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The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd - Season 3 Episode 4 -
Astonishing Feats
Astonishing Feats
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FunTranscript
00:00Morning. What you're about to see could be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:12What if I told you there's a fearless man who tugs heavy machinery with a rather delicate appendage?
00:19This man is going to pull this 8-ton semi-truck, but not with his body, not with his legs.
00:25What he's actually going to do is a lot stranger.
00:30Or that a drunken double dare turned a city street into a landing strip.
00:34He has no lights on, no radio contact with air traffic control.
00:38This landing would be impossible for a sober pilot, but this guy has been pounding drinks.
00:46How about an elderly lion who loves his way into the record books?
00:50He's arthritic, he's so toothless that his tongue just hangs out of his mouth.
00:55When Frasier limps his way over, suddenly the lionesses all perk up.
01:02Before you know it, there's lion cubs everywhere.
01:05These are the feats so astonishing.
01:09They are truly unbelievable.
01:23Some war stories are hard to believe, but this one's impossible to forget.
01:28It's a tale of one man, one mission, and one of the most impressive achievements in military history.
01:35It's April of 1945.
01:38A 24-year-old Canadian recon sniper by the name of Leo Major, along with his buddy, Corporal Willie Arsenault,
01:45are crawling on their bellies on the outskirts of Zwolle, Netherlands,
01:49in an attempt to gain information about Nazi troops in the area,
01:53with the hopes that a larger force will then liberate the town from Nazi control.
01:59Major is a war-hardened vet.
02:01Just after D-Day, he took a phosphorous grenade to the face and actually lost an eye.
02:07An injury like that could have gotten a soldier a ticket home,
02:10but Major insists he only needs one eye to shoot as many Germans as he can.
02:17This is supposed to be exclusively a recon mission.
02:21Identify where the Germans are, how many there are of them, and that is that.
02:26It's not supposed to be an active combat situation.
02:30But the Germans spot them, and in an instant, the recon mission explodes into a firefight.
02:37Major and Arsenault begin shooting.
02:41Now, pretty quickly, Arsenault gets shot twice.
02:46Major takes out two more Germans before turning his full attention to his buddy Arsenault,
02:50who is dead.
02:53Major has lost people in combat before,
02:56but now, he's lost his best friend.
03:00This is personal.
03:03Major decides to take revenge
03:05and demolish the entire German garrison all by himself.
03:10Major has done some shockingly brave stuff before,
03:14but to attempt to liberate a town entirely by herself,
03:17that has suicide mission written all over it.
03:20Instead of going in guns blazing,
03:23Major takes a different approach.
03:26He spots a German officer's adagent,
03:29the attendant, outside of a tavern.
03:32He sneaks up behind him with his pistol,
03:35disarms him,
03:36and says,
03:37take me to your boss.
03:40When he comes face to face with this senior German officer,
03:44Major acts like he's doing the guy a favor.
03:46He tells him that the Canadian forces are ready to pummel this town,
03:52and he says if he wants to save German lives,
03:55they need to leave now.
04:00Major doesn't really know if he is dealing with somebody
04:02that is going to take his warning to heart,
04:03or is he just going to stand firm and follow the orders of the Fuhrer?
04:07This is a spectacularly crazy move,
04:11but this officer doesn't understand
04:14why anybody would just give up this information,
04:17so he presumes this guy must have some very serious backup nearby.
04:23As a final power move,
04:25Major hands the sidearm back to the driver
04:27and then disappears into the night.
04:30With the seeds of fear planted,
04:32one man embarks on a daring deception
04:34to make the Germans believe an entire army is closing in.
04:39Major spends the night creating chaos.
04:42He tosses grenades here,
04:44moves to a new position,
04:45fires his machine gun there.
04:48To the Germans,
04:49it sounds like an onslaught of a battalion, a regiment.
04:53Who knows how many Canadians have surrounded the town?
04:57Any German forces that he does encounter in the streets,
05:00he mows them down with his machine gun.
05:02So now, you've got bodies in the streets.
05:07And the coup de grace.
05:09When Major finds the Gestapo headquarters,
05:11he sets it on fire.
05:14The Germans are freaking out at this point,
05:17and as these Nazis start fleeing,
05:20he starts picking them off one at a time.
05:23By 4 o'clock in the morning,
05:25there is not a single Nazi left in Zwolle.
05:29Leo Major has managed to liberate an entire town by himself.
05:36Leo cements his status as a brilliant war hero.
05:40He is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
05:43He even goes on to serve in the Korean War,
05:46where he's awarded yet another Distinguished Service Medal.
05:49To this day, Dutch kids still learn all about Leo Major in school.
05:56But not every incredible feat makes the history books.
06:00Take, for example, the remarkable tale of an ambitious seafaring monk.
06:03So kids get taught in school that Columbus discovered America in 1492.
06:11But there are other theories that have gotten legs over the years,
06:15like the Vikings discovering Newfoundland in the 10th century,
06:20or even the Chinese shortly before Columbus landing on the West Coast.
06:23But long before any of them,
06:26one Irish monk may have gotten there first.
06:30A 6th century Irish monk, St. Brendan,
06:36supposedly embarked on a westward journey seeking the Garden of Eden,
06:42the account of which appears in his book,
06:45The Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbot.
06:48Most scholars read this as an allegory,
06:53the story of a religious passion.
06:55But some read into it as an actual literal travelogue,
07:00the story of a voyage from Ireland all the way to Canada.
07:05Allegedly, Brendan travels this 4,500-mile trek,
07:10not in a wood-timbered ship like the Nina Pinta in Santa Maria of Columbus,
07:15but in a leather-hulled, tiny little ship called a Couric.
07:21Now, if this were true, it would rewrite history.
07:25But how can you prove that a small, ancient leather boat
07:29could cross the North Atlantic?
07:32In 1976, a historian named Tim Severin sets out to do just that,
07:38follow the voyage of St. Brendan.
07:40With a team of boat builders, scholars, and drinking buddies,
07:45Tim painstakingly makes an authentic courash,
07:49using only methods and materials available at the time of the initial voyage.
07:54Instead of wood planking,
07:56the hull is covered with ox hides
08:00that are stretched and stitched together to cover the frame.
08:06Tim set sail from Ireland in May of 1976.
08:09Blessed with this boat, I know it will sail in it.
08:13He heads north and takes Brendan's voyage,
08:17in which he sails in a stepping-stone route,
08:20from Ireland to Scotland to the Faroe Islands to Iceland to Greenland,
08:24and then to Newfoundland in North America.
08:29The North Atlantic is perpetually inhospitable.
08:34The waves and swells are enormous.
08:37But the waves end up being the least of their problems.
08:42A large piece of ice tears a hole in the hull below the waterline,
08:47and they start to flood.
08:48This is basically their worst nightmare.
08:52To make a repair in the hull while you're sinking in frigid water
08:57seems next to impossible.
09:00Miraculously, they are able to stitch a patch over the tear
09:05while they bail the boat out.
09:07They survive, but they still have thousands of miles to go.
09:11This is not a pleasure cruise.
09:14They are near hypothermic.
09:16Their clothes are sopping.
09:18And their food supply is constantly wet,
09:21which means they have to rely on catching seagulls to eat.
09:26Not that it does any help,
09:28because they're constantly seasick and unable to keep anything down.
09:32Incredibly, Tim and his crew push through for another 13 brutal months.
09:38And in June of 1977,
09:40the shores of North America are in sight.
09:44To the world's amazement,
09:46Severin and his ragtag crew actually arrive in Newfoundland.
09:50They're wet, they're bearded, they're emaciated.
09:53But they've made the point.
09:55St. Brendan could have made this voyage.
09:58St. Brendan.
09:59Thirteen grueling months,
10:04dodging icebergs in a leather boat.
10:07At least they knew which saint to pray to.
10:10When it comes to record-breaking feats,
10:12there's no shortage of unusual accomplishments,
10:15like our next overachiever who pulls his way to the top
10:18with a surprising body part.
10:22In the city of Tbilisi, in Georgia,
10:24an excited crowd gathers around.
10:27In the center of this large crowd,
10:28you have an eight-ton semi-truck.
10:31Standing in front of the semi-truck
10:33is this large, imposing man
10:35by the name of Lasha Padaraya.
10:37At first glance, you might think
10:38this guy's going to attach a harness to him
10:40and he's going to pull this eight-ton semi-truck.
10:43Not the case here.
10:44What he's actually going to do is a lot stranger.
10:48You see,
10:49Lasha uses his ears,
10:50specifically his left ear,
10:52to pull heavy equipment
10:54in front of adoring crowds.
10:56He's already done it with a seven-ton aircraft,
10:59but today he's raising the stakes
11:01and hopefully earning a new world record.
11:03If eight tons of raw industrial might
11:05against one delicate ear
11:07doesn't sound like a fair fight,
11:09that's because it isn't.
11:10The human ear is remarkably fragile.
11:13It has three small ligaments,
11:15three small muscles,
11:17and that's all that's keeping it attached.
11:19It only takes between 20 and 50 pounds of pressure
11:22to tear those ear ligaments
11:24and even pull the ear wide open.
11:26So what on earth drives Lasha
11:28to attempt something so impossible
11:30or, dare I say, inadvisable?
11:34One day when Lasha is working out in the gym,
11:36he sees another wrestler, as a joke,
11:39lifting these five-pound weights using his ear.
11:41Now, while everybody's having a good laugh,
11:43Lasha looks at it and says,
11:45I could do that with even heavier weight.
11:47He decides in that moment,
11:49I am going to have the strongest ears on the planet.
11:52And so he starts training.
11:53Lifting heavier and heavier things,
11:57hunks of metal, parts of cars,
11:59whatever's necessary to build up the strength
12:01in that left ear.
12:03All this daily training gets Lasha to the point where,
12:06as far as he's concerned,
12:08his ear is superhuman.
12:10And he decides he has to demonstrate
12:12this power that he has acquired from his practice.
12:16He kicks off these public displays
12:18with a 5.5-ton tow truck,
12:20then a helicopter,
12:21each success pushing the boundaries
12:23of human engineering and medical science.
12:26Now, Lasha's ready to take on
12:28his most daring challenge yet,
12:30the 8-ton semi-truck.
12:32With a crowd gathered around him in the truck,
12:34Lasha attaches his white strap to his ear,
12:37and he starts to roll with all of his might.
12:40And to the crowd's amazement,
12:42the truck moves,
12:44and eventually starts to roll.
12:46Lasha is ecstatic,
12:52but the real miracle here is that
12:54his ear stays attached to his head.
12:57If you think that's wild,
13:01this next feat is a little harder to stomach.
13:07Every year,
13:08thousands of parents rush their kids
13:10to emergency rooms,
13:11panicking because they've swallowed something
13:13they're not supposed to.
13:14Marbles,
13:15metal toys,
13:16coins,
13:17batteries,
13:17you name it.
13:18And they should be worried.
13:20Small objects can lacerate
13:22their throat or their gut.
13:24They can block the intestines.
13:26Batteries can burn the lining
13:28of the digestive tract.
13:30There are a whole host of problems
13:32that could arise.
13:33Thankfully,
13:33most kids grow out of this,
13:35but there's one who doesn't.
13:38In 1959,
13:40in Grenoble,
13:41France,
13:41a nine-year-old boy,
13:43Michel Letito,
13:44develops an unusual eating habit.
13:47He has this insatiable appetite
13:49for really strange things.
13:52Tires,
13:53TV knobs,
13:53glass,
13:54metal.
13:55There is a word for this compulsion.
13:57It's called pica.
13:58And it's a psychological condition
13:59where the sufferer
14:01has this compulsion
14:02to eat things
14:03that have no nutritional value.
14:05But incredibly,
14:06Michel is able
14:07to live through it
14:08and grows up
14:10as a healthy kid
14:11who just likes
14:12eating crazy stuff.
14:14By the time
14:15he reaches 16, though,
14:17Michel realizes
14:18this is not quite the curse
14:19his doctors
14:20have been telling him.
14:21This is actually a skill
14:23he can turn into an act.
14:25So Michel begins
14:26demonstrating
14:27this amazing feat
14:28for crowds.
14:29He dazzles audiences
14:31by gobbling down
14:32chunks of rubber,
14:33bits of glass
14:34and metal,
14:35nothing is too big,
14:37too sharp,
14:37or too dangerous
14:38for Michel.
14:39We're talking
14:4018 bicycles,
14:4215 supermarket trolleys,
14:447 TV sets,
14:456 chandeliers,
14:472 beds,
14:48a pair of skis,
14:49and a computer.
14:50But his biggest conquest of all?
14:53An entire
14:54Cessna light aircraft.
14:56You can't eat
14:57an entire plane
14:58in one big lump.
14:59You have to break it up
15:01into little pieces,
15:01which is what Michel does.
15:04I mean,
15:05he's eating the propellers,
15:06the rudders,
15:07the wheels,
15:07all of it.
15:08Of course,
15:09the most amazing thing
15:10is probably not
15:11that he ate
15:12the entire plane,
15:13but that he actually
15:14suffers fairly few
15:15ill effects.
15:15obviously doctors are wondering
15:19how he's not managed
15:20to kill himself.
15:22And some are wondering,
15:22is there some kind of trickery
15:24or sleight of hand
15:25that's involved?
15:26So to check,
15:27they take x-rays
15:28in real time
15:29to see what's happening.
15:30And they can actually see
15:32that metal
15:33and glass
15:34are going down
15:36through the digestive tract
15:37as he's eating.
15:38Of course,
15:39these chunks of metal
15:40and slabs of rubber,
15:41he's not actually able
15:42to digest those things.
15:44Those are just
15:44passing through.
15:46Surprisingly,
15:47the one thing
15:48he can't eat
15:48are bananas.
15:50As crazy as this sounds,
15:53he claims that it reacts
15:54with all the metal
15:55and gives him indigestion.
15:58Michel's feats
15:59of outrageous eating
16:00are beyond impressive.
16:01But one thing's for certain,
16:03if you have him over
16:04for dinner,
16:05don't use the good silverware.
16:08We've all seen
16:09bar bets go a little too far.
16:12Someone ends up
16:12with a dart
16:13in their shoulder
16:14or learns
16:15what a urinal cake
16:16tastes like.
16:17But they usually
16:18don't end up
16:19making the morning papers.
16:22September 30th, 1956,
16:243 o'clock in the morning.
16:26We see one
16:27Thomas Fitzpatrick,
16:28former Air Force pilot,
16:30drunkenly stumbling
16:31onto the tarmac
16:32of the Teterboro Airport
16:34School of Aeronautics.
16:36Thomas is there
16:37because he's going
16:38to try
16:38to steal a plane.
16:41Thomas is a drinker.
16:42And this whole thing
16:44started in his
16:45local Manhattan bar
16:46where he is
16:49talking about how
16:50he was the fastest pilot
16:51in his Air Force squadron.
16:53He's telling them
16:54all the details
16:55of his many accomplishments.
16:57But he's also
16:57pounding drinks.
17:00Then one of Thomas'
17:02drunken friends
17:03makes him the bet
17:04that he can't make it
17:05out to Teterboro
17:06and back
17:07before the bar closes.
17:09And Thomas is not
17:10going to turn down
17:10this bet.
17:11His honor is at stake.
17:13With the clock ticking,
17:15Thomas heads
17:15to Teterboro Airport,
17:17eyes the lineup,
17:18and zeroes in
17:19on the perfect plane,
17:20a single-engine Cessna.
17:22He then gets it started
17:24and takes off
17:26completely undetected.
17:29He has no lights on,
17:31no radio contact
17:33with air traffic control.
17:34He proceeds
17:35to fly to New York,
17:36and the entire time,
17:38no one has figured out
17:39that he has stolen
17:40an airplane.
17:42Thomas is attempting now
17:43to land the single-engine Cessna
17:45on St. Nicholas Avenue
17:47and 191st Street,
17:48directly in front of the bar
17:49that he was drinking in
17:50as per the bet.
17:53This is the kind
17:54of landing
17:55that would be impossible
17:56for a stone-cold
17:57sober pilot.
17:58For one thing,
17:59there are wind gusts
18:00through Manhattan
18:01that wreak havoc,
18:02and these buildings
18:03are pretty close together.
18:05There are cars
18:06in the street.
18:06It's just not
18:07a safe place
18:08to put a plane down.
18:10But somehow,
18:12Thomas Fitzpatrick
18:13sticks the landing.
18:14Once people realize
18:18he has parked
18:19a plane outside,
18:20the bar erupts
18:21in cheers.
18:22Except probably
18:23for the people
18:24that had bet against this
18:25and have now lost
18:26all of their paycheck.
18:29Everybody is so impressed
18:30with this,
18:31and the New York Times
18:32calls it a great feat
18:33of aerognotics
18:34and a fine landing.
18:35And while he's fined
18:36about $100,
18:37which is roughly
18:38$1,200 today,
18:40the owner does not
18:41even want to press charges
18:42for stealing the plane.
18:44Thomas continues
18:48to boast about
18:48this achievement
18:49for years,
18:50but people in the bar
18:52are not as enthused
18:53to hear this story.
18:54And the regulars
18:55have cycled out
18:56and new ones are there.
18:57They don't all believe
18:58this happened
18:59because they did not see it
19:00with their own eyes.
19:01And so they kind of
19:03start to goad him
19:04and be like,
19:04yeah, yeah, that's great.
19:05Bet you can't do it again.
19:07Not one to back down,
19:09Thomas sets out
19:10to do the unthinkable
19:11again.
19:12On October 4,
19:131958,
19:14just a little bit
19:15before 1 a.m.,
19:16Thomas,
19:17intoxicated,
19:18goes to the same airfield
19:20as before,
19:21steals a single-engine
19:22Cessna,
19:23and does it again.
19:24This time,
19:25he puts the plane down
19:26on 187th Street,
19:28right in front of
19:29a Yeshiva University
19:30building.
19:30But the reception
19:32is not as good
19:33as the first time around.
19:35For his second stolen flight,
19:37a New York judge
19:38sentences him
19:38to six months
19:40in prison,
19:41with the judge
19:42stating that
19:42had you been
19:43properly jolted
19:44the first time,
19:45this likely would
19:46never have happened again.
19:47In response,
19:48Thomas blames it
19:49on, quote,
19:50the lousy drink,
19:51a.k.a.
19:51don't blame me,
19:52blame it on the alcohol.
19:55Our next go-getter
19:57doesn't need
19:57liquid courage.
19:59He's smashing
19:59records sober,
20:00and there are
20:01hundreds on his
20:02hit list.
20:03It's a lovely day
20:06in Brooklyn,
20:07New York.
20:08The sun is shining,
20:09birds are chirping,
20:10and because this is
20:11New York,
20:12a wild-eyed crazy man
20:13starts running
20:13through the streets
20:14with a bottle of milk
20:15balanced on his head.
20:17The guy's name
20:18is Ashita Furman,
20:19and he's training
20:20to beat a world record
20:22to run a mile
20:22the fastest
20:23while balancing
20:24a bottle of milk
20:25on your head.
20:26And the really funny part
20:28is that this is not
20:29the only wacky record
20:30that he's training for.
20:31In fact,
20:32Ashita holds
20:33the most meta record
20:35of all time.
20:36He has the Guinness
20:37World Record
20:37for most Guinness
20:39World Records
20:40held by one person.
20:42These records include
20:44poem recited
20:45in the most languages,
20:47world's largest
20:48incense stick,
20:49fastest 5K
20:50in swimming fins,
20:52world's largest
20:53crayon,
20:54heaviest shoes
20:54ever walked in,
20:55and most pumpkins
20:56smashed in a minute.
20:58The previous record
20:59was 15 pumpkins
21:00smashed.
21:01in one minute,
21:02and we did 31
21:03just now.
21:05Just where does
21:05this insatiable quest
21:06to be the best
21:07of the weirdest
21:08come from?
21:09Long before he's
21:10Ashita,
21:11Keith Furman
21:11is a kid
21:12determined to find
21:13his way.
21:14Back in the 1960s,
21:16a young Keith Furman
21:17becomes obsessed
21:19with the Guinness
21:20Book of World Records,
21:21but he's really
21:22not blessed
21:23with incredible
21:23athletic skill
21:25or ability
21:26or ability
21:26to actually become
21:27a traditional
21:28record holder
21:29himself.
21:30But when he
21:31hits his 20s,
21:32he immerses himself
21:33in Eastern spirituality,
21:35in particular,
21:36the teachings
21:36of a guru
21:37by the name
21:38of Sri Chinmoy.
21:39And what Chinmoy
21:40convinces him of
21:42is that it's all
21:43mind over matter.
21:44It doesn't matter
21:45that he's not
21:46the strongest man
21:47in the world
21:47or particularly
21:48athletic.
21:49All he has to do
21:50is set his mind
21:51to it.
21:53And what Chinmoy
21:53does is enter him
21:55in a 24-hour
21:56bike marathon
21:57and shockingly,
22:00using his meditation
22:01techniques that he's
22:02learned from Chinmoy,
22:03Furman places third.
22:06Shocked by his
22:07own accomplishment
22:07and inspired
22:08by Chinmoy,
22:09Furman changes
22:10his name from
22:11Keith to
22:12Ashreta,
22:12which means
22:13protected by God.
22:14And he takes aim
22:15at his beloved
22:16Guinness World Record
22:18book.
22:18He starts with a
22:19pretty straightforward
22:20goal.
22:20He wants to hold
22:21the Guinness World
22:22Record for the
22:23most jumping jacks.
22:24In 1979,
22:25he actually achieves
22:27that world record
22:28by doing
22:2927,000 of them.
22:32Then comes a
22:33game-changing epiphany.
22:35The weirder the record,
22:37the better Ashreta's
22:38chances are of
22:39claiming it.
22:40Why would you
22:41participate in
22:41these normal
22:42activities when
22:43you could instead
22:44pioneer underwater
22:46pogo sticking?
22:47Why would you
22:47bother with a
22:48marathon when
22:49instead you
22:50could push an
22:50orange with your
22:51nose farther than
22:52anybody else ever
22:53has?
22:55His greatest hits
22:56include underwater
22:57juggling,
22:58mountain climbing
22:59on stilts,
23:00hogo stick
23:00basketball dribbling,
23:02most candles lit
23:03in one minute.
23:04The list of things
23:05he's done just goes
23:06on and on and on.
23:08He shows no signs
23:09of slowing down.
23:11Maybe the best part
23:12of it all,
23:12as weird as it is,
23:14is that he seems
23:14to be having an
23:15absolute blast doing
23:16it.
23:18Sure, everybody's
23:19good at something,
23:20but it turns out
23:21only one man
23:22is the best
23:23at 700 of them.
23:25history has its share
23:28of silver-haired
23:29seducers, Casanova,
23:31Ben Franklin, Hugh
23:32Hefner, but one
23:33lion gives them all
23:35a run for their
23:36money and proves age
23:38really is just a
23:39number.
23:41In the early 1970s,
23:44a revolutionary idea
23:45takes hold in zoos.
23:48Rather than cages,
23:50why not a place where
23:52the animals can roam
23:53free, thus in California
23:55we have lion country
23:57safari.
23:58The general public
23:59is invited to drive
24:02past big predators
24:03like lions and tigers
24:06within the supposed
24:07safety of the family
24:09car.
24:11If you tip the
24:13attendants well enough,
24:14they will throw meat
24:16onto the car itself
24:17so that the lions climb
24:19up for a meal.
24:20In addition to being
24:23an attraction,
24:25these wildlife parks
24:26also have another
24:27mission, which is to
24:29breed captive lions
24:31for selling to other
24:33parks and zoos.
24:34The problem is,
24:36in this California
24:37park, the lions
24:38aren't breeding.
24:40What they fail to
24:41realize is that these
24:42lions and lionesses,
24:44they grew up together.
24:46They were in the same
24:47packs and groups,
24:48so they behave as
24:50if they were
24:51siblings.
24:52There's almost a
24:53genetic taboo from
24:54them mating.
24:55In essence,
24:56the lionesses
24:57friend zone
24:58the male lions.
25:00Around the same time,
25:02there's a circus in
25:03Tijuana that's going
25:03bankrupt and they have
25:05this very old lion
25:06named Frazier.
25:08Lion country safari
25:09agrees to take him in
25:10so he can retire there.
25:12This lion is 19
25:14and that's like 80
25:15in human years.
25:16He's arthritic,
25:17he's so toothless
25:18that his tongue just
25:19hangs out of his mouth
25:21and he's got this
25:21patchy mane that looks
25:23like some kind of
25:24sad lion comb-over.
25:26He may not have the
25:27looks, but what this
25:29lion does have is
25:30plenty of mojo.
25:32When Frazier limps
25:34his way over to where
25:36the pride is sunning
25:37themselves, suddenly
25:38the lionesses all
25:40perk up like he is
25:42the lion that they've
25:43been dreaming of.
25:44Soon, Frazier has a
25:47whole harem of
25:48lionesses.
25:49They go with him
25:51everywhere.
25:52They bring him food.
25:54They pillow his head
25:55when he lies down.
25:57They walk beside him
25:58holding him up because
26:00he's so unsteady.
26:03They also breed with
26:04him.
26:05A lot.
26:06Before you know it,
26:15there's lion cubs
26:16everywhere, and not
26:17like four or five.
26:19Frazier fathers 35
26:21lion cubs.
26:24This is with 11
26:25lionesses in just
26:2718 months.
26:29No zookeeper has ever
26:30seen anything like this.
26:31And of course, this
26:34isn't happening behind
26:35closed doors.
26:36This is all on display
26:38for the public, and in
26:39the freewheeling 70s,
26:41Frazier becomes a
26:43sensation.
26:44The zookeepers know that
26:46they've struck gold, and
26:48so they make him their
26:50mascot, naming him
26:51Frazier the Sensuous
26:53Lion.
26:54He becomes mainstream
26:55famous.
26:56A low-budget movie is made
26:58about him.
26:59Sarah Vaughn records a
27:00song about him.
27:02People start producing
27:03Frazier for President
27:04bumper stickers.
27:07According to some
27:08accounts, Frazier receives
27:09upwards of 1,500 fan
27:11letters a month, many of
27:13which are from fellow
27:14older men asking, what
27:16exactly is the zoo
27:17feeding him?
27:19Sadly, in July of 1972,
27:22Frazier the Sensuous
27:23Lion, who brought
27:24unrelenting joy to
27:25countless fans, and at
27:27least 11 female
27:28lions passes away.
27:30What was the cause of
27:32death?
27:32Well, basically, he
27:33died of old age.
27:34He was, after all, near
27:36the human equivalent of
27:37100 years old.
27:40Frazier ruled the
27:41pride, but the next
27:43animals you'll meet are
27:44mastering something
27:45totally different, the
27:47highway.
27:49Anyone who has ever had
27:51a dog in their life knows
27:52that nothing gets them
27:53more excited than saying,
27:55who wants to go for a
27:56ride?
27:56We've all seen dogs
27:58sticking their heads out
27:59of car windows and
28:00enjoying the wind in
28:01their face, but what we
28:03don't usually see is a
28:05dog actually driving the
28:07car.
28:082012 in New Zealand, some
28:11dog trainers decide they
28:12want to up the game for the
28:14rescue dogs that aren't
28:16being adopted quickly
28:18enough, and they're going
28:19to train them to do an
28:21amazing stunt.
28:22And so, drive a car.
28:25Of course, you can't just
28:26throw your dog into the
28:28car and expect it to take
28:29the wheel.
28:30So, they build a simulator
28:32that they can tow, and the
28:34dogs can get used to how
28:36they have to control this
28:37moving vehicle.
28:40Meanwhile, the tech crew is
28:42also modifying a Mini Cooper
28:44with all of the same stuff so
28:46that the dogs could actually
28:47drive a real-life car instead
28:49of just a simulator.
28:51And after just eight weeks,
28:53Monty, a dog with a scruffy
28:55gray coat, is ready to give
28:57it a whirl.
28:59It's not just one dog.
29:01They teach a terrier mix
29:02named Porter to drive two.
29:05This is the real deal.
29:07There's no CGI here, and so,
29:09of course, these videos go
29:11viral.
29:13The shelters are besieged
29:15by adoption requests.
29:19And so, in addition to getting
29:21to teach dogs how to drive
29:23cars, they fulfill the real
29:25goal, which is to find these
29:27dogs' loving homes.
29:32Would I adopt such an
29:33unbelievable pup?
29:35Yes.
29:36Would I also hide my keys?
29:38Yes.
29:40There's nothing heroic about
29:42being a criminal, unless you're
29:44so incredibly great at it that
29:46the whole world has to applaud
29:48your genius.
29:51It's a quiet Friday morning in
29:53the upscale Banco Rio branch in
29:55Buenos Aires, when a group of men
29:58in costume come running in and
30:00announce this is a hold-up.
30:03This is a very organized crew.
30:05They immediately round up bankers
30:07and security and customers and
30:09secure them as hostages.
30:10However, despite their meticulous
30:12planning, an alarm has gone off.
30:14And within minutes, the entire bank
30:18is surrounded by police.
30:21One of the robbers is wearing a
30:24finely tailored gray suit and a
30:26yarmulke.
30:27He seems to be the ringleader.
30:30And he points his weapon at the
30:33security guard, confiscates the
30:35guard's gun, and removes the
30:37bullets.
30:38He takes the guard's cell phone and
30:40then goes to the window and shows
30:42the phone to the police outside,
30:44letting them know that if they call
30:46them on the guard's phone, they'll be
30:48able to negotiate.
30:49What follows is a tense game of cat
30:51and mouse, all playing out in front
30:53of news cameras as the country
30:55watches.
30:55The robbers release two hostages
30:59and demand pizza to feed everybody.
31:03And they say that after everyone is
31:06fed, they will then safely let the
31:09hostages go.
31:11Police, assuming that this might be a
31:13peaceful resolution, readily agree.
31:15They can even hear them singing happy
31:17birthday to one of the hostages.
31:19And then things go eerily quiet.
31:22Hours pass, and finally the police
31:27make the decision to storm the bank.
31:30They're expecting a firefight.
31:34But when they get in there, all they
31:37can find are hostages finishing off
31:39the pizza.
31:41No bank robbers anywhere in sight.
31:43What they do find?
31:45Discarded costumes.
31:48Discarded toy guns.
31:49Now they're worried the bank robbers
31:52may be posing as hostages.
31:54And they sift through everybody.
31:56But they all seem to be legit.
31:59It turns out that by the time the
32:01police storm the bank, the robbers are
32:05already back home counting their loot
32:08and watching with the rest of the nation
32:10on television.
32:11The police start scouring the bank.
32:15They make their way to the vault, where all the
32:17safety deposit boxes are.
32:18And they notice this giant hole in the
32:20wall that runs into the sewer system.
32:25What the police find is shocking.
32:27But that's just the beginning.
32:29On the other side of that hole is one of the
32:31most elaborate getaway plans ever
32:33conceived.
32:33To escape via the sewers, they use inflatable
32:38motorboats.
32:39And to ensure there is enough water, they
32:43create a series of dams in the sewers to
32:46raise the water level.
32:48As crimes go, this is a masterpiece.
32:52Another critical part of this plan is to
32:54target the safe deposit boxes in the vault.
32:57Because Argentina had been rocked by a
33:01banking crisis, many wealthy patrons keep
33:05cash, bonds, American dollars, jewelry, and
33:10safety deposit boxes.
33:12The best part?
33:14Much of the cash stored in these boxes is
33:17unreported and therefore untraceable.
33:20The crew has taken anywhere between $8 and
33:23$80 million in cash and loot.
33:27Before they left, they doused the entire
33:29scene in chlorine.
33:32And then they spread hair shavings that
33:35they've gotten from local barbers to confuse
33:38police if they're looking for DNA traces.
33:41Designed to take them down a thousand
33:43rabbit holes.
33:44But in the end, even the most perfect
33:46crimes have their weak spots.
33:48One of the masterminds, Beto de la
33:50Torre, is supposedly caught by his wife
33:53with another woman.
33:54She tries to extort money, not just from her
33:59husband, but from every person that was
34:01involved in the heist.
34:03Because she doesn't get what she feels she
34:05deserves, she ends up going to the police
34:08and turning him in.
34:10And that leads to the police capturing other
34:12members of the gang.
34:14The Banco Rio gang does do jail time, but because they use toy guns, they don't get very harsh
34:24sentences.
34:26And in the end, they'll all be known for accomplishing maybe the greatest bank heist in history, something
34:34that no court can take away.
34:38Perhaps the most unusual thing about this criminal feat is its inspiration.
34:43Supposedly, the mastermind, Fernando Araujo, got the idea while watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
34:48which explains using both the sewer and the pizza during the robbery.
34:52Watching someone reach a lifelong goal is usually inspiring.
34:58But every now and then, a feat is so strange, you're not sure whether to cheer or call for help.
35:03Here is a fellow named Gao Bingguo, calmly sitting in his underpants, voluntarily being covered
35:11in thousands and thousands of bees.
35:15This is an activity called bee wearing, in which you just sit there as people cover you with bees
35:22and you see how many bees you can handle before you tap out.
35:26Gao Bingguo's mission is to get the world record for the heaviest mantle of living bees
35:35worn by a human being.
35:37Gao might seem like the only one crazy enough to try this, but the tradition goes way back.
35:43Bee wearing is a bizarre pastime, but it does have quite a history to it.
35:47It goes back 200 years.
35:49One of the earliest bee wares is a Ukrainian beekeeper named Petro Pokoprovich.
35:54Petro is basically your Michael Jordan of beekeeping.
35:57He invents artificial hives.
35:58He's the one who first really starts to commercialize gathering and selling honey.
36:02He is the man that creates this industry.
36:05In 1830, in an ingenious marketing campaign for his bee products, he starts putting on
36:12these demonstrations, showing people how many bees he can wear on his face.
36:17Not only does it drum up business, it launches an entire sport of competitive bee wearing.
36:24And Gao is trying to outdo them all.
36:27The key to wearing thousands of bees is to start with a single bee, a queen.
36:33Queen honeybees communicate to the workers in their hive through pheromones, chemical signals
36:40that can draw them towards her in a swarming behavior.
36:44When Gao Bingguo goes for the record, he attaches dozens of queens in little cages all over his
36:51body.
36:51An estimated 1.1 million bees swarm over him in a full bee bodysuit.
37:02Gao is a professional beekeeper, so he knows a few things to try and make this a little bit
37:06safer.
37:07For one thing, he knows to shower before going through this process.
37:11He's getting any sort of body odor off of him.
37:14He's also smoking because the odor with his every breath is going to drive the bees away,
37:18so he doesn't end up getting some in his mouth.
37:21He's got a strategy, sure, but 240 pounds of bees don't exactly play by the rules.
37:29After two and a half hours, his external body temperature, though, his skin is piping hot
37:33because he has over 2,000 bee stings.
37:37So, they then take him to a big old bucket of ice water and slowly submerge him in that
37:42to bring down that temperature.
37:44He survives.
37:45He's got his world record.
37:47He calls it a win.
37:48It's mid-20th century in Colorado, and Jim Bishop is a teenager with a real love for ironworking.
38:06Jim had a hard time focusing in school.
38:10He's not what you would call conventional.
38:12One day, his English teacher loses it and screams, Jim Bishop, you will never amount to anything.
38:18And he really took it to heart, and he dropped out at 15.
38:22Jim is directionless, mowing lawns, doing odd jobs.
38:26One day, he's biking with his buddies, and in the midst of the Colorado wilderness,
38:32he finds this pristine plot of land, but it's got a price tag.
38:37His life savings, $450.
38:39At first, he thinks he is going to build a cottage, but as he gets to work,
38:46his vision starts to get a little grander, and he sees himself building not a home, but a castle.
38:55He's supposedly struck with a purpose.
38:57The only thing holding him back now, he has no more money or formal architectural training.
39:02He gets a day job of working iron, but by night, he's hauling three tons of rock to his personal job site.
39:13And Jim's philosophy is that if it's not nailed down, it's fair game.
39:17So there's bits of highway rubble, scrap from the local junkyard, even protected rocks from state parks.
39:26He gets by with what he can.
39:28No cranes, no heavy equipment.
39:31Every single rock, every single beam is hand-placed by Jim.
39:36This incredible feat of engineering and stubbornness goes on for 40 years.
39:45This is Bishop Castle.
39:48By the late 90s, it's got a soaring tower, a grand ballroom, stained glass windows.
39:56There's even a giant, fire-breathing steel dragon, powered by an old hot air balloon.
40:06So at one point, the government decides that this thing might not be up to code.
40:12But Jim decides to fight them in court and just drive them crazy.
40:17And eventually, the government just gives up.
40:21Jim's castle becomes the destination.
40:27There are raves.
40:28There are parties.
40:29Some people even book it for a wedding.
40:32Tourists still swamp this place day and night.
40:35And it's all free.
40:38Jim loves that people are actually getting to enjoy this thing that he made.
40:44Sadly, Jim passes away from Parkinson's on November 21st, 2024.
40:49His son keeps the dream alive.
40:52But as of now, the castle still is not finished.
40:55Probably just the way that Jim wanted.
40:58From a man who wears his weight in bees to metal-eating Frenchmen,
41:03from super heists to super fertile lions,
41:06these are the stories of feats so astonishing.
41:10They are truly unbelievable.
41:11Latinx Permocry
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