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Arthur J. Williams Jr.

Arthur J. Williams Jr. is a Chicago counterfeiter turned artist who learned the trade as a teenager from a printer nicknamed “Da Vinci.” When the US Treasury introduced a redesigned $100 bill in 1996, Williams reverse-engineered its security features using hand-drawn watermarks, automotive paint for the colour-shifting ink and thin paper obtained from the ends of newsprint rolls. His bills passed through banks and casinos, and he is estimated to have printed around $10 million over a decade

Auto polo

Auto polo was an early 20th-century sport that replaced horses with stripped-down Model Ts. Each car carried a driver and a malletman, who leaned from the side to strike a ball while the vehicles swerved, collided and frequently overturned. Popularized in 1911 by Ford dealer Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson as a sales stunt, it became an attraction at fairs across America and Europe. It was invented to demonstrate the Model T’s durability; the resulting repair bills eventually helped end it.

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly was an American stunt performer who turned flagpole sitting into a national craze during the 1920s. Beginning with a 13-hour publicity stunt, he toured 28 cities, eating, shaving and sleeping on tiny platforms while crowds paid to watch from nearby rooftops. In 1930, he spent 49 days and one hour atop a 225-foot flagpole above Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Kelly called himself “the luckiest fool in the world.” For a few years, America made him famous for going nowhere at exceptional height.

Archduke Ludwig Salvator

Archduke Ludwig Salvator was a Habsburg prince who preferred a steam yacht to court life. He sailed the Mediterranean aboard the Nixe with scholars, sailors, dogs, cats, birds and monkeys, documenting entire islands in lavishly illustrated volumes. On Mallorca, he purchased a 16-kilometre stretch of coastline, protected it from development and filled it with paths and viewpoints. His former Mallorcan home, S’Estaca, is now owned by Michael Douglas.

Asphalt volcanoes

Asphalt volcanoes form where oil rises through faults in the Earth’s crust and escapes onto the ocean floor. As its lighter components disperse, the thick petroleum left behind spreads and hardens into folds and domes resembling lava. Unknown to science until 2003, examples in the Gulf of Mexico lie around 3,000 metres underwater; others off California are larger than a football field. They are oil deposits that have built their own mountains.

Ato Boldon

Ato Boldon is a Trinidadian sprinter who won four Olympic medals without ever winning gold. At the 2000 Sydney Games, he took silver in the 100 metres and bronze in the 200 while wearing Oakley Over the Top sunglasses: mirrored lenses held in place by two aluminium-coloured bands arching across his shaved head. The design looked more like protective machinery than eyewear and became one of the most recognizable pieces of equipment in Olympic history.

Antarctic Snow Cruiser

The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a 17-metre vehicle built in 1939 to cross Antarctica while carrying living quarters, a laboratory and a small aircraft on its roof. Its four enormous tyres were smooth to prevent snow from clinging to them, but had almost no traction. It moved slightly better in reverse before becoming a stationary shelter. Last seen buried in snow in 1958, its present location remains unknown.

Acoustic Kitty

Acoustic Kitty was a 1960s CIA project intended to turn an ordinary cat into a mobile listening device. Technicians equipped the animal with a microphone, transmitter and an antenna concealed in its fur, hoping it could approach conversations between Soviet agents without attracting attention. The electronics worked; directing a cat through real streets did not. The project was abandoned in 1967 as operationally impractical.

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a partially recognized state on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Currently, nature is reclaiming thousands of ruined buildings across the region, from the concrete skeletons of nondescript townhouses to the solemn grandeur of Tsarist-era sanatoriums and hotels.

Amber Room

The Amber Room is a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. The room was looted by the Nazis during World War II and recreated in 2003. The original room is estimated to be worth 500 million dollars. It has yet to be featured on MTV Cribs.

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