In the glitz and glamour of the late 1980s Hollywood scene, sometimes the most extraordinary stories begin in the most unexpected ways. This is the tale of Norman Reus—a scruffy, unassuming young man whose life took an astonishing turn during one fateful evening in the Hollywood Hills. The Fateful Night It was an ordinary evening […]

It was a steamy late night in the summer of 1974 when Fred Smith found himself at a crossroads. Standing inside a bustling Las Vegas casino, a 30-year-old entrepreneur felt the weight of his future in the palm of his hand—both literally and figuratively. Fred had come to the city on a whim, desperate to

On the afternoon of July 29, 2016, a 23-year-old college student named Felix stood in the break room of the industrial manufacturing company where he worked in Northwestern Germany. He poured cereal into a bowl, took his carton of lactose-free milk from the communal fridge, and sat down at a table with two of his

A Normal Afternoon Turns Dark On July 27, 2019, at approximately 3:30 PM, 22-year-old college student Nicole logged into her gaming computer from her bedroom in North Carolina. She had spent the morning and early afternoon studying, but now it was time to relax and play her favorite game—Perfect World, an online multiplayer combat game

At 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, 13-year-old Barbara Kent was sleeping inside a cabin in Ruidoso, New Mexico. She was attending a summer dance camp when suddenly, a loud booming sound shook the entire cabin, jolting her awake and even causing her to fall out of bed onto the floor. Barbara, feeling confused, looked

A Journey to the Frozen Continent At around 1:00 p.m. on November 28, 1979, Peter Mulgrew, a 52-year-old tour guide, stood at the front of the cabin of Air New Zealand Flight TE901. As he gazed out the window, he saw a breathtaking expanse of white, reflecting the afternoon sun. Excited by the view, he

On the evening of December 29, 1986, California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Py was driving his cruiser down Interstate 15 in San Diego, California. With him were an NBC news reporter in the back seat and a cameraman in the passenger seat. They were filming a segment about highway travel safety, scheduled to air on

At 5:00 p.m. on May 12, 2005, an 18-year-old college student named Simon sat in his bedroom in the New York City apartment he shared with his sister, Sharon. Simon was supposed to be doing homework, but instead, he was engaged in something he truly loved—blogging. Simon wrote on his blog almost every single day,

On a late winter afternoon in 1985, a Canadian border security guard stood at the checkpoint between New York State and Ontario, Canada. As he looked out at the dozens of cars lined up before him, he felt an enormous sense of responsibility. For him, working in border security wasn’t just about checking passports—it was

On the evening of March 27, 2013, a 45-year-old doctor named Marcelo Gaga dug through a supply cabinet in the clinic he owned in southeastern Spain. He grabbed an IV needle, anesthetic drugs, and a scalpel before walking into the operating room at the back of the clinic, where his patient was already lying on