On July 19, 2022, in Moscow, a 7-year-old boy (ranked among the best players in the world, under age 9) squared off in a chess match – against a robot. The game progressed as every chess game does. The boy and the robot took turns moving their pieces around the chessboard. However, at one point the young boy responded too quickly for the robot’s liking! Almost instantly, the robot clamped down on the boy’s finger and would not let go. Several adults intervened to assist, bu

Perpetual stew, sometimes called forever soup, is a cooking method where a pot of stew is kept simmering continuously for extraordinarily long periods, with fresh ingredients and liquid continually added. The existing broth becomes the foundation for the next batch, creating an increasingly rich and complex flavour. The key to keeping it safe is temperature: when maintained above approximately 60°C, continuous heat inhibits the growth of many harmful bacteria. And believe

In 2003, a Miami radio station prank-called Fidel Castro, pretending that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez was calling him. Castro stayed on the line for about 25 minutes, apparently believing the setup. The pranksters eventually revealed themselves, telling him that all of Miami was listening. Castro reportedly became furious and responded with a string of insults before hanging up. But then the prank backfired on the radio station. The U.S. broadcasting regulator, the

In 1915, Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, became trapped in Antarctic ice before eventually being crushed. Twenty-eight men found themselves stranded on drifting sea ice, thousands of kilometers from civilization. Over the following months, Shackleton led them across the frozen ocean before sailing an 800-mile (1,300-km) open boat journey through some of the world's roughest seas to seek rescue. Every member of the expedition survived. It remains one of history's

In 2019, a guy named Reuben Kipyego was hired to lose. His job at the Abu Dhabi Marathon: set a brutal pace for the "real" contenders, then step off the course at the 30km mark … like a good little rabbit. He wore a bib with no number on it. Literally invisible by design. He forgot to stop. By the time he hit his exit point, everyone he was supposed to be pacing had cracked. So, he just ... kept going. In fact, he ran the back half faster than the front half. Reuben cro

In February 1956, an eight-year-old plow horse from Pennsylvania's Amish country was hours away from the slaughterhouse. That same day, 28-year-old riding stable owner Harry de Leyer arrived late to a horse auction. The best horses were gone. Among those left behind was a filthy gray horse already loaded onto a trailer bound for the meat dealer. Something made Harry stop. He trusted his instincts, paid $80, and took the horse home. He named him Snowman. At first, Snowma

At 5 a.m. on May 26, 2013, a rogue swell flipped the tugboat Jascon-4 off the coast of Nigeria. Cook Harrison Okene was in the washroom when it happened. Water exploded through the corridors. Then silence. The boat sank 30 meters and settled upside down. Okene felt his way through flooded, pitch-black corridors into a small cabin where … inexplicably, a four-foot air pocket had formed against the ceiling. For 60 hours he sat there in freezing water, breathing air slowly turn

In 1707, a British naval fleet was off by just a few miles – and sailed straight into the rocks. Over a thousand sailors drowned before sunrise, because nobody on board could answer one question: where are we? The problem was longitude. It required a clock accurate enough to survive a pitching ship … and no such clock existed. So, Britain offered a prize (worth millions today) to whoever could build one. Every credentialed scientist in Europe bet on the stars instead – compli

Before 1602, funding a spice voyage worked like this: one merchant paid for one ship. If that ship sank (which happened pretty frequently) … he lost everything, alone. So a group of Dutch traders tried something no one had done before: let many people bet a little, on many ships, together. Article 10 of the charter said any resident could buy in … a ship's carpenter, a maid, literally anyone! The company that resulted, the VOC, used that money to build forts, raise an army,