incredibly humbling—and a little bit strange.

10 The Last King Of Rwanda Lives Off Food Stamps In Virginia

King Kigeli, the last king of Rwanda, ruled his nation for a mere nine months before a Hutu revolt in 1959 forced him into exile.

Today, 79-year-old Kigeli receives food stamps and lives in government-subsidized Section 8 housing in Virginia. To get by, he sells knighthoods into the kingdom of Rwanda to anyone willing to pay. Most of his neighbors have no idea that he was once the king of an African country.

Still, Kigeli insists on being treated like a ruler. For example, he refuses to drive himself anywhere. His chauffeur holds the title of Kigeli’s chancellor, although this dignitary has to make ends meet with a part-time job selling mattresses at Sears.

9 The Last Prince Of Italy Was Charged With Pimping

When the Italian monarchy was abolished in 1946, the royal family was forced into exile, forbidden to return for 54 years. Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, the heir to the throne, was forced to live away from his country and the power his family had enjoyed—and it didn’t turn out well.

In 1978, he inexplicably decided to point a rifle out of his yacht and blindly fire at the darkness. He accidentally hit and killed a German tourist. Vittorio spent 13 years fighting a manslaughter charge of which he was eventually acquitted.

When he reappeared in Italy, he soon found himself working as a pimp for the Sicilian Mafia and was caught supplying prostitutes to its high rollers. The charge finally landed him behind bars.

To his credit, Vittorio keeps his head up. After getting his first taste of prison food, he declared, “In Italy, you can eat well everywhere.”

8 The Last King Of Egypt Shot Two Lions In A Zoo

Although Fuad II was technically the last king of Egypt, he only “reigned” as an infant during 1952–53 after his father, King Farouk, was forced to abdicate in a coup. From 1936 to 1952, however, King Farouk was the last king to actually rule Egypt. Farouk enjoyed all the luxuries of royalty, but it left him a bit disconnected from everyday life—and common sense.

Near the start of World War II, Farouk was plagued with a recurring nightmare in which he was chased by a lion. Troubled, he called his wisest adviser, El-Maraghi, and asked what his dream meant. “You will not rest until you have slain those lions,” El-Maraghi told him.

Farouk took his advice—literally. He grabbed a gun, walked to the local zoo, and shot two lions dead in their cages. Then he returned home and told El-Maraghi what he had done.

El-Maraghi spent the rest of the day explaining to the king what a metaphor is.

7 The Last Emperor Of China Lived As ‘Prisoner No. 981’

Pu Yi became emperor of China when he was two years old. He lost his title three years later, but he was kept in such seclusion inside his palace, surrounded by servants who played out a fantasy kingdom, that he didn’t find out that he wasn’t the emperor for a full 10 years.

He got his position back when Japan made him the emperor of the puppet state of Manchuria. When Japan surrendered, though, Pu Yi was sent to a Chinese prison. He expected to be killed.

Instead, he was sentenced to tend vegetables in a prison. There, he was forced to live as a commoner under the label “Prisoner No. 981.”

Pu Yi was a model prisoner. He impressed the Communist Party enough that they actually let him go. He spent his last years in freedom, working part-time as an assistant gardener.

6 The Emperor Of Korea Manages A Home Shopping Network

Korea no longer bestows the title “Emperor” on the heads of its royal family. If they did, though, it would be held by Yi Won, the adopted son of the last ruler, Yi Gu. In 2005, Yi Gu died and the royal family chose to pass the title to Yi Won.

Before, though, Yi Won wasn’t living as a prince in a castle. He was the general manager of Hyundai’s Home Shopping Network. The Korean royalty today doesn’t pass much on to their children, so the crown prince had to make ends meet by hawking goods through mail order catalogues.

Yi Won’s job, though, was actually lucrative compared to the rest of his family. Another candidate for the throne, Yi Seok, currently runs a liquor store in the US.

5 The Heir To The Ottoman Empire Is A Retired Librarian

For 622 years, the Ottoman royal family ruled an empire that spanned three continents. Then, in 1924, the family was given a one-way passport out of Turkey and told not to return.

Prince Bayazid, the current heir to the throne, wasn’t allowed to tell anyone that he was the heir to a dynasty. So he lived a lot like anyone else. He had to fight to get a job at the New York Public Library. Initially, the library ignored the application because it had a foreign name—until Bayazid begged for the job.

When they realized he could speak 15 languages, the library made Bayazid a translator. But he often wasn’t allowed to put his name on his work because the library was worried that a Turkish name on Armenian documents would upset people.

Bayazid worked at the library for 45 years before he retired. He still lives in New York.

4 The Nepalese Royal Family Ended In A Murder-Suicide

In 1990, the Kingdom of Nepal started to come to an end when the People’s Movement put strict limitations on the royal family’s power. It was the crown prince, though, who brought the kingdom to a crashing halt—in a horrific way.

Prince Dipendra had fallen in love with a woman named Devyani Rana whom he had met in England and intended to marry. His family, however, did not approve. His mother threatened to pull him out of the line of succession if he married her, and fights between family members escalated.

On June 1, 2001, Dipendra picked up a gun and massacred 10 members of his family before turning the gun on himself. In the process, he wiped out the entire royal family and its main line of succession. Nepal’s monarchy was abolished shortly afterward.

3 The King Of Cambodia Is A Professional Ballet Dancer

Norodom Sihamoni never wanted to be king of Cambodia. As a young man, he studied cinematography, going to North Korea in pursuit of a better education—which says a lot about the state of Cambodia.

His true passion, though, was ballet. Sihamoni left for France and became a respected dancer, performing classical pieces in theaters until he was called back to the palace. His father had abdicated the throne, and feeling it was his responsibility, Sihamoni took his place on the throne.

Today, Sihamoni is a figurehead with no power. International news has described him as a “puppet king” while the people of Cambodia reportedly describe him as “sad, lonely, and abandoned.” Sihamoni has no children and no heir, and it is expected that the Kingdom of Cambodia will die with him.

2 The Heir To India’s Mughal Empire Lives In A Slum

The fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire built the Taj Mahal, and at their peak, the empire ruled over one-quarter of the world’s population.

Today, the current claimant to the throne is Sultana Begum, the great-granddaughter-in-law of the last Mughal emperor. She married the male heir, Bedar Bukht, who lived in hiding out of fear that British imperialists would have him killed. Bukht sold charms and talismans, earning a wage that Begum called “too meager for survival.”

Since Bukht’s death, Begum has been living in a shack in a slum where she runs a tea shop. She also receives a political pension of 400 rupees a month—the equivalent of $6.

1 The Emperor Of Japan Is An Expert On Goby Fish

In all the world, only one man still enjoys the title of “Emperor”: Emperor Akihito of Japan. Even Akihito, though, is nothing more than a figurehead with a few ceremonial duties.

To pass the time, Akihito studies goby fish. Using a biological lab inside his Imperial Palace, he spends most of his time examining the fish and writing his observations.

Today, Akihito is one of the world’s leading experts on goby fish. He has published 38 peer-reviewed scientific studies on the topic and recently contributed 350 pages on one suborder of goby fish to a book.

With no real power, it’s reasonable to assume that even his position as emperor will fade soon. The Japanese empire will crumble to dust and be swept away, like the ends of countless empires before it.

+Further Reading

The higher you are, the further you have to fall! Here are some recommended lists from the archives for further reading on this fascinating subject:

10 Wild Adventures Of Former Royals
Top 10 Pretenders to the Thrones of Europe
10 Mysteries Surrounding Royal Children
Top 10 Scandals That Rocked Royal Families
10 Mysteries And Secrets Surrounding British Royalty

As the great philosopher Rodney Dangerfield pointed out, some people “get no respect.” One would think after inventing a permanent part of pop culture for generations, one might finally be entitled to some respect. Even that’s not true. In fact, as these following 10 people show, sometimes one only gets properly celebrated after having their entire life destroyed.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Things Americans Get Wrong About Their Own History

10 Tony Kaye Went Down in American History X

Tony Kaye has good ideas. Most of them have nothing to do with American History X though. Previously known for directing music videos, American History X was Kaye’s chance to become a household star. The resulting film was a lauded triumph. The movie’s dark and mature tale of the glorification of violence led to cartoonish antics off screen.

The Oscar nominated finished product was unrecognizable from Kaye’s original vision. The first edit barely clocked in at 95 minutes. New Line Cinema insisted he recut. Kaye refused. To stretch out the run time and emotional weight, Edward Norton secretly inserted more clips of his performance. Kaye felt so betrayed he ordered his name be taken off the credits and replaced with the pseudonym “Humpty Dumpty”. Obviously not wanting their deft look on neo-Nazism to be associated with a clumsy egg, New Line kicked Kaye out. Accompanied by a priest, a rabbi, and a Tibetan monk, Kaye barged into the office demanding to be brought back on board. Sounding like a literal joke, the studio denied his request.

To besmirch the movie’s reputation, Kaye published full-page ads insulting Norton and the studio. Financially ruining himself, the 35 ads cost Kaye nearly 1 million dollars. Persona non grata in Hollywood, Kaye’s filmography afterwards is a scattershot collection of half-finished projects and moments of genius. 20 years later, Tony Kaye has never made a movie as celebrated as American History X. Because of American History X, he never will again.^[1]

9 Napoleon Dynamite Blew Up in Efren Ramirez’s Face

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The power of a fictional school president in a bizarre indie flick from 2004 corrupts bizarrely. Efren Ramirez has found moderate success over the years with the quirky movie Napoleon Dynamite and its short lived animated spinoff. He will always be most recognized as Pedro Sanchez, even if a lot of people cannot recognize Efren Ramirez.

Everything about Napoleon Dynamite’s success was unlikely. However, the most statistically improbable thing about the movie is that both of the main protagonists are sets of identical twins. Jon Heder and his brother Dan remained close during Napoeleon’s height. Efren and Carlos did not.

Wanting to cash in on the fame, Carlos crashed public appearances by posing as his brother. Likely overestimating the frequency of necessary Pedro sightings, Carlos says Efren sanctioned these hijinks when Efren was too busy to attend himself. Carlos has confessed that on at least one occasion he attended without Efren’s knowledge, “to get back at him for a personal matter which involved the girl I was dating at the time.” Neither Carlos or Efren have specified what Carlos meant by that. Luckily thanks to Napoleon Dynamite, Efren has a history of dealing with love triangles.

Efren’s subsequent behavior discounts Carlos theory that this was all in jest. Threatening to sue, Efren issued a cease-and-desist order. Carlos had to pay a 10 million dollar fine if he ever impersonated Pedro again. A rift enveloped the twins. Citing “the magnitude of Napoleon Dynamite and everything that has come along with it,” Carlos says the movie has ruined his life. The two have yet to reconcile.^[2]

8 Winifred Sackville Stoner Got No Poetic Justice

It is probably the first thing taught in United States History class, even if the author never is. Kindergartners can easily remember the dawn of European expansion in the Americas with the handy mnemonic “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr would hate that people are still quoting her works. Her mother would love it.

Winifried Sackville Stoner Sr was more than your typical stage mom. Fluent in Esperanto, Winifred Stoner Sr. was convinced that the universal language was the best way to educate children. Paraded around the country, Stoner Sr trumpeted Stoner Jr as a child genius. It was hard to disagree. Remarkably, Stoner Jr was talking at one years old, writing at two, and typing at three. Like a lot of details about her prodigy years, Stoner Sr likely exaggerated some facts. Either way, her mother felt vindicated when Stoner Jr’s 1913 poem “History of the United States” earned the 12-year-old child acclaim.

Grown out of childhood, Stoner renounced her years as a prodigy, including her poetry. Looking back on her time in the spotlight, Stoner says her mother’s experiment damaged her for life. Isolated as a prodigy, Stoner rebelled by going through a series of terrible relationships. Her first disastrous marriage was to the 35-year-old French count, Charles de Bruche. Before Stoner Jr could divorce de Bruche, he supposedly died in a car accident in Mexico City. Her four other marriages were equally doomed, including an engagement to Woodrow Wilson’s former Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, a man more than twice her age. After faking his death, Charles de Bruche returned to try and blackmail Stoner as a bigamist. He had tried similar cons across Europe. For 50 years, she secluded herself from the public and marriage. In nineteen hundred eighty three, Stoner Jr. died lonely.^[3]

7 Philo Farnsworth Had Plenty of Reason to Hate Television

It took a lot of work to invent the greatest tool of laziness. Primitive cumbersome television models existed for years before Philo Farnsworth perfected the technology. Drudging up dirt on the gridlike pattern of his ranch, Farnsworth had a major breakthrough. By scanning an image line by line, one could broadcast a clear picture onto any screen. This idea was the literal groundwork for the 1927 “Television System” patent.

Four years earlier, Vladimir Zworykin patented a similar system. The key difference was that Zworykin’s machine did not work. That hitch did not bother David Sarnoff, head of radio behemoth RCA. Fearful of television’s competition to radio, Sarnoff tried to buy out Farnsworth’s superior technology. The Mormon farmer turned down the proposal. Sarnoff went to war. While suing Farnsworth for patent violation, Zworykin and Sarnoff sent spies to monitor him. Subterfuge was not far enough, so they simply released a line of TVs anyway without Farnsworth’s permission. RCA lost the suit and had to acknowledge Farnsworth owned the rights to the patent. It was a short lived victory. His patent expired in the mid40’s, missing television’s explosion by mere months.

After struggling for decades, he could finally relax and enjoy his invention. With a television in every home, he dreamed that people would “learn about each other.” His utopian vision turned to static. Viewing westerns and gameshows convinced him he “created kind of a monster, a way for people to waste a lot of their lives.” Farnsworth did not have much more life to waste. Stress from his squandered fortune caused a fatal bout of pneumonia. He was 64.^[4]

6 Robert Indiana Does Not Love “LOVE”

The simplest ideas are often the most popular. Perhaps no idea is simpler than LOVE. Robert Indiana’s iconic sculpture depicts a L supporting a leaning O stacked on top of a V and E. Like plenty of people, Robert Indiana feelings toward LOVE is complicated.

During the 1960s, Robert Indiana was primed to take over the Pop Art scene. Avoiding the sex and drugs associated with the movement, Indiana embraced the art-form’s ethos by stripping down ideas to their essence. The Museum of Modern Art thought this genre could translate to the limited space of a Christmas card. On a green and blue background, Indiana’s blocky red letters LOVE made their first appearance in 1965. It would not be the last. The image has been slapped on everything from t shirts, magnets, and a particularly popular series of postage stamps in the 1970’s.

Over the next few years, imitators popped up in cities around the world. Not wanting to disturb the simplicity of the design, Indiana did not put his signature anywhere on the piece. He was totally anonymous. With no recourse to sue for his art, Indiana barely turned a profit. Wrongly assuming he made a fortune, his fellow artists branded him a sell-out. Museums rejected his other work as too commercial. Excluded from the art world, he left New York. For the rest of his life, he isolated himself in the small coastal city of Vinalhaven, Maine. He hated his most famous creation. Robert Indiana wished he could have been known for more. Nevertheless, when it comes to an enormous artistic legacy, all you need is LOVE.^[5]

5 A Trip to the Moon Cratered George Melies’ Career

George Melies’ talent was literally out of this world. More than any of his peers, Melies understood the possibilities of film. Trained as a magician, Melies turned his sense of showmanship into surrealistic sketches that pioneered the basics of cinematic special effects. No film better showcased his revolutionary editing and framing techniques than 1902’s A Trip to the Moon. While the shot of a space capsule jutting out of the man in the moon’s eye is endlessly referenced, the other 14 minutes are equally dreamlike. Melies’ life was less whimsical.

A blockbuster in Europe, Melies planned on recouping his special effects laden production budget by distributing the movie in the United States. Like many other inventors before him, Thomas Edison stole Melies’ success. Bootlegs and pirated copies of the movie flooded the market. Using the same business model as those Transmorpher cash grabs, Edison directed his own knockoff film called A Trip to Mars to trick the audience into seeing his version. All of the royalties were funneled to Edison. Flushed with money from ripping off Melies’, Edison used his own production company to muscle Melies’ struggling Star Films into bankruptcy.

When World War One broke out, the neglected reels of Star Films were melted down to become soles for shoes. A large portion of Melies’ movies are now lost forever. Stripped of his rightful earnings and his greatest achievements, Melies spent the last few years selling toys in a train station. Even the father of modern cinema could not get a Hollywood ending.^[6]

4 Herman Melville was a Whale of a Failure

For Herman Melville, fame was as elusive as his titular white whale. The saddest part of Moby Dick’s rejection was that Melville had already known success. Both of his first two books, Typee, and Omoo, were instant hits. Churning out one adventure story per year, Melville was heralded as a great new voice in nautical yarns. In the vein of his other stories, Moby Dick was initially another rollicking tale of bold men braving the high seas. Then in 1849, he met Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter author was the first person to suggest the epic quest could work as an existentialist tome. Over the next two years, Melville studied philosophy and literature. In 1851, those years of introspection resulted in the Great American Novel.

Echoing the thoughts of many future high school students, readers at the time hated the book. Noted editor, Henry F. Chorley, of the London Athenaeum, called it “as much trash belonging to the worst school of Bedlam literature.” Critically and commercially a flop, the book only sold 3,000 copies. Complaining to Hawthorne, Melville said that “dollars damn me” Hawthorne ignored Melville’s pleas, and their friendship crumbled. Melville’s income and popularity sank faster than the Pequod. His follow-up, Pierre, was similarly dismissed. Dejected, the 33-year-old Melville basically retired from writing, only releasing the occasional poem over the next decades.

In 1867, Melville plunged further into alcoholism and depression when his oldest son killed himself. In 1891, the local newspaper summed up the tragic life of the notoriously longwinded author in just six lines. His obituary could not even get his name right. Though wrongfully called “Henry”, Melville’s name lives on.^[7]

3 Grant Wood Did Not Live the Simple Life

The parodies are almost as ubiquitous as the original. Through the hundreds of homages to American Gothic, the pitchfork wielding farmer and his wife have stood in for countless types of careers and relationships. Grant Wood never got to experience much of either.

Influenced by European tradition, Wood’s portfolio contains many exaggerated scenes of Iowa farmlife. Modeled after the local dentist Byron McKeeby and his sister, Nan, the couple in his most iconic work were filled with the same admiration of his town. Within weeks of its debut at the Art Institute of Chicago, the art world did not take it that way. Critics embraced the painting as a joke, a satirical take down of middle America. Wood regretted that interpretation, but went along with it as the painting’s popularity soared. Nan expressed similar discontent for the haggard stretched out face of the woman and the age gap in the relationship.

The troubled legacy extended to the world outside the painting. Internationally known as the personification of Midwestern values, Wood faced growing scrutiny about his bachelorhood. A closeted gay man, Wood claimed that he forwent marriage to take care of his sister and widowed mother. Unable to hide his sexuality, he got into a sham marriage in 1935. The marriage drained him emotionally, financially, and artistically. Wood refused to paint for years.

Outed in Time magazine, Wood was fired from teaching at the University of Iowa in 1941. His few remaining months were not much better. In 1942, Wood died from pancreatic cancer, a day before his 51st birthday.^[8]

2 A.A. Milne’s Story is Sadder than Eeyore’s

Winnie the Pooh is the essence of innocence. His origin is as lovable as he is. A.A. Milne told his son, Christopher Robin, fantastical adventures of the boy and his teddy bear. The only people who could possibly dislike Winnie the Pooh just happen to be everyone involved with making it.

Winnie the Pooh was far from A.A. Milne’s first story. All totaled, Milne wrote seven novels, five nonfiction books and 34 plays. Readers abandoned him when he did not write about Hundred Acres woods. Pigeonholed as a children’s writer, Milne hated the character, because he felt he could never fully write what he wanted to again. These limitations do not come close to his son’s existential crisis.

Despite entertaining millions of children, A.A. Milne was not as similarly affectionate with his only child. Locked in his office, A.A. Milne abandoned the real Christopher Robin most days in his office to write with the one in the book. As the namesake of the character, Christopher Robin could not escape the association. While attending boarding school in 1930, the other students constantly taunted him, physically and verbally.

After school, Christopher Robin struggled to find a job, in part because of depression from “the empty fame of being his son.” Much to his parent’s protest, the inspiration for one of children’s literature most wholesome characters fixed his sadness by having sex with his first cousin, Lesley de Selincourt. The schism in the family finally ruptured when Christopher Robin publicly announced he never felt close to his parents. Not really disproving his claim, his mom and dad cut off all ties. In the last fifteen years of her life, he only spoke to his mother once. Laying on her deathbed, his mother refused to see him.^[9]

1 George Ferris’ Wild Ride

What goes up must come down. If anybody would understand this, it would be George Ferris. With his eponymous invention, the Ferris Wheel, George Ferris has brought joy to thousands. The Ferris Wheel only brought him despair.

The Ferris Wheel was built out of spite. In 1891, Chicago needed an innovative display for their upcoming world’s fair. The director wanted something that could surpass the recently erected Eiffel Tower. Engineers around the country submitted proposals. Most of them amounted to constructing larger towers. The most creative was George Ferris’ unwieldy contraption of a series of carriages revolving every five minutes. Chicago dismissed the plan as structurally unsound. Ferris knew it could work. On Nov. 29, 1892, they made a deal. The World’s fair would display the prototype, but Ferris would have to fund it on his own. 29 weeks and $250,000 later, Ferris revealed his exhibition. Crowds adored it. George Ferris had reached his peak.

The downturn followed quickly. Amusement parks across the U.S. packaged their own models without compensating Ferris. For the next three years, Ferris fought against the imitators in court with little success. Falling deeper in debt, Ferris kept investing in bigger versions of his machine. Nobody was buying. With no money left, George’s wife divorced him in 1896, directly increasing his rampant alcoholism. Later that year, George Ferris died alone in Pittsburgh’s Mercy Hospital. Faced with a litany of medical issues, Ferris never sought help. He let himself succumb. He was 37. Nobody claimed his ashes for 15 months. 10 years later, his original Ferris Wheel went out too. Dismantled in bankruptcy court, the remnants were dynamited in 1906. The scraps of one of America’s greatest technical marvels were unceremoniously dumped in a landfill.^[10]

Modern medicine can do some pretty miraculous stuff. Yet many dangers that kill people every year don’t need sci-fi technology to solve the problem. Often, humans are just careless, lazy, or shortsighted. Changing our habits prevents millions of deaths, and the solutions are sometimes shockingly simple.

10A Box Of Clothes Vastly Improved Finland’s Infant Mortality Rate

During the early 1940s, Finland had a big problem with infant mortality. At one stage, 9 percent of all babies died early in life. To tackle the problem, the government started giving all expectant mothers a box containing a selection of useful items. These included clothes, bedding, grooming products, and other newborn essentials. Today, parents even get condoms. Bottles and disposable diapers were in for a while but were removed in 2006 to encourage breast feeding and protect the environment. Reusable cloth diapers are included instead.

One of the box’s most unusual features is that it comes with a mattress,. For many Finnish babies, the cardboard box itself is their first bed. This has broken the habit of babies sleeping in the parents’ bed, which is a known factor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As a result, Finland’s infant mortality rate has dropped significantly since the box was introduced.

The box has become a staple of parenthood in Finland, and it’s popular among people of all incomes. People can instead opt for €140, but only 5 percent of parents take the cash. Many who do are on their second child and simply reuse the box they got for their firstborn. It’s so important to the Finns that some expats, who aren’t eligible to get it for free, actually pay for one and have relatives send it by post.

9Smaller Packets Prevent Overdoses

Buying headache pills in the UK is very different from doing so in the US. Americans can pick up a 500-pill bottle of acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, quite easily. In the UK, it’s known as paracetamol, and the largest packet you’ll find in a supermarket holds 16 pills. On top of that, it always comes in blister packs, with each pill stored separately.

The difference is due to a law passed in the UK in September 1998. Restricting pills prevents overdoses. It’s still very possible to acquire 500 pills. Many stores stock them cheaply, and you can buy more than 100 at once without a prescription. It’s just inconvenient, but that’s enough to keep many people from abusing them.

In the first year after the law came into effect, one hospital in Newcastle saw average overdose referrals drop from 2.5 per month to 1. At London’s Royal Free Hospital, paracetamol overdoses dropped by 21 percent in the same period. A more recent study found that in the first 11 years after the change, an estimated 765 lives were saved. In addition, the number of registrations for liver transplants for people affected by paracetamol toxicity was reduced by 61 percent.

8Longer Colonoscopies Encourage Repeat Visits

When cancer deaths dropped in the US between 2006 and 2007, 65 percent of the lives saved across all cancers was due to improved colorectal screening. Yet it could be better—only half of eligible adults were getting the routine procedure. A lot of people got their first one but didn’t return for a second because they found it unpleasant.

Researchers thought that they could improve repeat screening rates by influencing how people remember the procedure. The method they came up with seems ludicrous: They left the camera inserted for a few minutes longer right at the end. The camera resting in the bowel once the screening ends is a much less uncomfortable experience than what comes before, when it moves around inside.

Patients reported the screening as less painful overall with the camera in for longer. The result was an increase in people returning for a follow-up colonoscopy, raising the chance of detecting cancer while it can still be treated.

7Nils Bohlin’s Seat Belt

The seat belt is one of the most well-known life saving devices in the world. Yet a belt only helps if people wear it. Every year in the US, around 5,000 people still die in accidents they’d have survived had they worn their belt.

That number would be higher but for Nils Bohlin. The aircraft designer worked for Volvo in the 1950s and realized human nature was the problem. He said, “The pilots I worked with were willing to put on almost anything to keep them safe in case of a crash, but regular people in cars don’t want to be uncomfortable even for a minute. ”

People skipped belting up because it took too long. His solution was the famous three-point belt with a simple clip, which can be put on in seconds with a single hand.

6Text Messages Save Diabetics

The human memory can be pretty awful. We’re easily distracted. That’s bad news for diabetes patients, who need to regularly check their blood glucose levels and take medication. Modern technology offers an interesting solution: Send people frequent reminders by text.

Teenagers get distracted a lot and also check texts a lot. A pilot study in Ohio found that text reminders increased treatment adherence among adolescents. In fact, after three months, patients who received frequent texts were three times less likely to forget to take their medication.

Another University of Chicago study on 74 staff members found similar results. Those with the worst blood sugar before the trial showed the biggest overall improvement. Total cost of care, including complications, dropped 8.8 percent.

People who aren’t diabetics get medical benefits from texts, too. Improper contraceptive use results in one million unintended pregnancies every year in the US. When researchers sent text reminders to women, the fraction taking oral contraceptives rose from 54 to 64 percent. Half even asked to continue receiving the messages once the study was over.

5Typed Prescriptions Reduce Errors

Among doctors’ many fine qualities, handwriting doesn’t rank very highly. That’s a big problem because handwritten prescriptions dominate in US healthcare, and one study found that 37 percent of these handwritten prescriptions result in an error. That doesn’t even count totally unreadable prescriptions, where pharmacists have to call the prescriber.

Every year, 7,000 die due to hospital medication errors. One study found that 61 percent of medication errors result from poor handwriting.

The solution is simple: Type prescriptions out on a computer. The 37-percent error rate for handwritten prescriptions drops to 7 percent with a computerized system. But there are two barriers to change. First, physicians are often set in their ways. Second, a suitable system costs money. While error reductions could save money in the long term, hospitals are reluctant to invest the upfront fees.

Australia addressed the problem in the 1990s with incentives, and now 90 percent of their prescriptions are issued electronically.

4K1 Syringe

Every year, dirty syringes kill 1.3 million people. While some victims use illicit drugs, most simply receive injections from clinics with limited funds. Using every syringe twice halves the number a facility needs to buy, adding up to significant savings. Yet given that diseases from reused syringes cost $100 billion annually, it’ll be much better for everyone if reuse just stopped.

Inventor Mark Koska’s solution was the K1 Auto Disable Syringe. It can be used only once—once the plunger goes down, it locks and can’t be drawn back. And it costs the same to manufacture as a standard syringe.

Koska received an anonymous video from Tanzania of a needle being used on four-year-old, then an adult HIV patient, and then a one-year-old baby. When he showed the video to a Tanzanian minister, the government agreed to use his syringes exclusively. The program costs an extra $7 million but will save $70 million each year.

3Tetris Reduces Trauma

After playing the game Tetris for an extended length of time, you start seeing blocks everywhere. There are blocks when you dream, blocks when you close your eyes . . . everything in your world becomes blocks. The same thing can happen with any repetitive pattern game—people may be more familiar with it from games like Candy Crush nowadays.

The widely experienced phenomenon speaks to the unusual way games like Tetris play with our brains. This convinced researchers to look into how it affects those with mental health problems, and they’ve found something curious. Tetris seems to protect against PTSD and flashbacks.

Researchers showed experiment participants a disturbing film. During the next six hours, some answered trivia, some played Tetris, and others did nothing much at all. Over the following week, people who’d played the 1980s classic had far fewer flashbacks.

The psychologist behind the study believes the spatial concentration required to play may interfere with how the brain consolidates traumatic memories.

2Lucky Iron Fish

Iron deficiency is the most widespread health problem worldwide. In developing countries, it affects half of all pregnant women and 40 percent of young children. Anemia contributes to 20 percent of maternal deaths. It impairs physical and cognitive development and reduces adult productivity. It’s the only nutrient deficiency that significantly affects industrialized nations. In total, it hurts around two billion people.

Cambodia is one of the countries most affected. Much of the population survives on less than a dollar per day and can’t afford red meat or other foods high in iron. Cooking food in an iron pot can leach iron safely into a meal, but iron cooking pots are expensive, and most of Cambodia’s population cook in aluminum.

In 2008, Canadian epidemiologist Christopher Charles had the idea to give locals a lump of iron to put in their cooking pots. Local women didn’t like the idea and used the lumps as doorstops instead. He tried an iron piece in the shape of a lotus leaf, but that proved just as unpopular. Then he hit a breakthrough.

Local elders told Charles about the kantrop, a popular fish considered good luck. Charles gave an iron fish charm to every household in a rural village. The local women happily put the symbol of luck into their cooking pots, and within a year, almost all cases of anemia in the village had disappeared.

The fish provides 75 percent of the daily requirement of iron, and lasts for up to five years. The work of distributing the fish is ongoing, and people can donate to the project online.

1The Sign That Stops Suicides

Japan’s most infamous suicide spot is Aokigahara, a forest on the northwestern base of Mount Fuji. Hundreds of people attempt suicide there every year. Many suffer from debt. For example, police found one 44-year-old man after two weeks in the forest, weak but alive. He owed 1.5 million Yen ($15,000) to a consumer loan company.

So in 2007, a loan shark victims’ association put up a sign in the forest. The sign includes the phone number of a hotline to talk about financial woes, along with the following simple message: “Your loan problem can definitely be solved.”

Within a year, 29 people called the helpline from within the forest itself. All had planned to kill themselves, and all decided not to.

+Lists Save Lives

Modern medical care can go spectacularly wrong, often due to doctors’ carelessness and forgetfulness. One effective way to overcome human error is to use simple lists.

For example, half of intensive-care patients in the US receive a catheter as part of their treatment. Around 80,000 of them end up with an infection as a result, and 28,000 die from their infections. A trial at nine hospitals in the US introduced a five-point checklist for people receiving catheters. The list was simple: Wash hands with soap, clean the patient’s skin, apply sterile drapes, wear sterile clothes, and then dress the catheter site. When the checklist was implemented, the hospitals eliminated all infections, saving 1,500 lives.

In industrialized countries, a quarter of inpatient surgeries result in complications, comprising half of all adverse events in hospitals. Half of those are preventable. To reduce those numbers, the WHO created a 19-point checklist for use in all surgeries. Some of the steps are surprisingly simple, including every team member introducing themselves at the start of a surgery. Yet it’s been tried in dozens of countries, and it reduced complications by one-third. In one analysis, deaths due to surgical mistakes were halved by having a checklist in place.

Since YouTube was founded (15 years ago, yes we are that old), it has been known as an experimental space. YouTubers are just people that upload their crazy ideas for the world to see. More recently, with some of YouTube’s updated policies, the amount of crazy content seems to be decreasing. Here a list of channels where the creators defy conformity to continue to push the boundaries of originality…. and good sense. These guys really risk their lives for the views.

10 Disturbing Channels From The Weird Part Of YouTube

10Hot Ones
Spicy food, 8.16 million subscribers

Let’s start our list with a very popular entry. In his channel “First We Feast”, host Sean Evans interviews celebrities while they attempt to eat chicken wings covered in spicy sauces. The wings get increasingly hot as the rounds go on. Not every artist enjoys (or is able to handle) spicy food. Hilarity ensues.

This is arguably the most lighthearted and popular channel on this list. Spicy food is appreciated by many people. However, the consequences of consuming some species of chilies can be quite grim. Capsaicin, the main bio-active compound in chili peppers, can cause severe symptoms in the human body. These symptoms include: stomach aches, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms are often seen on the show, including the diarrhea part (we are looking at you Bobby Lee).

Furthermore, a man has reportedly passed away in 2019 in the UK. He consumed a fish cake, that was so hot that burned his throat and caused him to asphyxiate to death.

9Furious Pete
Competitive eating, 5.15 million subscribers

Competitive eating has been around since long before YouTube was founded. It is not a surprise that this practice was adopted by people seeking likes on the internet. Peter Czerwinski holds several Guinness World Records^[4] in competitive eating, an achievement he was able to transform into a successful YouTube career. I myself cannot watch people eating without getting hungry myself.

Most notably, he can be seen in his channel eating a pizza of the size of a dinner table and an 11 lb jar of Nutella in one go! However, eating challenges are not only fun and games. Some contests can be quite nasty even to watch. Check out our 10 Unappetising Facts About Eating Contests list. It goes without saying the risks involved in overeating. To name only a few, it can lead to obesity, diabetes and coronary heart disease. Even more concerning, this year a woman died in Australia while participating in an eating contest, after consuming a large number of lamingtons, a traditional Australian cake that is nearly as delicious as New Zealand’s pavlova!

8Mustang Wanted
Altitude stunts, 295 thousand subscribers

As a random subscriber commented on one of his videos: “This guys has balls made of diamonds”. Do you remember those high altitude videos that were going viral a while back? Those scary videos where Russian kids would hang from tall buildings (with no safety gear at all) risking falling to their deaths? Well, Pavlo Gennadiyovich Ushivets, made his YouTube channel about ignoring all the instincts that evolution taught us over the past 200,000 years.

It’s silly to explain how falling from the top of the1,356 ft tall Princess Tower of Dubai would be detrimental to your health. That does not seem to scare Pavlo, as the Princess Tower is only one of the buildings you can see him dangling from without any equipment. In our society where people die while taking selfies, Pavlo certainly stands out from the rest.

7StreetBeefs
Mixed Martial Arts, 1.39 million subscribers

In its early days, YouTube was mostly about cat videos . . . and people fighting. The OG’s of the internet may remember Kimbo Slice, the king of backyard brawls, who unfortunately passed away in 2016 In those days, you could barely see any blood due to the low definition of the cameras around.

In these days, MMA fighting is still a popular genre on YouTube. No doubt the fighting looks even gorier in high definition. The channel StreetBeefs is one of the most successful amateur fighting organizers to grace the platform. The videos do not shy away from showing two young lads slugging it out. Even though deaths are relatively rare in MMA bouts and have never occurred with StreetBeefs, in 2019 at least 15 casualties were reported as resulting from competitions like these.

6skippy62able
Inhaling things, 2.52 million subscribers

This one is easily one of the weirdest entries on our list. We are all aware that alcohol must be consumed responsibly. However, when we think “consume”, the word “drink” comes to mind, rather than the word “inhale”. Kevin Thomas Strahle, also a competitive eater, decided to get a “competitive” edge, attracting views by inhaling stuff. That includes, alcohol, soda and other fizzy drinks.

On his latest videos, he has been vocal about YouTube limiting exposure on his videos, labelling them as non-advertiser friendly. This time we must side with YouTube’s decision, due to the fact that this is a very unhealthy activity. Additionally to all the usual undesirable side effects of ingesting alcohol by drinking, inhaling has other problems: The practice is known to increase the chance of overdose, damaging the lungs and cause addiction. Furthermore, it seems that he is in severe pain while doing it. Generally, Kevin’s channel is basically about ingesting anything weird – including eating a whole cactus and drinking a 20 year old bottle of Crystal Pepsi (the video of which includes a serious vomiting warning).

10 Short Films Hiding On YouTube That Feature Huge Stars

5PaulsGear
Motorcycling, 8.61 thousand subscribers

The adrenaline rush you get by riding a motorcycle is something that is quite unique. Even a religious experience to some. That being said, the top speed that most people will ever experience while riding a bike is not likely to exceed the 80 mph (about 120 km/h). Maybe slightly more than that if you are a bit of a daredevil. There are reasons for speed limits. No safety precautions can save you from a high speed crash, especially while on a motorcycle.

However, YouTuber PaulsGear (his name seems to be somewhat of a secret) can be seen on his channel driving at an astounding speed of 186 mph (or about 300 km/h). Admittedly, that can only be achieved (within the confines of the law) at an autobahn, access highways in Germany that have sections with no speed limit. This mysterious character of PaulsGear often hides his face by wearing a bike helmet. It is unlikely, however, that the helmet would save his life in the event of a crash at his preferred speed.

4BlueWorldTV
Marine diving, 632 thousand subscribers

Most people believe that space is final frontier. Well, be surprised to know that it’s not the only final frontier. About 5% of our oceans have been explored and charted, kind of embarrassing given that our planet is about 70% water. In order to fix that and educate us, marine biologist Jonathan Bird created his channel, focused on sea exploration. In his videos, he can be seen swimming with several species of sharks, see snakes and octopuses.

On top of the marine life, other dangers are associated with scuba diving, such as drowning (obviously), decompression sickness and arterial air embolism. The last one happens to a diver when bubbles form in an artery on ascent and block his blood-flow or. Basically, your blood boiling in your veins. Jonathan is an experienced diver and is very mindful about safety, but a regular person should avoid facing the ocean like he does.

3Göran Winblad
Ultra marathon, 3.1 thousand subscribers

Can you run a 5K (3.1 miles)? Good for you! How about a 10K (5.2 miles)? That’s even better, but only about a quarter of the distance of a marathon, which is 42.2 km (26.2 miles). It takes a very physically fit person to run a marathon and still requires months’ worth of preparation. Some people take running to a whole other level, by becoming ultramarathon runners. For a ultramarathon runner, 50K (31 miles) are common place, and some races can stretch up to 100 miles. Regardless of the benefits of running, the human body is not designed to go that far.

The health impacts of running that much, with no breaks, include nausea and/or vomiting, damaging your organs and immune system. Scientists have actually determined running a ultramarathon to be an health-damaging, rather than beneficial.

2drugslab
Taking drugs, 1.03 million subscribers

Ah the Netherlands. As you may know, the drug policy is a bit looser there than in most countries (we are getting increasingly into controversial territory). In their channel, Nellie Benner, Rens Polman and Bastiaan Rosman try a lot of different kinds of drugs. The substances include (but are not limited to) marihuana, cocaine, ecstasy, speed and LSD. All three are fairly young and attractive. While intoxicated, they do all sorts of activities that range from entertaining to insane.

One would think that censorship would be all over this channel right? Not in Holland. The whole thing is sponsored by BNNVARA,^[16] a Dutch public broadcaster, in an effort to draw attention to drug abuse and responsible consumption. Their heart rates and body temperatures are monitored for safety purposes. Regardless of any precautions taken, drug consumption can always lead to overdosing.

1Brave Wilderness
Stings and bites, 15.6 million subscribers

Finally our number 1! Getting people interested in science and nature is no easy task. A field trip goes a long way, but few people (if anybody) are willing to go to the extremes that Nathaniel “Coyote” Peterson, a wildlife educator, went to draw attention his cause. You see, getting bitten or stung by a bug can be such a harrowing experience that the Schmidt sting pain index was developed to put a number to a feeling that words don’t do quite justice.

Only a madman would subject himself to that voluntarily, right? Well, on his channel, Coyote was stung by pretty much every animal that he could get his hands on. In fact, he was already stung by four animals that made our own list of the Top 10 Most Horrifyingly Painful Venoms.

10 Eerie Videos Of UFOs Captured On Live Television

As the saying goes, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” This is never truer than when disaster strikes. In times of great misfortune and even catastrophe, there are often only a few people who have the strength and courage to go above and beyond to help others survive.

Many tragedies have led to stories of great self-sacrifice as people have shown immense bravery to save the lives of others. To ensure that their heroism is never forgotten, here are the stories of 10 people who sacrificed their own lives to save others.

10 Frank Foley

Frank Foley wouldn’t be most people’s idea of a typical British spy or hero. After all, he was reportedly small and a little potbellied. He also wore round glasses, so he appeared almost the opposite of James Bond. Yet, according to Sir Alex Younger, the current head of MI6, Foley was “a consummately effective intelligence officer.”

After Kristallnacht and before the outbreak of World War II, he went undercover as a passport control officer for the British embassy in Berlin. As he was fully aware of the poor treatment the Jews received from the Nazis, Foley decided to take action by forging passports and altering visas to help Jewish people escape Hitler’s rule.^[1]

Although he lacked diplomatic immunity, Foley even entered various Nazi concentration camps to issue travel documents and visas. Due to his heroic actions, he is believed to have rescued more than 10,000 men, women, and children in Nazi Germany.

9 Titanic Engineers

Unfortunately, many movies based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic have failed to depict the sacrifice of the liner’s 35 engineering staff members who lost their lives during the maritime disaster. As none of the engineering crew survived the sinking on April 15, 1912, there was sadly no firsthand account of the men’s actions at the official inquiry.^[2]

However, there is no doubt that every engineer remained aboard to maintain the RMS Titanic’s electrical power during the sinking. By keeping the liner’s lights on, they helped to reduce panic among passengers while enabling the wireless officers to send distress signals to nearby ships.

8 The Chernobyl Three

On April 26, 1986, one of four nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded, which led to 400 times more radiation than the Hiroshima atomic bomb in 1945. However, the damage from the disaster would have been considerably worse if not for the heroism of three brave volunteers.

A few days after the disaster, scientists discovered that the molten nuclear material produced would melt through the concrete reactor flooring. Consequently, it would seep into the pools of water below. This would cause a radiation-contaminated steam explosion that would destroy the nuclear plant as well as the additional three reactors. It would cause irreparable damage to the world.

To prevent the nuclear fallout, the 20 million liters (5 mil gal) of water needed to be drained, which required the correct valves to be manually turned down. Senior engineer Valeri Bespalov, mechanical engineer Alexei Ananenko, and shift supervisor Boris Baranov volunteered to undertake the mission that many deemed to be suicide, although it would improve the fate of millions of people.

As some of the water was drained prior to their mission, the three men entered in wet suits with radioactive water reaching their knees and successfully shut down the valves. Thankfully, the three men survived the mission. Two of them are still alive to this day and continue to work in the nuclear industry. Unfortunately, Boris Baranov passed away of a heart attack in 2005.^[3]

7 Benjamin Clark

Benjamin Keefe Clark didn’t serve as a police officer or firefighter on September 11, 2001. He was working as a chef, prepping meals for those at the Fiduciary Trust Company on the 96th floor offices in the South Tower. When the plane hit the building, he didn’t try to escape the disaster himself. Instead, he took the steps to guide others to safety.^[4]

Reportedly, the former Marine ensured that everyone in his department as well as in all the 96th floor offices evacuated the building immediately. Following the tragic event, a Fiduciary official credited Benjamin with saving hundreds of lives. For example, once they reached the 78th floor, he reportedly assisted a woman in a wheelchair. Despite his undeniable heroism, he didn’t survive the tragic event.

6 John Robert Fox

World War II was undoubtedly filled with many brave soldiers who put their lives on the line to save their comrades. While we might sadly never hear of their acts of bravery, we do know the story of Lieutenant John Robert Fox. The 29-year-old GI served in Sommocolonia, a mountain village in Italy which was subject to brutal fighting between US and German forces.

On Christmas Day, the US forces had gained control of the picturesque town, with members of Fox’s unit kindly handing out cheese and chocolates to villagers. The next day, the German counterattack began in the early hours of the morning, as expected. As Fox was an artillery spotter, his role required him to radio coordinates to inform the units where to deliver their payloads.

As the Germans’ attack was severe, the US unit was forced to retreat. Hiding in his lookout position on the second floor of a house, he used the radio to contact his unit to request that artillery fire be directed at the village. This would provide the troops with enough time to retreat.

When the artillery officer stated, “Fox, that will be on you,” he reportedly replied, “Fire it. There’s more of them than there are us.” This sacrifice provided necessary cover for the retreating soldiers, which allowed the US unit to regroup and reclaim Sommocolonia a few days later.^[5]

5 Jack Phillips

Jack Phillips, a 25-year-old senior wireless operator, also proved to be one of the many heroes during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. On the evening of April 14, 1912, Phillips was working through a backlog of personal messages from the passengers and crew. However, he and Harold Bride, a junior wireless officer, did pass on several messages about iceberg warnings to Captain Edward Smith.

As the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 PM, Phillips continued to work in the wireless room. When Bride came to take over from Phillips, Captain Smith entered and ordered Phillips to send out a distress signal, calling for assistance from nearby ships and providing the liner’s estimated position.

Both wireless officers worked tirelessly until 2:00 AM sending distress signals. Then Captain Smith informed them that they had done their duty and ordered them to abandon ship. While Bride took the opportunity to throw flotation devices into the water to help others, Phillips remained at his post in the wireless room sending distress signals until the final minute of the liner’s sinking.

Although Phillips managed to climb onto the upturned Lifeboat B, he sadly passed away and slipped into the water. Thankfully, Harold Bride survived the event. He died in 1956.^[6]

4 Maximilian Kolbe

Many stories have emerged of truly brave individuals who selflessly risked their lives to save others during the Holocaust. One story that is impossible to forget is that of Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1941.

The Nazis slowly starved prisoners at the death camp as they each received small rations that couldn’t sustain a child. Every prisoner received a cup of imitation coffee each morning and weak soup and half a loaf of bread following work. With everyone struggling to secure a place to receive their ration of food, Father Maximilian Kolbe would stand aside to allow others to eat, which meant there was often limited food left for him.

There was also a rule in Auschwitz that 10 men would be killed if one attempted to escape from the concentration camp. A man from Kolbe’s bunker escaped in July 1941, so 10 men were selected to be starved to death.

As Franciszek Gajowniczek, one of the chosen prisoners, cried in anguish, Kolbe stepped forward to the commandant and said, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children.” The commandant accepted his request, and the priest took Gajowniczek’s place.

After two weeks of hunger and thirst, Kolbe was the only person in the group who was fully conscious. He raised his left arm to Bock, an executioner, who injected the priest with a fatal dose of carbolic acid on August 14, 1941.^[7]

3 Godwin Ajala

When Nigerian-born Godwin Ajala first arrived in the United States, he was forced to endure various poorly paid jobs until he secured a permanent position as an access control officer at the World Trade Center. His role required him to walk various floors and ride the elevators at the two towers to secure the building and provide assistance for small emergencies.

When he wasn’t working at the towers, he was preparing to take the New York State bar exam.

When the planes hit the World Trade Center, 33-year-old Ajala selflessly helped thousands of people to evacuate the towers. He reportedly held the door open for people as they fled the building, and he guided others out of the towers to safety. Sadly, he later succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a coma, passing away the following Sunday.^[8]

2 The Village Of Eyam

Although many stories have emerged of individuals sacrificing their lives for others, there are very few in the history books about whole villages selflessly risking their own lives. Yet this is exactly what happened when the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, England, was subjected to the bubonic plague. The disease was carried into the village on a bale of damp cloth. It carried fleas from London, which was struggling with the Black Death.

Forty-two villagers passed away from the pestilence, which made its way across the small community between September and December 1665. Unsurprisingly, many people wanted to flee the village by spring 1666.

However, to prevent the Black Death from traveling to nearby towns, such as Bakewell and Sheffield, William Mompesson, the new rector, attempted to convince the locals to remain in the village to quarantine the plague. The villagers agreed to his request and remained in Eyam.

In little more than a year, 260 people passed away from the plague to ensure that their neighbors didn’t suffer the same fate.^[9]

1 Rick Rescorla

Rick Rescorla, a former British military officer, served as head of security for Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center’s South Tower. The 1993 terrorist attack on the complex left a big impression on Rescorla, who had already highlighted the security weaknesses prior to the 1993 bombing.

Confident that the World Trade Center would experience something similar in the future, Rescorla regularly made employees at the bank embark on escape drills, which saved their lives during the September 11, 2001, attacks.

On 9/11, Rescorla also led people down the stairs to safety while singing Cornish songs to boost morale. What’s more, he reportedly returned to the 10th floor of the South Tower to help others evacuate the building. Although Rescorla was one of more than 2,600 people who sadly died when the towers collapsed, his heroic actions are believed to have saved the lives of more than 2,500 employees.^[10]

We tend to think of history like a comic book: we have heroes, we have villains, the end. But that is not how real life works. People are too complex to be boiled down into one easily digestible image. However, that has not stopped history from conveniently forgetting a few things about some of its most famous figures. From the bizarre, to the disgusting, to the downright horrifying, prepare for a look at the secret lives of ten history class staples you thought you knew.

10Charles Dickens

Iconic English author Charles Dickens is probably the only Victorian figure most people can name. Aside from penning classics like A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist, Dickens was the mind behind everyone’s favorite holiday ghost story, A Christmas Carol. It seems obvious that the man who dreamed up Ebenezer Scrooge’s uplifting transformation would himself have been a pretty kind fellow.

But he was actually kind of an obnoxious creep. When not busy scribbling tales of generosity and love, Dickens was known to be fond of incredibly annoying “pranks.” He would speak in a language he had invented. He would run up to strangers on the street and screech bizarre nonsense riddles at them. And during one particularly insane trip to the beach, he grabbed a random young woman, dragged her down to the water, and threatened to kill her. He claimed he had fallen in love with her and that the two must drown together. So ironically, Dickens was the last guy you wanted over for Christmas dinner.

9Charles Lindbergh

American aviator Charles Lindbergh made history with his famous 1927 non-stop flight across the Atlantic. This world-first rocketed Lindbergh to instant stardom and earned him the adoration of pretty much the entire planet. Maybe a little too much adoration, as it turns out.

Widespread affection and the ability to fly are apparently a recipe for temptation: Lindbergh had mistresses in far-flung locations the world over. When not with his wife Anne, he would spend time with his secretary, Valeska, or one of two sisters in Munich, Germany. These affairs lasted long enough for him to father children with all of them, and then kept right on going. Lindbergh kept a total of three families that knew nothing about the others. He would visit his illegitimate families a few times a year, stay for a few days, show them a good time, and then literally take off again. His children only ever knew him by a fake name.

8Alexander Graham Bell

Any grade school kid can tell you who Alexander Graham Bell was. This genius inventor gave us the telephone and connected people in a way previously thought impossible. Aside from being the grandfather of the smartphone zombie, this heroic inventor was a gleaming beacon of togetherness and social interaction.

So it is pretty ironic that he was also a devoted anti-deaf activist. Bell was a proponent of eugenics—the idea that people with disabilities were defective and should not be allowed to “contaminate” the human gene pool. According to Bell, deaf people were especially threatening to “normal” society, and he worked tirelessly to keep them down. He attempted to have sign language outlawed, deaf teachers thrown out of schools, and the marriages of deaf individuals banned. Most horrifically, like most eugenicists, he was in favor of the sterilization of deaf people. This was all done to destroy deaf culture and force those with hearing loss to simply put up with a society that refused to accommodate them.

7King Edward VII

England’s King Edward VII ruled in the very early years of the 20th century. During that time he did all of the things you would expect an English king to do: he signed treaties, posed for paintings, etc. But bizarrely, this seemingly mundane monarch became best known for the incredibly un-kingly things he did in his spare time.

Specifically, he had lots and lots of extremely kinky sex. After falling out of favor with his mother, Queen Victoria, for allegedly causing the death of his father, he decided to go for broke. No longer worried about repercussions, he embarked on a series of over-the-top sexual escapades that would continue until he eventually took the throne. These included royal wife-swapping, bathing in champagne with prostitutes, and the commissioning of a very special piece of furniture. Being a rather large fellow, the good king found sex to be too much of a workout. His salvation came in the form of an ornate “sex chair,” able to seat three people, which allowed him to get nasty in royal comfort.

6King Tutankhamun

Since archaeologist Howard Carter’s famous 1922 discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, King Tut has become a household name. The mighty ruler is synonymous with the wealth and power of Ancient Egypt. When we think Pharaoh, we think King Tut.

Yet, despite the many discovered paintings of Tutankhamun portraying him as exactly the regal figure we imagine, he was actually anything but. Recent tests performed on his corpse have revealed the true form of this legendary pharaoh.

Like many royal families throughout history, Tut’s was absolutely packed with incest—his parents were brother and sister. As a result, the young king suffered from a range of horrifying deformities including a club foot, severe overbite, skeletal deformations, and abnormally wide hips that required the constant use of a walking stick. Far from the robust ruler we like to imagine, the real King Tut probably needed help to get up from his throne.

5H. G. Wells

When we think H. G. Wells, famed author of classics like The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, we think science fiction. When we think science fiction, we think glasses, social awkwardness, and general nerdiness. We may not like ourselves for it, but we can not help but see Wells as just another shy, scrawny bookworm.

In truth, he had more sex than you will ever have, dream of, or daydream about. After a frustratingly boring childhood in 19th century England, he decided to really let his hair down and enjoy life. And so, between dreaming up alien invasions and invisible madmen, he went to great lengths to build a truly legendary collection of sexual adventures. Adventures which, ever the writer, he recorded in a detailed journal. The daughter of a close friend was described as “most interestingly hairy,” and the friend herself as “insatiable.” An Australian novelist was “entertained” on a copy of a bad review she had received, which was burned afterward. Wells even described himself as “Your Lord, the Jaguar” to some lovers. These erotic escapades continued right up until his death.

4Ulysses S. Grant

Aside from being the 18th President of The United States, Ulysses S. Grant is best known for his role in the Civil War. Working closely with Abraham Lincoln, he led the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy and ended slavery in the US. His valiant actions made him a hero to millions . . . millions who probably had no idea just how racist he really was.

While it is true he believed slavery was evil and worked to end it; he was still a dedicated white supremacist. He believed people of different races could never live together peacefully, and so after freeing the slaves and becoming President, he devised a plan. Rather than work to solve racial tensions among whites and their newly-freed slaves, he would simply ship all the black people to an isolated island. The Caribbean island of Santo Domingo was to be given $1.5 million in exchange for allowing roughly four million forcefully relocated former slaves to stay there. The proposal gained frightening support before thankfully falling through at the last minute.

3Hans Christian Andersen

Famed Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is second only to The Brothers Grimm when it comes to beloved childhood fairy tales. The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, even The Snow Queen, the story that was adapted into Frozen, were all his. We tend to think of him as a gentle, pure sort who had a permanent smile on his face.

And he probably did, but not for the reason you think. Andersen, a socially awkward and intensely lonely man, was completely obsessed with masturbation. Too shy to ever actually attempt sex, but with quite a sexual appetite, he often enjoyed some “alone time.” He even made a note of each, and every time he did so in his diary, as well as the person who had inspired that particular session. He developed a habit of visiting brothels and paying the prostitutes just to talk to him for a little while. He then went home, took care of himself, and made another journal entry, which sometimes consisted of nothing but the words “penis sore.”

2Mother Teresa

The name Mother Teresa instantly conjures thoughts of selflessness, kindness, and generosity. This Catholic missionary devoted years of her life to easing India’s rampant disease and poverty. So it should not come as much of a surprise to learn that she was canonized in late 2016, officially becoming Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

What may come as a surprise, however, was her horrifying treatment of the patients in her hospitals. Mother Teresa adhered to the nightmarish philosophy that the greatest gift a person can be given is to “participate in the sufferings of Christ.” Therefore, she would stubbornly refuse painkillers to seriously sick or wounded patients and allow wounds to remain open. The suffering, she believed, would bring people closer to Jesus. And even this terrifying cult philosophy aside, these facilities were laughably unfit to cure anyone; Mother Teresa encouraged her volunteers to remain completely medically untrained because “God empowers the weak and ignorant.” As such, needles were often reused, and curable patients were written off as lost causes. She may have meant well, but even a brief time in the care of Mother Teresa would probably have left lasting damage.

1Tibetan Monks

If you have ever seen a movie set in Asia, you have more than likely seen a Tibetan monk. These mellow, red-robed Buddhists, which include the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, seem like the most peaceful men in history. High in their lofty mountain palaces, they meditate and spend their days in tranquility.

But that was not always the case. As recently as 1959 Tibet was less Nirvana and more Nazi Germany, gripped by a brutal system of segregation and exploitation. The benevolent monks—called Lamas—we know and love were once vicious tyrants that enslaved their people through fear and a crippling tax system.

The callous Lamas treated everyone without their own extravagant castle as purely expendable; kidnapping, rape, and torture were common practice. The rare few that stood up to them did not do so for long—cut hamstrings, and removed eyeballs were standard punishments for the disobedient. This horrifying regime was toppled after China invaded Tibet in 1950, finally ending the monks’ reign of terror and transforming them into the smiling clichés they are today.

We expect a leading organization in the international space race to develop insane tech, spearhead invaluable innovation, and come up with solutions to problems so far above the mental capacity of us mere mortals we might fail to comprehend. However, sharing technology is not everyone’s business. Naturally, NASA also has to solve everyday problems that we take for granted here on Earth, made more complicated by the absence of oxygen and gravity or the dangers of temperatures far below freezing.

Luckily for us, NASA is quite generous in how they share their inventions, which makes it possible for us to use them to better our own lives in the process. Here are ten innovation spinoffs developed by NASA that changed many lives here on Earth

Related: Ten Most Expensive NASA Programs

10 Breast Cancer Detection

Working in space has many downsides. One of which is exposure to radiation. It was found that astronauts working on the International Space Station (ISS) were exposed to radiation equal to as many as 1,000 chest X-rays.

Although we are constantly exposed to various levels of radiation here on Earth, radiation in large quantities can be quite cancerous. Intensive preventative care and detection technology were therefore required to prevent their colleagues from developing terrible life-threatening cancers. NASA invested in research to study how sections of DNA can measure a person’s radiation exposure and assess the damage.

The BioScan System has been proven to be able to scan, find, and confirm the presence of cancer in the breasts by detecting the cancerous cells’ ability to recruit an alternative blood supply—a clear red flag of malignant lesions.^[1]

9 Safety Grooving Highways

Hydroplaning during rainstorms is a condition that causes the tires of a car rolling or sliding along the slippery road to be lifted away from the surface due to water pressure. This leads to a loss of control of the vehicle and is considered the main reason uncontrolled skidding happens during inclement weather.

As you can imagine, hydroplaning is a terrible thing to happen to a spacecraft returning to Earth at insane speeds, so NASA jumped to task. In the early ’60s, safety grooves in the runway were proposed, which would channel the water off the surface, providing better traction.

It wasn’t long before the innovation was used to improve the roads Americans travel on every day, leading to a reduction in almost 85% of wet-weather accidents since the implementation of the grooves.^[2]

8 Apollo-Era Life Rafts

Space travel has become more sophisticated over recent years, with shuttles landing on Earth in one piece, with designated runways. But there was a time when it wasn’t as easy, and pods would find themselves deep in the ocean in a maneuver called a splashdown.

NASA teamed up with a man named Jim Givens, who was working on a similar invention, something that would keep the astronauts afloat while the search for them in the vast ocean continued. The collaboration developed an inflatable raft system that could be deployed once they hit the water.

The Givens Raft has been adapted for commercial use and, after many years of use and adaptations, has saved upward of 450 lives that would have been claimed by the sea.^[3]

7 Airplane Winglets

When a fuel crisis in the 1970s threatened global air travel, the entire industry almost collapsed. Adversity breeds opportunity, so a band of NASA engineers and scientists came together to explore new fuel-saving technologies.

The Aircraft Efficiency Program was a 10-year program to develop various aeronautical technologies in the hopes of making future craft up to 50% more fuel efficient. It was to be completed by 1985 but was extended.

In partnership with Boeing, they initiated a winglet flight test based on the findings of Richard Whitcomb and proved a 7% increase in lift-drag ratio with a 20% decrease in induced drag. This finding led to an overall reduction in fuel consumption and millions in fuel savings since the winglets were introduced.^[4]

6 Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator

The first Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator was developed by Dr. Michel Mirowski, a cardiologist at the Johns Hopkins School for Medicine. It was implanted by Dr. Levi Watkings of the same institute.

But the life-saving technology we know today is derived from NASA’s space circuitry technology and can prevent erratic heart action known as arrhythmias. The implanted unit consists of a microcomputer power source and two heart sensors that can deliver corrective electrical shocks in the event of an irregular heartbeat.

The discovery of polymers also made it possible to implant pacemakers in complicated cases of congestive heart failure, and it all started with an attempt to build a passenger jet that could break the sound barrier.^[5]

5 Invisible Braces

Some of us are lucky enough to have avoided those uncomfortable wire tracks that slowly pull our teeth together like some contraption from the Stone Age. Still, many people around the world will have to adorn braces at some stage in their lives.

Up until the late ’80s, braces were made from a very noticeable metal that held your teeth together. Sometimes, they added colorful rubber bands for some flash. NASA, in conjunction with others, invented translucent ceramics that became a popular component in “invisible braces,” which went on to be a bestseller in the world of orthodontics.

It’s not the only way NASA has influenced the world of orthodontics, with the use of alloy, ultrasound, and X-rays to detect and improve overall dental health.^[6]

4 Smoke Detectors

Although smoke detectors have been around for a while, it wasn’t until the 1960s that they were adjusted and made available for home use. The device was cheap, easy to install, widely used, and frustrating as heck. Legislation made it compulsory, but the frustrating part was that false alarms became a common thing.

Around the time smoke detectors became a household item, NASA was busy finding ways to prevent false alarms in Skylab and other space labs. So they, working with Honeywell Corporation, set out to invent a new technology that was sensitive to differences in smoke and other fumes. They also fashioned the detector into a handy plastic unit that could be adjusted according to needs.

The smoke detector has saved thousands of lives since its invention (not to mention reducing the cost of false alarm callouts), with the adjustable smoke detector likely preventing many people from going insane.^[7]

3 Cell Phone Camera

When you dip your chin, tilt your shoulder, and bend one of your legs ninety degrees for your next selfie, hold out a thought for NASA as they contributed to the development of the cell phone camera.

NASA did not develop the cell phone camera, but what they contributed was key technology that helped with its creation. Active pixel sensors are a key element in digital imagery, which NASA developed for space travel. This tech, in turn, gave rise to what’s known as complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors (CMOS).

CMOS image sensors originated from NASA’s desire to create fast, cheap spacecraft but also led to the development of charge-coupled devices, which allowed for high-quality digital photos by the late 1980s. Eric Fossum further pushed for even smaller and lighter machinery using the CMOS tech to create active pixel sensors. Say cheese!^[8]

2 Tracking Systems

Initially used on low-orbiting satellites and distant geostationary satellites, the cross-use of tracking technology has come a long way.

Since the 1970s, NASA has provided aid and expertise to the Cospas-Sarsat program, which is an international satellite-aided search and rescue effort. By utilizing the Search and Rescue System Satellite Aided Tracking System (SARSAT), multiple search and rescue type beacons have been developed (for example, the current 406 Beacon), enabling explorers to venture on land, air, and sea with a sense of security not previously known.

It is estimated that over 50,000 people worldwide in life-threatening situations, have been rescued by the inventions of the SARSAT beacons.^[9]

1 Plant Texting

If you do not already have enough notifications on your phone, it might soon be possible to receive texts from your thirsty plants demanding water.

BioServe Space Technologies, a company sponsored by NASA, has developed a leaf sensor of sorts that can detect whether your plants require water using electrical pulses. The world was quick to realize its agricultural benefits, and massive funding has subsequently led to amazing advancements in the field.

For those who do not have the greenest of fingers, it is quite possible that in the near future, your plant can be fitted with a custom device to alert you to low water levels. We will leave it to you to decide whether you want the thought of your plant dying of thirst while you are away hanging over your head.^[10]

Dogs have definitely won the propaganda war when it comes to pet popularity. Dogs are man’s best friend while cats are those aloof animals who will only occasionally allow a human to touch them. For all their stand-offish behaviour humans still tolerate cats enough to let them poop in a tray in their homes. Yet sometimes a cat repay their owners and will show them that feline affection is a real thing. Sometimes their displays of love are downright heroic.

Here are ten cats that have saved lives.

Top 10 Job Titles Held By Cats

10 Warming a Baby

When a tiny baby, less than 12 weeks old, was abandoned by his parents in Russia the outlook for his survival was not good. The weather was brutally cold and it looked unlikely that the child would survive the night. The infant was saved however by a local cat named Masha.

Many people fear having a baby and a cat in the same house because of the risk of a cat deciding that the baby’s face is an ideal spot to sit. In the case of Masha it was by climbing on top of the baby that they saved the child. Perhaps because the baby was in a box it was doubly irresistible to the cat.

Masha’s warmth kept the child alive and by meowing loudly was able to draw the attention of a neighbour. The child was taken to hospital and cared for while a search was made for his parents. Masha was rewarded with large quantities of treats and petting by admiring residents of the nearby apartment block.^[1]

9 Cancer Finder

Dogs have long been trained to detect things no human could sense. They have even been put to work in medicine where a dog’s nose can pick up the chemical signatures of diseases as diverse as Parkinson’s, Malaria, and Cancer. Training a cat is slightly more tricky. Sometimes though a cat can spontaneously show this amazing ability.

Sue McKenzie had spent twenty years living with a cat called Tom who very rarely showed her any affection. One day however Tom began to repeatedly bat at the back of his owner’s neck and meow loudly. Worrying her elderly cat was showing signs of an illness she took him to the vet. When the vet found nothing wrong with Tom it was suggested that maybe Sue was the one who needed help.

A scan revealed a cancerous lump. The doctors successfully treated Sue but gave her a stern lecture on always listening to her cat. Sue could not have known Tom would save her life when she welcomed the young stray into her home.^[2]

8 Diabetes Detector

Rescuing an animal can be one of the best things a person can do. Not only do you give another living thing a home the animal repays you with companionship and can improve your mental and physical health. For Hazel Parkyn her rescue cat Walter has saved her life over 50 times.

Hazel suffers from diabetes and her blood sugar level sometimes drops dangerously in the night as she sleeps. When this happens Walter detects it, perhaps by smelling chemical changes, he smacks her in the face to wake her up. This allows her to treat the low blood sugar before it becomes dangerous.

Ironically Hazel had bought a dog in hopes of training it to warn her if she was in danger. The dog proved to be useless in this task while Walter sits by Hazel’s bed at night ready to pounce.^[3]

7 Seizure Sensor

Cats are not always the most gentle of doctors. If a patient is about to suffer a seizure it is not usual medical practice for a doctor to bite them. Biting, however, is exactly what Blake does to his owner.

Glen Schallman has a range of illnesses that can bring on dangerous seizures at any time. While he might be able to detect the signs of an oncoming episode during his sleep a seizure could prove fatal. When he adopted Blake however he found that the young cat was giving him advance warning of an attack – by biting his toes.

Glen is now the oldest person ever recorded with his combination of illnesses and this can in part be put down to the tender ministrations of his feline protector. Blake was not trained to act as a guardian over his sleeping owner but has proved to be a trustworthy nurse.^[4]

6 Dog Fighter

Despite their reputation as man’s best friend dog can, sometimes, turn against humans. A dog bite can be a serious thing and is particularly risky for a child. When Jeremy, a four year old boy with autism, was attacked by a dog he might have sustained serious injuries.

Jeremy was riding his bike outside his home when Scrappy, a neighbour’s dog, grabbed his leg and began to shake him violently. It was then that Jeremy’s family cat Tara literally leapt into action. She launched herself at the dog. The dog turned tail and ran back to his home. Jeremy was left needing seven stitches but his injuries could have been much worse.

Tara was a stray that had followed the family home from the park one day. In return for her bravery against the larger dog Tara has since gone on to fame and acclaim. As well as multiple awards she has ‘thrown’ out the opening pitch at a baseball game and June the 3rd was named as “Tara the Hero Cat Day.”

10 Outrageous Stories Of Cats’ Lives Saved In Strange Ways

5 Fire Alarm

When a fire broke out in the night at a family home it was not a fire alarm that woke the sleeping family member but their cat Bandit. Bandit ran to the bedroom of owner and scratched her face to wake her up. Most people would be upset by a cat scratch but Bandit’s owners had reason to be happy. Able to call a fire engine their house, and lives, were saved.

The family owned several animals but the other three dogs, four cats, four kittens, and their hamsters and gerbils proved less helpful in their rescue. All the animals and humans in the house were saved.

Had they not been woken by Bandit the billowing smoke in the house might have smothered everyone inside to death. The local fire brigade was quick to praise Bandit’s heroic efforts – but they also suggested that people should invest in fire alarms rather than relying on their pets.^[5]

4 911 Caller

Sometimes a cat can call for help in a literal way. When Gary Rosheisen fell from his wheelchair in his home there was no way for him to reach the telephone to call for help. Yet police turned up and were able to help him anyway. The puzzle was how the police had known to come out.

The police had received a 911 call but no one was one the other end. When they phoned the number back there was no answer so they decided to check the address of the phone call to make sure that everything was okay. It was then that they found Tommy the cat next to the phone.

His owner had once tried to teach Tommy to call 911 in an emergency but did not think it had stuck in the cat’s mind. Making matters easier for Tommy was the fact that 911 was on speed-dial given his owner’s ill-health. With one button Tommy saved the day.^[6]

3 A Good Heart

Claire Nelson took a chance when she adopted a cat called Rusty. Because the cat was quite old most people had passed it by in search of a cuter kitten. Rusty would pay back his new owner almost immediately however.

When she began feeling a little unwell Rusty started acting very strangely. Normally incredibly mellow, as most cats tend to be, Rusty became anxious and would not leave her side. When Nelson tried to lay down the cat jumped up on er chest and would not let her go to sleep. Unable to go to bed and still not feeling well Nelson finally decided to visit the doctor. While waiting for a bus she took a turn for the worse and called 911.

Doctors found that Nelson had suffered a heart attack and needed emergency surgery. Without Rusty causing a fuss she may have gone to bed and never woken up again.^[7]

2 Crimean Tom

The Crimean War of the 1850s saw Russia fighting an alliance of the British Empire, France, and the Ottomans. During the fighting the Russians holding the city of Sevastopol were put under siege for almost a year. When the allied troops finally captured the city they found hardly any supplies to support them left. That is when Tom, a stray cat, stepped in.

Lieutenant William Gair was given orders to find any food left in the city. He was leading searches of cellars when he spotted Tom. Tom looked unusually fat for a cat that had just survived a year-long siege. Gair reasoned that Tom must know where there were plenty of mice – and where there were mice there must be a supply of food. Tom led the British to plentiful stores several times and helped the troops avoid starvation.

For his role in saving the soldiers Gair brought Tom back to Britain with him. Unfortunately Tom did not survive long but Gair had him stuffed and preserved in honour of his bravery. Whether the cat now kept in the Imperial War Museum is really Crimean Tom is unknown, but his story lives on.^[8]

1 Saving a Baby

A cat named Gatubela would seem to be destined to prove heroic. Gatubela is a translation of Catwoman and when Gatubela saw a baby at risk she jumped in to save the day. When baby Samuel crawled towards a steep flight of stairs the cat pounced to try and force him away from the edge.

In a video of the rescue Gatubela can be seen rushing to Samuel and grabbing his back to try and pull him away. When that doesn’t work she jumps in front of him and uses her paws to push and startle him backwards. The baby sits down and Gatubela seems content that he is safe.

Of course cats are still cats. When Samuel is safe Gatubela proceeds to pounce on the baby and bat him around a little. That bit of the video was cut out of most versions found online – hitting a child after you save it is not really the done thing.^[9]

10 Cats With Amazing Careers