Truly Controversy Relationships

Some may seem normal by today’s standards, but in their time caused great controversy.

Carl Tanzler
Relationship: Man and corpse

Carl Tanzler or sometimes Count Carl von Cosel (February 8, 1877 – July 23, 1952) was a German-born radiologist at the United States Marine Hospital in Key West, Florida who developed a morbid obsession for a young Cuban-American tuberculosis patient, Elena Milagro “Helen” de Hoyos (July 31, 1909 – October 25, 1931), that carried on well after Hoyos succumbed to the disease. In April, 1933, Tanzler removed Hoyos’ body from the mausoleum, carted it through the cemetery after dark on a toy wagon, and transported it to his home. Tanzler attached the corpse’s bones together with wire and coat hangers, and fitted the face with glass eyes. As the skin of the corpse decomposed, Tanzler replaced it with silk cloth soaked in wax and plaster of paris. As the hair fell out of the decomposing scalp, Tanzler fashioned a wig from Hoyos’ hair that had been collected by her mother and given to Tanzler not long after her burial in 1931. Tanzler filled the corpse’s abdominal and chest cavity with rags to keep the original form, dressed Hoyos’ remains in stockings, jewelry, and gloves, and kept the body in his bed. Tanzler also used copious amounts of perfume, disinfectants, and preserving agents, to mask the odor and forestall the effects of the corpse’s decomposition.

In October, 1940, Elena’s sister Florinda heard rumors of Tanzler sleeping with the disinterred body of her sister, and confronted Tanzler at his home, where Hoyos’ body was eventually discovered. Florinda notified the authorities, and Tanzler was arrested and detained. After a preliminary hearing on October 9, 1940 at the Monroe County Courthouse in Key West, Tanzler was held to answer on the charge, but the case was eventually dropped and he was released, as the statute of limitations for the crime had expired.

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer
Relationship: Woman and wall

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer, 54, whose surname means Berlin Wall in German, maarried the concrete structure in 1979 after being diagnosed with a condition called Objectum-Sexuality. Mrs Berliner-Mauer, whose fetish is said to have its roots in childhood, claimed she fell in love with the structure when she first saw it on television when she was seven. She began collecting pictures of the wall and saving up for visits. On her sixth trip in 1979 they tied the knot before a handful of guests. While she remains a virgin with humans, she insists she has a full, loving relationship with the wall. While the rest of mankind rejoiced when the Wall, erected by the Soviets in 1961 to halt an exodus from East to West Berlin, was largely torn down in 1989, its “wife” was horrified. Having gotten over the “death” of her husband the wall, Eija-Riitta has finally found love again and is dating her garden fence.

Kenneth Pinyan
Relationship: Man and horsies

Kenneth Pinyan (June 22, 1960 – July 2, 2005) was a Boeing engineer residing in Washington who engaged in receptive anal sex with full-size stallions at a farm near the city of Enumclaw. He videotaped those sex acts and distributed them informally under the name Mr Hands. During a July 2005 sex act, videotaped by a friend, he suffered a perforated colon and later died of his injuries. Other factors surrounding the death were apparently that the deceased, concerned about appearing in a hospital with an unusual internal injury and the effect on his security clearance as an engineer for aerospace company Boeing, had apparently refused his friends’ urging to go to the hospital for several hours after being aware he was internally injured, and was either beyond treatment or dead when he finally reached the ER. The story was reported in the The Seattle Times and was one of that paper’s most read stories of 2005.

Pope Pius IX
Relationship: Pope and kidnapped son

On the evening of 23 June 1858, in Bologna, then part of the Papal States, police arrived at the home of a Jewish couple, Salomone (”Momolo”) and Marianna Padovani Mortara, to seize one of their eight children, six-year-old Edgardo, and transport him to Rome to be raised as a ward of the state. The police had orders from Holy Office authorities in Rome, authorized by Pope Pius IX. Church officials had been told that a 14-year-old Catholic servant girl of the Mortaras, Anna Morisi, had baptized Edgardo while he was ill because she feared that he would otherwise die and go to Hell.

Acorrding to Catholic Church doctrine, Edgardo’s baptism, even if illicit under canon law, was valid and made him a Christian. At the time, non-Christians could not raise a Christian child, even their own. Edgardo was taken to a house for Catholic converts in Rome, maintained at state expense. His parents were not allowed to see him for several weeks, and then not alone. Pius IX took a personal interest in the case, raising the child as his son (albeit a kidnapped one), and all appeals to the Church were rebuffed. Church authorities told the Mortaras that they could have Edgardo back if they abandoned their faith and converted to Catholicism, but they refused.

Despite international protests (including those from the United States government), Pope Pius IX did not relinquish Edgardo who eventually went on to become a priest. He was also a vehement supporter of the Vatican taking the first steps towards making Pius IX a saint.

John Deaves
Relationship: Father and daughter

If you are currently eating your breakfast, might I advise you to put it aside for just a moment. On March 20 2008, John Deaves and his daughter Jenny were sentenced to a three-year good behavior bond after pleading guilty to two counts of performing an act of incest – an act which led to the birth of their daughter, Celeste. The “couple” met 30 years after John had left his daughter’s mother; Jenny was 31 and just two weeks after meeting, father and daughter had sex. Jenny Deaves said soon after reuniting with her father she began to see him as a man first and her father second. “I was looking at him, sort of going, oh, he’s not too bad,” she said. Mr Deaves admits that he “initially” thought having sex with his daughter was wrong.

Caligula
Relationship: Man and horse

On the previous bizarre relationships list we mentioned the unusual relationship that Caligula had with his sister Drusilla, but he also had a strange thing going on with his horse Incitatus. Caligula loved his horse (though most likely not in a sexual way) so much that he bent over backwards to give it a life fit for the emperor himself. According to Suetonius’s Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Incitatus had a stable of marble, with an ivory manger, purple blankets (the imperial color), and a collar of precious stones.

Others have indicated that the horse was attended to by eighteen servants, and was fed oats mixed with gold flake. Suetonius also wrote that Caligula planned to make Incitatus a consul (though modern historians believe this may just have been a move to anger the politicians of the day). Caligula even procured him a wife, a mare named Penelope. The horse would “invite” dignitaries to dine with him in a house outfitted with servants there to entertain such events.

Nejdet Boyanay
Relationship: Man and alien

Nejdet Boyanay (from Istanbul, Turkey) started to experience his first encounters with a mysterious alien entity in 1975 when he was 10 years old. According to his report, he was lying down in his bed and starting to fall asleep. But suddenly he noticed that he wasn’t able to move. Soon after he was visited by an alien. After that night he had at least two encounters per week with the strange visitor.

He was touched by him and he says that the hands of the visitor were extremely soft and the touch was sticky like a jellyfish. Later he drew a picture of the visitor which you can see above. The “relationship” continued until 1996 even after Nejdet got married. In 1996 he decided to give an interview about his experiences but after he spoke with the reporters he had a strange accident in the shower because his alien visitor was angry with him for making the relationship public and he tried to drown him.

Munda Dhanda Villager
Relationship: Girl and dog

In India’s eastern Jharkhand, villagers ‘married’ off a young girl to a stray dog to ward off an evil spirit. The locals at Munda Dhanda village performed the ceremony as they believe it will overcome any curse that might fall on the family. Interestingly, the girl is free to get married later in life to a man without even seeking a divorce. Superstitions are widespread in India, especially in rural areas where literacy is scarce. The image above is from the wedding ceremony. The groom is on the left and the rather young bride the right.

Lot’s Daughters
Relationship: Daughters rape father

It doesn’t really get much more blatant than that. The two daughters had sex with their father, Lot, in order to preserve his family line. Incidentally, this all happened shortly after they had fled from Soddom and Gomorrah which was destroyed by God for its immorality – ironic?. After the events described above, Lot had no memory of it (maybe it was the liquor) and nine months later the daughters gave birth to two sons, Moab (father of the Moabites), and Ammon (father of the Ammonites).

Dauveed
Relationship: Man and mannequin

In June, 2009, Dauveed (whose surname is so complex I can’t work out what it is) had a faux-wedding ceremony in which he married Clara the mannequin. He telephoned a media company and asked them to record the ceremony. They did so and you can watch the youtube clip here. From my research I have found comments by people who claim to have seen Dauveed with his mannequin walking around Hollywood which would imply that the marriage was taken seriously in his mind. Regardless of whether Dauveed really is in love with Clara or not, it is kind of nice to know that society has offbeat people in it to add color to our lives.

READ MORE: World Most Famous Ghost Ships Story

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Bizzare Related Death in One Way

Random facts that have one thing in common: they all relate to death in one way or another.

Maschalismos

Maschalismos is the practice of physically rendering the dead incapable of rising or haunting the living in undead form. It comes from the Ancient Greek word and was also the term for procedural rules on such matters in later Greek customary law. The term maschalismos has widened to include the customs throughout the different cultures of the world in ritually mutilating their dead to prevent their wrath from affecting the living.

In the Moluccas, a woman who has died in childbirth is buried with pins stuck through the joints, and an egg under the chin and or armpits; believing that the dead fly like birds and the presence of eggs will bring out maternal instincts which make the ghost not leave the eggs and thus stay with its former body. In Europe, it was sometimes common that suicides were buried with a stake driven through the heart, the body buried upside down, or the head cut off and placed between the legs; still practiced in many parts of Britain as well as the continent is tying together the feet or large toes of the dead.

The Omaha, a tribe of American Indians, slit the soles of the feet of those killed by lightning; the Basuto and Bechuana slit the sinews and spinal cord of their dead; the Herbert River aborigines of Australia beat the body enough to break its bones and fill incisions made in the body with stones. Further forms of maschalismos are equally common among peoples the world over.

Lal Bihari

Lal Bihari (born 1961) is a farmer from Uttar Pradesh, India who was officially dead between 1976 and 1994. He founded Mritak Sangh or the Association of the Dead in Uttar Pradesh, India. He fought Indian government bureaucracy for 18 years to prove that he is alive. When Lal Bihari tried to apply for a bank loan in 1976, he found out that he was officially dead: his uncle had bribed a government official to register him as dead, so that he would get the ownership of Bihari’s land.

Bihari discovered at least 100 other people in a similar situation, being officially dead. He formed Mritak Sangh in the Azamgarh district. He and many other members were in danger of being killed by those who had appropriated their property. Nowadays the association has over 20,000 members all over India. By 2004 they had managed to declare four of their members alive (including Bihari).

London Necropolis Railway Station

The London Necropolis railway station was a special railway station constructed by the London Necropolis Company for funeral trains, specifically to serve their Brookwood Cemetery. The station opened on 13 November 1854 just outside London’s Waterloo station on the London and South Western Railway. Three-carriage trains took coffins and mourners from the station — located between York Street (now Leake Street) and Westminster Bridge Road — directly to platforms within the cemetery.

The station was rebuilt a short distance away at 121 Westminster Bridge Road in 1902 when the mainline station was reconstructed. Prior to 1900 funeral trains usually ran once each day, but after this only operated “as required”, until by the mid-1930s they only ran twice each week; much of their traffic having moved to the road network. On the night of 16 April 1941 the station was hit by bombs and never rebuilt or re-opened. However, the entrance to the station still stands in Westminster Bridge Road.

Republican Marriage

Republican marriage (French: mariage républicain) was a form of execution that allegedly occurred in Nantes during the Reign of Terror in Revolutionary France and “involved tying a naked man and woman together and drowning them”. This was reported to have been practiced during the noyades massacres that were ordered by local Jacobin representative-on-mission Jean-Baptiste Carrier between November 1793 and January 1794 in the city of Nantes.

Most accounts indicate that the victims were drowned in the Loire River, although a few sources describe an alternative means of execution in which the bound couple is run through with a sword, either before, or instead of drowning. While the murders of men, women and children by drowning in the noyades is not generally disputed, the factuality of the “republican marriages” in particular has been doubted by several historians who suspect it to be a legend.

Lazarus Syndrome

Lazarus syndrome is the spontaneous return of circulation after failed attempts at resuscitation. Its occurrence has been noted in medical literature at least 25 times since 1982. Also called Lazarus phenomenon, it takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus. In one case, a 66-year-old man was suffering from a suspected abdominal aneurysm.

During treatment for this condition, the patient suffered cardiac arrest and received chest compressions and defibrillation shocks for 17 minutes. Vital signs did not return; the patient was declared dead and resuscitation efforts ended. Ten minutes later, the surgeon felt a pulse. The aneurysm was successfully treated and the patient fully recovered with no lasting physical or neurological problems.

Walking Ghost

The walking ghost phase of radiation poisoning is a period of apparent health, lasting for hours or days, following a dose of 10–50 sieverts of radiation. As its name would suggest, the walking ghost phase is followed by certain death. The phase of apparent recovery is due to the lag time of the effects of radiation poisoning to surface. While the irradiation has resulted in bone marrow destruction and death of many rapidly multiplying cells, the surface effects do not become apparent until later.

For example, irradiation kills the rapidly dividing cells of the gastrointestinal tract, however diarrhea is not apparent until the cells begin to slough off, coming out in bloody excrement. Loss of this protective lining exposes the body to bacteria within the gut causing sepsis. Also, this causes an inability to absorb nutrition from food. This is the same with the rapidly proliferating cells of the immune system. Irradiation essentially halts white blood cell production by destroying bone marrow, however the remaining white blood cells within the body are still temporarily working, until they are “used up”.

Death Erection

A death erection, angel lust, or terminal erection is a post-mortem erection, technically a priapism, observed in the corpses of human males who have been executed, particularly by hanging. The phenomenon has been attributed to pressure on the cerebellum created by the noose. Death by hanging, whether an execution or a suicide, has been observed to affect the genitals of both men and women. In women, the labia will become engorged and there may be a discharge of blood from the vagina.

In men, “a more or less complete state of erection of the penis, with discharge of urine, of mucus, or of the prostatic fluid, is a frequent occurrence … present in one case in three.” Other causes of death may also result in these effects, including fatal gunshot wounds to the brain, damage to major blood vessels, or violent death by poisoning. Forensically, a postmortem erection is an indicator that death was likely swift and violent.

Safety Coffin

A safety coffin or security coffin is a coffin fitted with a mechanism to prevent premature burial or allow the occupant to signal that he has been buried alive. A large number of designs for safety coffins were patented during the 18th and 19th centuries and variations on the theme are still available today.

The first recorded safety coffin was constructed on the orders of Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick before his death in 1792. He had a window installed to allow light in, an air tube to provide a supply of fresh air, and instead of having the lid nailed down he had a lock fitted. In a special pocket of his shroud he had two keys, one for the coffin lid and a second for the tomb door.

Disenfranchised Grief

Disenfranchised grief is a term describing grief that is not acknowledged by society. Examples of events leading to disenfranchised grief are the loss of a pet, an aborted/miscarried pregnancy, a mother’s loss or surrender of a child to adoption, the death of a celebrity, or even a fictional character. This is compared to more traditional forms of grief, such as loss of a spouse, parent, or child.

Traditional forms of grief are more heavily recognized even in nontraditional living situations. Disenfranchised grief, when legitimate, can create problems with bereavement leave with work. There are few support systems, traditions, or institutions, which normally help the grieving process.

Gregory Biggs

Gregory Biggs, a homeless man in Fort Worth, Texas, was struck by a car being driven by Chante Jawan Mallard, who had been drinking and taking drugs that night. Biggs’ torso became lodged in Mallard’s windshield with severe but not immediately fatal injuries. Mallard drove home and left the car in her garage with Biggs still lodged in her car’s windshield. She repeatedly visited Biggs and even apologized for hitting him. Biggs died of his injuries several hours later. Chante Mallard was tried and convicted for murder in this case and received a 50-year prison sentence. The film Stuck is loosely based on this unusual death.

READ MORE: Most Weird Jobs From History

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Ridiculous But Popular Products By Their Nature

Lists of ridiculous products, but they are more about commonly owned popular goods.

Giant Remote

If you keep losing your remote down the side of the sofa then you know there’s only one solution: buy a remote that’s bigger than your children – you never lose them… right? This giant, and apparently extremely basic, remote can also be used as a small coffee table or for attacking burglars. It is cheap as chips too – only $19.95 to own the ugliest piece of technology equipment ever made, iPad notwithstanding.

Jingle Jugs

Are you sick of those boring deer heads stuck to your wall? Lucky for you there is now an alternative! Jingle Jugs can be mounted on any wall and will provide years of pleasure to the man who has no girlfriend or wife or, generally, respect for women.

Nigger Hair

Nigger Hair tobacco was a tobacco product from the 1950s. The advertising material for the product said: “Our grandfathers knew this tobacco and gave the brand its name, NIGGER HAIR, because it was cut in those long, curly strands that make it such a wonderful, satisfactory pipe tobacco – slow burning, cool and fragrant. That distinctive cut caused the old-time smokers to call it “NIGGER HAIR” and so it got its name.”

Mary Jane Buns

I am not sure if this is meant to be subtle pro-marijuana propaganda or just a brand name thought up by someone who has no idea what “maryjane” may also mean.

These buns are enriched – presumably to make them appeal to parents who are buying them for their children. According to the marketing, these buns are “old fashioned enriched” – I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure that in the old days, food was natural and not pumped full of gimmicky chemicals to make parents buy them.

Hufu
For the cannibals amongst us

Hufu was touted as “the healthy human flesh alternative” for “cannibals who want to quit”, as well as a product for anthropology students studying cannibalism.

According to its website, hufu is also “a great convenience food for cannibals. No more Friday night hunting raids!

Stay home and enjoy the good healthy taste of hufu.” Mark Nuckols (founder and CEO of Hufu, LLC)—then a student at Tuck School of Business—claimed that the concept of Hufu occurred to him when he ate a tofurkey sandwich while reading “Good To Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture”, a book on cannibalism by anthropologist Marvin Harris.

Hufu was a non-existent spoof product, supposedly a soy-based food product designed to resemble human flesh in taste and texture. The Hufu website was in existence from May 2005 to June 2006.

Gay Fuel

Gay Fuel was an energy drink marketed by Florida-based Specialty Spirits, LLC towards the gay community, using the slogan “GET FIRED UP.” Some refer to it as a “graphite smoothie”.

Gay Fuel was similar to Red Bull, except the liquid was dyed bright pink and elderberry flavored. Its makers claimed Gay Fuel contains a blend of sexual stimulant herbs and immune system boosters.

The can was silver with several rainbow stripes. As of 2008, the official website has gone offline.

Urinal Cake Candle

The product website says it all: “Bring the industrial chemical freshness of a public restroom right to your home.

We’re often asked if THE URINAL CAKE CANDLE smells like pee. It doesn’t. It’s a cinnamony floral smell that’s modeled after a urinal cake our founder once relieved himself on at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

This candle covers both number 1 and number 2 odors and has become a regular contributor in the HOTWICKS world headquarters bathroom.

 This is the perfect gift for anyone that likes tacos, asparagus, and really hot chicken wings.”

Hitler Bacon
Is it Kosher?

Hitlerszalonna or Hitler-szalonna (Hungarian “Hitler bacon”) is a dense fruit jam, although there is debate about how much fruit was actually in it and how edible it was, that was eaten by Hungarian troops and civilians during World War II. It was made from mixed fruits such as plum and sold in brick shaped blocks held in a piece of paper rather than in a jar.

These slabs were sliced, a bit like szalonna (bacon). Soldiers kept it in a case and it could be cooked with other foods. The term itself is considered slang and defined as something like “tough fruit”.

Boneless Fish
Why oh why?

The Boneless Fish is a fish-based frozen food invented by Dairei Corporation of Japan in 1998. It is essentially a fish that has been scaled, gutted and deboned by a skilled worker before being reassembled to look like a dressed fish (gutted and with its head and fins removed).

The fish is then flash frozen and packaged. It remains uncooked. The production of the Boneless Fish is labor intensive.

Dairei set up HACCP-certified factories in Thailand, China and Vietnam. The workers cut open the fish and use a pair of tweezers to remove the bones.

The end product is then examined to make sure that it is free of bones and then “glued” together using a food-grade enzyme produced by Ajinomoto.

Darkie Toothpaste
Racism in a tube

Darkie (now known as Darlie) is a toothpaste brand of the Taiwan-based company Hawley & Hazel, which was acquired in 1985 by the US corporation Colgate-Palmolive.

Darky, or darkie, is a term used primarily in the United States and Britain to refer to black people. The package featured an image said to have been inspired by an Al Jolson performance, that of a wide-eyed, smiling dark-skinned black male wearing a top hat, monocle and bow-tie.

Because of the contrast with very dark skin, it was a common perception that the teeth of people of African descent were exceptionally white.

Due to changing sensibilities regarding race and racism and efforts by certain interest groups, blatantly racist branding practices common in earlier decades began to end in the 1950s.

READ MORE: Truly Controversy Relationships

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Most Extreme Works of Body Art

Extremely bizarre works of modern art in which the human body is exploited. Some of the images are gruesome – you have been warned!

Rhythm O’
Marina Abra

Performed in 1974. In the piece, the audience was given instructions to use an array of 72 provided instruments of pain and pleasure, including knives, feathers, and a loaded pistol on Abramovic’s body. Audience members cut her, pressed thorns into her belly, put lipstick on her, and removed her clothes. The performance ended after six hours when someone held the loaded gun up to Abramovic’s head and a scuffle broke out.

Trans-Fixed
Chris Burden

Burden was so influential in the realm of body art that I just had to include another of his pieces in this list. Trans-Fixed took place in 1974 at Speedway Avenue in Venice, California. For this performance, Burden lay face up on a Volkswagen Beetle and had nails hammered into both of his hands, as if he were being crucified on the car. The car was pushed out of the garage and the engine revved for two minutes before being pushed back into the garage.

Martyrs and Saints
Ron Athey

In this 1993 performance Athey hung nude strung up to a column with long needles inserted into his head in such a manner as to represent a crown of thorns. His stated artistic intention is to achieve redemption through self-mutilation. The image above is the best one that could be found.

Shoot
Chris Burden

This is one of Burden’s most well known acts. On November 19, 1971 in Santa Ana, California, he walked into F Space gallery for a pre-arranged exhibition. The crowd in the empty gallery watched as Burden’s friend stepped about 15 feet away from Burden, pulled out a loaded .22 rifle and shot him in his left arm. Although the bullet was only intended to graze Burden, he flinched at the last moment and thereby endured a more serious injury then intended.

3 Aktion Vienna 1965
Rudolf Schwarzkogler

A piece that was recorded by a photographer where he appeared to cut off his own penis. Chris Burden, a fellow body artists misreported in a 1970s Newsweek Magazine that died by slicing off his penis during this performance. However, the photos had been misinterpreted. The photographs were actually of Hans Cibulka, a model and friend of Schwarzkogler. He posed with a sliced open fish covering his groin. This is what is believed to of caused the myth. Schwarkogler actually died on June 20th, 1969. He was found without any evidence for more than an accident under a window from which he fell. This generated several myths about him committing suicide and other speculations about his life.

Seedbed
Vito Acconci

This was first performed by Vito Acconci on January 15-29 1972 at Sonnabend Gallery in New York. In this piece, Acconci lay hidden underneath a ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating. The artist’s spoken fantasies about the visitors walking above him were heard through loudspeakers in the gallery.

Levitation
Terry Fox

On September 17, 1970, he performed this piece at the Richmond Art Center in California. The equipment he used included a white paper that covered the floor and an eleven-foot-square mound of earth in the center of the room. He stuck plastic tubes in it, each being fifty feet long and filled with them with blood, urine, water, and milk. Fox then proceeded to lie on the earth and for six hours, attempted to levitate into the space above him. He described it with this, “I was trying to think about leaving the ground, until I realized I should be thinking about entering the air. For me that changed everything, made it work.” After he tried this he said that it left him with, “The feeling for awhile that I was out of my body.” Again no image could be found so the work above is another example of Terry Fox’s work.

Velocity Piece
Barry LeVa



Performed both at the University Museum at Columbus, Ohio, in 1969 and in La Jolla in 1970. He ran back and forth, crashing into opposite walls fifty feet apart until he collapsed from exhaustion. The sounds of his movements were taped so that viewers were able to hear the sounds of his crashing after the event, as well as see the blood-spattered walls he had left. As on reviewer described the effect of this residue, “LeVa had truly become a ghostly presence, a body haunting space.” No images or videos are available for this item, so the clip above shows some of LeVa’s other art.

Hand Catching Lead
Richard Serra

It was Serra’s first film and features a single shot of a hand in an attempt to repeatedly catch chunks of material dropped from the top of the frame. In Boomerang (1974), Serra taped Nancy Holt as she talks and hears her words played back to her after they have been delayed electronically. Serra has made a number of films concerning the manufacture and use of his favorite material, steel.

Portrait of the artist as a fountain
Bruce Nauman

Nauman was educated at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of California, Davis, and became part of the burgeoning California art scene in the late 1960s. His Self Portrait as a Fountain showed him spouting a stream of water from his mouth. Nauman tested the idea of art as a stable vehicle of communication and the role of the artist as revelatory communicator.

READ MORE: Bizzare Related Death in One Way

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Most Bizarre Accidents In World History

Here are just a few of those strange accidents in history. We see these accidents on the news and all over the internet, but some of the strangest accidents that have ever happened can be found in history books.

Sidoarjo Mud Flow

In May, 2006, while drilling for gas in East Java, Indonesia, company PT Lapindo Brantas caused a mud volcano to erupt. By September, 2006, the hot mudflow had inundated rice paddies and villages, resulting in the displacement of more than 11,000 people from eight villages. Twenty-five factories had to be abandoned, and fish and shrimp ponds were destroyed. Transportation and power transmission infrastructure has been damaged extensively in the area. The mud flow is still ongoing at a rate of 100,000 m3 per day, at time of writing. A study has found that the mud volcano is collapsing under its own weight, possibly beginning caldera formation. It is expected that the flow will continue for at least another 30 years.

Boston Molasses Disaster

On January 15, 1919, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston’s North End. The explosion caused a huge shockwave that was sufficient to knock houses off their foundations. Shards of metal from the tank were found up to 200 ft. away. Right after the explosion this accident took a very strange turn.

The tank was filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses. When the tank exploded, the molasses formed a 25-30 ft. wave, that went through the streets of Boston at speeds of around 35 mph. People caught in the wave were either smashed against large objects, or they drowned in the molasses. This strange accident caused 21 deaths and 150 injuries. Rumor has it that, on a hot day in the North End, the air still smells sweet.

The Ball of Burning Men

On January 28, 1393, King Charles VI of France hosted a ball to celebrate the marriage of Queen Isabeau’s maid of honor. Charles had the brilliant idea to have himself and five of his friends disguise themselves as savages. The idea took a strange turn when the men decided to cover themselves with pitch and feathers. Remember, pitch is very flammable and the primary sources of light indoors at the time were torches.

The men entered the ball disguised this way and chained together. A horrible accident occurred when a man approached them with a torch so that he could get a better look. The men went up in flames immediately. The king was saved by Jeanne de Boulogne, who threw her petticoats over him to put out the blaze. One other of the men was able to throw himself into a vat of water. The other victims of this strange accident were not so lucky. Two burned alive that night at the ball. The other two died within days from their injuries.

London Beer Flood

On October 16, 1814, a vat of beer at London’s Meux and Company Brewery cracked open. Beer gushed out, causing yet another vat to open. The result was 550,000 gallons (or 4.4 million pints) of beer pouring through the streets of London. The wave of beer destroyed two homes and crumbled the wall of the Tavistock Arms Pub, trapping teenaged employee Eleanor Cooper under the rubble. The brewery was located among the poor houses and tenements of the St Giles Rookery, where whole families lived in basement rooms that quickly filled with beer. Eight people drowned in the flood. The disaster was ruled to be an act of God.

Goiânia Accident

The Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on 13 September, 1987, at Goiânia, Brazil. Considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, it took place after an old nuclear medicine source was scavenged from an abandoned hospital site in the city, which serves as capital of the central Brazilian state of Goiás. It was subsequently handled by many people, resulting in four deaths and the serious radioactive contamination of 249 other people.

The dispersal of radiation was equivalent to a medium-size dirty bomb. About 130,000 people overwhelmed hospitals. Of those, 250 people, some with radioactive residue still on their skin, were found to be contaminated through the use of Geiger counters. Topsoil had to be removed from several sites, and several houses were demolished. All the objects from within those houses were removed and examined. Those that were found to be free of radioactivity were wrapped in plastic bags, while those that were contaminated were either decontaminated or disposed of as waste.

Lake Peigneur Accident

The Lake Peigneur accident was caused by drilling in a salt mine beneath the shallow (10 feet deep) lake. The drill accidentally pierced the third level of the mine causing the lake to drain into the hole. This resulted in the expanding of the hole as soil and salt were washed into the mine by the rushing water, filling the enormous caverns left by the removal of salt over the years. The resultant whirlpool sucked in the drilling platform, eleven barges, many trees and 65 acres (260,000 m2) of the surrounding terrain.

So much water drained into the caverns that the flow of the Delcambre Canal that usually empties the lake into Vermilion Bay was reversed, making the canal a temporary inlet. This backflow created, for a few days, the tallest waterfall ever in the state of Louisiana, at 164 feet (50 m), as the lake refilled with salt water from the Delcambre Canal and Vermilion Bay. The water downflowing into the mine caverns displaced air which erupted as compressed air and then later as 400-foot (120 m) geysers up through the mineshafts.

Napoleon’s Cough

Rumor has it that while Napoleon was suffering from a bad cough he accidentally ordered the execution of 1,200 prisoners. His officers had been awaiting orders from the emperor when he was seized by a coughing fit. The emperor exclaimed “Ma sacre toux,” meaning “My damn cough,” (or literally “My sacred cough,” but I think we know what he meant). His men took his words to be “Massacre-tous,” meaning “Massacre all.” This strange accident would top the list if it were proven. However, accounts of the incident vary greatly and many doubt whether this ever happened.

Death of Lady Coventry

Lady Coventry, or Maria Gunning, was a celebrated beauty of her time. She devoted herself to applying pasty white makeup and red rouge every day. This was the style of the time. Her husband hated this practice and tried to stop her from doing it, but her vanity prevailed. She probably should have listened to him. Lady Coventry died at the age of 27 from over use of lead-based makeup.

Bouncy Castle Disaster

In July, 2006, a bouncy castle, with 30 people inside it, broke free from its moorings and took off into the air in a freak gust of wind. It flew 50 feet into the air, turned over, and travelled 150 feet before landing on the ground. The castle seriously injured 13 people and killed two. An eye-witness described the event thus: “I heard the snapping of tent pegs and a lot of screaming, then the inflatable flew up into the air and bodies were dropping from it. It was just carnage. There were people everywhere lying on the ground. Some had been on the inflatable when it took off, others were hit on the ground.”

Philadelphia Boiler Explosion

On 31 July, 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton’s Mechanical Traveller, blew up. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life, as 16 people were killed. The accident is not included in many texts because it was on an industrial waggonway or plateway, rather than a public railway. Most boiler explosions caused severe mechanical damage but often only the locomotive crew suffered physically; however, Brunton’s locomotive was surrounded, at the time, by a crowd of curious sightseers, who formed the majority of the victims.

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The Most Weird Cat Tales

There are stories of cats crossing state borders to find their owners, cat survival tales and claims of talking cats.

Piano-Playing Cat

Nora, a gray tabby, who was adopted from an animal shelter by music teacher Betsy Alexander, became a media sensation after a video of her playing the piano went on to YouTube. Named after painter Leonora Carrington, she learned how to play by watching her owner’s students practice while she sits under the piano. Then one night, she went up the bench herself and started pawing the keys. With the encouragement of the owner, Nora’s playing became a daily routine, and her performances were soon posted on YouTube, and found its way to the media, where it called the attention of animal behaviorists, who find Nora an incredible case of animal intelligence. Her popularity made her an instant sensation, and she now has her own CD, DVD and website.

The Cat With Etiquette

When Faye Murrell’s children left home, dining time became a lonely affair. So to have company at the table, she began giving her cat Tessa some table manners. The cat, a very quick learner, soon learned how to use a fork in no time flat. Not only that, but when noodles are served, Tessa can eat them with chopsticks, and when ice cream’s on the table, she uses a spoon.

The Moscow Cats Theater

Yuri Kuklachev, a former member of the Moscow State Circus, is the founder of the Moscow Cats Theater, a performing troupe that has 120 feline members. The idea for the troupe came to Kuklachev in 1971, when he saw a stray cat that begs for food by standing on her hind legs. Realizing the potential of the cat, he adopted it and soon incorporated it in his act at the State Circus. 17 years later Kuklachev left the State Circus and started the Moscow Cats Theater 2 years after. The various acts that the troupe performs include tightrope walking, ball balancing and riding a rocking horse. Maruska, one of the troupe’s stars, can even do a handstand on Kuklachev’s palm.

Feline Cutaneous Asthenia

Feline Cutaneous Asthenia (FCA)is a rare hereditary disease found in cats. The disorder (which is like a feline equivalent to the human disease Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) affects the way an afflicted cat’s body produces collagen, an important component in skin tissue and tendons. The disorder has two forms: one caused by a dominant gene and another one caused by a recessive gene. Both produce similar symptoms: abnormally soft and velvety skin that can easily tear. One common result of this is the formation of wing-like folds or flaps on a cat’s shoulders or back. FCA is said to be the cause of ‘winged’ cats, like a cat owned by Granny Feng of Xianyang City, China, who has 4-inch long wing-like appendages sprouting in its back.

Glow-in-The-Dark Cats

In 2007, scientists at Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have successfully created cloned cats that glow in the dark. The three white Turkish Angora cats, weighing around 7 pounds each, were capable of glowing red under UV light. Here is a quotation from a report written by Alan Boyle, the science editor at msnbc.com explaining the procedure: ‘They took skin cells from Turkish Angora female cats and used a virus to insert the genetic instructions for making red fluorescent protein. Then they put the gene-altered nuclei into eggs for cloning. The cloned embryos were implanted back into the donor cats, which effectively became the surrogate mothers for their own clones. Four kittens were born by Caesarian section, but one of them died during the procedure, according to the Korea Times. The fact that the kittens’ skin cells glowed under ultraviolet light served as evidence that they were really gene-altered clones.’

Project Acoustic Kitty

Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project initiated by the Directorate of Science & Technology in the 1960’s. It attempted to use cats in spy missions, particularly to bug secret conversations. It involved inserting a microphone and transmitter with battery to the body of the cat, and wiring an antenna to its tail. The expenses used for the surgery and training were said to amount to 20 million dollars. However, when the project went on a trial run (a trial mission where the cat was assigned to listen on two men in a park in Washington, D.C.), the project came to a halt when the test cat was ran over by a taxi and killed. Due to the incident, not mentioning the various cons of the project, Acoustic Kitty was declared a failure.

The Meow Mix House

Meow Mix, a popular cat food brand, launched the Meow Mix House, a reality TV series that followed a ‘Survivor’ format. Ten cats chosen from various animal shelters across the country were pitted against each other in a battle of wits, brawn and brain in a luxurious mansion on Madison Avenue in New York City. What’s the first prize? A job as the feline Vice president of Research and Development in the Meow Mix Company. The reality series were shown on Animal Planet for ten straight weeks beginning June 16, 2006. Aside from the top prize, a second position in the company was awarded to the cat voted most popular by the viewers. The losers, however, gets a year’s supply of cat food, plus a new home and family, just like the two top winners. Oh, the top prize was given to Cisco from Miami, while Ellis from Portland won the popular vote.

Brumas, The Pink Cat

Brumas, a 9-yr. old cat from Devon, England, was taking her usual stroll on Sept. 3, 2005, but when he returned later, his owners were surprised to see their pet’s usual snow-white coat has turned a bright pink. “He was pink – Barbie pink. His head, ears and right down his body, although not underneath, had gone a quite brilliant pink,” said Joan Worth, the cat’s owner. Worried, Joan and her husband Philip immediately went to the vet to examine Brumas. The vet said that Brumas is in good health, but they couldn’t find an explanation for the cat’s strange color. “They couldn’t find any reason for it, although they decided it wasn’t toxic, which was what I was worried about,” said Mrs. Worth. Mr Worth added, “We have thought about everything as to how this happened, from him being covered in some form of cow treatment to children’s poster paints. We have no clue where he was that could have caused this to happen.” However, paint is not believed to be the reason because Brumas’ fur was not matted. As for Brumas, he seemed to be unaffected by the color change.

Radio Station for Felines

Nohl Rosen of Scottsdale, Arizona, is the proud owner of Cat Galaxy, an Internet radio and TV station catered specially for cats (and their owners too). Running for a strong nine years, the station has radio shows like Morning Meows, Meow Mixing Monday and Friday Night Feline Frenzy. Most of the music from this station is ‘feline-approved’, ranging from Jazz to R’n’B .Plus, the station features interviews with various veterinarians and pet-owners as well. Oh, and the station’s manager is none other than Rosen’s own pet cat, Isis. Even the assistant manager and the program director are cats.

The Litter Kwitter

Cleaning kitty litter is no walk in the park. According to statistics, it represents half of the expenses of keeping a cat. An interesting solution would be to train your cat to use the toilet. But how do you train your cat to do this? Enter the Litter Kwitter, a cat-friendly training system that teaches cats how to use a human toilet. The system consists of a special universal toilet seat (meaning it fits all toilets) and three toilet rings. The training is done in three stages. The first is the red stage, where your cat is trained to associate the toilet with the litter box using a red ring fitted above the toilet, filled with kitty litter. The amber stage follows, where your cat is trained to balance him/herself on the toilet seat while using it, using this time an amber ring with a small hole, surrounded with a little kitty litter. The final stage is the green stage, where your cat learns to use the toilet by balancing him/herself on the green ring, which has a larger hole this time. Voila! A potty-trained cat!

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