List of con men

The first known usage of the term "confidence man" in English was in 1849; it was used by American press during the United States trial of William Thompson. Thompson chatted with strangers until he asked if they had the confidence to lend him their watches, whereupon he would walk off with the watch; he was captured when a victim recognized him on the street.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence_trick

It's like Crimson Tide, only in real life!

Yea and not being around to explain yourself when you fail at your job...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael...n_(basketball)

Owns record for highest slam dunk, on a hoop at the height of 12 feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealand

This one is weird. A British citizen, who was a pirate radio broadcaster, overtook a fort in international waters that had previously been used by the UK during WWII for defense of shipping lanes against the Germans. So this guy claims it as Sealand, and that it is a sovereign nation (which it is not recognized by any other nation to be) and he even had a constitution, flag, currency and passports. Real interesting read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestia_(micronation)

A micronation that laid claim to all of space on the behalf of all humanity.

Thank you sir.

Been a great thread so far.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope

The high-resolution spectra and images provided by the HST have been especially well-suited to establishing the prevalence of black holes in the nuclei of nearby galaxies. While it had been hypothesized in the early 1960s that black holes would be found at the centers of some galaxies, and work in the 1980s identified a number of good black hole candidates, it fell to work conducted with Hubble to show that black holes are probably common to the centers of all galaxies.[78][79] The Hubble programs further established that the masses of the nuclear black holes and properties of the galaxies are closely related. The legacy of the Hubble programs on black holes in galaxies is thus to demonstrate a deep connection between galaxies and their central black holes.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wack_Pack

The Wack Pack is the name given to a wide assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of The Howard Stern Show. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, they are a considerable part of what the radio show became notable for. Members of the pack, known as "Wack Packers", tend to be unusual in some way such as being blatantly racist, mentally disabled, perverted or having a comical voice, appearance or ability. Not every regular guest on the show is considered a member, nor are any of the show's staff members.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tal_punishment

Oak Island Money Pit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island_Money_Pit

Franklin Roosevelt, Pirates, booby traps, cipher stones, Knights Templar and the Holy Grail

Did one of you guys do this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

-Al

The goal of the expedition was to reach an extremely homosexual sweat lodge on the peak of the mountain.

lool

The Hubble telescope had quite a turnaround. The first few years it was always screwed up and considered a multi-billion dollar failure, but they stuck with it and got some amazing results.

WTF do you have me on ignore now or something?

-Al

Mountain Meadows massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre

Lyre Bird

"Lyrebirds render with great fidelity the individual songs of other birds and the chatter of flocks of birds, and also mimic other animals, human noises, machinery of all kinds, explosions, and musical instruments. The lyrebird is capable of imitating almost any sound — from a mill whistle to a cross-cut saw, and, not uncommonly, sounds as diverse as chainsaws [2], car engines and car alarms, fire alarms, rifle-shots, camera shutters, dogs barking, crying babies, and even the human voice."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyre_bird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOFy8...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y&feature=fvw

awesome, especially the videos. Beatboxing lyrebird would be the nuts

edit: so apparently everything after the camera noises is fake? God damnit...

Battle of Los Angeles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles