Human Marvels
Gunhild Carling
Jazz bagpipes.Three trumpets simultaneously.
Her web page (Swedish).
Thanks to Jim Woodring.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 20, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Human Marvels, Music, Reader Recommendation, Europe
George the Giant’s Strange Museum of Oddities and Wonders
I found out at the last minute about a weird "pop-up" museum that was opening for a few days in Bakersfield, CA: George the Giant’s Strange Museum of Oddities and Wonders. It was a four-hour drive from San Diego, but I figured I had to see it. So my wife and I did a road trip on Saturday to check it out.It was an excellent collection of oddities, but the best part might have been the live displays in which George demonstrated sword swallowing and drove a long spike into his nose. He also performed the 'blade box' trick with an assistant.
George hopes to be able to return with his Strange Museum next year. So if you're in the Bakersfield area next October, check it out!
By the way, you might have seen George in the movies. He played the character of Colossus in Tim Burton's Big Fish.
Alligator Boy
Fiji Mermaid
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 22, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Human Marvels, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand
Rossa Richter, the First Human Cannonball
Not generally cited in the sterling list of accomplishments by women throughout history.
A small article.
Her Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 20, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Human Marvels, Women, Nineteenth Century
Monsieur Mangetout
Info from wikipedia:His performances involved the consumption of metal, glass, rubber and other materials. He disassembled, cut up, and consumed bicycles, shopping carts, televisions, and a Cessna 150, among other items. The Cessna 150 took roughly two years to be "eaten", from 1978 to 1980...
He was awarded a brass plaque by the Guinness Book to commemorate his abilities. He consumed it as well.
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 16, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Food, Human Marvels
Iver Johnson, the human cork
For 12 years, Johnson said, he practiced, risking his life time and again trying to “force my body into harmony with the water.”
Johnson had a dream... to achieve something entirely useless.
A couple of years back, I posted about another guy, Norris Kellam, who called himself the 'human cork'. Though Kellam simply floated. He didn't float vertically.
Nephi Times-News - Mar 21, 1957
Chicago Tribune - Apr 7, 1957
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 03, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Human Marvels, Sports, 1950s
The McGuire Twins
Many of you might already know about the McGuire Twins, since they appeared on both Family Guy and The Simpsons. But when I realized they hadn't yet been mentioned anywhere on WU, I thought I should correct that.The two claimed to be the world's heaviest twins. And they probably were. They both weighed well over 700 lbs at their heaviest.
They were born Billy and Benny McCrary. The McGuire Twins was a stage name they adopted later during their professional wrestling career.
Apparently they were of normal weight until age 10, when a case of measles left both of them with malfunctioning pituitary glands, and their weight started to balloon.
They're best known for riding around on their Honda mini-bikes.
More info: goodsparkgarage.com and wikipedia.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 09, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Human Marvels
Miss Plump of Coney Island
The winner of the 1925 Miss Plump of Coney Island contest was Jolly Irene, which was the stage name of sideshow performer Amanda Siebert. According to Marc Hartzman's American Sideshow:The pounds piled up and the flesh got fleshier. Diets were ineffective, leaving her helpless against her newly acquired mass. One reporter later described her as having "biceps three times as large as Jack Dempsey." But at 620 pounds, rather than box the heavyweight champion, she turned her tragedy into profit by joining Ringling Bros.
Siebert died in 1940, at the age of 65.
Baltimore Sun - Aug 26, 1925
Central New Jersey Home News - Nov 20, 1925
Louisville Courier-Journal - Dec 1, 1940
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 28, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Human Marvels, 1920s
The Carsony Brothers
An unjustly forgotten trio of acrobats.
Full film below.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 21, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Human Marvels, Twentieth Century
Armless Driver Fights Loss of License
Ray Myers was known as the 'armless musician.' He was born in 1911 without arms, but he taught himself to play the guitar with his feet, and he became quite accomplished. Good enough that he was considered to be talented in his own right, not just as a curiosity.
Myers also taught himself how to drive a car using only his feet. Not a specially outfitted car. Just a normal one. (Though I'm assuming it was an automatic.) But in 1965, after driving without incident for 29 years, he lost his license. The reason: the state's new computer flagged his license to be revoked when it came across the notation in his file that he had been "born without arms."
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Jan 18, 1965
Myers appealed the decision, and (probably thanks to all the media attention the case got) was allowed to take a special exam. Two weeks later he was driving again.
Sayre Evening Times - Jan 28, 1965
Myers died in 1987 at the age of 75. More info about him at missioncreep.com and Arcane Radio Trivia.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 07, 2017 -
Comments (7)
Category: Human Marvels, 1960s, Cars
The Tomorrow People
Combine The Mod Squad with The X-Men and you have The Tomorrow People.
Wikipedia page here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 06, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Human Marvels, Television, Comics, Science Fiction, 1970s, Europe, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
| 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 |