From Shakespeare to Einstein, there are some people who are far too interesting to forget. Whether it be in science, arts, or even the most bizarre fields, there are always unique individuals in the world.
If you’ve ever watched or read Ripley's Believe It or Not, you’re probably already aware that there are tons of people out there who challenge our notion of what is “normal”. From people doing the craziest stunts to people demonstrating the most bizarre skills and abilities.
Continue reading below to see how spectacular humans can be, and read about 7 people that are almost too interesting to exist.
Garry Turner
If you thought elastic men only exist in comic books, then you’ve probably never heard of Garry Turner. Turner is also known by the nickname, “Stretch", and he is an incredible circus performer who holds the current Guinness World Record for the stretchiest skin.
His skin can stretch so far that he can stretch it out to the shape of a table and even hold three bottles of beer on it. This special ability is caused by a rare disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Orlando Serrell
For most people, brain damage normally leads to a terrible impairment, such as memory loss, or a personality problem. However, in the case of Orlando Serrell, his traumatic brain injury granted him a gift.
When he was hit by a stray ball in the head, he found that something changed in him: he could perform superb calendar calculations. Serrell can easily calculate what day of the week December 14, 1980 is, or how many Saturdays there were in 1978.
Ever since the incident, he also started remembering every detail of every day, not forgetting even the smallest event that had happened in a day.
Howard Engel
Howard Engel's story is incredibly fascinating. Engel worked as an acclaimed Canadian novelist. However, after suffering from a stroke in 2001, he became incapable of reading. Strangely, he could still write and speak, but when he looked at words, none of them made sense.
To get back to his passion, he re-learned the language by patiently tracing letters of words again and again. Soon, he was able to write a novel titled The Man Who Forgot How to Read.
Elisabeth Sulser
In the case of Elisabeth Sulser, she can see and taste music. Specifically, this unique ability stemmed from her strange condition called “synesthesia”, which enables her to see sounds and taste music.
Dean Karnazes
Another interesting person is American ultramarathon runner Dean Karnazes. What makes Karnazes unique is that his body muscles never tire. He can run for three straight days and still won’t experience any form of muscle burning or cramping.
The reason for this extraordinary ability is that his body isn’t affected by lactate buildup, and lactate is responsible for telling the body when to stop and rest. In 2013, The Guardian dubbed Dean as “the man who can run forever.”
Chris Robinson
The concept of people seeing the future through their dreams has long been used in different sci-fi films and literature. However, for Chris Robinson, the concept isn’t just limited to the make-believe world, but also in real life.
According to him, he can see the future in his dreams. Stan Lee himself tried to test this claim by putting Robinson through a challenge. Lee planned to take him to 10 places the following day after a night of sleep, and Robinson had to find out about the locations they were going to visit through his dreams. Robinson scored perfectly.
Thai Ngoc
Thai Ngoc made it into the headlines and piqued the interest of many scientists by becoming “the man who never sleeps”. The Vietnamese farmer claimed to have suffered from a fever in 1973.
After recovery, he developed a bad case of insomnia. Now, more than 45 years later, Ngoc hasn't slept since then. What’s even more astonishing is that medical examinations revealed that the man is not suffering from any form of serious illness due to his lack of sleep.
The Bottom Line
Billions of people walk on the surface of the earth, and there are many among those billions who are incredibly interesting. In the coming years, there will be many others who make the headlines with their unique abilities.