Everything goes black. Tricia Kennedy thinks she is dead. It feels peaceful until the pain sets in. Then it is excruciating. The noise is deafening. The light is blinding. She realizes that she has been shot in the head. Kennedy was in a shooting competition when a bullet … [Read more...]
Ryan Said fell in love at first sight with a beautiful woman named Jasmine Merino. But this was not your run of the mill love story. Ryan was born a female and Jasmine was born a male. Said and Merino met on Instagram, and their connection was instant. When they first met, he … [Read more...]
It was a summer day in July 1976 when 26 kids between five and fifteen years of age boarded an elementary school bus to go home. Many of the children were still dripping with water from the water balloon fight they’d just had. Spirits were high as the bus drove along. None of … [Read more...]
Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the greatest composers of all time. Yet by the time he was writing his last few masterpieces he was completely deaf. Beethoven wasn’t born deaf. He gradually lost all his hearing from the age of 30 onwards. He first had an inkling something … [Read more...]
Hypnosis is a form of direct communication with the unconscious mind. It is a valuable tool for raising self-awareness. It can also help people change negative patterns of behavior. It was accidentally invented by a man named Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer belongs to a small … [Read more...]
At the tender age of five, Ryan Hammons told his mother that he remembered being someone else. He recalled traveling the world, marrying five women, dancing on Broadway, and becoming a successful Hollywood agent. He started opening up to his mother, Cyndi, about his previous … [Read more...]
Charles Darwin, sometimes called the father of evolution was actually a co-parent in the groundbreaking theory of evolution. Interestingly, Darwin was influenced by a man called Alfred Russell Wallace, a follower of spiritualism. Spiritualism is defined as “a system of belief … [Read more...]
Liu Hu didn’t realize that he was banned from flying until he tried to book a plane ticket and was denied. He was told that his name had been added to a blacklist of untrustworthy people. This list is part of China’s plan to give each of its 1.4 billion citizens a score based on … [Read more...]
Creatures of all shapes and sizes have played a pivotal role in humanity’s history. Animals such as dogs and horses have transformed the way we live and work. Partially blind Mohammed Salim Patel has a phobia of dogs. Yet he needs help to navigate his way through his daily … [Read more...]
Ziryab is known as the slave who changed the world. His real name was Abul al-Hasan. He was born in Persia in 789 AD. He was nicknamed Ziryab which means Blackbird because of his dark complexion and the sweetness of his voice. Ziryab was born into slavery and served the … [Read more...]
‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ is a common Shakespeare reference from Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Juliet tells Romeo that his family name is not important. Their love is what matters. To many soon-to-be mothers and fathers, names do matter. Young parents … [Read more...]
Twelve-year-old Georgi had been sleeping for nearly a year. He had lost consciousness shortly after his family found out they would be kicked out of Sweden. Georgi and his family are refugees. Seven years before, they escaped religious persecution in their home country. They … [Read more...]
As his ship passed by a lonely island, Odysseus heard beautiful voices singing a haunting melody. It was a melody that could lure even the most seasoned sailors to wreck their ships on the rocky shores, trapping them forever. Odysseus was warned about the dangers of the beautiful … [Read more...]
In 1942, Nobuo Fujita became the only Japanese pilot to bomb the U.S. mainland in World War II. Fujita traveled to the unprotected waters off the Oregon Coast by submarine. Hidden beneath the Pacific, the sub concealed a small plane with folded wings. It allowed Fujita and the … [Read more...]
Suffering from pain or inflammation? If you lived in the late 18th century, you might have found relief with Perkins Tractors. They were sold as medical devices made from special materials, but were actually just two simple metal rods made from steel and brass. Dr. Elisha … [Read more...]
DNR stands for Do Not Resuscitate. It is a legal order for doctors to withhold treatment in the case of heart or breathing failure. In the US, 80% of people say that when facing a terminal illness, they would prefer to avoid aggressive life-saving treatment. This number … [Read more...]
When dying people look back on their lives, there are some common things they wish they had done differently. Not having followed one’s dreams is one common regret. Not having spent enough time with friends and family is another. But one thing people seldom regret on their … [Read more...]
Christopher Columbus was a hero to some and a villain to others. He was a brave explorer, but he also enslaved, murdered and stole from native people across the Americas. He first met the Arawak natives in the Bahamas in 1492. They generously traded everything they owned. … [Read more...]
Like many people, Gemma Hartley struggles with depression and anxiety. For five years, she used meditation to keep her symptoms in check. But one day, facing some tight writing deadlines at work, she felt herself beginning to slip back toward her old symptoms. This time, … [Read more...]
It was a quiet night, and Dorrie Nuttall was fast asleep. Her seven-year-old son was sleeping next to her hooked up to a machine, which was supposed to alert her if his glucose levels were too low. The alert never came. Not from the machine, anyway. Jedi, Luke’s adorable … [Read more...]
