Twenty-seven year old, Aron Ralston was looking forward to a long weekend. He would not have to be back at work at his job in Colorado until Tuesday. He was going hiking and biking by himself in Blue John Canyon, one of the most remote canyons in southeast Utah. A...
The French luxury steamship SS Ville du Havre sailed from New York for Paris on November 15, 1873 with 313 passengers and crew. At 2:00 am on November 22nd, while in the mid-Atlantic, the ship was almost broken in half when rammed broadside by the Scottish ironclad...
Robben Island was said to be Hell, a place of isolation and desolation, where many died. The small island, just three square miles, located just a few miles off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa had been a prison for political dissidents since the 17th century. The...
The 120 year old San Jose gold and copper mine twenty eight miles north of Copiapo, Chile, had been grumbling and groaning for several months, an audible warning of impending danger. Although management assured them everything was safe, the miners feared the mine’s...
The week following the U.S. declaration of war on Japan on December 8, 1941, Rae Wilson, a twenty-six year old store clerk, wrote a letter to the weekly newspaper in North Platte, Nebraska asking if the local Union Pacific train depot could be converted into a...
On Labor Day, September 1, 1986, Laura Schroff, a thirty-five year old ad executive with USA Today in New York City, had planned to take clients to see the U.S. Tennis Open. Heavy rain that morning canceled the Open and she found herself with nothing to do so she left...
