March 3, 1887 – Tuscumbia, Alabama: It would prove to be the most important day of 7-year-old Helen’s life. It was the day the 20-year-old teacher arrived from Boston, Massachusetts – the day Helen began her journey out of a prison of silence and darkness into a world...
July 6, 1974 – Pacific Ocean – 85 miles off the coast of San Francisco: It was only the second day out, and the 15-foot rubber raft was already in trouble. A low-pressure system kicked up 35-knot winds and a huge 30-foot wave flipped the raft and the two men on board...
3:00 pm, Monday, September 11, 2001 – Gander, Newfoundland: Flight 49 was enroute from Paris to Dallas when captain Beverly Bass called for the head flight attendant. Bass handed her a printed message from the American Airlines office in Dallas. It read, “All airways...
1959 – Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia: The headaches and fatigue had persisted for several months. Anthony Burgess blew it off as a mysterious tropical illness, but he finally agreed to his wife Lynne’s request to see a doctor. Now the 42-year-old English teacher sat...
1986 – Burhanpur Railroad Station, Ganesh Talai, India: Saroo was terrified. The afternoon had begun with excitement as the five-year-old tagged along to the train station with his 14-year-old brother, Guddu, to find food and beg for money. Guddu left Saroo on a bench...
1824 – Mill Grove, Pennsylvania: It was a catastrophe! Returning from a trip to Philadelphia, he opened the storage closet of his small art studio only to find that rats had eaten their way into the boxes where he kept his bird paintings. The rodents had shredded the...
