The Interesting Facts And Stories Collection

Interesting Facts and Stories is a part of Rust In Peace where we go in search of factual stories and photos that are of great interest from days gone by. On this page you may see things that really are unbelievable or maybe you already have seen it before. This page, like the whole web site is growing as we go and I will always be on the look out for the unusual to add for your interest and entertainment. Kevin Houtwed

Robert Wadlow, he had a condition that caused him to grow, and grow he did. When he died at the age of 39 he was 8’ 11” tall. In the top picture he is standing beside one of Henry Ford's most beloved cars. Yes, it's a full size model A Ford sedan. 
You can almost ask yourself, could this be possible that a man could make a model A Ford look like a toy car? Well’ he did and like the picture above with the sedan Robert is standing by, he also makes those people look like they are not real. But when you are tall enough to hunt geese with a rake, that is easy to do.
Think how hard it is for people today to get comfortable when on an airplane let alone in a model A Ford like this one Robert is standing by. I am sure that in the 30's there would not have been a car made he could ride in with out his legs folded up over his ears. RIP

It is a known fact that This man Henry Ford was a billionaire by 1925. Think of how many people in 1925 that were alive on the planet had never even said the word billion. That is hard to take in when we think about our younger years when if you were ever going to be anything, you were going to be a millionaire. Now even with all his wealth and power in those early years it is said that Henry would be walking through one of his plants on maybe a tour with very high ranking officials of the time and if he came upon a man in the line that looked sick or was falling behind for any reason he would take his coat off and jump in giving that man a break while telling the group he was with, go on, I will catch up with you later. To me that is what defines a man like Henry Ford, not the fact that he could have purchased a big share of the United States before 1930. RIP

The man you see in this little car received the first speeding ticket that was ever written in the world in January of 1896 in Kent UK. His name was Walter Arnold and he was flying along 8 mph in an 2 mph zone. The policeman that caught him was on a bicycle. I guess someone had to be the first. RIP

Winning a coin flip does not always mean you won as with the proof of this famous plane wreck February 3rd 1959 in Clear Lake Iowa when Ritchie Valens flipped a coin with Tommy Allsup who was the guitarist for Buddy Holly for the last seat on a plane that Buddy chartered to get the band to Morehead Minnesota for a concert they were to play in the next night. At that time Waylon Jennings was also part of the Buddy Holly band and gave his seat to the Big Bopper who was very sick and did not want to ride the bus that Jennings and Allsup took since there was not enough room on that small plane for all of them. Obviously we all know what happened shortly after take off from Clear Lake as the plane went down in this farmers field killing Buddy Holly 22, Ritchie Valens 17, and the Big Bopper 28. One of the last things Buddy told Waylon as they were leaving, I hope your bus freezes up solid and Jennings replied to Buddy, I hope your plane crashes. Those were words that haunted Waylon Jennings for the rest of his life. I often wonder if a man like Tommy kept that coin forever that he used that night for the toss and how many times he sat and thought to himself how something that small as a coin toss changed so many lives forever. It has been said so many times that was the day music died, by people of that generation and if you watch any documentations on the Buddy Holly story I can understand how they would have felt that way. RIP

This 1925 model F Fordson was built special 5/8 scale for Henry Ford's grandchildren in 1925 by Henry to be used as a learning tool for farming. 
Henry had a hobby farm at Fair Lane that he wanted his grandchildren ( Edsel's son's ) to spend time at and learn the basics of farming, so he built this tractor and eventually built other implements to go with it like a thrashing machine and hay wagon.
It was built on a model T Ford frame and used a lot of the same components as the model T Ford. He had the rear fenders flared to the rear to keep it from flipping over backwards for the safety of the kids.
One very interesting thing he did that was different than any other Fordson ever manufactured is, Henry had Fordson's stamped on the radiator instead of the regular Fordson, since they were for Edsel's Son's.  Henry even had a cast iron seat made that fit the little kids like the big ones fit the old men. Could you imagine growing up in such a situation like this where your Grandfather went to these lengths to make sure you got some education in something he felt this strongly about? I can tell you where I grew up if the seat did not fit and you complained, it may fit a little more snug after you got your medicine from the old man. RIP