Sweden’s Roadside Side Switch
26. In 1967, Sweden changed from left-hand traffic to right-hand traffic. Every vehicle had to stop completely at 04:50, then move carefully to the right side of the road and stop again before being permitted to continue at 05:00.
27. In 1966, two men, Miguel Jose Viana and Manoel Pereira da Cruz, went up a hill in Brazil, put lead masks on their faces, and seemingly died by suicide for reasons that were never explained. The only clue left was a note saying, “16:30 be at agreed place, 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals wait for mask signal.”
28. In 1963, Wendell Scott became the first African American to win a Nascar Race. Even though he was two laps ahead of the other cars, he was overlooked because the winner was supposed to kiss a white beauty queen. He received the trophy in 2010, 20 years after he died.
29. In 1969, a musician named Jim Sullivan recorded an album titled “U.F.O.“, which included unusual lyrics about leaving his family and being taken by aliens. Sullivan vanished 6 years later without any trace, and the only evidence was his abandoned car discovered on a desert road.
30. In 1969, after one of the biggest anti-war demonstrations ever, Richard Nixon wanted Army helicopters to fly over the protesters and extinguish their candlelit vigil.
31. In 1969, a 14-year-old boy named Jerry Levitan slipped into John Lennon’s hotel room with a reel-to-reel recorder, and Lennon really agreed to let him interview him. The recording still exists.
32. In 1966, Paul McCartney wrote a song using the name Bernard Webb to find out whether he could make a hit without his own name attached. Peter and Gordon recorded it, and it reached number 14 on the charts.
33. In 1963, Brian Blessed noticed a woman in labor in a park. She knew him from the TV series Z Cars and told him, “please Mr. Blessed, I’m having a baby.” He not only helped deliver the baby, but he also bit through the umbilical cord.
34. In 1968, Billy Joel wrapped some random cables around his shoulder, used a fake British accent, and posed as Jimi Hendrix’s roadie to get into a concert. He ended up convincing people enough that he was actually assigned stagehand work during the show.
35. In 1966, Ronald Reagan wrote Jelly Belly a thank-you letter for “keeping the state gov running smoothly,” since the jelly beans served as an alternative to smoking and helped them get through meetings and make decisions.
Hidden Mummies Found Later
36. In 1966, two American teenagers discovered two child mummies in a cave in Mexico, smuggled them into California, and left them in a friend’s garage until the friend’s mother found the mummies 14 years afterward.
37. In 1966, American automotive designer Carroll Shelby gave Bill Cosby a custom Cobra. It was so powerful that Cosby could not control it and returned it. The next owner also lost control and drove it off a cliff.
38. During the 1960s, the New York based anarchist group Black Mask disrupted cultural events by giving homeless people fake flyers for art events that promised free drinks.
39. In 1966, after three years of failing to put out a gas well fire, Soviet authorities chose to use a 30 kiloton atomic bomb. It was exploded at a depth of 1,500 m, crushing the well and stopping the flames within seconds. After this success, the same method was used on four other well fires.
40. In 1962, a group of scientists wanted to study the effects of LSD on elephants. They injected an elephant with 3,000 times the normal dose given to humans because they believed elephants would be far less sensitive to LSD than humans. The elephant died in 100 minutes.
41. An experimental book called The Unfortunates was released in 1969. It came as a “book in a box” containing 27 separate unbound sections, with the first and final chapters identified. The other sections vary from one paragraph to 12 pages long and are meant to be read in any sequence.
42. At Stanford University in 1967, British politician Ming Campbell defeated O.J. Simpson in a 100m sprint, finishing in 10.2 seconds.
43. Bill Cosby received a man of the year award in 1969 and humorously proposed renaming it the “nice guy as far as we know” award.
44. In 1962, comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested for saying “schmuck” during a performance. “Schmuck” is a Yiddish swear word meaning “penis”, and it is regarded as deeply offensive in Yiddish speaking communities.
45. Ewa Kłobukowska, the 1964 Olympic champion, failed the newly introduced gender test before the 1967 European Cup and was then barred from competition and stripped of her records. The following year, she had her first child.
Hendrix Ends The Set
46. In 1967, Jimi Hendrix served as the opening act for The Monkees. He performed 8 of the 29 shows, then gave the audience the finger, dropped his guitar, and left the stage.
47. In 1965, American actor Kris Kristofferson was assigned to teach English literature at West Point. Instead, he chose to leave the Army and follow songwriting. His family cut him off because of that choice and they never made up with him.
48. In 1969, General Motors Holden in Australia built a concept car outfitted with climate control, a rear-view camera, and navigation inside the car.
49. In 1965, Milton Olive III gave up his own life to protect a group of soldiers by covering a live grenade with his body. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor after his death, becoming the first African American of the Vietnam War to receive it.
50. A woman named Daniela Liverani in Scotland had repeated nosebleeds that she thought were caused by a motorbike crash. She later learned her nosebleeds were caused by something alive inside her. A month after the accident, while showering, she discovered a 3-inch leech living in her nostril.
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