You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

In the late 1960s, NBC and CBS both passed on an opportunity offered by National Football League commissioner Pete Rozelle to broadcast live games on television in a program called Monday Night Football. Instead, ESPN closed the deal, and from 1970 to 2005 aired the weekly sports program on its sister broadcast network ABC before its 2006 debut on ESPN proper. Monday Night Football remains one of the longest-running, highest-rated TV shows of all time.

[Lee Stewart]

Movie star Burt Reynolds (1936–2018) declined the iconic role of James Bond (later played by Sean Connery) and Indiana Jones (portrayed by Harrison Ford). Reynolds revealed in a 2015 interview that he later "deeply regretted" his decisions.

[Lee Stewart]

Few people realize that digital photography was originally a Kodak innovation, and in fact the company held the patent for the technology as early as 1975. But Kodak, famed for introducing the Brownie camera in 1900, refused to invest in digital research and development. Their rivals, meanwhile, were busily inventing something called the smartphone. By the time Kodak tried to catch up in the early 2000s, it was too late. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2012.

[Lee Stewart]

Few will have heard of Edwin Drake (1819–1880), which is unfortunate given that he was one of the United States' pioneering oilmen. In 1858, he became the first American to successfully drill for oil. He could have made millions, but neglected to patent the drilling technology he'd invented. Furthermore, he squandered his savings on futile oil speculation and died impoverished.

[Lee Stewart]

When Trojan forces pulled in a huge wooden horse through the gates of their city, they understood it to be a parting gift from their Greek foes, fed up with fighting and seeking an honorable peace. But the Trojans bitterly regretted their decision after they learned that the hollow horse contained a Greek force who'd crept out after dark to open the gates and let in the rest of the Greek army. Troy was sacked, and the war ended.

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

We all know the iconic images of San Francisco's Lombard Street winding down the steep slope, but it's not even the steepest street in the city (that's Filbert Street). The current world's steepest street record holder is Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. The street lies at a gradient of 34.8% and rises from 90 feet (27m) above sea level at its bottom to 330 feet (100m) at the top.

[Lee Stewart]

A popular story says that Walt Disney ensured a secret suite was built for his family within the Cinderella Castle at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It's true that there is a Cinderella Castle Suite inside, however, Walt Disney had nothing to do with it as he died around four years before the construction was even started. In reality, the suite was created specifically for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebrations in 2007 in the unused space. Today, only those who've won competitions or have been invited to stay can spend the night within the castle walls.

[Lee Stewart]

C8 Corvette Z06 Not Coming Until 2023, GM Cites Pandemic Delays

https://www.motorious.com/articles/n...ette-z06-2023/

[Lee Stewart]

One of 3 known two-tone 1970 Challenger T/As