Dolly Parton

Skydiver Bill Booth 's second rule states that "The safer skydiving gear becomes, the more chances skydivers will take, in order to keep the fatality rate constant."

Illustrative woodcut from the Latin edition of Columbus's letter printed in Basel in 1494.

Dolly Parton quietly donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University's COVID research — helping fund the Moderna vaccine — then turned down a Tennessee statue in her own honor because she felt she hadn't "earned that right yet."

Spec Ops: The Line

Halfway through a military shooter, the player learns the white phosphorus airstrike they just executed killed 47 civilians in a refugee camp — and the game made them do it. No other ending is available.

Tom Horn

Tom Horn, ex-Army scout and Pinkerton agent, hired out his rifle at $500 per corpse — then drunkenly confessed the details to a deputy. He was hanged in 1903 on his own words.

Risk compensation

After seatbelt laws passed, Sam Peltzman measured the data: drivers sped up and followed closer, killing roughly the same number of car occupants — but significantly more pedestrians and cyclists.

A Bunny's Tale

Gloria Steinem spent weeks corseted into a Playboy Bunny costume in 1963, documenting cash skimmed from tips, mandatory internal medical exams, and spinal injuries from the required posture. The magazine called it a publicity stunt.

Columbus's letter on the first voyage

Columbus wrote his letter aboard ship in February 1493, before landfall in Europe. It was translated, printed, and reprinted 17 times across the continent within a year — the first mass-media account of a new world.

CIH (computer virus)

CIH triggered on April 26 — Chernobyl's anniversary — flashing BIOS chips into permanent silence. Written by Taiwanese student Chen Ing-hau in 1998, it destroyed hardware, not just files.

Teresa Margolles

Teresa Margolles humidified a gallery with vapor from water used to wash unclaimed murder victims at a Mexico City morgue. Visitors breathed it. She has also sewn with thread soaked in corpse fluid.

Anwar al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico, was placed on a presidential kill list, denied due process in U.S. courts, and killed by CIA drone in Yemen in September 2011. His lawyers were told they needed a license to represent him.