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2014/01/25

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Neatolinks: This Is Why Porn Filters Can't Have Nice Things

Posted: 25 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST

<i>My Little Pony</i> Nerf Guns

Posted: 25 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST

Gruntoks, an artist in the Netherlands, modified two Nerf guns with pony themes. At the top is a Nerf-N-Strike Maverick revolver decorated with the colors and cutie mark of Rainbow Dash. Below that is a Nerf N-Strike Barrel Break. It's made to resemble Pinkie Pie's party cannon, a device made to launch party supplies on demand.

Bonus item: Gruntoks also makes armor, usually from leather and chain mail. His ponies go into battle with suitable protection. Here's Pinkie Pie's suit made with iron M6 rings.

Replacing Celebrities With Those in Need

Posted: 25 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST

What if we cared about those living in poverty as much as we care about celebrities?

Woodgreen is a Toronto organization that helps all kinds of people find their potential. One of its programs is Homeward Bound, which helps struggling single mothers earn a college degree and start careers. A new ad campaign for Homeward Bound imagines tabloid magazine covers that focus not on celebrities, but mothers who are having a hard time. The women in the ad are students or graduates of Woodgreen's program, but they may well represent the women in line with you at the grocery store. There's also a video of a celebrity gossip-type TV show with the same message, which you can see at the Homeward Bound page. -via Buzzfeed

Making Classic Novel Titles Upworthy

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 11:00 PM PST

In the world of click-to-read online content it's all about the views- how many people view your article, how many people link to your article, and how those numbers compare with the rest. Writing content for the online world is a hit-or-miss affair, and sometimes the numbers just don't add up- sometimes people use sneaky tactics to falsely inflate those numbers, gathering views like Smaug gathers gold coins.

But what if novels were subject to the same criteria for success? Nick Moran and Janet Potter of The Millions wondered- what would happen to book titles if the creativity was stripped away and replaced with upworthy titles that conned people into taking a closer look?

Via 22 Words

Pasadena Bear Encounter

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 10:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

Bob and Irene McKeown of Scotland were visiting relatives in Pasadena, California, when they encountered more of American nature than they bargained for. The two left the house and locked the door behind them, but did not see the bear on the porch! It followed them to the car. That's what you see in this security video. Then Bob comes running back, trying frantically to get into the house. Where's Irene?

After helping Irene into the vehicle, Bob felt something on his leg.

“I closed the door and I looked…. a bear!” Bob McKeown said. ”You don’t know how scared you are, you just see a bear. I’ve never encountered a bear.” he added.

With his wife safely inside the vehicle, Bob McKeown ran for the stairs to let himself back into the house.

But he did not escape unscathed, the bear had clawed at his right calf.

McKeown was treated and given a tetanus shot. The young bear was seen by others in the neighborhood, and was eventually chased back into the woods. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

This Lake Is Made of Lava

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 09:00 PM PST

Mount Nyiragongo is an active volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We’ve previously postedphotos of this amazingly beautiful but dangerous place. This one was snapped by Cai Tjeenk Willink, an executive in the Africa Conservation Fund.

Nyiragongo, which has been continuously active since 2002, rises 11,385 feet high and has a crater 1.3 miles across. It is a stratovolcano, which Elsevier’s Dictionary of Geographydefines as “a volcanic core of bedded structure consisting of alternating solidified lava and accumulations of loose material.” There’s a permanent lake of lava inside the crater. It’d be the perfect place to shoot an action movie, provided that the actors and film crew are sufficiently daring.

-Twisted Sifter

Cutting Edge Artwork Based On William Gibson's Neuromancer

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 08:00 PM PST

William Gibson’s seminal Cyberpunk novel Neuromancer changed the game for all near future sci-fi works to come, and truly set the stage for the Information Age. Published in 1984, Neuromancer was so far ahead of its time that many creative types were influenced by Gibson's vision of a grim future full of black market organ clinics, cybernetically enhanced street samurai and cyber-cowboys hacking the Matrix for a chip full of credits.

The sci-fi loving folks at io9 have put together a list of their fav artwork based on the book, which includes "Chiba" by DeviantARTist PHATandy (top) and "Case and Molly on the Sprawl" by royalboiler. Like what you see? Check out the rest of the cutting edge art that made io9's list

Massive, Life-Size <i>My Little Pony</i> Plushes

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 07:00 PM PST

We've seen large My Little Pony plushes before, such as this Princess Celestia large enough for a child to ride and this huge Pinkie Pie.

But these ponies by Xion Munro exceed in size even those impressive works. She operates on commission and is no doubt very busy trying to keep up with demand. Look at that Luna on the couch. I've never been much of a Luna brony, but now I need one, too!

I see no practical reason why it would not be possible to build a pony plush as large as a house. And, obviously, if such a thing can be done, it should.

-via Equestria Daily

Heart Sunglasses

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST

Heart Sunglasses (sold individually)

Valentine's Day is coming. Get yourself in the right frame of mind with the Heart Sunglasses from the NeatoShop. This fun fashion accessory is a wonderful for those who want to set their sights on love. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Apparel & Accessories. 

Link

Cats vs. TP

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

A variety of cats do battle against their natural enemy -toilet paper! It seems to me that some of these cats aren't quite domestic. See the cat at :50? I wouldn't try to take the toilet roll away from him! -via Tastefully Offensive

Top 10 Godless Cities in the United States

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST

Do you live in a godless city?

The American Bible Society conducted a study to find America's most Bible-minded cities - defined as a combination of how often study participants read the Bible and how accurate they think it is, reported TIME Magazine.

A random nationwide sample of more than 46,000 adults, queried through online interviews and telephone, showed that the Bible Belt is alive and well: Cities in Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Missouri and Louisiana are in the top 5 most Bible-minded, whereas cities on the East and West coast are at the bottom of the list.

The study also found an inverse correlation between the size of the city and "Bible friendliness," noting that "Of the top 25 Bible-minded markets, only three have a population of greater than 1 million households: Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Dallas."

Here are the top and bottom 10 lists:

The 10 Most Bible-Minded Cities

  1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
  2. Birmingham, Alabama
  3. Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia
  4. Springfield, Missouri
  5. Shreveport, Louisiana
  6. Charlotte, North Carolina
  7. Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina / Asheville, North Carolina
  8. Little Rock, Arkansas
  9. Jackson, Mississippi
  10. Knoxville, Tennessee

The 10 Least Bible-Minded Cities

  1. Providence, Rhode Island / New Bedford, Massachusetts
  2. Albany, New York
  3. Boston, Massachusetts
  4. San Francisco, California
  5. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  6. Buffalo, New York
  7. Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut
  8. Phoenix, Arizona
  9. Burlington, Vermont
  10. Portland, Maine

Surprisingly, the den of sin we call Las Vegas didn't even make the top 10 for least Bible-mindedness.

Toddler with Severe Dwarfism Sings "You Are My Sunshine"

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST


(Video Link)

Grace Anna Rodgers was born with a genetic disorder that should have greatly impaired her life. It may have done so physically, but she's still a joyful child who loves to sing. She's become an internet sensation as videos of her home performances have gone viral.

She has Conradi-Hunermann syndrome, a genetic disorder that, Sanford Health says is, "characterized by skeletal malformations, skin abnormalities, cataracts and short stature." 1 in 400,000 babies are born with it. She will likely go deaf and develop severe scoliosis as she grows older.

But the good news is that Grace's singing is now in demand. She's booked to perform at veterans' benefit concerts in Kansas and Virginia.

You can watch more of her performances at her YouTube channel. Her renditions of "Amazing Grace" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" are particularly good.

(Photo: Grace Anna Sings)

-via 22 Words

Cards Against Humanity- Doctor Who Edition

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

Those who like their playtime card based and social have probably tried their hands at a game of Cards Against Humanity, the brilliantly crass card game best played in a group of people with thick skin and a sense of humor.

One of the greatest things about the game is how easy it is to add your own cards to the mix, the basic set even includes a bunch of blank cards so you can make up your own wacky content, and you can even download the whole set for free if you prefer to print and play.

Now a comedy improv group called Conventional Improv have created their own set of cards to add to the game called Cards Against Gallifrey, full of fun Doctor Who references that range from bizarre to downright dirty which you can download for free. What exactly is a Rusty Cyberman? Maybe we're all better off not knowing... (NSFW due to explicit language)

Via Nerd Approved

Discount Postage

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST

The price of a first-class postage stamp in the U.S. is going from 46 cents to 49 cents on January 26. But MInnesotastan doesn't like to pay full price for snail mail postage, so he tell us how to get stamps at a discount. First, he goes through the many ways you can get out of paying for postage that are illegal and not recommended. Then there are the legal discounted stamps, which means the U.S. Postal Service has been paid for them, but they haven't been used for mail -yet.

Discount postage exists primarily because of stamp collectors.  When I was growing up in the 1960s, the popularity of the hobby was rising; advertisements for collectible stamps were in every issue of Boy's Life and in comic books.  Increased participation in the hobby generated drove prices higher, so many collectors began to put away sheets and blocks of mint stamps as "investments."

However, as the decades went by, the interests of young people shifted toward pastimes that required electrical outlets.  The demographic profile of the average collector got older, so that now many of the stamps saved as investments are coming back on to the market, and are for sale at prices below their "face" value.

Find out where to look for these discounted stamps at TYWKIWDBI.

Happy 30th Birthday, Macintosh!

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

Thirty years ago today, a 28-year-old man with floppish long hair, wearing a bowtie and a double-breasted suit, introduced to the world a new machine that ended up changing how we interact with computers.

The man was Steve Jobs, and the machine was the Macintosh, and the many in the tech world deemed it insanely great.

Steven Levy of Wired reminisced about the birth of the Macintosh, including his first meeting with Steve Jobs:

He was also wildly dramatic about what he might do if the world didn't understand the excellence of his creation — perhaps go to Italy and ride motorcycles, he said. He also talked about the future of Apple, sharing its dream that it would grow to be worth $10 billion. But, he said, he hoped it would be a $10 billion company that did not lose its soul.

It was the first of many conversations I would have with Jobs over next few decades, up to the year he died. But it was perhaps the most unforgettable, simply because it was all so new. The computer. The team. Steve. The whole package was, in a nutshell, the essence of the seismic shift about to occur, one that would indeed, as I heard it said that day, put a dent in the universe.

Universe, consider yourself dented. In 2014, IBM doesn't even make PCs. Apple is not a $10 billion company, it is a half a trillion dollar company. Jobs is gone, but he left us after having had rebuilt the company beyond its previous glory, satisfied that he'd restored its soul.

Read the rest over at Wired

Hamster Butts

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST

There are 19 pictures of hamster butts in a list at Sad and Useless. That at first seems odd, and then indeed sad and useless. But the more hamster butts you look at, the funnier they get. The process goes a little like this:
What's so special about hamster butts?
Well, they're cute.
Oh look, that one's funny!
Woe, they all look alike -except they don't.
What's that hamster doing?
Man, this is weird.
But it's funny!
See if that's the reaction you have. -via Laughing Squid

High Schooler Makes Selfies Modeled on All of the US Presidents

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST

Abraham Lincoln

William Howard Taft

Richard Nixon

William Henry Harrison

Chaz Rodick, a high school student in New York, dressed himself like each of the Presidents of the United States and took selfies. You can view all of his photos in the series here. 

It all started when he noticed that he looked like Harry Truman in one of his outfits. Soon, he was contributing one picture a day to the project.

-via Blame It on the Voices

Baby Born on Snow Sled

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST

Shirley Bonanni of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, went into labor Thursday. Before she and her husband Fabian could go to the hospital, they waited for Fabian's parents to come and stay with their two-year-old son. By the time they arrived, after dealing with snow-covered roads, Shirley was so far along in labor that she couldn't walk.  The car was down at the bottom of the hill, because the driveway was too slippery to get it up to the house. At this point, the normal thing to do would be to keep the mother in the house and call for emergency help. But Fabian got a snow sled to take her to the car.

The baby couldn't wait, and came into the world as her mother was being transported.
Neighbor George Leader saw the commotion outside, heard Shirley yelling, and called 911.

"I was on the phone with 911, talking him through it and he certainly delivered his own baby, right there, on the side of the road," Leader said.

Fabian ran the baby -- wrapped in blankets back up to their house. The new Grandma and Grandpa -- who'd watched the birth -- helped George and his roommate carry Shirley, still on the sled, into their house to keep warm.

An ambulance arrived later to take mother and daughter to a hospital for observation. Little Bella Sophia Bonanni is doing well. After the publicity of the birth, Firestone is giving the family four new snow tires so this won't happen again. -via Arbroath

Custom Made Creepy Cute Little Creature Dolls

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST

Santani is an artist from Moscow, Russia who has been making cute yet creepy little creatures for about five years now, which combine sculptural elements, plush sewing and amazing paint jobs to bring her fantastically furry creations to life. They look like real life Mogwai, or Pokemon, or whatever kind of skin crawlingly adorable little critters typically seen in a sci-fi movie or cartoon.

Santani has come back into the spotlight recently to announce that she’ll soon be opening an Etsy store, so anyone who has been dying to get their hands on one of these magical creatures, but didn’t want to go through the hassle and long wait of commissioning, will soon be able to bring one home. Just don't try to shove them in a plastic ball, or feed them after midnight, they hate to be treated like one of those other critters!

Via The Meta Picture

The Lion Cat

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

(YouTube link)

The king of the beasts expresses his dominance over all the other creatures of the animal kingdom. This one of 9 Cats, which is one my new favorite blogs, even though I don't understand the text. -via Daily of the Day

See? There are nine of them!

Custom Action Figures for Old Activision Games

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST

Dan Polydoris is a toy collector and customizer in Chicago. He's a published expert on classic American toys. He's also an 80s kid, so he played the old Activision games of that era. He stripped old G.I. Joe action figures for parts in order to make his own action figures for the pixelated characters from those old video games.

Pictured above is Pitfall Harry from the 1982 game Pitfall. It's made from Tripwire and Breaker figures. Click here to see Polydoris's action figures from the games Pressure Cooker, Keystone Kapers, H.E.R.O. and Frostbite.

-via Geek Art

What It Feels Like To Be Cured Of A Zombie Virus- The First Wave

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

(Video Link)

Zombie films, comics, television shows and novels have attempted to explain every little aspect of life during the zombie apocalypse, from the spreading of the virus to the effects on plants and animals and beyond, but what about those who are cured of the virus? What do those rare breed of horror scenario survivors do with themselves once they’ve been cured of a zombie virus and get to live again?

The First Wave, a short horror film by director David Freyne and prequel to upcoming feature length movie The Third Wave, addresses this problem in an extremely humanistic manner, with the air of desperation still left to linger about the room and peril waiting just outside the door. (Warning- contains zombie related violence!)

Via Twitch

Pentagon to Give Away 13,000 Armored Trucks

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 07:30 AM PST

The US military is divesting itself of 13,000 10-foot-tall, 40,000-pound, heavily-armored vehicles because they don't think they will need them in the future. No, you can't just run out and get one, because they are not going to be given to private citizens. You wouldn't be able to afford parts and maintenance anyway. The Pentagon first offered the vehicles to US allies.

Interest from foreign militaries has been tepid. But they are a hit with stateside police agencies. Almost 200 trucks have been distributed to police departments since August and requests are pending for an additional 750 trucks. The vehicles, many of which feature machine-gun turrets, are off-limits to private citizens and businesses.

Lucky recipients run from the Ohio State University campus police force to Florence County, S.C., which replaced an armored vehicle from the 1970s that the sheriff department's SWAT team had used for about 15 years. A new armored truck would have cost at least $188,000.

"The price was right because it was free and it fit with what we need it to do," says sheriff's Capt. John Crouse. "It stops bullets. It keeps you from getting shot."

Ohio State declined to comment.

You have to wonder what a campus police force intends to do with an armored truck. Or local police departments, for that matter. Law enforcements agencies where I live have more equipment than they know what to do with because of Homeland Security grants. Defense contractors that maintain the vehicles and supply parts hope that the vehicles will stay in use instead of being sent to the scrap heap. Read more about the trucks in a Wall Street Journalarticle at MSN.

Images Of The Turmoil In Kiev Captured By Independent Journalist

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Anti-protest laws passed by the Ukranian government brought people to the streets of Kiev in a massive protest rally that has turned into a full blown riot with no end in sight.

The Ukranian government has tried to limit the amount of press photos that make their way out of the madness, but Independent ournalist Ilya Varlamov has been taking notes and shooting pics, sharing a firsthand account on his LiveJournal of what life is like in the belly of this fiery, politically fueled beast. Ilya's photos are truly a sight to behold- full of raw energy, destruction and people in action, fighting for a cause they truly believe in.

You can read more about Ilya's experiences in Kiev at Animal NY.

Your Attention Please Jumbo Sticky

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST

Your Attention Please Jumbo Sticky 

Do you need a better way to appeal to your distracted and disinterested family and coworkers? Try writing your important notes on the Your Attention Please Jumbo Sticky from the NeatoShop. This large sticky pad features the words, "YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE."

This great jumbo-sized sticky notepad has 60 sheets for your note writing pleasure. Bending people to your every whim has never been so efficient.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Office & Desk stuff. 

Link

Home with Railroad for Sale

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST



Tom Miller is well known among model train enthusiasts. He built a two-mile railroad around his 19-acre property in Oregon, complete with depot, trestle, tunnel, signals, steam locomotives, and dozens of cars he built himself.


(YouTube link)

Now the property is for sale. Miller says it's not because of health or financial troubles; he has more than one home. Whether the locomotives stay with the property or not is negotiable. Oh, yeah, it comes with a fabulous 4,900 square-foot house, too! -via Daily Picks and Flicks

10 Absolutely Beautiful Pieces of Home Decor Inspired By Nature

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST

This table will grow on you -literally. And you don't need to limit the plant life to grass, you can grow all kinds of things in that trough, including a floral centerpiece for your table. And this is only one of the many great nature-inspired home designs we featured over at Homes and Hues today.

If you ever wished you could live in your favorite park or dreamed of residing in a distant forest cabin, but hate the commute you'd face, you'll love these wonderful ways to bring a touch of nature into your home.

Don't miss the whole list over at Homes and Hues: 10 Stunning Pieces of Nature-Inspired Home Decor

The World's Tallest Waterslide Is Higher Than Niagara Falls

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 05:30 AM PST


(Video Link)

It's called Verrückt, which is German for "insane." And trying to descend this waterslide safely would be utterly insane.

Let's do it!

The Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas is building the world's tallest waterslide. At almost 170 feet tall, it's taller than Niagara Falls (165 feet). The mad engineers who built it aren't sure how fast a person will go down it, but they think that a human corpse could exceed the 65 MPH velocity that this waterslide in Brazil can perform.

The Verrückt bottoms out, then rises to a 5 story hill before plummeting its hapless victims into a pool of water and the merciful embrace of death at the end.

It really needs a loop, like this slide in New Jersey.

-via Twisted Sifter

Born to Run: 7 Incredible Escape Stories

Posted: 24 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

If you're looking to make an unforgettable getaway, let Winston Churchill, Geronimo, and the slave who mailed himself to freedom show you the way.

1. How to Become the Subject of a Country Ballad

Christopher Daniel Gay is nicknamed Little Houdini for a reason: The 5'5" Tennessee native knows how to make 18-wheelers and construction equipment vanish into thin air. More impressively, he knows how to perform such disappearing acts in police custody. But Gay is more than just a master thief and escape artist; he's also a loving son.

In 2005, Gay broke out of a Nashville jail to visit his ailing father. Two years later, he fled from the authorities to see his dying mother. This time, Gay was being transported to a jail in Alabama for stealing an RV. Somehow, he freed himself from a full set of shackles (on his hands, feet, and waist!) and gave two policemen the slip at a South Carolina rest stop. He then stole a pickup truck, drove 300 miles, hot-wired an 18-wheeler, and drove another 100 miles to a town just north of Nashville. The police were hot on his trail, but Gay refused to pull over until he reached his mother's house, where he drove the big rig onto her front lawn and fled into the woods.

But the story doesn't end there. Gay then headed to Nashville and stole country singer Crystal Gayle's tour bus. He drove the bus to a NASCAR race in Lakeland, Florida, where he told the track manager that he was there to pick up Tony Stewart, the legendary race car driver.

When authorities became suspicious, Gay abandoned the tour bus and fled. The details of the escapade are immortalized in Tim O'Brien's 2007 hit country song "The Ballad of Christopher Daniel Gay."

Last February, Gay was arrested once again in Florida. But he escaped as police were transporting him back to Tennessee. Despite locking down the surrounding area and searching for Gay with helicopters and bloodhounds, Little Houdini worked his magic on a big rig and took flight yet again.

Gay and his 18-wheeler were finally apprehended on March 16, 2008, near a Wal-Mart in Lakeland, Florida. A spokeswoman for the Polk County sheriff's department told journalists, "He is being treated as an escape risk." You can say that again.

2. Skydiving for Cash

On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Flight 305 from Portland to Seattle, carrying only a briefcase. Once in the air, he handed the stewardess a note. When she ignored the gesture, Cooper politely redrew her attention to the message. This time, she realized how serious the situation was. The note said that Cooper had a bomb in his briefcase, and that he planned on setting it off unless he received $200,000 cash and some parachutes upon landing in Seattle. After having his demands met, Cooper redirected the plane to Mexico. He also gave the pilot instructions to maintain a speed of less than 150 knots and an altitude of less than 10,000 feet, and to keep the flaps set at 15 degrees. All of this kept the plane moving slowly enough for Cooper to make a dramatic exit. With cash in hand and a parachute on his back, Cooper jumped out of the plane somewhere over the Washington-Oregon border.

To this day, Cooper's whereabouts are unknown. Authorities maintain that he probably died while leaping from the plane, but there's evidence to suggest otherwise. In 1978, hikers in Oregon (near the area where Cooper had jumped) found instructions for descending the rear stairwell of a Boeing 727. And in 1981, an 8-year-old boy discovered $5,880 that turned out to be part of Cooper's ransom money. Neither discovery is conclusive proof, but there is one more piece of evidence: In 1997, the FBI opened a posthumous investigation into Duane Weber, an antiques dealer in Florida who made a deathbed admission that he was Dan Cooper. It turns out that Weber had a criminal record, serving six prison terms for burglary and forgery, and that he'd received military training during WWII, which included skydiving.

3. Thinking Inside the Box

On March 29, 1849, a 33-year-old Virginia slave known as Henry "Box" Brown earned his middle name by mailing himself to freedom. At the time, Brown was heartbroken. His wife of 18 years and their three children had been taken away from him and sold to a slave owner in North Carolina. With little to lose, Brown convinced a white shopkeeper to seal him in a box that measured roughly 3 ft. x 2 ft. x 2 ft. and mail the package to an abolitionist in Philadelphia. The journey lasted 27 hours, and although the container was marked "This side up with care," handlers largely ignored the instructions. The box moved from wagon to railroad to steamboat to wagon to railroad to ferry to railroad and then to wagon again—all the way to Philadelphia. Incredibly, all that jostling had little effect on Brown's manners. When abolitionists pried open the delivery and Brown emerged from the box, his first words were allegedly, "How do you do, gentlemen?"

4. Geronimo's Magic

If Dan Cooper had yelled "Geronimo!" when he jumped from that plane in 1971, it would have been appropriate, as the Apache renegade was a great escape artist in his own right. In 1851, after Mexican soldiers killed his mother, one of his wives, and his three children, Geronimo went on a rampage. The 22-year-old Indian warrior quickly became legendary for his fearless method of attack. He would appear out of nowhere—wielding only a knife—and run head-first through gunfire to stab his enemies. Seemingly impervious to bullets, Geronimo killed hundreds of troops and settlers across northern Mexico and the American Southwest.

After five years of guerrilla warfare, some 10,000 U.S. and Mexican troops began pursuing Geronimo. And yet, he still managed to evade them with his near-supernatural ability to vanish into the terrain. Indeed, the Apache believed he had special powers—walking without leaving tracks, reading minds, and moving objects with his thoughts. In fact, legend has it that Geronimo once led his band of Apaches into a cave in the Robledo Mountains of New Mexico. The American army was at his heels, and as soon as Geronimo entered the cave, troops fanned out and blocked the only other exit. They thought they had him cornered. But a few days later, Geronimo and his followers appeared miles away from the cave. Hundreds of historians, geologists, and archaeologists have since combed the site to figure out how Geronimo made his incredible escape, but to this day, experts are baffled.

5. Winston Churchill's Prison Break

In 1899, Great Britain found itself in South Africa warring with the Boers—South Africans of Dutch descent. One of the British journalists covering the war was an adventurous 24-year-old named Winston Churchill, who loved combat so much that he became a war correspondent after his discharge from the army. On November 15, the Boers captured Churchill and threw him into a POW camp in Pretoria. Immediately, he began closely monitoring the guards and realized that there was a gap in their routine when no one was watching the 10-ft. wall surrounding his building. So, Churchill decided to make a break for it. But first, he needed to settle some accounts. Being the gentleman that he was, he paid his bill with the Boer shopkeeper who'd sold him tobacco, and he wrote a note of thanks and apology to the Boer Minister of War, who'd also befriended him. Then he scaled the wall.

Upon escaping, Churchill ran to a nearby villa, where he waited until he was able to hop on a passing train. For several more days, he followed the rail lines, sleeping in ditches, stealing food where he could, and fishing newspapers out of trash bins to read about the manhunt pursuing him. Six days later, Churchill made the last leg of his journey when he crept onto a train headed for the Portuguese colony at Delagoa Bay. The ride took him 250 miles east to the Mozambique coast, where he crossed the border into freedom. Churchill's daring escape did wonders for his name. It made him a celebrity in England and helped launch his political career.

6. The Dalai Lama Makes a Break for It

In 1959, as the Chinese cracked down on Tibetan rebels, Mao Zedong set his sights on the Dalai Lama, and it became clear the young Buddhist leader was in danger. Not knowing the best time to flee, the Lama started consulting the Oracle—a fellow monk who reveals prophesies while in trance. For several days in a row, the Oracle told the Lama to stay put. But that changed on March 17. As riots busied the Chinese authorities, the Oracle suddenly insisted that the Lama get moving. Disguised as an ordinary Tibetan, the spiritual leader snuck out of the ancestral palace without alerting anyone. Once in the countryside, he met up with his family and top religious officials, and together, they headed to India through the Himalayas.

It wasn't until two days later that the Chinese government realized the Dalai Lama had flown the coop. When they figured out what had happened, they immediately closed the Tibetan border and dispatched 50,000 troops to stop the famous Buddhist. But it was no use. Many of the mountain passes were only known to Tibetan mountain guides who would rather have died than betray their spiritual leader. Meanwhile, heavy cloud cover prevented the Chinese air force from performing aerial reconnaissance. Two weeks later, after trekking through the rugged mountain range and negotiating the treacherous Brahmaputra River, the Dalai Lama surfaced at Tawang Monastery, 50 miles inside the Indian border.

7. The Cold War and the Hot Air Balloon

After watching a TV show about the history of hot air balloons, two friends living in East Germany, Hans Strelczyk and Gunter Wetzel, had a brilliant idea: What if they put their families in a hot air balloon and simply flew over the Berlin Wall? Capitalizing on Strelczyk's skills as a mechanic and Wetzel's as a mason, the pair built an engine out of propane gas cylinders and constructed a balloon out of taffeta. However, as the plans moved forward, Wetzel's wife got cold feet, and the Strelczyks decided to go it alone. On July 4, 1979, the family launched the balloon from a meadow about 25 miles from Berlin. But damp conditions squelched the hot-air burner after only a few minutes. They made a hasty landing in East Germany, where the border guards spotted them. The Strelczyks managed to escape, but East Germany's brutal secret police, the Stasi, was now wise to their plan.

Terrified of being discovered, both families set to work again. The men built a bigger, sturdier burner, and the women stitched together 60 pieces of canvas and bedsheets to make the balloon. On the night of September 16, with Stasi detectives hot on their trail, the two families reached the launch site, inflated the balloon, and took to the air. Because the balloon had no basket, the two men, two women, and four children all clung to a small metal platform as the device climbed to 8,000 feet. After 30 minutes, they landed, unsure of which country they were in. They eventually spotted a police officer, who confirmed they were in West Germany. The two families became instant heroes around the world, and their balloon was seen as a symbol of freedom.

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The article above, written by Erik Sass, is reprinted with permission from the Jul/Aug 2009 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription and never miss an issue!

Be sure to visit mental_floss' website and blog for more fun stuff!

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