Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
The postman who pretended to be paraplegic
Ian Moor had qualified to compete in the 1979 National Paraplegic Championships, in events such as table tennis and wheelchair discus. But when a picture of him ran in the Yorkshire Evening Press, people recognized him as their postman, who was fully capable of walking.His deception revealed, Moor was kicked out of the Paraplegic Championships. But he never faced any criminal charges because he hadn't benefitted financially from his deception in any way.
The Guardian - Aug 23, 1979
Los Angeles Times - Aug 23, 1979
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 22, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Sports, 1970s, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Boycycle
Salvatore Ganacci - Boycycle from BUSINESS CLUB ROYALE on Vimeo.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 22, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Aliens, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Body, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Cryptozoology, Family, Surrealism
Happy Humphrey, Heaviest Pro Wrestler of All Time
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 18, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Body, Dieting and Weight Loss, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Enlargements, Miniatures, and Other Matters of Scale, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, World Records, Wrestling, Twentieth Century
The Obesity of Emperor Maximus
The things you learn from perusing old comics!
Source (page 19).
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 04, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Addictions, Eating, Body, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Obesity, History, Historical Figure
When the Cook Can’t Look
A cookbook for the blind, written by Ralph Read, and published in 1981.
A sample of some of his tips and techniques, from a review in the Austin American-Statesman (Sep 22, 1980):
You don’t need to alphabetize bags of things, he says, because you can just pinch them. Split peas do not feel like elbow macaroni.
Tactile memory is very important, for things like knowing which end of a milk carton has the spout. Spices don’t need labeling because you can smell them. Smell and hearing are important factors in cooking without sight. They tell you when things are almost done.
He generally cooks slowly to help “prevent things from getting away from me.” Read has no special gadgets for cooking, though he says friends have shown him catalogs with specialty items for the blind. “Ninety-nine percent of that gadgetry is useless — though I’m interested in the fact that Amana has a blind consultant working with them in Dallas to help develop a microwave oven for the blind.”
There are some definite “don’ts,” Read says, such as not using dangerous items such as an electric beater or broiler. You can get the same desired results without unnecessary risk by using a hand beater or pan-broiling a steak.
You can read the entire book at archive.org.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 17, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food, Books, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Deaf Applause
From the book Gestures by Roger E. Axtell:I thought there would be plenty of clips on Youtube of this 'deaf applause,' but I could only find one, very brief example taken at an opera for the deaf in Denmark:
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 02, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Robert Wadlow Centennial
We are a bit late with this, but it's still well worth the viewing.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 25, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anniversary, Body, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Human Marvels
Douglas Bader, the Legless Ace
The Wikipedia page.
Bader joined the RAF in 1928, and was commissioned in 1930. In December 1931, while attempting some aerobatics, he crashed and lost both his legs. Having been on the brink of death, he recovered, retook flight training, passed his check flights and then requested reactivation as a pilot. Although there were no regulations applicable to his situation, he was retired against his will on medical grounds.[3]
After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, however, Douglas Bader returned to the RAF and was accepted as a pilot. He scored his first victories over Dunkirk during the Battle of France in 1940. He then took part in the Battle of Britain and became a friend and supporter of Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his "Big Wing" experiments.
In August 1941, Bader baled out over German-occupied France and was captured. Soon afterward, he met and was befriended by Adolf Galland, a prominent German fighter ace.[4] Despite his disability, Bader made a number of escape attempts and was eventually sent to the prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle. He remained there until April 1945 when the camp was liberated by the First United States Army.
He even featured in a comic. (Use link for readable copy of image below.)
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 16, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Accidents, War, Air Travel and Airlines, 1940s, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Change in Sex Blocks Draft
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 27, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Law, War, 1940s, Gender-bending, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Polydactyly
I always knew about people born with extra fingers, but had not contemplated extra thumbs.Wikipedia entry.
Source (warning: pics of surgery).
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 22, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Human Marvels
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |