With millennials now reaching their thirties and forties, many are looking back on the childhood they had compared to the ones they're witnessing now.
With technology advances and a constant need to impress, these two worlds of childhood are undeniably different.
Redditor professorf asked:
"What did your generation have that kids need more of today?"
Unstructured Playtime
"Unstructured playtime outside with others that are a variety of ages. Not under the eyes of an adult."
"This was my favorite part of being a kid. There were 10-12 kids within a six-year age range on my street and we'd all be out playing between multiple blocks, houses, and wooded areas. Our parents would just yell or whistle from the porch at dinner time, and sometimes we'd go back out again after!"
"Beyond playing and having fun, being unsupervised and big kids amongst little kids provides so much mental enrichment that kids don't get sitting in front of a screen being constantly tended to. Problem-solving, imagination, cooperation, taking care of each other, sharing, working things out, navigation, self-awareness... on and on."
- EarthCadence
Ghosts in the Graveyard
"I miss playing 'Ghosts in the Graveyard'!"
"I grew up with an actual cemetery in my backyard (once you hopped a fence, of course) and you haven't really played 'Ghosts in the Graveyard' until you played it in an actual graveyard!"
- Fred_the_skeleton
Computer Literacy
"Typing classes. Most Gen Z/Alpha kids grew up with tablets and maybe a laptop, no desktops. Teachers assume they know how to type, but they've only done it with their thumbs, they don't have the muscle memory for a traditional keyboard."
"The ability to type on a physical keyboard is really important in the working world, and a lot fewer kids can do it well these days."
"We need to bring back typing classes, along with how file/folder/directory systems work in general, a lot of college students don't know how to use them!"
- cinemachick
Imaginative Play
"Toys that were just toys. Not everything had to be educational. Just let kids play and explore and discover. Let them get bored."
It Takes a Village
"Village grandparents. My parents would leave me with my grandparents for months during summer. We had a large, large yard with many old collapsing or collapsed buildings, a variety of animals roaming around, and a few gardens."
"I’d climb trees, and buildings, play with the animals, and go fishing in the small river near the house with a self-made fishing rod made out of a bottle, rope, and an old nail."
"I never caught anything. Best time of my life."
- John_McTaffy
Thinking Outside the Box
"Freedom to explore, invent, and create. Today's kids are so scheduled with activities and online all of the time. Getting out in the world without an agenda would be helpful."
"I'm now seeing college graduates who have a hard time doing anything other than following explicit instructions from their boss. They don't problem-solve. They don't innovate on their own."
"I can teach someone numbers or the structure of loops or conditional statements. I can't fix an issue with someone not understanding why they would choose a certain solution or not being able to relate what they are doing to the software module's objectives. I see perfect Leetcode problems with no understanding of the problem they're solving or even why they want to be an engineer. Or what to do if something varies slightly from what they memorized."
"AI will take over a lot of jobs if kids can't think nonlinearly or relate information. ChatGPT already writes code akin to what I'm seeing from young engineers. It doesn't have human reasoning about the problem and why you'd need to solve it a particular way, but it sure codes a variety of solutions quickly. A senior engineer can replace the junior engineers who don't think through the problem with AI."
- LilMick786
Boredom
"I feel like kids have no tolerance for 'boredom.' I try to tell the youngins to let their minds wander and allow thoughts to flow, but they feel compelled to stuff every moment with games or videos."
"They’re not even enjoying music anymore. It’s all, 'Can I play this song? It’s from a meme.' And they change the song before it’s over because there’s less appreciation for composition anymore."
- Specific-Pen-1132
Lacking Patience
"No patience. That's a side effect of the tech culture. My friend's kid is 10, and she's only known the instant gratification of TV, iPad, and Nintendo Switch all without ads. She never has to wait. If she's losing a game, she hits the reset button. Doesn't like a song, she skips."
"The rest of us grew up with limited or no tech. We had commercials on TV. Our favorite shows were only on once a day at a specific time. We were prisoners to whatever the DJ was playing on the radio. Sometimes our friends were grounded, so we'd have to play alone."
"Now I have friends with kids who place limits on the 'electronic babysitter.' These kids do have patience and they use their imagination. So there's hope."
- popcornstuffedbra
Basic Connections
"I love technology for its educational pieces. I avoid my kids on YouTube etc. They are aware of those people but not how you access it from their tablet. Coding, PBS Games, reading, writing, math, stem games."
"Kids today need time to just be kids. I believe study hall should exist after their main subjects. They can do homework, tutoring, and extracurriculars afternoon until their parents pick them up or they ride home on a bus. It should be a time of exploration, soft social skills through board games, etc."
"They are missing, and even daily living skills because the world is always on the go."
"They need access to actual food. Vegetable gardens, rabbit pens, etc. Helping others. Time to just be kids, make mistakes and get messy without it being filmed. We all f**k up that doesn't mean it needs to be filmed and posted or shamed for it."
"They need time to build resilience, kindness, and just to be with their family and friends. Access to actual public transportation. I could go on and on."
- Taterandabean
Being Held Accountable
"Accountability! Especially in schools. In my district, they think it’s unfair to the children and can hurt a child’s self-esteem if they’re held back in school. So, even if they never do a single assignment, flunk every class, and learn nothing, they advance to the next grade."
"Because of this, I have sixth graders who don’t know how to spell anything, don’t know punctuation, have no idea what to do with commas, and have no clue that they need to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. They don’t know how to write a paragraph. They are disrespectful to teachers and just don’t care because it doesn’t matter if they flunk. It is just sad."
- meow1983
Enjoying Nature
"The outdoors without electronics. We have nature trails that border where I work and when I see people out 'enjoying' the great outdoors, most of them have their faces buried in their phones."
"There is so much beauty in nature and being able to observe it can teach a person a lot."
- crewchief1949
Less Technology Dependence
"Growing up in the '90s/early '00s was a lot of fun. H**l, I didn’t get my first cell phone until ninth grade."
"Kids are surprised when I tell them I had to share it with my brother, had no internet access, and it only had enough memory to store 50 texts. If you reached that, you had to delete some in order to receive new ones. Oh, and I got so good at texting without looking at my phone."
- WolverineJive_Turkey
Poor Attitudes
"I'm Gen Z but I see older people being a lot more optimistic. If something fails, they try something else. A lot of young people are so fed up with life (me included), they can barely function and they either isolate themselves or indulge in obscene hedonism."
- pensiero_97
"Free time (too much homework in my opinion)."
"Privacy (social media and constant connection via a phone/laptop)."
"Downtime (time to just chill and do nothing, they feel like every moment needs to be filled or they’re missing out)."
"Ignorance (they’re introduced to world/political issues way younger)."
- Strude187
Kids Being Kids
"A youth without having to be perfectly styled and ready for social media..."
"We played. Outside. In the mud and snow and in the summer's heat. We came back with dirty clothes, freezing cold noses, and wet from jumping into the nearby lake. We didn't care about our clothes, about our "style" and happily wore the same green t-shirt and jeans every day (of course, cleaned)."
"We knew when to come home , not because we had a smartphone or a smartwatch, but because of the sunset. I'll never forget sitting on the porch, watching the sunset, eating ice cream, and being completely and undeniably unworried."
"No one captured every third step on digital videos and posted them on every single social media platform. No one needed 'likes' and 'retweets.' No one bullied you because you didn't have the iPhone 383637 S for ˘$3000..."
"We were KIDS. Just. Kids. Not miniature adults with bad manners and mobile phone addiction."
- DieDobby
For people who grew up in the early 2000s or sooner, these memories are undeniably nostalgic, and even sad, knowing that today's kids won't share in the same memories.
The biggest takeaways seemed to be the push for a full schedule and impressing the internet, when really, the point used to be to unplug and relax with friends.
People Share Their All-Time Best Travel Tips That Most People Don't Know
Now that pandemic protocols have been lifted for the most part, inexperienced travelers should take advantage of the time to visit places they've always wanted to see or dreamed of seeing in lockdown.
Unfortunately, a myriad of excuses can delay one's inclination to wanderlust–including a lack of finances and a fear of the unknown.
But thankfully, Reddit is here to prove it can be a great resource for travel information that isn't generally known to the public.
Inspired by a search for wisdom, Redditor HugeDismissal asked:
"What is your best travel tip that most people don't know?"
Know before you go.
Sharing The Journey
"Let your family back home know your travel itinerary."
– DuckFlat
Price Search Hack
"Try searching for flights in the airline’s original language. I once saved $700 booking tickets in Peru by using Spanish rather than English."
– Huge-Recognition-366
Plan B
"When flights get canceled, don’t stand in line to talk to an agent. Call the airline."
– PebbleBeach1919
For packing, it might behoove you to keep these in mind.
Packing Method
"Roll everything, fold nothing."
– ThegatiX
A Perfect Disguise
"For photo equipment or all kind of expensive stuff: put some duct tape on it. If it looks broken, nobody wants to steal it."
– SensitiveDolphin55
Once on a flight, these tips may come in handy.
Take Note
"Three things; 1.) bring an orange. If someone you are sitting next to smells bad you can open the orange up as a natural deodorizer. 2.) Bring a spare pair of socks and change socks after you are settled on your flight, train, etc. Put the sweaty socks away in a plastic bag. Dry socks after a long day of travel feel luxurious. 3.) Stupid and Cheerful. A cop stops you in a foreign country? Stupid and cheerful. Never be belligerent. A border guard says your papers aren’t in order? Stupid and cheerful. The airline says you are too late to board? Stupid and cheerful. Cheerful always works better than aggressive. And it transcends culture. I knew an elderly couple who literally drove across the whole of Africa and “stupid and cheerful” was their advice. It’s far harder to punish someone if they simply claim ignorance and are smiling."
– daveescaped
The Best Travel Companion
"Who you go with is way more important than where you go."
– AliJoof
Once you reach the destination, now what?
Booking Affording Lodging
"The best room in a cheaper hotel is often better than a standard room in a more expensive hotel. When looking for luxury on a budget, don't overlook the cheaper hotels - they often have fantastic suites for what you'd pay for a standard room somewhere pricier."
– distantapplause
Not Like The Romans Do
"Nobody wakes up early. Like you can wake up before dawn and get fantastic golden hour pics when the city is empty then go back for breakfast and a nap before heading out for lunch."
"Like the best city for this is Rome. No one is around and you can get wide shots that would never happen during the day and the lighting is better."
– ActualWhiterabbit
Expert Advice
"If you're asking for an opinion, don't ask the opinion of someone who's being paid to provide it."
"Want to know where the best meal near your hotel is? The cleaner isn't getting a kickback from the nearest steakhouse, but the concierge probably is."
"Want to know the easiest way to get to the airport? The front desk clerk is going to tell you to hire the hotel preferred transfer, but the barman will probably tell you what train to catch for 1/20th of the price."
– dannyr
Now that you have these handy tips jotted down, there are no more excuses to delay travel plans.
The world is your oyster.
So why not take advantage of it?
Because trust me, once you get out of your bubble, you'll be glad you got to experience the wonder of discovery and adventure you can't find by looking at pictures or videos of the places you've been longing to visit.
Any other travel pearls? Let us know in the comments below.
History is made on a daily basis.
Indeed, there is little more exciting than having witnessed the accomplishments of people like Barack Obama, Stacey Abrams, and Greta Thunberg knowing that they have firmly reserved a space for themselves in history books.
Of course, most of the people who paved the way to make the world what it is today have long since passed away.
Not all of them, though!
It may surprise you to learn that there are people who made an indelible impression on history who are still much alive today.
Some of whom even continue to make a difference to this very day
Redditor enginearz was eager to hear about historical figures people were surprised to learn were still alive, leading them to ask:
"What famous person from history is still alive?"
Forever Leaving His Name In Science
"Yuri Oganessian."
"He's the only currently living man with an element on the periodic table named after him."- snowflake247
Quite The Story To Tell
"Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha."
"Last human to hold the title of Tsar, as leader of the Kingdom of Bulgaria."
"He was exiled along with his family when the Soviets invaded Bulgaria in 1944."
"In 1990, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Simeon returned from exile to Bulgaria and July 2001, was democratically elected prime minister."
"The private citizen is now 85."- DirectionNew5328
Making Nature Cool For Decades
"Jane Goodall."
"David Attenborough."- random_username_96
The Fought For Freedom And Justice
"John Hemingway."
"The last surviving airman of the battle of Britain."
"He is 103 years old."
"Ivan Martynushkin."
"He helped with the liberation of Auschwitz."
"He is 99 years old."
"Benjamin Ferencz."
"He was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials."
"He is 102 years old."- Ashtar-the-Squid
"Traute Lafrenz."
"The last living member of the german anti-nazi resistance group 'White Rose".
"Most well-known members were the sibling Sophie and Hans Scholl, who were executed by the Nazis when they were identified."- ChrisTinnef
The One Who Made One Giant Leap For Mankind
"Buzz Aldrin, and I’m not even American."- mukaltin
Opening Doors For So Many Others
"Ruby Bridges."
"She was one of the first black kids to go to an all-white school."
"There is a famous picture of that first day."- mumwifealcoholic
He Continues To Surprise Us
"Ozzy Osbourne."- CaptinDerpI
Admirably Defying So Many Odds
"Jimmy Carter."
"98 years old."- Back2Bach
We've Still Got Two Out Of Four
"Paul and Ringo"- HMKingHenryIX
Inching Close To The Big One Double Oh...
"Kissinger."- LucyVialli
Who Could Forget About Dick Van Dyke ?!?!?!?!
"Everyone just forgetting about Dick Van Dyke, he's like 97 and still going."
"If you've never heard of him, he played in Marry Poppins, along with a bunch more movies"- Longjumping_Drag2752
And Still Stunning
"Sophia Loren is still kicking."- The_REAL_McWeasel
Continuing To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before
"William Shatner doesn't look it but that dude is in his 90s wtf."- flubberF*ck
Perhaps what's most admirable, is that even when these astonishing people do eventually pass, they will continue to live on and change the world with the remarkable work they did.
We all indulge in fast food from time to time.
Even if we know what we're eating isn't exactly healthy, sometimes the salty, fatty mass-produced food is the only thing we want.
Resulting in our making weekly, if not daily, visits to a nearby chain.
Then, of course, there are the chains that we make every effort to avoid.
We've likely tried places at least once simply because everyone is always talking about them.
But after having one bite, we have trouble seeing exactly what all the fuss was about and vow to never return.
Even if it might be the only option at a rest stop or even the only available food for miles, we instead opt to wait and be hungry.
Redditor BungOnMimosas was curious to hear what people considered to be the most overhyped fast food chains around, leading them to ask:
"What do you think are the most overrated fast-food chains? Why?"
"Food As It Should Be"... Or Not...
"I know it's not technically 'fast food', but Panera Bread pisses me off."
"Insanely expensive for extremely average food." - Reddit
"Panera."
"Their quality has decreased so much in the past few years and they’ve added weird sh*t to their menu like pizza and chicken sandwiches."
"Massive identity crisis and crap food."- asm233
Things Ain't What They Used To Be...
"All of them, now that they charge real restaurant prices."- P00pf4rt5
Golden Arches
"As much as I hate to say it, McDonald's is the only place that I can think of that the quality hasn't changed much."
"I mean, that's a pretty low bar, but it is what it is."- gnatman66
"The majority of them, especially the really big ones (McDonald's, Wendy's, BK, Pizza Hut, etc)."
"The prices are no longer fast food prices and the quality is not there like it used to be."
"Far better local options that cost roughly the same at the end of the day."- senorita_diablo
Consistency Is Key...
"Dunkin."
"You can go to the same location three separate times, have the food made by the same staff, and receive 3 wildly different results."- AndrewLampart
Not So Popular Anywhere, It seems...
"KFC in France became so bad."- SterBout
Likely Won't Go National...
"Idk how wide spread they are, but in the Buffalo NY area there is a chain called Mighty Taco."
"They were even voted best tacos a few years ago."
"It is absolutely terrible food."
"I’ve tried to like it and given them 3 chances."
"Each time I couldn’t eat more than a couple bites."
"Absolutely terrible and I’m disgusted even thinking about their sour vomit in a tortilla."- aa-2020
"Eat Fresh"...
"I think I’ve answered this question before but definitely for me, it’s Subway."
"Nothing but a giant hunk of bread."
"I’m editing this to add that part of my anger about Subway is how good it used to be."
"I can remember the days of nearly a whole can of tuna salad delicious sub."
"And a Veggie sub with Swiss cheese and piles of yummy veggies and the sweet Vidalia onion sauce."
"It’s all gone to sh*t."
"I would’ve been perfectly OK with increasing price but the big drop in quality pissed me off."
"Oh woe is me with my first world problems."- Mysterious-Region640
Quantity Doesn't Guarantee Quality...
"Starbucks is a scam."- cmkeller62
Tasty, But Not Worth It...
"I’m going to say Five Guys."
"Not because the food isn’t good, but because I’m not paying $20 for a burger meal."- 2PacTookMyLunchMoney
"Dairy queen grill and Chill for sure."
"I worked at one for a lil' while and 1 burger combo is $14.56 CAD."- lolidk13
And Not In A Good Way...
Big Kahuna Burger, it kills you."-Darklock2022
No two people have the same taste in food.
Some people know to avoid crappy food, while others eat literally nothing else.
History Buffs Share The Best Stories Not Found In Textbooks
History isn't boring, our textbooks just leave out all the fun stuff.
History as taught by textbooks SUCKS. But think about it, you're fully aware that awesome and hilarious stuff is happening every day. That's nothing new. History is full of characters that, if they existed today, would have the biggest Twitter following and at least 3 reality shows.
Take La Mapin, for example. She was a cross-dressing, sword-fighting, opera singer who killed at least ten men in duels and snuck into convents to hook up with the nuns. Yeah, we'd have read the HELL out of the French Revolution chapter in our history textbooks if it included that info!
One Reddit user asked:
History buffs of Reddit, what is one of the most fascinating stories you've learned that no one seems to talk about and can't be found in textbooks?
We grabbed some of our favorite responses - and now we're kind of mad, honestly. We spent years thinking history was boring! Turns out nope, it's not. Our textbooks just didn't want us knowing how scandalously awesome our ancestors could be.
The Samurai Who Bombed Oregon
During World War II, the Japanese outfitted special planes (some were designed to be launched from submarines) with enough range to reach the west coast of the United States. The goal was to use incendiary bombs to start wildfires in the forests of the pacific northwest. One pilot, Nobuo Fujita, successfully dropped his bombs over the forest near Brookings, Oregon. Fortunately, a storm the night before had dampened the forest, and the fire started by Fujita's bomb was quickly controlled by the Forest Service.
Eighteen years later, in 1962, Fujita returned to Brookings. He brought with him his family's heirloom, a katana ("samurai sword") that was over 400 years old. Fujita apologized to the townspeople for his actions during the war, and revealed that if the townspeople demanded it, he would ceremoniously kill himself (commit seppuku) with the sword to make reparations for his actions.
The townspeople would have none of it. Fujita was made an honorary citizen of the town and returned to visit it several times during his life, including one trip to plant trees in the forest he had bombed decades before. After his death in 1997, his daughter returned to Brookings and scattered some of his ashes there. The Fujita family katana is on display in Brookings, after being given to the town by Fujita as a token of friendship.
- MightyCaseyStruckOut
Anal Bleeding - For Fashion
I've told this story before, but it never fails to amuse me. Strap in, boys and girls: it's time to learn about that time in pre-Revolutionary France where bleeding from your butt was a fashion statement.
In early 1685, King Louis XIV of France developed a fistula: a small channel near his anus, resulting in great pain. Fistulas, much like the Wu Tang Clan, ain't nothin' to f--- with. Eventually the pain got so bad that he couldn't ride a horse, sit for long periods (which is kind of important when you're a king) or even make a bowel movement without regretting it immensely. The normal remedies were applied; enemas and poultices from morning until night, with zero effect. Louis decided, 'You know what? Let's go down the surgical route.'
Unfortunately for Louis, at the time there was no surgical route. He hired a surgeon barber named Charles-François Felix and asked him to fix him. Not entirely stupid -- and not willing to risk f---ing up a novel surgery on the king of France -- Felix requested six months to practice, which he did on prisoners. Live prisoners. Live, healthy prisoners -- sometimes as many as four a day, in an era where antiseptics and anaesthetics didn't exist. The success rates were about as you'd imagine -- although at least some of the prisoners survived -- and eventually Felix felt confident enough to perform the surgery on the king.
And it worked! Within three months, the king was riding his horse like nothing had happened, and Felix was the talk of the town. People were desperate to emulate the king so badly that people who were entirely healthy would pay Felix to perform the surgery on them, and those less willing to suffer (or at least, less willing to pay) would fake having the surgery, wearing bandages known as le royale to mimic the king and pretend that they too were cool and with it... even though 'with it' meant suffering from a painful condition of the butthole.
- Portarossa
Laughable Lion
Imgur
Not really fascinating, but funny, is the lion of Gripsholm castle. As a part of some diplomatic back and forths, Fredrik the first of Sweden received a lion from the ruler of Algeria. By the time it got to Sweden, it was a skin and some bones, kinda. It was now up to the royal taxidermist to make sure the lion was restored to its former glory. During the 1730's however, not a great deal of swedes had ever actually seen a lion. The only real thing he had to go on, was the coinage which showed lions in profile. The result?
Yeah. Silver lining, though. This thing is still a major tourist attraction for the castle.
-Rattplats
This Surgery That Killed Three People At Once
Robert Liston 1794-1847
A surgeon. In fact, he was described as "the fastest knife in the West End" and could amputate a leg in 2.5 minutes (the faster the surgery, the more likely the recovery) - though during this particular amputation he went so quickly he also removed his patient's testicles.
However, he also amputer a man's leg (in less than 2.5 minutes), who would later die of gangrene. In his haste, he accidentally cut off his assistant's fingers, who would later die from gangrene, and (apparently) cut through the coat tails of a surgical spectator, who was so scared he died of fright.
This becoming the only surgery with a 300% mortality rate.
- AvidReader182
Like Paul Revere, But Better
SYBIL LUDINGTON.
She was, essentially (perhaps oversimplifying) the female, teenage Paul Revere. At only 16 years old, she rode through New York in 1777 to alert local militia, just like Paul Revere's famous ride. BUT, this young woman rode more than TWICE the distance of Paul Revere's ride, while being significantly younger (she rode about 40 miles at only 16, in the middle of the night).
She also saved her father from being captured by Royalists, she lit candles surrounding her house and gathered her siblings to march around the house and give the illusion that troops were guarding the residence. The antagonists fled.
She is so, so under appreciated in the long term of history.
- StrawberrySwisherz
-
The Lost Russian Library
When Ivan III of Russia married Zoe/Sophia Palaiologina, niece of Dragases Palaiologos or Constantine XI, her uncle gifted them a library along with many other treasures. This library somehow survived the Burning of Moscow in 1493 and continued to be passed down to her son, Vasili III, and then on to her grandson, Ivan IV.
During Ivan IV's reign of terror (the second half of his reign), he feared the library was too precious a treasure and worried it would be stolen. So he and a few men took the collection out of Moscow (what was most likely a 1-3 day horse ride) and buried the books (possibly in a vault???) To ensure the location of the library would never get out, he had the men killed.
Ivan IV died before the location of the library was ever revealed.
We have no idea what could have been in this library or if the contents have even survived. Though some historians have speculated that Plato's Hermocrates (the final dialogue pertaining to Atlantis) could have been part of the collection, there's no proof that this is true.
- Dahngrest
Texaco Accidentally Sucked Up The Ocean
The Lake Peigneur Disaster.
Until 1980, Lake Peigneur was a small-ish freshwater lake with a maximum depth of about 10-15ft, located in southern Louisiana. Locals mostly used it for trout fishing, and it also had a canal running 10 miles from the lake southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The main industry of the area was a massive salt mine that stood below the ground, partially underneath the lake itself. Thing is, huge natural salt deposits like this often coincide with oil reserves, so it wasn't out of the ordinary when oil companies came searching.
In November of 1980, Texaco had set up a rig in the lake and was doing some exploratory drilling, hoping to make bank. Little did they know that one of their triangulation coordinates was slightly off, and so they had incorrectly guessed the location of the salt mine below their feet. Their drill bit punched into the roof of the salt deposit about 400 feet earlier than expected, and water began to drain slowly into the salt.
And what happens when salt meets water?
It dissolves.
As the water dissolved more and more salt, it made more and more room for water to be sucked down, which in turn dissolved more salt and made more room, setting off a massive chain reaction. The oil rig on the surface keeled to the side and collapsed, its workers barely escaping before the water pressure became too much to swim through. The remnants of the rig were sucked into the bottom of the lake in what had turned from a tiny hole to a whirlpool, the force of the water shearing away soil and making a bigger hole as it went.
The salt mine at the time was fully staffed with workers 1500ft below the ground, who were going about their daily shifts in the mine without any knowledge of the events taking place above them, until they saw water dripping through the roof of the tunnels. Thanks to well-rehearsed evacuation plans, none of them died before the mine was flooded, but water is just about the worst thing you can see in a salt mine.
The whirlpool on the surface, having eaten the rig, began to suck down the entire contents of the lake itself, including 11 barges, various small boats, and yes, the poor trout. The whirlpool grew into a maelstrom, its pressure increasing and in turn building more pressure by creating a bigger and bigger hole, eroding more and more of the salt mine. As it pulled down the entire lake, the water began to shear away at the shores, creating landslides and tearing trees out by the roots. Many of Jefferson Island's 100-year-old pecan trees were lost to the maelstrom, along with several local homes that sat on the shore of the lake and were ripped out by the foundation. The local botanical gardens was destroyed entirely as the soil underneath it was eroded in the span of only a few hours.
Compressed air inside the mine finally exploded out through the mine shafts, quickly followed by a 400-foot geyser erupting from the mine's entrance.
Not only did Lake Peigneur drain entirely into the mine, dragging 64 acres of destroyed land with it, but the pressure was so great that it also reversed the direction of the Delcambre Canal. The ocean water from the Gulf of Mexico was sucked northward through the canal to fill the Peigneur basin, temporarily creating the largest waterfall in Louisiana.
The chaos didn't end until the pressure equalized about a week later. When things had finally calmed down, the lake had changed drastically. Its maximum depth was now about 200feet, as opposed to its previous 10. Its shoreline had expanded, chimneys sticking straight out of the water where houses had once been. Nine out of the eleven barges claimed by the maelstrom floated back to the surface, although two remain somewhere in the ground below. The botanical gardens were gone, and many of the local trees. The salt mine was temporarily shut down, and although it did reopen it was finally closed permanently in 1986. Texaco had to pay $32 million to the salt company, and a further $13 million to the gardens. Miraculously, the only casualties of the disaster were the trout.
The most important difference, however, is that today Lake Peigneur is now a saltwater lake with ocean species, ten miles away from the ocean itself.
All caused by some bad numbers and a fourteen-inch drill bit.
-SwingGirlAtHeart
This Honorable Escort
The Brown-Stigler Incident occurred during World War II. A B-17 bomber was heavily damaged during a bombing run on Bremen. Several of its crew were killed or injured, two engines were out, a section of the tail was blown away, and the radio was disabled. The bomber lost altitude but was saved by the Captain - whose name was literally Charlie Brown. The bomber flow over an airfield and was spotted by a German fighter ace named Franz Stigler.
Stigler took off caught up to the bomber, had it in his sites, than realized that the tail gunner was not firing. At this point he noticed how damaged the B-17 was and took the advice of his former CO to never shoot a man in a parachute. He decided that the bomber was no longer combat capable and was in distress (like a man in a parachute). So he pulled to the side of the B-17 and signaled for Brown to land at the airfield, when he Brown continued to fly, Stigler tried to get him to fly to Sweden, once again Brown continued on.
That's when Stigler realized that Brown was going to try to return to England. Stigler, technically the enemy, then pulled to the bomber's wing and escorted it to the English Channel were he gave Brown a salute a returned to Germany. To make a long story short, after the war Brown found Stigler and the two became close friends until their deaths.
- ChristopherParent
Thank You, Gander
It's a bit more recent but I love the story of Gander. After 9/11 all the planes were grounded. Almost 7,000 people, which was about 66% of the local population , were forced to land in this tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland. The whole town worked together to make sure all the passengers would have everything they needed.
The local ice rink was filled with frozen food that people donated. You couldn't find a closed door in town for stranded people to take a shower or just talk.
Once the grounding of planes was lifted those passengers pooled their money together and created a scholarship for the people of Gander to use. This is one of the greatest acts of kindness that I can view in history. To this day a Gander is one of the only places outside the United States where they have a piece of the World Trade Center.
-FireDog1235
The Curse On Stalin
In the 1300s, the greater part of Central Asia was ruled by Tamerlane, a brilliant leader who took after one of his ancestors, Genghis Khan, in ruthlessness, brutality, and skill. Unlike Genghis Khan, Tamerlane was Muslim, and an important part of his particular cultural beliefs (blending Islam, steppe cultures, and countless other influences) was that one's grave should not be disturbed after death. Being the big shot he was, his grave was magnificent and its location well known, but Tamerlane famously said: "let no one disturb my grave, for if you do, a fate worse than me will fall upon you." So no one disturbed the tomb. Till Stalin. He let some Soviet archaeologists open it up and examine Tamerlane's body. The locals warned them about the curse that would go into effect after three days, but the scientists went ahead with the excavation— on June 19, 1941.
On June 22, 1941, Hiltler invaded the USSR.
Whether or not you believe in curses, Stalin was apparently spooked enough that, after devastating loss after devastating loss, he ordered the remains be returned (with full ceremony) and the tomb resealed. Very shortly afterwards, the Soviets won the Battle of Stalingrad and turned the tide of Nazi invasion.
- MaggieMC2012
H/T: Reddit