15 True Stories That Sound Completely Made Up

15 true stories that sound completely made up — but every one of them really happened. Chicago once raised entire buildings several feet into the air while businesses stayed open. An elephant crashed out of a suspended railway carriage and fell into the river below. Two broke prospectors convinced some of the richest men in America that they had discovered an enormous diamond field. And those are only the beginning. In this two-hour collection, you’ll hear 15 documented stories about extraordinary people, bizarre inventions, impossible engineering, spectacular scams, strange accidents and moments in history when reality became harder to believe than fiction. A village built its own artificial sun. A teenager used a kite to help begin a bridge across Niagara. An Icelandic town fought a lava flow with seawater. A man secretly corrected a freeway sign himself. One traveller bought an unlimited first-class airline pass. Sweden changed the side of the road in a single morning. A sixty-one-year-old farmer entered a 544-mile race against professional runners. And more than 100,000 ordinary people helped finish the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:14 The Men Who Lifted Chicago 08:53 The Elephant That Jumped Off a Train 16:51 The Great Diamond Hoax 25:50 The Man Who Invented a Country 33:52 The Actors Who Sold the Shopping Cart 41:40 The Village That Built Its Own Sun 49:16 The Kite That Built a Bridge 56:57 The Town That Fought a Volcano With the Sea 1:04:29 The Man Who Fixed a Freeway Sign 1:12:03 The Magician Sent to Stop a Rebellion 1:19:41 The Man Who Bought Unlimited Flights 1:27:20 The Day Sweden Switched Sides of the Road 1:34:26 The Dirty Hands That Invented Sweetener 1:41:56 The Race Won by a Mistake 1:51:35 The Newspaper That Paid for the Statue of Liberty 1:58:24 Final Recap Every story has real names, dates and places behind it. Whenever the famous version is disputed, exaggerated or simply too perfect to trust, I’ll tell you. This is TRUE, SOMEHOW — real stories that sound made up. Subscribe for more long-form collections of unbelievable true stories, strange history and incredible real events. Which story was the hardest to believe? Tell me in the comments. #TrueStories #StrangeHistory #Documentary