Nighthawk205's Blog - Apr to Jun 13 (43 followers)

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In 1943, Georg Gartner of the Wehrmacht Afrika Korps was captured and sent to the US as a POW. He escaped from a prison camp in New Mexico towards the end of the war. This was because Gartner was from Poland, whose government was essentially a Soviet puppet government and he didn't want to end up in a Soviet labor camp. He then created a new identity, Dennis Whiles. and got married and led a quiet life. Meanwhile, his photograph made its way into post offices all over the nation as one of the FBI's most wanted.

He was never caught by the authorities, but eventually came forward 40 years later. This made him the last World War II German POW.

Because he was brought to the US against his will, Gartner was not considered an illegal immigrant and was living only on a residence permit. In 2009, the US government finally allowed Gartner to become a naturalized US citizen. Officially, the US government claims to have "lost the paperwork" for his naturalization documentation due to his unique circumstances.

In1990, Coca Cola tried a new promotion where you could win a prize by buying a coke can. To win the prize, you had to purchase a special can with a hidden prize inside. There was a device in the can that would push a certificate through the tab opening, which could then be sent to Coca Cola for the prize. Unfortunately, the device malfunctioned in most of the cans so people had no idea that they won. Because of this, they ended up drinking the chlorinated water stored inside the can which was used to make it feel like a regular can to buyers.

In 2007, Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond (and definitely the best presenter ) was stuck in massive traffic on the highway due to floods. He was determined not to miss his daughter's fourth birthday, though, so he left his beloved Porsche 911 in the traffic and ran 16 miles home so that he wouldn't miss her special day.

Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him.

Sham, the horse that finished second in the Kentucky Derby to Secretariat in 1973 holds the second fastest time record at the Derby (after Secretariat, of course). If he had competed in any other of the 137 Kentucky Derby races, he would have crushed the competition.