People Share Their Best Mind Blowing Facts And Stories Pulled From History
Most of us have some general history knowledge, some of the most incredible and fascinating things that have happened in history somehow manage to slip right under our noses!
Below are 26 mind blowing facts that aren't as widely known. Check them out!
(1/26)
Napoleon once took a heavily fortified city by having his men casually walk across the bridge as if peace was just declared and Napoleons troops were just trying to pass through.
Submitted by: Fredfredbug4
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(2/26)
Sunglasses were invented by the Chinese. They were not used to block out the sun however but instead they were used by judges in courtrooms to hide their emotions.
Submitted by: josserg
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(3/26)
During the 1916 Easter Rising (a battle to end British rule over Ireland), there was a ceasefire each day to allow the park-keeper of St. Stephen's Green to feed the ducks in the park.
Submitted by: daveyb86
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(4/26)
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 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 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.
Submitted by: MrFuxIt
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(5/26)
Albert Einstein was offered the role of Israel's second president in 1952, but declined stating that he had "neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings."
(6/26)
Before he was president, Andrew Jackson rose to national fame for his victory in the Battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812. His "decisive victory against the British" occurred after the war was over, though the combatants didn't know that yet, and the victory would have been impossible had it not been for the support of a French pirate named Jean Lafitte, who was only siding with the Americans in exchange for a pardon from a number of war crimes he was accused of.
Submitted by: DanHam117
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(7/26)
Adolph Hitler's remaining relatives made a pact to never have children, so that the family dies out forever.
Submitted by: karmanaut
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(8/26)
The man who was to protect Abraham Lincoln on that fateful night shirked his duties to go drink at a nearby saloon. Ironically, the man who would shoot the president was drinking at that saloon probably getting up the courage.
Submitted by: waiting_for_rain
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(9/26)
The word 'Kamikaze' means 'divine wind' in Japanese. The original Kamikaze was when the Mongols sent a huge invasion force to Japan. The Japanese would have been thoroughly defeated, but both times the Mongols tried to invade, a hurricane swept down and destroyed the Mongol fleet. The Japanese named this wind, 'Kamikaze.'
Submitted by: thestrongestduck
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(10/26)
A plan to attack American cities to justify war with Cuba was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962. Rejected by President Kennedy, Operation Northwoods remained classified for 35 years.
Submitted by: PittsburghJon
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(11/26)
John Tyler's (the 10th president of the USA) grandson is still alive.
John Tyler was born in 1790 and had a son when he was 63. That son had his son when he was 75. Meaning John Tyler's grandson was born in 1928.
Submitted by: [deleted]
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(12/26)
Julius Wagner-Jauregg won the Nobel Prize for curing syphilis by giving people malaria.
Submitted by: illibhau
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(13/26)
Benjamin Franklin once played a practical joke that put England and France on the verge of war.
He was stuck in England as ambassador for some time and was bored. He wrote a letter to the biggest newspaper under a fictitious name, complaining that France needs to stop sending over all their prisoners, and England needs to stop accepting them. The British were outraged to learn this was happening, but of course it wasn't. At some point the French caught wind of the rumor, and took on the attitude that they could do that if they wanted to. "You think your country is too good for our prisoners?" It escalated through both governments and the military until leaders on both sides had to unilaterally convince the populations that none of this was true.
The only person who enjoyed the whole thing from beginning to end was Ben Franklin.
Submitted by: Scrappy_Larue
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(14/26)
Despite the terrible nature of and damage caused by the 1666 Great Fire of London, only six people were killed. This is despite the fire destroying at least 13,500 houses.
Submitted by: Eloquentdyslexic
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(15/26)
When the Allies stormed the beach in Normandy, Hitler was asleep. No general would make a move without him, and no one dared to wake him up.
Submitted by: xPlicitMike
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(16/26)
Martha Washington rated Thomas Jefferson's visit to Mount Vernon as the second worst day of her life, being surpassed only by the death of George Washington. Now, bear in mind that George was Marthas second husband, so her list of painful occurrences went: 1. Second husband dying 2. Having Thomas Jefferson in her house 3. First husband dying.
Also: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams vandalized one of William Shakespeare's chairs to take bits of it home as souvenirs, and John Adams had a dog named Satan.
Submitted by: gcbriel
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(17/26)
Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr, and Barbara Walters were born the same year: 1929.
Submitted by: thegoldeneel
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(18/26)
Alan Shepard (the first American man in space), entered the atmosphere with wet pants. Knowing he was about to be a major part of American space history, Shepard drank coffee that morning, to try and keep himself calm. About three cups or so and barely anything else.
When astronauts are launched, often they sit at a 90 degree angle backwards, whilst experiencing intense vibrations. Also important to note, the crew don't just jump into their shuttle and immediately off they go. Often, crew sit and wait for a minimum of two to three hours on the launchpad, as final checks go through.
Back to Shepard, who is sitting on the launchpad, tilted backwards 90 degrees with a stomach filled with coffee. He mentioned his issue with MOCR, (ground control) and they pretty much told him that he can go to the loo and not do the launch, or try to hold it and become a part of history. Shepard chose the latter.
Submitted by: louise_sophie
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(19/26)
In 1972, the Buffalo Sabres drafted Taro Tsujimito as the NHL's first Japanese player. Unfortunately, he didn't make much of a splash because the Japanese style of play didn't translate to the North American style and the fact that Taro Tsujimoto was completely made up. Turns out the team was annoyed with the length and complexity of the draft and this was their protest.
Submitted by: awsears25
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(20/26)
The Star that the Three Wise Men followed that led them to Jesus actually existed, but as a rare moment of aligned planets.
Submitted by: Mr_Sarcasum
(22/26)
Alexander the Great literally changed the world. Permanently.
Tyre used to be a city on a island surrounded with giant walls which reached 200m 200 feet high (some of which are still there today). Alexander wanted to go worship at the temple of Ajax there (and for them to swear fealty to him) but they refused and locked the gates. Since he didn't have a navy they thought they were safe.
How wrong they were. He sent one half of his army down the coast all the way into Egypt to capture every port they could find and raise a small fleet, and the other half he had build a causewaya mile outinto the Mediterranean to reach the island to assault it, and capture it. And slaughter the inhabitants of course, and sold 20,000 into slavery.
And permanently altered the geography of the region, creating what longshore drift turned into a tombolo which still connects the "island" to the mainland today. In building it, he also altered the flora of the region, deforesting the lowlands of the Lebanon to such an extent that thousands of years later it's still bare (of course their upland areas are still thickly forested in cedar Trees).
Submitted by: johnydarko
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(23/26)
The last American Civil War veteran lived until 1956. From muskets and cavalry to jets and tanks.
Submitted by: paradoxpolitics
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(24/26)
During World War II, the men of the 442nd unit scaled a 4000 foot cliff at the dead of night in order to launch a ambush on the German emplacement known as the Gothic Line.
Men would fall during this climb but none would let out a scream, they just silently plummeted to their deaths, in order to keep their position safe. After getting into position the group laid in wait for dawn to launch their attack. At dawn the attack began and the 442nd won the day and broke the Gothic Line in 34 minutes.
Submitted by: StarPike
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(25/26)
The United States Air Force accidentally dropped two hydrogen bombs (each with a payload of over four megatons of TNT) over North Carolina in 1961, one of which was armed and battle ready. All trigger mechanisms worked as designed expect one basic low voltage switch which didn't move and prevented a nuclear catastrophe.
Submitted by: stevenmchill001
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(26/26)
The United States of America was founded in 1776. About 150 years later, they were pretty much the number one power in the world. Men who fought in World War II had grandpas who fought in the Civil War. Men who fought in the Civil War had grandpas who fought in the the Revolutionary War.
In such a short time period, a somewhat small group of people grew into the most powerful nation in the world.
It also blows my mind that since North America was pretty much the last frontier that was conquered, it is so untouched by human hands. There are areas of the wild that have barely seen humans.
Submitted by: forman98
Source
People Divulge The Luxury Brands That Only The Super Rich Know About
Reddit user Halyycon asked: 'What are the “quiet” luxury brands that only the super rich know about?'
We all have brands or companies that we might admire from afar (or at the very least via their website or catalog), but know we will likely never shop there ourselves.
For the simple reason that their products and merchandise are simply out of our price range.
As a result, we may find ourselves like Holly Golightly at Tiffany's while window shopping, but never actually making a purchase.
However, there are some brands that are so luxurious, that even catalog or window shopping is out of the question.
As they are not only luxurious but also exclusive, only a certain few even know of their existence.
Redditor Halyycon10 was curious to learn about any and all of the luxury brands that cater exclusively to the wealthiest people on earth, leading them to ask:
"What are the 'quiet' luxury brands that only the super rich know about?"
Allow Me To Take You Upstairs...
"An Italian friend arranged a visit to a Murano glass gallery."
"After the general public cleared out of the public showroom, the gallery's people took us up some stairs to the 'real deal' gallery with shelves full of breathtaking art pieces."
"We admired one vase on a shelf, but were told that it would never be offered for sale -- it was too important as part of the island's legacy & heritage."
"I think that the way we zeroed in on it somehow convinced them that we were top art dealers "'in stealth mode'."
"For the rest of the afternoon, we were treated like VIPs."
"What a day that was...."-- funhousefrankenstein
Uncharted Territory
"I work in the Luxury Travel industry."
"I know quite a few."
"Exclusive Resorts is an invite-only membership club for very high-end travel."
"They don’t post their prices online, but I know people that work there."
"They have personal cell phone numbers for people like Jeff Bezos, Waltons, and people that live at that stratospheric titan of industry level."
"Their cheapest membership package is $100,000 to join, and can run up to $250,000."
"That’s just the price to join the club."
"You have to pay for any travel you want to book on top of that."
"They have a $600M portfolio of properties they own throughout the world, that only their members have access to."
"Want to guarantee availability for a finish-line view villa in Monaco during the Grand Prix?"
"Want to get a ski-in cabin next to the Walton’s cabin in Aspen over Christmas?"
"Want a luxury penthouse in Paris during fashion week?"
"These are your guys."
"They cap their membership at 3,000 people, so you may have to wait for a long time until you can get in."
"Another interesting one: White Desert is your tour operator of choice if you want a private expedition with your buddies to the South Pole."
"Their packages can run $100,000+ per person for a private jet to their base camp on the Antarctica plateau and then another custom-build ski-plane transfer to their camp on the South Pole."- El_mochilero
Nothing More Valuable Than A Good Night's Sleep...
"Duxiana."
"For people who can buy a mattress that costs as much as a car."- Hot-Dress-3369
A Perfect Fit...
"Tailors on Saville Row."
"Wealthy people get their clothes custom made."- mecyh
Nothing To Give It Away...
"I had a rich friend once tell me that Gucci is what poor people think rich people wear."
"Since then I noticed that all of her clothes fit perfect, but she never has logos on anything."- hoptownky
These Boots Might NOT Be Made For Walking...
"John Lobb bootmaker in St James."
"Make beautiful handmade shoes for royalty, celebrities and rich types."
"They are well known but not a household name."- queenirv
Free For All...
"I used to be of the opinion that really wealthy people wore stuff that you wouldn't really notice, but disappointingly (having spent some time around folks with extreme wealth recently), the true answer is just: whatever the hell they like."
"If someone really liked branded gear before they were wealthy, you'd better believe they're going to be dressed like Ali G once they make it big."- AvaRCordero
Pay Up To Dress Down...
"Jeff Goldblum was on the Conan podcast and talked about where he got his jeans."
"It was from this hard-to-find shop in New York that not many people had heard of.
Come to find out, not surprisingly, their jeans are insanely expensive, and only the very rich could afford them." - Reddit
For All Your Million Dollar Needs...
"Buy a copy of The Robb Report magazine at a bookstore and marvel at the insane ads in the back for private jets, yacht brokers, military level trained personal protection Belgian Malinois guardian dogs, personal protection security firms staffed by former US Secret Service and retired Tier 1 operators only in their early 40s and fit with 20 years experience, and even crazier stuff."
"Pfft buying a $400 pair of jeans is pedestrian when you have Taylor Swift money and roll in 2 fully armored Escalades and are escorted on errands by a phalanx of guys in black polo shirts and jeans who have been places and done things in sandy countries that are still classified."- scots
Cruisin...
"Amels."
"They are one of the best super yacht manufacturers in the world with over 100 years of experience."- theassassintherapist
Before You Show Off That Logo...
"Almost all of the well known luxury brands have several lines. "
"The ones with logos all over them are typically the cheapest (I’m looking at you LV, Gucci) etc. which is why they’re so common."
"The same companies will have more exclusive lines that are much more expensive, usually more classic in style, and they’re not covered in logos, so you’d never know what brand they are unless you’re really into that kind of thing."
"For example, my wife wanted to buy me a nice wallet, so we went to the LV shop."
"I liked one that had no logo on the exterior of it, just simple grey leather, and it cost twice as much as the ones with 'LV' stamped all over them."- ToothbrushGames
People Go Nuts For Interior Design
"Zuber & Co."
"Crazy expensive wallpaper and room dividers/panels."
"I love old rococo and baroque things so happed to walk by their store in NYC."
"Stopped in due to the patterns and quickly realized I do in-fact NOT have thousands of dollars per ft for wallpaper."
"For example $5,000 - $30,000 per panel."- Reddit
It's About Time
"When I met my wife she worked selling high end watches."
"Talking about it on our first date I said ‘oh like Rolex and stuff?’"
"She said ‘Rolex customers are just new money, drug dealers and old men'."
"'If people contact us wanting one we just direct them to a watch shop'."
"Then rattled off a list of about 10 makers I’d never heard of which her international clients would fly here just to try on."
"I was wearing a Luminox at the time which I thought was pretty badass but all of a sudden I felt like a kid running around with that gadget from Ben 10."- StrangledByTheAux
As the saying goes, "if you have to ask, you can't afford it!"
Though it must be said, there is also absolutely NOTHING wrong with shopping for watches at a watch shop.
The human body is an amazing thing.
It is capable of far more than we ever thought possible.
When studying anatomy we really should start doing a deeper dive into all the parts of the body.
Each organ and limb has a story and function that we never really learn about.
Redditor NorthPengyyy wanted to discuss... the penis, so they asked:
"What are some fun facts about the penis?"
Don't Die
"Fun fact - the erection happens when blood enters the penis, the main "structure" of the penis hardens and expands (obviously), but by doing so it presses the Veins and blocks them. Meaning - the blood comes but doesn't go out of the organ, thus keeping it erect for too long. This is why erections over 6 hours are dangerous because the blood blockage is for too long of a time and the penis can die due to lack of oxygen. I hope it was interesting."
SoapBubble3
Outaries
"The seam on your testicle sack is where your proto vagina sealed up while you were in the womb."
melonsquared
"So testicles are just ovaries that are outaries?"
datazulu
"Literally yes. They all start as gonads in your abdomen. Girls’ gonads stay and turn into ovaries. Boy’s gonads descend and become testes. It’s why, when you take a hit to the balls, it hurts all the way back up in your stomach and can make you nauseated. Boys still have innervated back up to where the gonads first developed."
SpartySoup
SNAP!
"It can break like a glow stick if it slips out while a girl is on top and slams back down on it."
Artistic_Marzipan221
De-boned
"Most animals have a 'penis bone' which allows for instant erections, however, humans do not have this bone. The cause is thought to be because without the bone, courtship, arousal, and mating is a longer affair therefore leading to increased intimacy and pair bonding. The penis is literally made for love."
nailbunny2000
Prehensile
"An elephant's penis is prehensile, like its trunk. It can be used to pick up objects."
Sea-Woodpecker-610
How come only elephants were granted this gift?
Frozen
"Being stressed out, exhausted, and cold makes it smaller. So the smallest penis in the world should belong to a man being chased by a polar bear in the Arctic."
Electrical_Age_336
Wait, what?
"I remember watching a weird YouTube documentary about a spider (in Australia of course) whose bite gives you a forever erection."
JMthought
It Just happens
"Just because it's erect DOES NOT mean the person is horny/aroused."
Spartan0536
"I recently learned that clenching other muscles is a good way to get rid of an erection. The bigger the muscle, the better, so clenching your butt is a good way to go. Apparently, it’s because it causes more blood to go to the clenched muscle. More blood to the muscle = less blood to the penis."
phatcat9000
"I'm quite anxious all the time. When I'm just chilling with nothing else to do, I reach a point of relaxation and I get erections, I'm not aroused or anything, I'm just chilling and it seems that my body approves of my time off I guess."
chifrijoconbirra
Be Smart
"There is a ligament at the base of the penis that causes the penis to rise when it becomes erect. This is what causes a bulge etc."
"Some people have stupidly made the decision to have this ligament cut. This is because it adds a few inches of length to the erect penis. However, it will just hang down. Do. Not. Do. This. It is a stupid thing to do."
phatcat9000
Data Entry
"A single sperm contains 37.5 MB of DNA information. One ejaculation represents roughly a data transfer of 15,875 GB equivalent to the combined capacity of 62 MacBook Pro laptops."
Nijinsky_84
Well, the penis is far more interesting than we thought.
Isn't it?
Do you have any interesting tidbits to add? Let us know in the comments.
People Who Earn Six Figures Explain What They Do For A Living
"I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay
Ain't it sad?
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That's too bad"~ "Money, Money, Money" ABBA
Money is either the root of all evil or the key to happiness, largely depending on whether you have any.
So how do people with money get it? One method is a job that pays the bills.
Reddit user Luffy_Tuffyasked:
"For everyone making six figures, what do you do for work?"
Fly the Friendly Skies
"Air Traffic Control"
~ yadayadab00
"That was a super popular job in the Army when I joined in 2007."
"They stopped letting active duty sign up because they’d get just one enlistment (so 3-5 years) out of them before they’d bounce and go to the civilian side making a lot more money."
~ Affectionate-Arm9547
0/10 Would Not Recommend
"Pharmacist."
"250k student loan. Super stressful job that I hate. Would not recommend."
"When I was starting school, even Walgreens took care of their people and had plenty of tech hours."
"Now you don’t even get enough help to staff the window, the cash register, entering, and filling scripts."
"I’ve worked weekends at the busiest store in the district with only one tech. It’s ridiculous."
~ XThePariahX
What Life?
"Doctor. But I sold my life and my youth. It’s not worth it."
~ euphoric-alpaca
"My husband wants to be a doctor. He's 43."
"I tell him it's not worth it because he would be paying off his student loans until or after retirement. At least that's how I imagine it would go."
~ Public_Honeydew_8997
Belly Up
"Bartender for 16 years, started making around $80k and have slowly moved up to $110k."
"I recently made a pivot to a new career but still bartend to pay the bills for now."
~ dj_destroyer10/10 Would Recommend
"I'm in heavy construction. Class A Driver/Equipment Operator."
"My CDL (Commercial Drivers License) got me in the door, and I slowly learned to operate everything from excavators to directional drills."
"I can give some advice to anyone interested in trying it out, the money is there if you're willing to try."
"The trick to succeeding in heavy construction is to be confident. Not necessarily outwardly (though it does help), but confident in YOURSELF."
"Do not be intimidated by any tool or machine. Raise your hand and ask to learn EVERY chance you get.
"You'll see a lot of miserable old 45-year-olds that have been swinging a shovel or broom for 25 years and complain all day about their situation. Don't be that guy, treat this job as an education."
"Remember, the more you can do, the more you're worth."
"Keep your nose clean. Stay off the drugs and alcohol. Failing a drug test will ruin your reputation in the industry, companies talk to each other."
"And showing up hungover every morning will effect your performance and cognitive function. You do not want that."
"Never, EVER get a superiority complex about your rank/position. Operators can help use a shovel or broom too."
"Don't ever be that guy sitting in his truck/excavator watching everyone else work. Be the stud that will hop out and help carry something when you're not operating."
"Even if it's just cleaning the interior of your rig while on standby, it shows that you're part of the team."
"Going union will ALWAYS be your best bet, but its not necessary at first. I've seen guys work their a** off at private companies for a couple years, work their way up to foreman, then jump into the union as a foreman."
"It would have taken 10x as long if they had done that within the union, seniority slows things down. Go operators union. Laborers is good too, but operators make much more money."
"IBEW is also great, especially on the west coast. If you're not scared of electricity, try it out."
"Remember, this is a field that you can get into with a GED and no experience and make a damn good living, but you cannot slack. You'll pay your dues and endure some rough days."
"You'll go through some sh*tty companies and meet some sh*tty people, but eventually it will pay off. You'll meet the good people, find the good company, and be comfortable in your job. It's worth it."
~ EatMyGrandma
Let's Try It
"Staff scientist at a national lab, but don't get too excited. You go to college for 9 years first, and lots of analysis shows the better money is taking an undergrad engineering job, getting paid sooner, and working up the corporate ladder."
"I basically get to chase down whatever cool ideas I want though, within reason."
"Shoot positrons through magnets to make X-rays? Let's do it."
"Can we make a better jet engine using //redacted// for compression blades? Here's 20 million dollars, go find out."
~ Pr0methian
Crane Mode
"Crane operator in the oil industry. Easiest job I've ever had."
"$3000 to get your NCCO and $6500 to get your CDL."
"I work 12hr days but only on the crane 1-1.5hrs a shift. The other 10.5-11hrs is spent sleeping, playing Xbox, watching movies, etc..."
~ wildarcher69
"Yeah my dad is a crane operator, too."
"Six figures in his salary alone but also gets $150 per diem, since he has to live in whichever city his crane is, and his crane is nowhere near his state of residency."
~ Affectionate-Arm9547
All The Nuts And Bolts
"Aircraft mechanic."
~ gimplegs
"I work as a machine mechanic and my uncle's best friend works in aircraft."
"His schedule and on-call pay makes me suuuuper envious."
~ meetmeinthebthrm
Grow Your Own
"I own a commercial gourmet mushroom farm bringing in high six figures. Zero student debt, no wage ceiling."
"I have land right outside of a large metropolitan city where the farm is. It’s a small/medium sized farm, I have two guys working for me."
"We do four large farmers markets in the city per week and sell at around 20$ a lb and also wholesale sell directly to many restaurants in this city at 10$ a lb with deliveries going out two days a week."
"We produce around 1000 lbs a week but my goal is for that number to keep going up. My overhead is very low because the farm is on my property and all expenses I have are tax write offs making my taxes extremely low."
"I started the farm two years ago and it’s growing very fast. I’m pretty capped out at the moment with what I can directly sell to my community so I’m working on connecting with a local distributor at the moment to keep growing."
~ Brave_Badger_6617
Banking On It
"My best friend is a senior underwriter for Chase Bank. He makes about $115k."
"What's really a slap in the tits is he's a high school drop out."
~ cjtripp1433
"It seems like there is a lot of room to grow at a bank."
"A friend started an entry level job at a local bank and a few years later got hired by a mortgage broker and made $750k in 2021."
"They're having a bad year now and only making $200k. Wild."
~ 2050orBust
A Fresh Coat
"I own a house painting company. 20-30hrs a week of manual labor a week and about 10 of office/paperwork. 2 employees."
"From my perspective it is a very rewarding and fun job. I work with two of my friends, or rather one of my friends and one guy who became my friend after being hired."
"I do the jobs we want to do when we want to do them and generally have fun most days. There is a lot of stress too but I honestly like that as well, I love problem solving."
~ FlowBjj88
Reading Is Fundamental
"Public librarian in California."
"I’m at the top of our salary scale for non-managers, since I’ve been here (current job) for 11+ years."
"Gross salary is right around $100K + full benefits and a pension."
"And I actually enjoy the work, too!"
~ ZoyaZhivago
Seen Things
"I'm a court reporter/stenographer in the US."
"I was researching being a paralegal then saw an ad for this."
"I looked into it more and found a school nearby and decided to try it."
"A big part was that it was something I chose and not something I felt I was being forced into."
~ paramore814
While 6 figures isn't the boon it once was, it's still enough to live comfortably in most places.
Were you surprised by any of the jobs earning over $100k?
We've all heard of intuition or premonitions or "seeing the future," and a lot of us have laughed at it at some point.
It's easy to disregard these images or feelings as a symptom of anxiety about something coming up.
But for some people, by listening to a gut feeling they had, they were able to save someone's life, possibly even their own.
Redditor guywhousesreddit09 asked:
"What was the 'gut feeling' that you listened to that saved your life?"
The Kiddie Pool
"My mom and grandpa were putting out a kiddie pool for my siblings and me in our backyard when we were little."
"My grandpa had set it up, and my mom kept insisting that for some reason, she felt like they should move it to a different spot."
"Thankfully they did, because while we were all playing in the pool, a huge branch from a tree in our yard snapped and came crashing down exactly where the pool had originally been."
- WaitWut7
A Questionable Passer-by
"When I was around 13, I was walking to the bus stop in the morning. A car was going through my neighborhood very slowly, which made alarm bells go off in my head."
"When it passed me, I glanced over my shoulder to keep an eye on it and saw it was doing an immediate U-turn."
"I noped right out and dove through the bushes, crossed a bunch of driveways, and found a neighbor who was washing his car."
"I looked back to where I had been standing. The strange car had stopped, a seriously scary-looking dude had gotten out, and was looking in the bushes."
"I don't know if I would've died exactly, but I would not have had a good time."
- Symnestra
'Final Destination,' Who?
"I was driving uphill behind a flatbed truck carrying I-beams and I envisioned them sliding off the truck and hitting my windshield."
"I changed lanes so I wasn’t behind the truck and two seconds later, the I-beams were sliding off onto the road where my car would’ve been, sparking and gouging the pavement. Terrifying."
"To this day, I won’t stay behind a truck with anything that’s 'strapped down.'"
- Infj-kc
Thank Goodness for That Lock
"In middle school, I was up late one night. My mom and my brother were asleep, and my dad had gone on business. I had let the dog out, and when I went to go get him, I got a bad feeling like someone was out there."
"There wasn't really a reason to feel this way, it was just dark, and I got spooked, so I put the chain lock up on the back door when we got back inside. Back then, we never locked our doors."
"A few minutes later, the dog is drinking by the back door, and he suddenly stops and starts growling (like a low grumble) at the door."
"I was sitting where I could see the dog but not the door. Then I hear the door pull open and the chain lock catch."
"The dog started barking like crazy and I ran upstairs to wake my brother up. He went out and looked around, but no one was there."
"I think the dog's barking scared them away, but I don't know who it was or what would have happened if I hadn't locked the door."
- monaforever
A Mom's Close Encounters
"My grandmother accidentally saved my mom's life by not allowing her to go to a sleepover when she was young. During the night, the father murdered his entire family and would likely have killed my mother had she been there."
"Another amazing coincidence that I'm alive, is when my mother was in high school, she and her best friend were arguing over who was going to take a ride on the back of their guy friends' new motorcycle."
"My mom lost the argument and her friend got on the back of the motorcycle and rode away. She never saw them again because her friend and the guy were both killed in an accident during that ride."
- ekyrt
Wait a Second
"It was very late driving and there were minimal cars on the road, I came up to a red light, and as it turned green, something inside me said, 'Don’t go yet,' and a van blew through their red light."
- imbribecca
"Similar situation, but there were four of us in the car. My friend was driving and our friend in the back yelled to stop the car immediately even though we had a green light we were coming up on. A semi blew through a red light. He later said he felt like it wasn’t even him saying it and he had no idea why he yelled it other than a bad feeling."
- harlow2088
Mother Knows Best
"Not my life but my son's. I was 33 weeks pregnant and I noticed my son wasn't moving as much as usual. I waited a day and nothing changed."
"Despite advice by doctors and family saying I should just stay home and he wasn't moving as much because he was just running out of room to move, I went into the ER and had my son that night due to fetal distress."
"He had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck eight times and weighed just three pounds. He spent 30 days in the NICU and now is a happy two-year-old."
- Goatintree
An Insistent Friend
"A friend's feeling saved me from my gut."
"I had just finished hosting a meeting (I swear it was productive) and a friend said, 'You don't look so good.'"
"I had just come off a weekend boat diving in the Red Sea and figured I was just tired. My friend said, 'Nah man, I'm taking you to the doctor.'"
"The doctor at our clinic poked me a few times and said, 'Take him to the ER and tell them it's his appendix.'"
"I was in surgery less than 90 minutes later. My surgeon said I was two to three hours from it blowing up. I lived alone and no one would have missed me until the next day."
- ksuwildkat
A Night Walk
"About two years ago, my dad and I loved going on night walks, It was something we’ve always done more or less every night."
"One night, however, as we were about halfway through our daily route, we got to an alleyway. Now normally, I’ve never thought anything of it, but something this night just told me not to walk through, I had a really bad feeling and I urged my dad to just go back home."
"He kept brushing it off and saying I was just scared of the dark and nothing was going to happen. After a couple of minutes of arguing, we finally turned back and walked home."
"Turns out about 20 minutes after we left, there was a completely random attack in that exact alleyway that left a poor young girl stabbed, thankfully not to death, but with life-changing injuries. I still dread to think what would have happened if we didn’t walk back."
- No_Project6675
Definitely Not a Black Bear
"Up in Northern Pennsylvania, I had a gut feeling I needed to turn around and walk out of the woods I was hiking."
"That turned out to be a good idea because I saw the big cat that was tracking me on my way back out."
"I was hiking a stream up around Emlenton, PA, checking it out to see if it's wadeable for fishing. I didn't know y'all had any wild cats around there; I was just worried about black bears."
- abspencer22
Protecting Her Own
"Years ago, I went into my garden at night, after my husband had left for a road trip minutes before, and saw a pair of sneakers in the dark, in the gap between the fence and our house."
"I didn’t think, I just said very loudly, 'What are you doing there?' When he didn’t reply, I shouted, 'GET OUT OF MY GARDEN!'"
"He muttered, 'Yes, ma’am,' and scuttled off. Also not thinking, I picked up a BBQ knife that happened to be right there, went through the house to the front windows, and saw him crouched by my car in the driveway."
"I called the cops, they arrived, and we discovered that someone, probably the same dude, had just broken into our neighbor’s house and stolen a gun."
"The cops gave me a condescending talking-to about the ‘risks’ of confronting a criminal, but I am convinced to this day that my instincts saved me from a life-altering and horrible experience. We humans are animals and one animal knows when another will fight like h**l."
"We got an alarm system after that. And the guy came back several weeks later. I looked up to see him on our porch, about twenty feet from the sidewalk. Called the cops again. They sent a SWAT team this time. And a helicopter."
"They got the guy."
- Fair_Leadership76
Medicinal Negligence
"I was pregnant in the very early weeks (five or six weeks), and started getting these intense pains on the right side of my abdomen. Like so extremely painful that I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t make noise or move."
"I went to my doctor the next day, and he said I was being hysterical and it’s completely normal to be in pain when you’re pregnant. He refused to get me to an OB-GYN, and said I could go private if it was such a big deal."
"I went to a private scan, and my pregnancy was ectopic (stuck in my fallopian tube), and my tube had ruptured and I was bleeding internally. I was rushed to the hospital and had surgery to remove my tube that night."
"If I hadn’t booked that scan, I would have died in my sleep that night due to internal bleeding."
""I reported him for negligence."
- Murky_Conclusion4210
Potential Robbery
"A guy asked me for help with bus fare and offered to take me to an ATM. I got a bad feeling and dipped. Then I saw him on the news a week later for robbing somebody at gunpoint."
- BurghFinsFan
A Chillingly Close Call
"My wife was going to go on a road trip with friends down to a bigger city for a concert. She had done this several times before."
"Friends were close friends of ours but for some reason, I felt off about it that one day. I said to her, 'Babe, I don’t know why and you can ignore me if you’d like, but I don’t think you should go. I don’t know why, but I feel like something is going to happen.'"
"She knows I’d never tell her not to do anything she wanted. It was out of the blue and out of character for me. So she decided to stay home and watch movies with me."
"About two hours later after the rest of the crew left, we got a phone call that they had gotten into a severe accident. Two friends were in the hospital and someone from the other vehicle died on the scene. Had she gone along, she would have been sitting in the seat where they had been hit by the other driver and most likely killed."
"Someone, somewhere, somehow was warning me. And I’m glad we both listened to it."
- Sperryxd
Always Stop to Look at the Rainbow
"I was driving along a rough mountain road heading home from work. The mountain pass ends at a lake, and you drive around the lake to meet up with the main road."
"I got to the bottom of the mountain and started down the lake road, and saw this stunning bright rainbow over the lake."
"I had this weird gut feeling and urge to stop and look at it, with the way the sun was shining, it didn’t make sense that there would be a rainbow, but it was mesmerizing. So I stopped and stared at it in awe."
"A couple of seconds later, as soon as I looked back at the road, a massive boulder came barreling down off the cliff above about 20 meters in front of me, hit the road, and smoked all of the concrete barriers as it went into the lake. I 100% would have been killed if I hadn’t stopped."
- Epantz
These accounts gave us absolute chills as we read about other people's close calls.
We never know when our time will be up, so we absolutely have to be careful with the time that we have.