Wreckage and Wonder: Intriguing Catastrophes and Collaborations

Brace yourself for a veritable smorgasbord of history and trivia. There’s absurdity galore, of course—those moments when history just refuses to behave. But it’s not all lighthearted and goofy. Between the delightful oddities, you’ll find tales that run the full spectrum of human experience: fascination, wonder, and, yes, more than a few heavy doses of sadness. Some stories wade into that melancholy territory, and while they might leave a lump in your throat, they don’t linger in misery. The twist? They often leave behind a strange, bittersweet joy, the kind that stirs your soul just enough to remind you how odd it is that tragedy and triumph are sometimes just two sides of the same coin. You might even find, as I did, that some of these stories made me laugh—and cry—without really knowing where the tears came from.
But that’s the beauty of these tales: they’re unpredictable. It’s the weirdness of life that gives them their power. The unanticipated “A-ha!” moments that turn simple anecdotes into something more—something raw and real. And, yes, you’ll certainly find moments of levity. When absurdity strikes, I’ll be less than serious, always looking for a laugh, even if that laugh comes at our own expense. Perhaps a dash of Groucho Marx, or the sharp, often scornful wit of Jon Stewart. Yet, for the moments of grief and loss, I’ve tried to offer a modicum of respect. The world isn’t always a place for jokes, and sometimes—just sometimes—the right tone demands a little solemnity. There are no easy answers in tragedy, no tidy little morals to be taken home, but we try to be human about it.
So, as you plow through these pages, we hope you’ll find yourself occasionally laughing out loud or shaking your head in disbelief, muttering, “I didn’t know that!” or, better yet, exclaiming, “That’s wild!” Life isn’t always about the happy ending—sometimes it’s just about the strangeness of it all. And whatever the emotional toll these stories take on you—whether it’s tears of joy, or tears of sorrow—don’t worry. You’re in good company. Just make sure to laugh at the bizarre. We could all use a little more of that.

CONTENTS:
Introduction
Part 1 – Weirdness Abounds
A Dancing Plague in France; Squanto; Passenger Pigeons; Antikythera Mechanism; Pea-Soupers of London; The Tunguska Event; R.U.R.; Phineas Gage; Nikola Tesla; Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic; The Convoy Craze; The Vampire of Sacramento; Daniel Tammet; Operation Paul Bunyan; The Würzburg Witch; the “Karen” phenomena; more.
Part 2 – Humans vs. Engineering
The Erfurt Latrine Disaster; The Vasa Ship Disaster; The Tally Fire of London; The Great Stink; The Great Balloon Disaster; The South Fork Dam Catastrophe; The Halifax Explosion; The Great Emu War; USS Akron; Tacoma Narrows Bridge; Therac-25; The NASA Shuttles; The Great Balloonfest Fiasco; The Kegworth Air Disaster; Titan Submersible; more.
Part 3 – Collaborations and Rivals
Murdoch & Trevithick; Carnegie v. Rockefeller; Charles Rolls & Henry Royce; Wright Brothers; Gustave Whitehead; Curtiss-Wright; Max Valier & Fritz von Opel; Laurel and Hardy; Vidal v. Buckley; Bill Murray and Chevy Chase; more
Part 4 – Myth and Mystery
Medusa; St Patrick; The Pied Piper; The Voynich Manuscript; The Fountain of Youth; Bigfoot/Sasquatch; The Loch Ness Monster; Mothman vs. Goatman; more
Part 5 – Business Blunders
Edsel; Corvair; Tucker; Betamax; Ford Pinto; New Coke; Blockbuster vs. Netflix; Theranos; more
Part 6 – War and/or Peace
Andersonville; Hawaii; The Christmas Truce; The Red Baron; The Giant Panjandrum; Bat Bombs; Pigeon-Guided Missiles; Surviving Atomic Explosions; A Monopoly Game Of Mass Escape; more
Bibliography
End Notes