Over 1 million people around the world finish running a marathon each year. That is close to 0.01% of the global population. So, that is 0.01% of people willingly sign themselves up to train and endure running a 26.2 mile long race. That’s some crazy sh*t right there! And about one-third of marathon runners are women. 34.82% to be exact. But, this wasn’t always the case. When Kathrine Switzer was running the Boston Marathon in 1967, women were not accepted in the world of running with open arms. 

Here’s the brave story of what happened when Kathrine ran the Boston Marathon in 1967.

Who Is Kathrine Switzer?

Kathrine Switzer was born on January 5, 1947, in Amberg, Germany. In 1949, her family moved to Virginia. She played a lot of sports and ran a mile every day. Finding empowerment and enjoyment from running, she began her track career at Lynchburg College. After transferring to Syracuse University, Kathrine began running longer distances to train with the men’s cross-country team. Kathrine’s aspirations didn’t stop there. She had dreams of running the Boston Marathon. At the time, no woman had officially completed the marathon race.

Leading the Way for Kathrine

The year prior, Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to run and finish the Boston Marathon. But, she wasn’t officially entered as a runner in the race due to being disqualified because she was a female. But that didn’t stop her from running the 26.2 miles. Bobbi hid in a bush near the marathon start line, wore a hoodie to cover her identity and raced alongside the other marathoners. She completed the race, but unfortunately, her time was not recorded down. 

This story didn’t deter Kathrine. She entered the race using her initials, “K.V. Switzer.” This kept her gender unknown on the entry form, and her bib was registered. After paying a $2 entry fee, K.V.Switzer was ready to race against over 600 runners!

K.V. Switzer Races The Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon took place on April 19,1967, in less than ideal weather conditions. It was cold, wet, and snowy. But, that didn’t dampen Kathrine’s excitement. As fellow, male runners were getting hyped at the start line, they were the least bit fazed by Kathrine’s presence. Quite the opposite – they were beyond supportive! 

The race began and everything was going smootly. However, a press truck pulled up a few miles into the race. The photographers realized Kathrine was a female and began shouting at her:

“What are you doing in the race? What are you trying to prove?”

As odd as the interaction was, Kathrine continued on. Next, a bus full of the race officials pulled up. The Boston Marathon’s co-director, Jock Semple, hopped onto the course. And no, he wasn’t looking to run the remaining miles. He raced toward Kathrine to stop her from running! He was grabbing at her bib, yelling:

“Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!”

Kathrine tried to get away from Jock’s grip as her coach yelled at the co-director that she was a trained athlete. Luckily, her American football-player boyfriend, Tom Miller, was running alongside her at the time. Miller shoulder-checked Jock, which blocked him from removing Kathrine’s numbers from her sweatshirt. Talk about a good defense line!

As rattled and distressed as Kathrine was about the back-to-back attacks, it didn’t show in her performance. She continued on and finished the marathon. Her finishing time was around 4 hours and 20 minutes. Thus, she became the first woman in history to officially receive a bib and complete the Boston Marathon.

What Did Kathrine Switzer Have to Say After the Marathon?

When recalling those attempts to stop her from racing, Kathrine admitted:

“I was so afraid. I’m so full of confidence now but at that moment, I had just turned 20. As a girl, I wasn’t trying to prove anything. I had proved to Arnie [her coach] that I could do the distance and the reward was to go to Boston.” 

She also recalled:

“Back then, there was no New York, Chicago or London Marathon. And outside the Olympics, for runners, Boston was the ‘big baby’ and a special thing. I wanted to be a part.”

Despite what the press or race officials believed, Kathrine wasn’t trying to make her entry in the marathon as a political statement. 

So that begs the question: Why did she put everything on the line to race then? It was a combination of her love and ability to race long-distance, mixed with already running 31 miles during training. But, ultimately, it was the desire to prove to her coach that she, along with other female runners, could run a marathon.

When Did The Boston Marathon Accept Female Runners?

In 1972, the Boston Marathon officially began accepting female runners. Kathrine ran the Boston Marathon again. This time, she completed it in 2 hours, 51 minutes, and 37 seconds, A personal best!

Kathrine went on to become an icon in the world of women’s running. She wrote a memoir titled “Marathon Woman,” along with other books. She also contributed to the Runner’s World magazine, providing commentary for the Olympics, and received many honors for her contributions.

Her love for running didn’t simmer as she continued to race, winning the 1974 New York Marathon and running in the Boston Marathon, 50 years after her initial race, at the age of 70!

The post Kathrine Switzer: Boston Marathon Legend first appeared on History In Memes.

When people first think of the Twin Towers, the first thing that comes to mind is the tragedy of 9/11. But before that infamous day, the Twin Towers were among the tallest buildings in the world. And at one point, the World Trade Center was even considered the world’s tallest TV station.

The North Tower, completed first in December 1970, stood at an impressive 1,368 feet. Meanwhile, its twin South Tower, completed in July 1971, stood at 1,362 feet.

Not long after being completed in 1971, the Word Trade Center was soon dwarfed by the Sears Tower in Chicago. Standing at an eye-watering 1,451 feet, the Sears Tower became even taller than the World Trade Center. 

But with a simple addition, the Word Trade Center was soon able to reclaim the title of “World’s Tallest Building.”

The North Tower: The Tallest TV Station in the World

Until its destruction on 9/11, the North Tower had the distinction of being the tallest building in the world at 1,728 feet. But how did the North Tower gain several hundred feet on its twin tower? The answer to that is simple: an antenna. 

Building the twin towers was very expensive. Along with the huge insurance policy that cost billions of dollars, the building’s upkeep, insurance, and rent were costly for its owners. To help offset the cost, they got the idea of turning the North Tower into the country’s largest television station.

In 1979, the owners decided to mount a television antenna on the North Tower. Often working in cranes and baskets almost two thousand feet above the streets of Manhattan, the crews were known as “cloud piercers.” This is because they were so high up they would often be standing far above the cloud covers. 

When completed, the tower provided television coverage for all of New York state. 

The Man Behind the Famous Photo of the World’s Tallest TV Station

Peter Kaplan was a famous photographer who was both a photographer and stuntman. Growing up in New York, Peter was fond of taking pictures from high places, even from a young age. But once he grew up, he took that love of photography to new heights – literally. 

After becoming famous for climbing the Statue of Liberty and snapping several, now world-renowned, photos, Peter Kaplan cemented his fame as both a photographer and daredevil. Clambering up places like the Empire State Building, St. Louis Arch, and Golden Gate Bridge, Peter made it his lifelong passion for showing the world what it looked like from its highest places. 

For the photo showing the antenna on the North Tower, Peter went up not once, not twice, but 12 separate times to get all the shots he needed. Talk about dedication!

Other Artists Who Have Scaled the World Trade Center

The “cloud piercers” and photographer Peter Kaplan weren’t the only ones to bravely make their way high up the World Trade Center.

August 7, 1974: High-wire walker Philippe Petit traversed a 131-foot-long cable between the Twin Towers and walked back and forth several time, 1,350 feet in the air. Even more impressive, he performed the act without a net.

July 22, 1975: Atop the North Tower, Owen Quinn performed the first ever (although unauthorized) parachute jump at the World Trade Center from the top of the North Tower. Follow Owen, four other people have parachuted off the Twin Towers between 1980 and 1999.

May 26, 1977: Toymaker and mountain climber George Willig scaled the entirety of the South Tower’s facade. The act was so impressive that he earned the nickname “the human fly.”

Looking Back at the World’s Tallest TV Station

The story behind the World Trade Center antenna photo is amazing. Not only was the guy that took it dangling almost 2,000 feet in the air, but he also had to do it a dozen times to get the shot he finally wanted. Not only that, but the photographer was well known for taking great shots of places most people would never dream of going. 

Because of how good his work was, Peter Kaplan’s photos have been preserved in places like the Smithsonian, New York Museum of Modern Art, as well as postage stamps in 13 different countries. 

The post The World’s Tallest TV Station first appeared on History In Memes.

If you’ve been on Twitter recently, you may have seen this nose. I mean, it is kind of hard to miss. Well, this nose belongs to none other than 18th century circus performer Thomas Wedders!

So, who is this guy? And why is his nose so big? Here’s a bit about the man behind the infamous nose! (And scroll to the end for our favorite reactions from Twitter!)

Whose Nose Is This?

Thomas Wedders, born Thomas Wadhouse, was an 18th century circus performer with one eye-catching act – his 7.5 inch (19 cm) long nose! To give context of length, the average size of a nose is 2 to 2.2 inches long. He lived in England during the 1770s before becoming a traveling member of a circus. He joined the ranks of other circus acts with physical conditions that labeled them as “freaks” like the Bearded Lady, the Lobster Boy, and more (Don’t worry, Hugh Jackman didn’t get a hold of him.)

Wedders was born in Yorkshire, England in 1730. And it was said that he would travel around Yorkshire to show off his nose to on-lookers. Other than that, not much is known about Thomas and his life besides his unusually sized nose. It became his personal trademark. But it is believed that he died around 1780 in Yorkshire in early 50s.

Why Was Thomas Wedders‘ Nose So Big?

The origins of his nasal deformity are still unknown. Some believe it’s a hypertrophy, genetic misalignment or a tumor growth. With recent internet buzz around his nose, the theories of his extremely elongated nose get crazier and crazier.

How Did People React to Thomas Wedders and His Nose?

There was a documented first-hand account of seeing Thomas. The two authors behind the 1896 book Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine witnessed Thomas showing off his nose around Yorkshire and published their observation in The Strand Magazine:

“Thus, if noses were ever uniformly exact in representing the importance of the individual, this worthy ought to have amassed all the money in Threadneedle Street and conquered all Europe, for this prodigious nose of his was a compound of the acquisitive with the martial. But either his chin was too weak or his brow too low, or Nature had so exhausted herself in the task of giving this prodigy a nose as to altogether forget to endow him with brains; or perhaps, the nose crowded out this latter commodity. At all events, we are told this Yorkshireman expired, nose and all, as he had lived, in a condition of mind best described as the most abject idiocy.”

Yikes, nothing worse than bad press. And obviously since there were no pictures at the time that Thomas was alive, we can only judge his nose based on people’s recollections and drawings. So it’s up to you to decide whether his nose was actually over 7 inches long or was it just an exaggeration during this time period.

The Record-Breaking Nose

But while he probably suffered socially, he did reap rewards in another aspect. Wedders’ nose helped him break world records. He received the title of  “World’s Longest Nose” from the Guinness World Records. He was featured in a May 2019 Ripley’s Believe or Not! cartoon and even has his own wax figure on display in Ripley’s Believe or Not Museum.

Here’s some of our favorite responses from Twitter! 

The post Thomas Wedders: “World’s Longest Nose” first appeared on History In Memes.

Nobody likes jumping off the high diving board at a pool. It’s daunting, scary high, you usually belly flop, and your stomach gets red – it’s just a scary mess.

But that wasn’t the case for Rick Winters. 

During the 1983 World Record High Dive Challenge, hosted at the San Diego SeaWorld, Rick set the world record as the first person to attempt to successfully dive from the height of 172 feet (52 m). The height of 172 feet was an increase from the year prior’s world record. The 1982 high dive challenge height was 170 feet, which five divers attempted.

Even crazier – Rick Winters wasn’t the only preson to break this high dive world record that day! That’s right, Rick Winters was one of SIX divers that day! 

So, let’s dive in and check out these 6 daredevil record breakers!

First up, Rick Winters:

Following Rick Wniters was Rick Charls.

Looks like it was a big day for people named Rick!

Following the Ricks, two more divers attempted the record breaking dive.

The divers, Bruce Boccia and Mike Foley, both successfully completed the dive that day. 

Dana Kunze, who was 22 years old at the time, followed with the most impressive dive of the day.

Dana was already world champion high dive. He used his skills to his advantage to complete this insane and incredibly difficult dive in terms of execution. 

After Dana’s dive, things took a turn when Pat Picard attempted the final dive of the event.

Unfortunately, it did not go well. It’s hard to watch, but you can see for yourself here around the 26 minute mark:

Want to watch more cool history videos? Check them out here on our website!

The post Would You Dive From 172 Feet? This Guy Did! first appeared on History In Memes.