Random Astonishing Human Marvels Throughout History (14 items)

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  (#1) General Tom Thumb

  • Dec. at 45 (1838-1883)

  "General Tom Thumb" (né Charles Sherwood Stratton) was a little person who mysteriously stopped growing in height once he reached six months old. Stratton remained 25 inches tall throughout his early childhood, though he began to slowly grow again later in his life, reaching an eventual height of 39 inches.

  In 1842 at age 5, P.T. Barnum brought him into the circus. Stratton would sing, dance, tell jokes, and do celebrity impersonations. He became an international celebrity, who toured Europe and met Queen Victoria, President Abraham Lincoln, and the future King Edward VII.

  In 1863, Stratton married another little person, Lavinia Warren, thereafter known as "Mrs. Tom Thumb." He passed at the age of 45, and the cause of his unusually small size has never been determined.
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  (#2) Schlitzie, 'The Last Of The Aztecs'

  Schlitze “Schlitzie” Surtees is perhaps one of the most famous sideshow performer in history when he was immortalized in Tod Browning’s 1932 film classic, Freaks, and was the inspiration for the underground comic book, Zippy the Pinhead. 

  Schlitzie was born with microcephaly, a developmental disorder which causes the skull and brain to be undersized. The affliction left Schlitzie severely mentally disabled.  He could not  perform many basic tasks and was only capable of speaking short words or phrases. He was sometimes billed as female and dressed in loose-fitting women's dresses, in part to make it easier to care for him as he suffered incontinence and wore diapers.

  Schlitzie was cared for by other circus performers, but when his old friends passed, Schlitzie was committed to a Los Angeles hospital.  Hospital authorities eventually determined that the best care for Schlitzie would be to let him return to the sideshow - which he did for another decade, until his passing in 1971. 

  During his retirement, Schlitzie settled in an apartment near MacArthur Park Lake in downtown Los Angeles, where he could be seen feeding pigeons and ducks, and performing for people as they passed by.
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  (#3) Stephan Bibrowski, 'The Lion-Faced Man'

  Born in 1891 in modern-day Poland, Stephan Bibrowski was an ordinary boy except for one startling fact:  he suffered from hypertrichosis, a disorder that caused a thick coat of hair to grow all over his body and his face. His mother was convinced that the affliction was the result of her witnessing Stephan's father being mauled by a lion when she was pregnant - making the boy "cursed."

  Thinking that her son was somehow inhuman, Stephan's mother gave him away to a German entertainer. Renamed as Lionel the Lion-faced Man, Stephan became well-known for being a kind, gentle, and intelligent man who spoke five languages.  He spent a portion of his act simply talking to his audience. Stephan was so successful as a circus performer that he was able to retire in his 30s and returned to Europe.  Sadly, he passed of a heart attack at the age of 41.
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  (#4) Chang and Eng Bunker, The Original 'Siamese Twins'

  Chang and Eng Bunker are probably the most famous sideshow performers in history - they were the original "Siamese Twins".  The brothers were conjoined twins who were born in Siam (now called Thailand).  Doctors at the time did not know how to safely separate them, although the procedure would be fairly easy today.

  When they were young, a promoter convinced their parents to exhibit them on a world tour which brought them fame and fortune. However, when their contract was over, Chang and Eng went into business for themselves, purchasing a large plantation in North Carolina.  

  Determined to live as normal a life as they could, Chang and Eng married local women, themselves sisters, and fathered a total of 21 children. Their wives, however, did not get along, so the brothers moved into two separate houses, alternately spending a few days at each residence.

  Chang suffered a stroke in later years and began drinking heavily (which didn't effect the other brother, since they did not share the same circulatory system). One morning however, Eng awoke to find his brother dead. Two-and-a-half hours later, his brother passed as well. 
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  (#5) Joseph Merrick, 'The Elephant Man'

  Joseph Merrick's life not only inspired a Tony Award-winning play and Academy Award-nominated film, but changed the public's outlook on physical disabilities. 

  Merrick was born in Leicester.  His disability began in the first few years of his life, rendering him with huge facial and body deformations.  When he was 11, his mother passed from bronchopneumonia, and his father and new stepmother treated him cruelly.

  Unable to maintain any regular work, Merrick contacted a showman named Sam Torr and agreed to have himself displayed as "The Elephant Man."  While in London, he was visited by a surgeon named Frederick Treves, who took him in and became his benefactor. Treves visited him daily, and the pair developed quite a close friendship. Merrick also received visits from the wealthy ladies and gentlemen of London society, including Alexandra, Princess of Wales.

  Merrick passed on April 11, 1890, aged 27, when he attempted to sleep in a laying position and the weight of his head caused his neck to break. 
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  (#6) Francesco Lentini, The Three-Legged Man

  Born in Sicily in 1881, Francesco Lentini was born with an almost entirely complete third leg.

  Lentini’s condition was the result of a partially formed twin that didn't separate properly from his body.  Frank's parents brought him to America as a young child, but he quickly became depressed when he realized how different he was from other children.  

  However, after spending time at a school for disabled children, Frank had a change of heart after seeing blind and deaf kids whom he thought were much worse off than he.  Accepting himself and his unusual body was an emotional breakthrough for Frank and led to his career in the sideshow.  Frank became famous performing feats like kicking a soccer ball with his third leg or jumping rope. He eventually worked with all of the major circuses and became extremely well-respected within the sideshow community.
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  (#7) Isaac W. Sprague, 'The Human Skeleton'

  Isaac W. Sprague was a perfectly normal boy until the age of 12, when he began to suffer from a mysterious illness.  He lost weight at an incredible rate until finally, his muscle mass had virtually evaporated.  In his adult years, he weighed no more than 43 pounds. The condition left him unable to perform any normal jobs, so, to pay the bills, Isaac joined the circus.

  Sprague spent most of his career working with the iconic showman P.T. Barnum, touring with him and also performing at his museum.  Eventually Isaac's condition wore out his fragile body and he passed at the age of 46.  However, as a result of Sprague’s popularity, “living skeleton” acts became common at many sideshows.
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  (#8) Ella Harper, 'The Camel Girl'

  Ella Harper was born with an unusual orthopedic condition called congenital genu recurvatum - also known as "back knee deformity" - that allowed her to bend her knees completely backwards. She also preferred to walk on all fours. 

  In the 1880s, Ella was the star of a major sideshow billed as "The Camel Girl," and would appear on stage with alongside a real camel. But Ella herself was modest and not much interested in stardom.  She appears to have left show business around the turn of the century and never returned to the sideshow stage.  She married a school teacher shortly after her retirement and lived quietly with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee.  She passed of cancer in 1921.
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  (#9) Mirin Dajo, 'The Human Pincushion'

  Mirin Dajo became world-famous due to one remarkable ability: he could stick really sharp things through his body and not get hurt. Usually, this would be swords, but other pointy things like pencils and screw drivers were often employed in his act, as well. Dajo considered his act a sign of spiritual transcendence.

  No one really knows where he learned his unusual talent. Several doctors examined Dajo, even performing X-rays on him with a sword still sticking through his body - but no one could figure out how he did it.  (Modern researchers believe he may have created fistulas - small scar tunnels - through his body over many years of slowly inserting the swords into himself.)

  Dajo passed in 1948 after swallowing a steel needle and suffering an aortic rupture.  However, it is not clear if it was the needle that injured him, or if complications from the operation. 
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  (#10) James Morris, The Man With The Rubber Face

  James Morris was born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder that allowed him to stretch his skin to unbelievable lengths.  Morris took advantage of the malady to tour as the “India Rubber Man,” or the “Elastic Skin Wonder.”

  Morris's skin was so rubbery that he could take the skin around his neck and pulled it over his eyes. As a performer in P.T. Barnum's circus, Morris earned as much as $300 a week. 

  Unfortunately, the disorder was also extremely painful, and welts and scars often formed in the areas that Morris stretched.  After the turn of the century, Morris left show business and his whereabouts became unknown.  Perhaps he finally stretched things a little too far.
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  (#11) Grady Stiles, 'Lobster Boy'

  Grady Stiles was a sideshow performer who became famous for his deformed hands and feet. Stiles suffered from a condition known as ectrodactyly, which caused his digits to spread and fuse together. The genetic disorder had run through many generations of the Stiles family. Stile's father was a circus performer and he put Grady in his act at a young age. Two of Stile's four children also suffered from the condition.

  Stiles became famous, but he was a deeply embittered man. He became an alcoholic with a penchant towards aggression. In 1978, Stiles shot his daughter's fiancé on the eve of their wedding. He was sentenced to fifteen years probation.

  Stiles stopped drinking and during this period remarried his first wife, Mary Teresa (Teresa). However, he soon returned to his old ways and in 1992, Teresa and her son from a previous marriage, Harry Glenn Newman, Jr., hired another sideshow performer named Chris Wyant to eliminate Stiles for $1500.

  Wyant was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Harry Newman was given life in prison for his role as the mastermind and Teresa was given 12 years in prison for conspiracy.
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  (#12) Bill Durks, The Three-Eyed Man

  Bill Durks was not actually "three-eyed," but due to a birth defect that caused his face to not form properly, he had a large divot in the middle of his face. Durks would paint a fake eye in the divot to make it look like he had a "third eye."

  Rejected by his family and community, Durks became socially awkward and shy. In his early teens, Durks joined a sideshow and became a successful performer, although he was often taken advantage of since he could not read.

  Durks found joy in the fact that while once he was shunned by society, now people were pay for the right to see him. Durks eventually married another performer, Mildred the Alligator-Skinned woman, and together they were billed as the World’s Strangest Married Couple until Mildred's passing in 1968.
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  (#13) Annie Jones, 'The Bearded Lady'

  There were many "bearded ladies" billed in sideshows around the world, usually women who suffered from hirsutism or a hormonal condition that caused them to grow an excessive amount of hair on their faces, but perhaps the most celebrated was Annie Jones. Jones (real name Letty Lutz) had an unusually hairy face from her birth in 1865, and she began touring with P.T. Barnum's company at only nine months old. She continued to tour throughout her adult life, while also campaigning to discontinue the use of the word "freaks" for sideshow performers.
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  (#14) Prince Randian, 'The Living Torso'

  "Prince Randian" (who also went by a variety of other stage names, including The Snake Man, The Human Torso, and The Human Caterpillar) was born in British Guyana in 1871. He had no limbs due to tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare genetic condition that is usually fatal. According to legend, P.T. Barnum personally brought him to America.

  Prince Randian (his birth name is unknown) was notable for being able to perform everyday tasks capably despite not having any arms, legs, feet, or hands. and would move himself around the stage by wiggling his hips and shoulders. He could paint, write, shave, eat, and most famously, roll, light, and smoke a cigarette without help (he demonstrated this last ability in the film Freaks). He also spoke Hindi, English, French, and German.

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