In 1906, a famed explorer saw something on the horizon that would lead an expedition of men to search for a magnificent land they hoped would be full of new and undiscovered treasures for science.

One famous dolphin lived near the shores of New Zealand in the late 1800s, and swam alongside hundreds of ships, becoming a beloved figure to locals and foreigners alike, and described as ”the best known fish in the world.”

It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.

On July 11, 1897, at 2:30 in the afternoon, a balloon dubbed “the Eagle” took off from the Norwegian archipelago of Spitzbergen, headed, or so its occupants believed, for the north pole. It was a daring plan, years in the making, that promised to reach the elusive north pole in a way faster and safer than trudging across the ice.

The state we today call Delaware simultaneously declared its independence not just from Great Britain, but from the state of Pennsylvania.

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Ben Salomon was an Army dentist who faced down the largest Banzai charge of the Second World War. It took 58 years for his action to be recognized.