Two men had their arms torn off in a tug-of-war!
Tug-of-war is a game that goes back thousands of years and was often used to either celebrate an occasion or compete for strength. While most tug-of-war matches are relatively quick and painless, there was one that went way overboard!
On October 25, 1997, Taiwan celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the end of Japanese Rule with a giant tug-of-war contest. Over 1,600 people participated with a combined strength of over 176,000 pounds!
During the event, the rope snapped because it could not support the weight. When it broke, the force ripped the arms off of two men who were competing!
Luckily, their arms were able to be reattached later due to microsurgery, but next time you join a 1,600 people tug-of-war match, be sure to not hold on too tight!
Jackie Chan had to carry guns and grenades to protect himself from a Chinese crime syndicate!
Jackie Chan is perhaps the most well known Chinese actor outside of China, and while he is extremely famous in America, he is also infamous throughout Asia. Chan earned the nickname Big Brother because he always seems to be involved in other peoples’ business.
This attitude involved him in a fight with the Triads; the largest organized crime syndicate in China. The Triads caused a lot of trouble for Chinese artists and he decided to take action.
Triads, were known to have a heavy influence on Chinese entertainment in the 1980’s and 1990’s. To combat them, Chan started the Hong Kong Performing Artist Guild to form a united front against corruption, and gained many enemies.
His life was threatened numerous times and he was even forced to carry multiple guns and sometimes even grenades! Eventually the Triads lost most of their control on the entertainment industry in China, and Jackie Chan was a significant influence!
The Yuki people have count with base 8 and not 10 because they use the space between their fingers to count!
The indigenous Yuki people of California are originally from the northern area and became extinct some time during the 20th century. While their culture unfortunately did not completely survive, we have some records that have allowed us to understand their ways. One strange aspect of their culture was their counting system. Most cultures throughout history use a base of ten because we have ten fingers.
Instead, the Yuki people used the spaces in between their fingers! This altered their entire counting system, so instead of counting things in groups of ten, they were all counted in eight!
The Mall of America, one of the biggest in the world, doesn’t have a heating system!
The Mall of America is a 2.5 million square foot shopping center in Bloomington, Minnesota and opened in 1992. It consists of 520 stores, two seven-story parking garages, a giant aquarium, and an amusement park!
You’d assume a structure like this had an extensive heating system but in fact, there is no heating at all! Instead, they incorporated solar skylights, which allow heat in, lighting fixtures which give off some heat. However, the key to this is the massive crowds that go to the mall, which all together bring more heat to the building than a normal mall! People even say that during the coldest winter months, the mall is so hot air conditioning units need to be turned on!
Need a place for the end of the world? Someone built a shelter that’s 10,000 sqft and anyone can stay for free!
Bruce Beach began constructing Ark Two Shelter in the 1980’s. Since that time it has grown to over 10,000 square feet and is equipped with just about everything you could imagine. If a nuclear war were to occur, Ark Two can shelter over 500 people, is powered by redundant diesel generators, is almost impenetrable unless a nuclear bomb was dropped directly on it, has a chapel, and a decontamination room!
The fort was built during the height of the cold war, and was originally constructed using 42 school busses which had concrete poured over them. The fort has an entire radio communications center and is livable for enough time for the environment outside to be harmless after a nuclear bomb is dropped. The most amazing part of Beach’s fort is that he says anyone could stay free of charge!
