Wiki Walks

The Most Ridiculous Plane Crash Survivor EVER

Discover the crazy story of Juliane Koepcke, whose plane was hit by lighting, leading to her getting yeeted out of the cabin where she had a 10,000-foot plunge into the Amazon strapped to her seat, only to survive and endure venomous insect bites and botfly larvae, and emerging from the jungle to become a groundbreaking scientist still alive today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliane_Koepcke

Sidenote: If you have a checking/savings account that earns absolute garbage interest, you can get a Wealthfront account that earns 5.5%, which is just bananas. Normally its just 5%, but if you use this link you get 5.5%. Free money!

⁠https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFD-45QM-8MCV-L5VP⁠

A "Mini Pearl Harbor" Leads to The Most Important Breakthrough in Cancer Treatment History

If you or someone you know has ever been affected by cancer, then I think you'll really enjoy this episode. A most unfortunate secret bombing disaster in WW2 became the origin of the most important tool we have in the fight against cancer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_John_Harvey

Sidenote: If you have a checking/savings account that earns absolute garbage interest, you can get a Wealthfront account that earns 5.5%, which is just bananas. Normally its just 5%, but if you use this link you get 5.5%. Free money!

⁠https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFD-45QM-8MCV-L5VP⁠

This Founding Father Makes Benjamin Franklin Look Like Mother Theresa

Discover the wild and scandalous life of Gouverneur Morris, the "Penman of the Constitution," whose contributions to America were as legendary as his escapades in public, uh, romance, vengeful dismemberment, peg-legged diplomacy, and fatal self-surgery. Insane life, why didn't we learn about this guy in history class?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Morris

Sidenote: If you have a checking/savings account that earns absolute garbage interest, you can get a Wealthfront account that earns 5.5%, which is just bananas. Normally its just 5%, but if you use this link you get 5.5%. Free money!

https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFD-45QM-8MCV-L5VP

That's a Man, Baby!

The first woman to ever receive a pension for her service in the US Armed Forces was a Revolutionary-era woman named Deborah Sampson...who actually spent her entire military career pretending to be a man named Bob.

A Killer Whale of a Time

For over eight decades, a massive killer whale known as Old Tom, along with his skilled and loyal pod of orcas, forged an incredible partnership with a family of whalers in Australia to dominate the Aussie coast.

Saving Private Ryan's Inspiration

They were five brothers who enlisted together to serve in World War II, only to all tragically perish aboard the same ship, leaving their Iowa family devastated and prompting a new military policy to prevent such a concentration of family sacrifice.

Can't Say I Blame 'Em

They turned their guns on the American colonies in exchange for a chance at freedom and land of their own. Over 200 years later, the villages founded by these enslaved Black soldiers who fought for the British in the War of 1812 still exist today as a unique ethnic community in Trinidad.

Merikins -- Wikipedia

Georgia Tann...just the worst

She was a woman who preyed on the desperate and poor, stealing their children to sell to wealthy families for massive profits. By the time her black market baby ring was exposed, Georgia Tann had torn apart over 5,000 families, subjecting the children to unimaginable cruelty and abuse. Prepare to have your heart broken by this shockingly dark chapter of American history.

Georgia Tann -- Wikipedia

Reusable Pills?

Back in the day, it was not uncommon for people to swallow a pill made from the semi-metallic element, antimony, in an effort to absolutely fill their britches to detoxify their intestines. Once they did that...they'd reuse that same pill. It could even be passed down as an heirloom for the grandkids to use one day. Grossssssss.

Antimony Pills -- Wikipedia

A trash fire sparked an underground inferno that forced the evacuation of Centralia, Pennsylvania, turning it into a poisonous gas-filled ghost town. Oh, and it will probably keep burning for hundreds of years. Yikes!

Centralia, Pennsylvania

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