Slated to be the third largest bridge in the world, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was plagued with issues before ground was even broken. Scale models showed it was unstable even in moderate winds. Nevertheless, construction started and the bridge was completed as planned. The bridge deck would shift up and down a staggering 10 feet with only a slight breeze. Construction workers needed to chew on lemon slices to attempt to avoid motion sickness while working.

In an era of off-the-wall inventions, Franz Reichelt was determined to cement his place in history with his suit-parachute. Reichelt has his place in history; but not for the reason he hoped. The Austrian tailor believed that he could craft a suit that would double as a parachute, and what better place to test it but the highest structure of the time: the Eiffel Tower. Fortunately, the event was captured on film in 1912 allowing us to shake our heads almost a century later.

On a warm January day in Boston, a giant brown wave raced through the streets destroying everything in its path. A 2,300,000-gallon gallon tank of molasses at the Purity Distilling Company's facility had unexpectedly burst killing 21 people and injuring 150 more. The tank exploded with such force that the rivets holding the panels shot out like machine gunfire and buildings were flattened. To this day residents of the community still claim to be able to smell molasses on warm days.

Centralia, a small borough in Pennsylvania was once a prosperous mining community. It wasn't until an innocent plan to clean up a landfill resulted in the town becoming synonymous with American ghost towns. The practice of reducing the amount of garbage in the local landfill by means of controlled fire was nothing new. The city council hired a group of volunteer firefighters to manage the burn every year, and had no prior problems.