Random Astonishing Human Marvels Throughout History (14 items)

• 

  (#13) Annie Jones, 'The Bearded Lady'

  There were many "bearded ladies" billed in sideshows around the world, usually women who suffered from hirsutism or a hormonal condition that caused them to grow an excessive amount of hair on their faces, but perhaps the most celebrated was Annie Jones. Jones (real name Letty Lutz) had an unusually hairy face from her birth in 1865, and she began touring with P.T. Barnum's company at only nine months old. She continued to tour throughout her adult life, while also campaigning to discontinue the use of the word "freaks" for sideshow performers.
• 

  (#14) Prince Randian, 'The Living Torso'

  "Prince Randian" (who also went by a variety of other stage names, including The Snake Man, The Human Torso, and The Human Caterpillar) was born in British Guyana in 1871. He had no limbs due to tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare genetic condition that is usually fatal. According to legend, P.T. Barnum personally brought him to America.

  Prince Randian (his birth name is unknown) was notable for being able to perform everyday tasks capably despite not having any arms, legs, feet, or hands. and would move himself around the stage by wiggling his hips and shoulders. He could paint, write, shave, eat, and most famously, roll, light, and smoke a cigarette without help (he demonstrated this last ability in the film Freaks). He also spoke Hindi, English, French, and German.
• 

  (#9) Mirin Dajo, 'The Human Pincushion'

  Mirin Dajo became world-famous due to one remarkable ability: he could stick really sharp things through his body and not get hurt. Usually, this would be swords, but other pointy things like pencils and screw drivers were often employed in his act, as well. Dajo considered his act a sign of spiritual transcendence.

  No one really knows where he learned his unusual talent. Several doctors examined Dajo, even performing X-rays on him with a sword still sticking through his body - but no one could figure out how he did it.  (Modern researchers believe he may have created fistulas - small scar tunnels - through his body over many years of slowly inserting the swords into himself.)

  Dajo passed in 1948 after swallowing a steel needle and suffering an aortic rupture.  However, it is not clear if it was the needle that injured him, or if complications from the operation. 
• 

  (#11) Grady Stiles, 'Lobster Boy'

  Grady Stiles was a sideshow performer who became famous for his deformed hands and feet. Stiles suffered from a condition known as ectrodactyly, which caused his digits to spread and fuse together. The genetic disorder had run through many generations of the Stiles family. Stile's father was a circus performer and he put Grady in his act at a young age. Two of Stile's four children also suffered from the condition.

  Stiles became famous, but he was a deeply embittered man. He became an alcoholic with a penchant towards aggression. In 1978, Stiles shot his daughter's fiancé on the eve of their wedding. He was sentenced to fifteen years probation.

  Stiles stopped drinking and during this period remarried his first wife, Mary Teresa (Teresa). However, he soon returned to his old ways and in 1992, Teresa and her son from a previous marriage, Harry Glenn Newman, Jr., hired another sideshow performer named Chris Wyant to eliminate Stiles for $1500.

  Wyant was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Harry Newman was given life in prison for his role as the mastermind and Teresa was given 12 years in prison for conspiracy.
• 

  (#5) Joseph Merrick, 'The Elephant Man'

  Joseph Merrick's life not only inspired a Tony Award-winning play and Academy Award-nominated film, but changed the public's outlook on physical disabilities. 

  Merrick was born in Leicester.  His disability began in the first few years of his life, rendering him with huge facial and body deformations.  When he was 11, his mother passed from bronchopneumonia, and his father and new stepmother treated him cruelly.

  Unable to maintain any regular work, Merrick contacted a showman named Sam Torr and agreed to have himself displayed as "The Elephant Man."  While in London, he was visited by a surgeon named Frederick Treves, who took him in and became his benefactor. Treves visited him daily, and the pair developed quite a close friendship. Merrick also received visits from the wealthy ladies and gentlemen of London society, including Alexandra, Princess of Wales.

  Merrick passed on April 11, 1890, aged 27, when he attempted to sleep in a laying position and the weight of his head caused his neck to break. 
• 

  (#12) Bill Durks, The Three-Eyed Man

  Bill Durks was not actually "three-eyed," but due to a birth defect that caused his face to not form properly, he had a large divot in the middle of his face. Durks would paint a fake eye in the divot to make it look like he had a "third eye."

  Rejected by his family and community, Durks became socially awkward and shy. In his early teens, Durks joined a sideshow and became a successful performer, although he was often taken advantage of since he could not read.

  Durks found joy in the fact that while once he was shunned by society, now people were pay for the right to see him. Durks eventually married another performer, Mildred the Alligator-Skinned woman, and together they were billed as the World’s Strangest Married Couple until Mildred's passing in 1968.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking