In 2007, doctors in France discovered that a 44-year-old man, who led a relatively ordinary life, was living with a brain that was 90% filled with fluid. Despite this, he remained conscious, challenging scientific understanding. His case was first described in The Lancet and has puzzled scientists ever since.

In 1854, a Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise, named Timothy, was discovered on a Portuguese privateer by Captain John Guy Courtenay-Everard of the Royal Navy. Estimated to be around 10 years old, Timothy went on to serve as a ship mascot in the British navy, witnessing the bombardment of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. She served aboard HMS Queen, HMS Princess Charlotte, and HMS Nankin, eventually becoming the last known survivor of the Crimean War.

In 1623, English soldiers held a meeting with the Powhatan Confederacy at a site near today’s West Point, Virginia. With a supposed offer of peace, they invited roughly 200 Powhatan leaders to share wine. Unbeknownst to the Powhatans, the English had poisoned the drink, intending to weaken the confederacy under the leadership of the powerful chief Opechancanough.

In 1921, the Weimar Republic faced economic disaster as reparations from World War I strained its finances. To pay debts, the government began printing money, rapidly accelerating inflation.

On May 28, 1993, a powerful seismic event rattled Western Australia near Banjawarn Station. Witnesses, mostly truck drivers and prospectors, reported seeing a fireball in the sky and hearing a low rumbling sound. Initially, theories included a meteor impact, but with no crater found, the event remained a mystery.

In 1884, the water hyacinth arrived in North America as an ornamental plant. Soon, it invaded Southern waterways, blocking trade routes and resisting all eradication efforts.

In the early 20th century, photographer Lewis Wickes Hine traveled across the U.S., capturing images of children working in dangerous environments—mills, mines, and fields. As an “investigator with a camera,” he documented children’s lives for the National Child Labor Committee.

Ashrita Furman, born in 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, started his journey into the Guinness World Records in 1979. Inspired by a 24-hour bicycle race, Furman decided to break records himself, setting his first one by completing 27,000 jumping jacks in five hours.

On January 19, 2006, a Northern bottlenose whale made an unexpected appearance in London’s River Thames. The 16-18 foot whale was spotted swimming near landmarks like the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, drawing crowds and media attention from around the world.

On August 11, 1973, a “Back-to-School Jam” at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx marked the start of hip-hop. Cindy Campbell organized the event to raise money for her school clothes, and her brother, Clive Campbell—known as DJ Kool Herc—was the DJ for the night. His innovative approach to music, isolating and extending drum breaks from funk and soul records, created a new sound that energized the crowd.