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00:00This landing would be impossible for a sober pilot,
00:03but this guy has been pounding drinks.
00:07How about an elderly lion who loves his way into the record books?
00:12He's arthritic, he's so toothless that his tongue just hangs out of his mouth.
00:17When Frasier limps his way over,
00:20suddenly the lionesses all perk up.
00:23Before you know it, there's lion cubs everywhere.
00:26These are the feats so astonishing, they are truly unbelievable.
00:45Some war stories are hard to believe, but this one's impossible to forget.
00:50It's a tale of one man, one mission,
00:53and one of the most impressive achievements in military history.
00:58It's April of 1945.
01:00A 24-year-old Canadian recon sniper by the name of Leo Major,
01:04along with his buddy, Corporal Willie Arsenault,
01:06are crawling on their bellies on the outskirts of Zwolle, Netherlands,
01:10in an attempt to gain information about Nazi troops in the area,
01:15with the hopes that a larger force will then liberate the town from Nazi control.
01:19Major is a war-hardened vet.
01:23Just after D-Day, he took a phosphorous grenade to the face
01:27and actually lost an eye.
01:28An injury like that could have gotten a soldier a ticket home,
01:32but Major insists he only needs one eye to shoot as many Germans as he can.
01:37This is supposed to be exclusively a recon mission.
01:43Identify where the Germans are, how many there are of them,
01:46and that is that.
01:48It's not supposed to be an active combat situation.
01:52But the Germans spot them,
01:54and in an instant, the recon mission explodes into a firefight.
01:58Major and Arsenault begin shooting.
02:01Now, pretty quickly, Arsenault gets shot twice.
02:07Major takes out two more Germans
02:09before turning his full attention to his buddy, Arsenault,
02:12who is dead.
02:14Major has lost people in combat before,
02:18but now he's lost his best friend.
02:21This is personal.
02:23Major decides to take revenge
02:26and demolish the entire German garrison all by himself.
02:31Major has done some shockingly brave stuff before,
02:35but to attempt to liberate a town entirely by yourself?
02:39That has suicide mission written all over it.
02:42Instead of going in guns blazing, Major takes a different approach.
02:47He spots a German officer's adagent, the attendant,
02:51outside of a tavern.
02:52He sneaks up behind him with his pistol,
02:57disarms him, and says,
02:59take me to your boss.
03:01When he comes face to face with this senior German officer,
03:05Major acts like he's doing the guy a favor.
03:08He tells him that the Canadian forces are ready to pummel this town,
03:13and he says if he wants to save German lives,
03:17they need to leave now.
03:20Major doesn't really know if he is dealing with somebody
03:24that is going to take his warning to heart,
03:25or is he just going to stand firm and follow the orders of the Fuhrer?
03:29This is a spectacularly crazy move,
03:33but this officer doesn't understand why anybody would just give up this information,
03:39so he presumes this guy must have some very serious backup nearby.
03:44As a final power move, Major hands the sidearm back to the driver and then disappears into the night.
03:51With the seeds of fear planted,
03:54one man embarks on a daring deception to make the Germans believe an entire army is closing in.
04:00Major spends the night creating chaos.
04:02He tosses grenades here, moves to a new position, fires his machine gun there.
04:09To the Germans, it sounds like an onslaught of a battalion, a regiment.
04:15Who knows how many Canadians have surrounded the town?
04:18Any German forces that he does encounter in the streets,
04:22he mows them down with his machine gun.
04:25So now, you've got bodies in the streets.
04:29And the coup de grace.
04:31When Major finds the Gestapo headquarters, he sets it on fire.
04:36The Germans are freaking out at this point,
04:39and as these Nazis start fleeing, he starts picking them off one at a time.
04:44By 4 o'clock in the morning, there is not a single Nazi left in Zwolle.
04:51Leo Major has managed to liberate an entire town by himself.
04:58Leo cements his status as a brilliant war hero.
05:02He is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
05:05He even goes on to serve in the Korean War,
05:08where he's awarded yet another Distinguished Service Medal.
05:14To this day, Dutch kids still learn all about Leo Major in school.
05:18But not every incredible feat makes the history books.
05:21Take, for example, the remarkable tale of an ambitious seafaring monk.
05:27So kids get taught in school that Columbus discovered America in 1492.
05:32But there are other theories that have gotten legs over the years,
05:37like the Vikings discovering Newfoundland in the 10th century,
05:41or even the Chinese, shortly before Columbus landing on the west coast.
05:46But long before any of them,
05:48one Irish monk may have gotten there first.
05:51A 6th century Irish monk, Saint Brendan,
05:57supposedly embarked on a westward journey,
06:01seeking the Garden of Eden,
06:03the account of which appears in his book,
06:06The Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot.
06:10Most scholars read this as an allegory,
06:15the story of a religious passion.
06:17But some read into it as an actual literal travelogue,
06:22the story of a voyage from Ireland all the way to Canada.
06:27Allegedly, Brendan travels this 4,500-mile trek,
06:32not in a wood-timbered ship like the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria of Columbus,
06:38but in a leather-hulled, tiny little ship called a Couric.
06:43Now, if this were true, it would rewrite history.
06:45But how can you prove that a small, ancient, leather boat
06:50could cross the North Atlantic?
06:53In 1976, a historian named Tim Severin sets out to do just that,
06:59follow the voyage of Saint Brendan.
07:02With a team of boat builders, scholars, and drinking buddies,
07:06Tim painstakingly makes an authentic Courage,
07:10using only methods and materials available at the time of the initial voyage.
07:16Instead of wood planking,
07:18the hull is covered with ox hides
07:22that are stretched and stitched together to cover the frame.
07:28Tim sets sail from Ireland in May of 1976.
07:32Bless me this boat, I know you sail in it.
07:34He heads north and takes Brendan's voyage,
07:38in which he sails in a stepping-stone route
07:41from Ireland to Scotland to the Faroe Islands
07:44to Iceland to Greenland, and then to Newfoundland and North America.
07:51The North Atlantic is perpetually inhospitable.
07:56The waves and swells are enormous.
08:00But the waves end up being the least of their problems.
08:04A large piece of ice tears a hole in the hull below the waterline,
08:08and they start to flood.
08:10This is basically their worst nightmare.
08:13To make a repair in the hull while you're sinking in frigid water
08:18seems next to impossible.
08:21Miraculously, they are able to stitch a patch over the tear
08:26while they bail the boat out.
08:29They survive, but they still have thousands of miles to go.
08:32This is not a pleasure cruise.
08:36They are near hypothermic.
08:38Their clothes are sopping,
08:40and their food supply is constantly wet,
08:43which means they have to rely on catching seagulls to eat.
08:48Not that it does any help,
08:50because they're constantly seasick and unable to keep anything down.
08:53Incredibly, Tim and his crew pushed through for another 13 brutal months,
08:59and in June of 1977,
09:02the shores of North America are in sight.
09:05To the world's amazement,
09:07Severin and his ragtag crew actually arrive in Newfoundland.
09:11They're wet, they're bearded, they're emaciated,
09:14but they've made the point.
09:17St. Brendan could have made this voyage.
09:20St. Brendan.
09:24Thirteen grueling months dodging icebergs in a leather boat.
09:28At least they knew which saint to pray to.
09:33When it comes to record-breaking feats,
09:35there's no shortage of unusual accomplishments,
09:37like our next overachiever who pulls his way to the top
09:41with a surprising body part.
09:45In the city of Tbilisi in Georgia,
09:47an excited crowd gathers around.
09:49In the center of this large crowd,
09:51you have an eight-ton semi-truck.
09:54Standing in front of the semi-truck
09:56is this large, imposing man by the name of Lasha Padaraya.
10:00At first glance, you might think this guy's gonna attach a harness to him
10:03and he's gonna pull this eight-ton semi-truck.
10:05Not the case here.
10:07What he's actually gonna do is a lot stranger.
10:10You see, Lasha uses his ears,
10:13specifically his left ear,
10:15to pull heavy equipment in front of adoring crowds.
10:18He's already done it with a seven-ton aircraft,
10:22but today he's raising the stakes
10:24and hopefully earning a new world record.
10:26If eight tons of raw industrial might
10:28against one delicate ear doesn't sound like a fair fight,
10:31that's because it isn't.
10:33The human ear is remarkably fragile.
10:35It has three small ligaments, three small muscles,
10:39and that's all that's keeping it attached.
10:41It only takes between 20 and 50 pounds of pressure
10:45to tear those ear ligaments and even pull the ear wide open.
10:48So what on earth drives Lasha to attempt something so impossible?
10:53Or, dare I say, inadvisable?
10:54One day when Lasha is working out in the gym,
10:58he sees another wrestler, as a joke,
11:01lifting these five-pound weights using his ear.
11:04Now, while everybody's having a good laugh,
11:06Lasha looks at it and says,
11:08I could do that with even heavier weight.
11:10He decides in that moment,
11:11I am going to have the strongest ears on the planet.
11:14And so he starts training.
11:17Lifting heavier and heavier things,
11:19hunks of metal, parts of cars,
11:22whatever is necessary to build up the strength in that left ear.
11:25And all this daily training gets Lasha to the point where,
11:29as far as he's concerned, his ear is superhuman.
11:33And he decides he has to demonstrate
11:35this power that he has acquired from this practice.
11:39He kicks off these public displays with a 5.5-ton tow truck,
11:43then a helicopter,
11:44each success pushing the boundaries of human engineering
11:47and medical science.
11:49Now, Lasha's ready to take on his most daring challenge yet,
11:53the eight-ton semi-truck.
11:55With a crowd gathered around him in the truck,
11:57Lasha attaches his white strap to his ear,
12:00and he starts to blow with all of his might.
12:03And to the crowd's amazement,
12:05the truck moves
12:07and eventually starts to roll.
12:14Lasha is ecstatic,
12:15but the real miracle here is that his ear stays attached to his head.
12:23If you think that's wild,
12:24this next feat is a little harder to stomach.
12:28Every year, thousands of parents rush their kids to emergency rooms,
12:34panicking because they've swallowed something they're not supposed to.
12:37Marbles, metal toys, coins, batteries, you name it.
12:41And they should be worried.
12:42Small objects can lacerate their throat or their gut.
12:47They can block the intestines.
12:49Batteries can burn the lining of the digestive tract.
12:52There are a whole host of problems that could arise.
12:55Thankfully, most kids grow out of this.
12:58But there's one who doesn't.
13:01In 1959 in Grenoble, France,
13:04a nine-year-old boy,
13:05Michel Letito,
13:07develops an unusual eating habit.
13:09He has this insatiable appetite for really strange things.
13:14Tires, TV knobs, glass, metal.
13:16There is a word for this compulsion.
13:19It's called pica.
13:20And it's a psychological condition
13:22where the sufferer has this compulsion to eat things that have no nutritional value.
13:28But incredibly, Michel is able to live through it
13:31and grows up as a healthy kid who just likes eating crazy stuff.
13:37By the time he reaches 16, though,
13:39Michel realizes this is not quite the curse his doctors have been telling him.
13:43This is actually a skill he can turn into an act.
13:48So Michel begins demonstrating this amazing feat for crowds.
13:52He dazzles audiences by gobbling down chunks of rubber,
13:56bits of glass and metal.
13:58Nothing is too big, too sharp, or too dangerous for Michel.
14:02We're talking 18 bicycles, 15 supermarket trolleys,
14:077 TV sets, 6 chandeliers, 2 beds, a pair of skis, and a computer.
14:13But his biggest conquest of all, an entire Cessna light aircraft.
14:18You can't eat an entire plane in one big lump.
14:22You have to break it up into little pieces, which is what Michel does.
14:27I mean, he's eating the propellers, the rudders, the wheels, all of it.
14:31Of course, the most amazing thing is probably not that he ate the entire plane,
14:35but that he actually suffers fairly few ill effects.
14:39Obviously, doctors are wondering how he's not managed to kill himself.
14:44And some are wondering, is there some kind of trickery or sleight of hand that's involved?
14:48So to check, they take x-rays in real time to see what's happening.
14:53And they can actually see that metal and glass are going down through the digestive tract as he's eating.
15:01Of course, these chunks of metal and slabs of rubber, he's not actually able to digest those things.
15:06Those are just passing through.
15:08Surprisingly, the one thing he can't eat are bananas.
15:12As crazy as this sounds, he claims that it reacts with all the metal and gives him indigestion.
15:21Michel's feats of outrageous eating are beyond impressive.
15:24But one thing's for certain, if you have him over for dinner, don't use the good silverware.
15:32We've all seen bar bets go a little too far.
15:35Someone ends up with a dart in their shoulder or learns what a urinal cake tastes like.
15:40But they usually don't end up making the morning papers.
15:46September 30th, 1956, 3 o'clock in the morning.
15:50We see one Thomas Fitzpatrick, former Air Force pilot, drunkenly stumbling onto the tarmac of the Teterboro Airport School of Aeronautics.
16:00Thomas is there because he's going to try to steal a plane.
16:04Thomas is a drinker, and this whole thing started in his local Manhattan bar where he is talking about how he was the fastest pilot in his Air Force squadron.
16:17And he's telling them all the details of his many accomplishments.
16:19But he's also pounding drinks.
16:23Then one of Thomas' drunken friends makes him the bet that he can't make it out to Teterboro and back before the bar closes.
16:32And Thomas is not going to turn down this bet. His honor is at stake.
16:36With the clock ticking, Thomas heads to Teterboro Airport, eyes the lineup, and zeroes in on the perfect plane, a single-engine Cessna.
16:47He then gets it started and takes off completely undetected.
16:52He has no lights on, no radio contact with air traffic control, and he proceeds to fly to New York.
17:00And the entire time, no one has figured out that he has stolen an airplane.
17:06Thomas is attempting now to land the single-engine Cessna on St. Nicholas Avenue and 191st Street,
17:12directly in front of the bar that he was drinking in as per the bet.
17:15This is the kind of landing that would be impossible for a stone-cold sober pilot.
17:22For one thing, there are wind gusts through Manhattan that wreak havoc, and these buildings are pretty close together.
17:28There are cars in the street. It's just not a safe place to put a plane down.
17:33But somehow, Thomas Fitzpatrick sticks the landing.
17:37Once people realize he has parked a plane outside, the bar erupts in cheers.
17:46Except probably for the people that had bet against this and have now lost all of their paycheck.
17:52Everybody is so impressed with this, and the New York Times calls it a great feat of aerognotics and a fine landing.
17:59And while he's fined about $100, which is roughly $1,200 today,
18:03the owner does not even want to press charges for stealing the plane.
18:10Thomas continues to boast about this achievement for years,
18:14but people in the bar are not as enthused to hear this story.
18:18And the regulars have cycled out, and new ones are there,
18:21and they don't all believe this happened because they did not see it with their own eyes.
18:25And so they kind of start to goad him and be like,
18:28yeah, yeah, that's great, but you can't do it again.
18:31Not one to back down, Thomas sets out to do the unthinkable again.
18:35On October 4, 1958, just a little bit before 1 a.m.,
18:40Thomas, intoxicated, goes to the same airfield as before,
18:44steals a single-engine Cessna, and does it again.
18:47This time, he puts the plane down on 187th Street,
18:51right in front of a Yeshiva University building.
18:54But the reception is not as good as the first time around.
18:58For his second stolen flight, a New York judge sentences him to six months in prison,
19:04with the judge stating that had you been properly jolted the first time,
19:08this likely would never have happened again.
19:11In response, Thomas blames it on, quote, the lousy drink,
19:14a.k.a. don't blame me, blame it on the alcohol.
19:19Our next go-getter doesn't need liquid courage.
19:22He's smashing records sober, and there are hundreds on his hit list.
19:28It's a lovely day in Brooklyn, New York.
19:31Sun is shining, birds are chirping, and because this is New York,
19:35a wild-eyed crazy man starts running through the streets,
19:38a bottle of milk balanced on his head.
19:39The guy's name is Ashrita Furman, and he's training to beat a world record
19:45to run a mile the fastest while balancing a bottle of milk on your head.
19:49And the really funny part is that this is not the only wacky record that he's training for.
19:55In fact, Ashrita holds the most meta record of all time.
19:59He has the Guinness World Record for most Guinness World Records held by one person.
20:06These records include poem recited in the most languages,
20:10world's largest incense stick, fastest 5k in swimming fins,
20:15world's largest crayon, heaviest shoes ever walked in,
20:19and most pumpkins smashed in a minute.
20:22The previous record was 15 pumpkins smashed in one minute,
20:26and we did 31 just now.
20:27Just where does this insatiable quest to be the best of the weirdest come from?
20:32Long before he's Ashrita,
20:34Keith Furman is a kid determined to find his way.
20:37Back in the 1960s, a young Keith Furman
20:41becomes obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records,
20:44but he's really not blessed with incredible athletic skill or ability
20:49to actually become a traditional record holder himself.
20:53But when he hits his 20s, he immerses himself in Eastern spirituality,
20:58in particular the teachings of a guru by the name of Sri Chinmoy.
21:03And what Chinmoy convinces him of is that it's all mind over matter.
21:08It doesn't matter that he's not the strongest man in the world or particularly athletic.
21:12All he has to do is set his mind to it.
21:16And what Chinmoy does is enter him in a 24-hour bike marathon,
21:22and shockingly, using his meditation techniques that he's learned from Chinmoy,
21:27Furman places third.
21:28Shocked by his own accomplishment and inspired by Chinmoy,
21:33Furman changes his name from Keith to Ashrita,
21:36which means protected by God.
21:38And he takes aim at his beloved Guinness World Record book.
21:42He starts with a pretty straightforward goal.
21:44He wants to hold the Guinness World Record for the most jumping jacks.
21:48In 1979, he actually achieves that world record by doing 27,000 of them.
21:55Then comes a game-changing epiphany.
21:59The weirder the record,
22:01the better Ashrita's chances are of claiming it.
22:04Why would you participate in these normal activities
22:07when you could instead pioneer underwater pogo sticking?
22:11Why would you bother with a marathon
22:13when instead you could push an orange with your nose
22:16farther than anybody else ever has?
22:19His greatest hits include underwater juggling,
22:22mountain climbing on stilts,
22:23hogo stick basketball dribbling,
22:25most candles lit in one minute.
22:27The list of things he's done just goes on and on and on.
22:31He shows no signs of slowing down.
22:34Maybe the best part of it all, as weird as it is,
22:37is that he seems to be having an absolute blast doing it.
22:41Sure, everybody's good at something,
22:43but it turns out only one man is the best at 700 of them.
22:49History has its share of silver-haired seducers.
22:55Casanova, Ben Franklin, Hugh Hefner.
22:58But one lion gives them all a run for their money
23:02and proves age really is just a number.
23:07In the early 1970s, a revolutionary idea takes hold in zoos.
23:12Rather than cages, why not a place where the animals can roam free?
23:18Thus, in California, we have Lion Country Safari.
23:23The general public is invited to drive past big predators,
23:28like lions and tigers,
23:31within the supposed safety of the family car.
23:34If you tip the attendants well enough,
23:39they will throw meat onto the car itself
23:42so that the lions climb up for a meal.
23:45In addition to being an attraction,
23:49these wildlife parks also have another mission,
23:53which is to breed captive lions
23:56for selling to other parks and zoos.
23:59The problem is, in this California park,
24:01the lions aren't breeding.
24:04What they fail to realize is that
24:06these lions and lionesses, they grew up together.
24:10They were in the same packs and groups,
24:12so they behave as if they were siblings.
24:16There's almost a genetic taboo from them mating.
24:19In essence, the lionesses friend-zone the male lions.
24:24Around the same time,
24:26there's a circus in Tijuana that's going bankrupt,
24:28and they have this very old lion named Frasier.
24:32Lion Country Safari agrees to take him in
24:35so he can retire there.
24:37This lion is 19, and that's like 80 in human years.
24:41He's arthritic, he's so toothless
24:43that his tongue just hangs out of his mouth,
24:45and he's got this patchy mane
24:47that looks like some kind of sad lion comb-over.
24:51He may not have the looks,
24:53but what this lion does have is plenty of mojo.
24:56When Frasier limps his way over
25:00to where the pride is sunning themselves,
25:02suddenly the lionesses all perk up
25:05like he is the lion that they've been dreaming of.
25:09Soon, Frasier has a whole harem of lionesses.
25:14They go with him everywhere.
25:16They bring him food.
25:18They pillow his head when he lies down.
25:20They walk beside him, holding him up
25:24because he's so unsteady.
25:26They also breed with him.
25:29A lot.
25:31Before you know it, there's lion cubs everywhere,
25:40and not like four or five.
25:43Frasier fathers 35 lion cubs.
25:47This is with 11 lionesses in just 18 months.
25:53No zookeeper has ever seen anything like this.
25:56And of course, this isn't happening behind closed doors.
26:00This is all on display for the public,
26:03and in the freewheeling 70s,
26:05Frasier becomes a sensation.
26:08The zookeepers know that they've struck gold,
26:12and so they make him their mascot,
26:15naming him Frasier the Sensuous Lion.
26:19He becomes mainstream famous.
26:21A low-budget movie is made about him.
26:23Sarah Vaughn records a song about him.
26:26People start producing Frasier for President bumper stickers.
26:31According to some accounts,
26:33Frasier receives upwards of 1,500 fan letters a month,
26:36many of which are from fellow older men asking,
26:40what exactly is the zoo feeding him?
26:43Sadly, in July of 1972,
26:46Frasier the Sensuous Lion,
26:48who brought unrelenting joy to countless fans,
26:51and at least 11 female lions, passes away.
26:54What was the cause of death?
26:56Basically, he died of old age.
26:59He was, after all,
27:00near the human equivalent of 100 years old.
27:03Frasier ruled the pride.
27:07But the next animals you'll meet
27:09are mastering something totally different.
27:11The highway.
27:13Anyone who has ever had a dog in their life
27:16knows that nothing gets them more excited than saying,
27:19who wants to go for a ride?
27:21We've all seen dogs sticking their heads out of car windows
27:24and enjoying the wind in their face.
27:26But what we don't usually see
27:29is a dog actually driving the car.
27:322012 in New Zealand,
27:35some dog trainers decide
27:37they want to up the game for the rescue dogs
27:40that aren't being adopted quickly enough.
27:43And they're going to train them to do an amazing stunt.
27:47And so, drive a car.
27:49Of course, you can't just throw your dog into the car
27:52and expect it to take the wheel.
27:55So, they build a simulator that they can tow
27:58and the dogs can get used to
28:00how they have to control this moving vehicle.
28:05Meanwhile, the tech crew is also modifying a Mini Cooper
28:09with all of the same stuff
28:10so that the dogs could actually drive a real-life car
28:13instead of just a simulator.
28:15And after just eight weeks,
28:17Moni, a dog with a scruffy gray coat,
28:20is ready to give it a whirl.
28:24It's not just one dog.
28:25They teach a terrier mix named Porter to drive two.
28:29This is the real deal.
28:31There's no CGI here.
28:33And so, of course, these videos go viral.
28:37The shelters are besieged by adoption requests.
28:43And so, in addition to getting to teach dogs how to drive cars,
28:47they fulfill the real goal,
28:50which is to find these dogs' loving homes.
28:56Would I adopt such an unbelievable pup?
28:59Yes.
29:01Would I also hide my keys?
29:03Yes.
29:06There's nothing heroic about being a criminal
29:09unless you're so incredibly great at it
29:11that the whole world has to applaud your genius.
29:14It's a quiet Friday morning
29:19in the upscale Banco Rio branch in Buenos Aires
29:22when a group of men in costume come running in
29:26and announce this is a hold-up.
29:28This is a very organized crew.
29:31They immediately round up bankers and security and customers
29:34and secure them as hostages.
29:36However, despite their meticulous planning,
29:38an alarm has gone off.
29:39And within minutes, the entire bank is surrounded by police.
29:46One of the robbers is wearing a finely tailored gray suit
29:51and a yarmulke.
29:52He seems to be the ringleader
29:56and he points his weapon at the security guard,
30:00confiscates the guard's gun and removes the bullets.
30:03He takes the guard's cell phone
30:06and then goes to the window
30:07and shows the phone to the police outside
30:10letting them know
30:11that if they call them on the guard's phone
30:13they'll be able to negotiate.
30:15What follows is a tense game of cat and mouse
30:18all playing out in front of news cameras
30:20as the country watches.
30:22The robbers release two hostages
30:25and demand pizza to feed everybody
30:28and they say that after everyone is fed
30:32they will then safely let the hostages go.
30:36Police, assuming that this might be a peaceful resolution
30:39readily agree.
30:41They can even hear them singing happy birthday
30:43to one of the hostages.
30:45And then things go eerily quiet.
30:50Hours pass and finally the police make the decision
30:54to storm the bank.
30:55They're expecting a firefight.
30:59But when they get in there
31:02all they can find are hostages
31:04finishing off the pizza.
31:06No bank robbers anywhere in sight.
31:09What they do find?
31:11Discarded costumes.
31:13Discarded toy guns.
31:15Now they're worried the bank robbers
31:18may be posing as hostages
31:20and they sift through everybody
31:22but they all seem to be legit.
31:23It turns out that by the time
31:26the police storm the bank
31:28the robbers are already back home
31:32counting their loot
31:33and watching with the rest of the nation on television.
31:36The police start scouring the bank.
31:39They make their way to the vault
31:42where all the safety deposit boxes are
31:43and they notice this giant hole in the wall
31:46that runs into the sewer system.
31:49What the police find is shocking.
31:52But that's just the beginning.
31:54On the other side of that hole
31:56is one of the most elaborate
31:57getaway plans ever conceived.
31:59To escape via the sewers
32:02they use inflatable motorboats
32:05and to ensure there is enough water
32:08they create a series of dams in the sewers
32:12to raise the water level.
32:12As crimes go, this is a masterpiece.
32:16Another critical part of this plan
32:18is to target the safe deposit boxes
32:21in the vault.
32:22Because Argentina had been rocked
32:25by a banking crisis
32:27many wealthy patrons
32:29keep cash, bonds,
32:32American dollars, jewelry
32:35in safety deposit boxes.
32:37The best part?
32:39Much of the cash stored in these boxes
32:42is unreported
32:43and therefore untraceable.
32:45The crew has taken anywhere
32:47between 8 and 80 million dollars
32:50in cash and loot.
32:52Before they left
32:54they doused the entire scene in chlorine
32:57and then they spread hair shavings
33:00that they've gotten from local barbers
33:03to confuse police
33:04if they're looking for DNA traces.
33:05designed to take them down
33:07a thousand rabbit holes.
33:09But in the end
33:10even the most perfect crimes
33:12have their weak spots.
33:13One of the masterminds
33:15Beto de la Torre
33:16is supposedly caught by his wife
33:19with another woman.
33:20She tries to extort money
33:23not just from her husband
33:25but from every person
33:27that was involved in the heist.
33:28Because she doesn't get
33:30what she feels she deserves
33:31she ends up going to the police
33:33and turning him in.
33:36And that leads to the police
33:37capturing other members
33:38of the gang.
33:40The Banco Rio gang
33:42does do jail time
33:44but because they use toy guns
33:47they don't get very harsh sentences
33:50and in the end
33:52they'll all be known
33:54for accomplishing
33:55maybe the greatest bank heist
33:58in history
33:59something that no court
34:01can take away.
34:03Perhaps the most unusual thing
34:06about this criminal feat
34:07is its inspiration.
34:08Supposedly the mastermind
34:10Fernando Araujo
34:11got the idea
34:12while watching
34:13Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
34:14which explains using
34:16both the sewer and the pizza
34:17during the robbery.
34:20Watching someone reach
34:22a lifelong goal
34:23is usually inspiring
34:24but every now and then
34:26a feat is so strange
34:26you're not sure
34:27whether to cheer
34:28or call for help.
34:31Here is a fellow
34:32named Gao Bingguo
34:33calmly sitting
34:34in his underpants
34:35voluntarily being covered
34:37in thousands
34:39and thousands of bees.
34:42This is an activity
34:43called bee wearing
34:44in which you just sit there
34:46as people cover you
34:47with bees
34:48and you see how many bees
34:50you can handle
34:51before you tap out.
34:53Gao Bingguo's mission
34:55is to get the world record
34:57for the heaviest mantle
34:59of living bees
35:01worn by a human being.
35:03Gao might seem like
35:05the only one crazy enough
35:06to try this
35:07but the tradition
35:08goes way back.
35:09Bee wearing
35:10is a bizarre pastime
35:11but it does have
35:12quite a history to it.
35:13It goes back 200 years.
35:15One of the earliest bee wares
35:17is a Ukrainian beekeeper
35:19named Petro Pokoprovich.
35:20Petro is basically
35:21your Michael Jordan
35:23of beekeeping.
35:24He invents artificial hives.
35:25He's the one who first
35:26really starts to commercialize
35:27gathering and selling honey.
35:29He is the man
35:30that creates this industry.
35:32In 1830
35:33in an ingenious
35:34marketing campaign
35:35for his bee products
35:37he starts putting on
35:39these demonstrations
35:40showing people
35:41how many bees
35:42he can wear on his face.
35:44Not only does it
35:45drum up business
35:46it launches an entire
35:47sport of competitive
35:49bee wearing.
35:50And Gao is trying
35:52to outdo them all.
35:54The key to wearing
35:55thousands of bees
35:56is to start
35:57with a single bee
35:58a queen.
35:59Queen honeybees
36:00communicate
36:01to the workers
36:03in their hive
36:04through pheromones
36:05chemical signals
36:06that can draw
36:07them towards her
36:08in a swarming behavior.
36:10When Gao Bingguo
36:12goes for the record
36:13he attaches dozens
36:14of queens
36:15in little cages
36:16little cages
36:16all over his body.
36:21An estimated 1.1 million bees
36:25swarm over him
36:26in a full bee bodysuit.
36:29Gao is a professional beekeeper
36:31so he knows a few things
36:32to try and make this
36:33a little bit safer.
36:34For one thing
36:35he knows to shower
36:36before going through
36:37this process.
36:38He's getting
36:39any sort of body odor
36:40off of him.
36:41He's also smoking
36:42because the odor
36:43with his every breath
36:43is going to drive
36:44the bees away
36:45so he doesn't end up
36:46getting some
36:47in his mouth.
36:48He's got a strategy
36:49sure,
36:50but 240 pounds
36:51of bees
36:52don't exactly
36:53play by the rules.
36:55After two and a half hours
36:56his external
36:57body temperature
36:58though, his skin
36:59is piping hot
37:00because he has
37:01over 2,000
37:03bee stings.
37:04So they then take him
37:05to a big old
37:06bucket of ice water
37:07and slowly submerge him
37:08in that
37:09to bring down
37:10that temperature.
37:11He survives,
37:12he's cut his world record
37:13and he calls it a win.
37:16Think wearing bees
37:17for hours
37:18takes focus?
37:20Try holding on
37:21to a vision
37:22for decades.
37:24It's mid 20th century
37:25in Colorado
37:26and Jim Bishop
37:27is the teenager
37:29with a real love
37:30for iron working.
37:33Jim had a hard time
37:34focusing in school.
37:36He's not what you
37:37would call conventional.
37:39One day his English
37:40teacher loses it
37:41and screams,
37:42Jim Bishop
37:43you will never amount
37:44to anything.
37:45And he really took
37:46it to heart
37:47and he dropped out
37:48at 15.
37:49Jim is directionless
37:50mowing lawns
37:51doing odd jobs.
37:52One day,
37:54he's biking with his buddies
37:56and in the midst
37:57of the Colorado wilderness
37:59he finds this pristine
38:00plot of land
38:02but it's got a price tag.
38:03His life savings
38:05$450.
38:05at first he thinks
38:08he's going to build
38:09a cottage
38:10but as he gets to work
38:12his vision starts
38:13to get a little grander
38:15and he sees himself
38:17building
38:18not a home
38:19but a castle.
38:20He's supposedly
38:21struck with a purpose.
38:23The only thing holding
38:24him back now
38:25he has no more money
38:26or formal
38:27architectural training.
38:28He gets a day job
38:31working iron
38:32but by night
38:34he's hauling
38:35three tons of rock
38:37to his personal job site
38:38and Jim's philosophy
38:41is that if it's not nailed down
38:43it's fair game.
38:43So there's bits of highway rubble
38:46scrap from the local junkyard
38:49even protected rocks
38:51from state parks
38:52he gets by with what he can
38:54no cranes
38:56no heavy equipment
38:57every single rock
38:59every single beam
39:00is hand placed
39:02by Jim.
39:04This incredible feat
39:06of engineering
39:07and stubbornness
39:08goes on for 40 years.
39:11This is Bishop
39:13Castle.
39:14By the late 90s
39:16it's got a soaring tower
39:18a grand ballroom
39:20stained glass windows
39:22there's even a giant
39:25fire breathing steel dragon
39:27powered by an old
39:29hot air balloon.
39:33So at one point
39:34the government decides
39:36that this thing might not
39:37be up to code
39:38but Jim decides
39:40to fight them in court
39:41and just drive them crazy.
39:43and eventually
39:45the government just
39:46gives up.
39:50Jim's castle becomes
39:51the destination
39:53there are raves
39:54there are parties
39:56some people even book it
39:57for a wedding.
39:58Tourists still swamp this place
40:00day and night
40:01and it's all free.
40:03Jim loves that people are
40:06actually getting to enjoy
40:07this thing that he made.
40:09Sadly, Jim passes away
40:12from Parkinson's
40:13on November 21st
40:14to 2024.
40:16His son keeps the dream alive
40:18but as of now
40:19the castle still is not
40:21finished.
40:22Probably just the way
40:23that Jim wanted.
40:25From a man who wears
40:27his weight in bees
40:28to metal-eating Frenchmen
40:30from super heists
40:31to super fertile lions
40:32these are the stories
40:34of feats so astonishing
40:36they are truly unbelievable.
40:38that he is doing
40:40that he is doing
40:45to get to the rest of it
40:48to the local neighbors
40:48the way he is going to be
40:50the most human being
40:51the most human being
40:53is the most human being
40:54to the ground.
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