Wow!  That’s Amazing!

There are many amazing stories out there, regarding many different people, creatures and places in our world and in the history of the world.

Here are a few amazing stories that I’d like to share with you.

The first story is about a man named Suśhruta.  Suśhruta was an ancient Indian physician, known as the main author of the book “The Compendium of Suśhruta” from around 600 BCE.  The “Suśhruta-saṃhitā,” as it’s called, is one of the most important surviving ancient texts on medicine.  The book addresses all aspects of general medicine.  Suśhruta has been dubbed “the father of surgery” on account of the extraordinarily accurate and detailed accounts of surgery to be found in the work.  He has also been called “the first plastic surgeon”.

Over 2,600 years ago Suśhruta and his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract repair, artificial limbs, cesarean births, severe fracture repair, removing urinary stones, cosmetic surgery, and even brain surgeries!

It’s true!

Next we have a story about the largest, and quite possibly the oldest, living thing on our planet.

The tallest trees in the world are redwoods, or sequoias, which tower above the ground in northern California.  These trees can easily reach heights of 300 feet.

Among the redwoods, there is a tree named Hyperion which dwarfs them all.  The tree was discovered in 2006, and is 379.7 feet tall!  The fact that this tree wasn’t discovered until 2006 is amazing enough right there!

The exact locations of many of these giants is kept secret to prevent vandalism.  Only a few scientists know of Hyperion’s exact location.

A typical redwood lives for 500 to 700 years, although some have been documented at more than 2,000 years old.

It’s true!

Our next story is a story that many of us may feel we know all about already, but do we really?

On April 15, 1912, the legendary, ill-fated ship, the RMS Titanic sank.  It remains, to this day, the most famous disaster in maritime history.  There were approximately 2,223 passengers aboard the ship, of which 1,502 perished.

Besides humans, a dozen dogs were aboard the ship on its luckless maiden voyage…, and three managed to survive!

How were three dogs saved in lifeboats when there wasn’t enough room for all the human passengers?  The three dogs that survived the Titanic disaster were all extremely small.  The dogs were so small, it is probable that no one even noticed them when they were carried aboard the lifeboats.  Two of the dogs were Pomeranians, the third was a Pekinese.

One little Pomeranian was named “Lady” and was bought by Titanic passenger Miss Margaret Hayes in Paris. “Lady” shared a cabin with Miss Hayes and was wrapped in a blanket and carried onto a lifeboat by her when the order was given to evacuate.

The fabulously wealthy family the Rothschilds owned the other Pomeranian that survived.

The Pekinese was named “Sun Yat-Sen” and was brought on board by the Harper family (of the New York publishing firm Harpers & Row).

Although a few of canine passengers shared a cabin with their owners, a majority were kept in the ship’s kennel and were cared for by the Titanic’s crew members.

One particularly sad story involved a Great Dane owned by 50-year-old Elizabeth Isham.  Miss Isham visited her dog at the ship’s kennel daily.  When she was evacuating, she asked to take the dog with her.  When she was told the dog was too large, she refused to leave the ship without him and got out of her lifeboat.  Several days later, the body of an elderly woman clutching a large dog was spotted by the recovery ship Mackay Bennet, and dinghies were dispatched to round up the bodies of the woman and the animal.

It’s true!

Finally, with this story, we either have an extreme case of coincidence or an amazing case of clairvoyance.

Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out his opponent, Jimmy Doyle, in a 1947 welterweight championship fight.  Doyle never regained consciousness and died hours later.

As Doyle fought for life in the hospital, Robinson told reporters that he had a dream in which Doyle died as a result of their fight.

Robinson discussed the dream with a reporter as he sat outside of Doyle’s hospital room immediately after the incident.

As reported in the San Jose News on June 26, 1947:

Robinson, with a gauzy white patch over his right brow, looked up at the reported somewhat fearfully and said, “Jeez, this is awful.  For three days I’ve been afraid something like this would happen.” The champion rolled his eyes and added, “I’ve been afraid ever since I had that dream.”

Sugar Ray explained that last Saturday night he dreamed that he was in the ring defending his title against Jimmy Doyle.  In a heated exchange, he suddenly floored Doyle, and Doyle lay there on the canvas unable to rise.

“I woke up in a cold sweat, yellin’ for Jimmy to get up – get up – get up! My yellin’ woke me up, I guess.  And the sight of Jimmy lyin’ there on the canvas in the dream seemed so real that I had the jitters when I woke up.  And I couldn’t go back to sleep.  I just laid there, tossin’ around in bed, and I felt lousy the next day.  And in the back of my mind I felt scared every time I thought about the coming fight.”

Sugar Ray Robinson was scheduled to fight 22-year old Jimmy Doyle on June 25, 1947.  Some sources claim that the dream disturbed Robinson and he wanted to back out of the fight.  Fight promoters, who stood to lose money by Robinson’s decision, brought in a Catholic priest (some sources say a priest and minister) who sought to calm Robinson’s nerves by assuring him that it was only a dream.  Robinson decided to go ahead with the fight, and dropped Doyle with a devastating left hook in the 8th round, winning by TKO (the bell rang at the count of 9).  Doyle never regained consciousness and was carried from the ring by a stretcher. Robinson went to visit Doyle in the hospital and told reporters he hadn’t realized the extent of Doyle’s injuries the night before.  Doyle was operated on for a blood clot in his brain by noted brain specialist Dr. Spencer Braden.  He also suffered from respiratory paralysis. The boxer died of a cerebral hemorrhage 17 hours after being knocked out.

Robinson set up a $50 per month trust over 10 years (about $6,000) for Doyle’s parents.

It’s true!

NOTE:  If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog today, please scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Follow” button.  That’ll keep you up to date on my latest posts.  Thank you, MrEricksonRules.