In the late 1800s, Delhi had a serious cobra problem. Dangerous snakes were everywhere. The British colonial government offered a simple solution: they would pay a bounty for every dead cobra. Kill a snake, turn it in, and get paid. The city would be safer, and people would be rewarded for their efforts! At first, it worked like a charm. Cobra skins arrived, and officials celebrated. But people noticed something clever: it was easier to breed cobras than hunt them. The bount

In late-1800s Paris, the body of a young woman was pulled from the Seine River. No one knew her name, and no family came forward to claim her. What drew attention was not the tragedy of her death, but the calm, almost smiling expression on her face.A pathologist was so captivated that he made a plaster cast of it.   Copies of the cast soon spread across France, appearing in homes, cafés, and art studios. By the early 1900s, the mask had become one of the most reproduced face

Long before giant soda cups ruled gas stations, 19th-century Americans were falling for a surprisingly similar trick – free lunch saloons.   It’s the 1870s. You stroll into a bustling city bar. A sign promises a free lunch. And it’s not some skimpy snack – it’s meat, bread, cheese, pickles, all laid out on a plate. Your stomach says yes. Your wallet says, “I’ll wait.”   But here’s the catch: to get your “free” lunch, you must buy at least one drink. And the food? Salted so we

The third of 14 children … ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger was born August 23, 1948, in Joliet, Illinois. Unknowingly, Rudy suffered from dyslexia and didn’t excel scholastically. Upon graduation, he joined the US Navy and served for two years, before returning to work at a power plant. Rudy applied to Notre Dame but was rejected due to low grades. A determined young man, he enrolled at Holy Cross College and on his fourth attempt, finally gained admission to Notre Dame! Standing 5’6” and

On October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan rugby team, along with friends, family, and flight crew (45 people in total), was onboard Flight 571 bound for a match in Santiago, Chile when their plane crashed into the remote Andes mountains.   Stranded at an altitude of over 11,000 feet and facing extreme cold, lack of food, and treacherous terrain, the survivors had to face the harsh reality of their situation. They struggled to stay alive in the freezing temperatures, surviving on extre

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chesnut Barrow, better known as Bonnie & Clyde, might be the most romanticized criminals in American history.   They met in Texas in 1930 and quickly became famous for bank robberies. The less glamorous truth is they mostly robbed small gas stations and local shops. Over the next four years, their crime spree escalated. At least 9 police officers and 4 civilians were killed before it all ended on May 23, 1934, when the couple was ambushed on

Every June, 23,000 runners toe the line at South Africa's Comrades Marathon (one of the world's oldest and most brutal ultramarathons). Ninety punishing kilometers from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Most finishers crawl across after 12 hours. Elite runners do it in half that. In 1999, first-timer Sergio Motsoeneng stunned the field by placing 8th. Impressive … but suspicious. Fellow competitor Nick Bester (who finished 15 th ) couldn't shake one detail: he never saw Sergio pas

You know the phrase “let the cat out of the bag.” We all use it but rarely think about it. It’s believed to have come from an actual scam.   Back in the 1700s, piglets were often sold in bags. You paid first and you checked out your purchase later.   Some sellers took advantage of that gap. They’d swap the piglet for a cat. Cats were cheap and piglets weren’t.   Most buyers never looked. But every once in a while, someone opened the bag before walking away and out would jump

In 1971, a gang of thieves in London executed what looked like a perfect heist. Anthony Gavin, the mastermind, along with Thomas Stephens, Reginald Tucker, and Benjamin Wolfe, rented a leather goods shop called Le Sac two doors down from the Lloyds Bank on Baker Street. Over several months, they tunneled forty feet beneath a neighbouring restaurant straight into the bank’s vault. Using hydraulic jacks, thermal lances, and careful planning, they bypassed alarms and emptied hu