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TIL about Washington Harrison Donaldson, the real-life inspiration for
the titular Wizard of Oz. He was a circus magician, gymnast, and
ventriloquist who disappeared in a hot air balloon never to be seen
again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Harrison_Donaldson
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|u/sharbinbarbin - 9 hours
|
|*”I’m just gonna take the balloon to grab a pack of smokes, I’ll be
|right back”*


|u/SmokeyBare - 9 hours
|
|> “The balloon did not collapse, but closed up at the sides, and,
|swaying from side to side, descended with frightful velocity. I clung
|with all my strength to the hoop. I could not tell how badly I was
|frightened, but felt as though all my hair had been torn out. I scarcely
|had time to realize that I was alive, when, with a crash, I was
|projected with the velocity of a catapult into a burr chestnut tree. The
|netting and rigging, catching in the tree, checked my velocity, but I
|had my grasp jerked loose, and was precipitated through the limbs and
|landed flat upon my back, with my tights nearly torn off, and my legs,
|arms, and body lacerated and bleeding.”      Today, people would just
|say, "Things got fucked, and I ate shit."


  |u/Spideryote - 1 hour
  |
  |It fascinates me how language has changed from long form, well thought
  |out, and insightful descriptions of the human experience; to
  |condensing as much info into a single sentence as possible while still
  |getting the gist of it out  I wonder if this is a reflection of our
  |own lives growing ever more rushed, condensed, and exhausted as a
  |whole; or if this is just some coincidental evolution that happens
  |with every new generation


  |u/Syrianus_hohenheim - 54 minutes
  |
  |This guy sounds like HG Wells


|u/alwaysfatigued8787 - 9 hours
|
|If only he could have used his talents to not die in that hot air
|balloon accident.


  |u/FayeDoubt - 5 hours
  |
  |He wasn’t a real wizard dude


    |u/thomasonbush - 3 hours
    |
    |I think you mean that we can’t confirm whether or not he was a real
    |wizard.


|u/Mammoth-Marketing - 9 hours
|
|Probably influenced Moody's Point as well.


  |u/mvillanueva88 - 5 hours
  |
  |lol yes


|u/otter111a - 8 hours
|
|This is the grave of the guy in the balloon with him.
|https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41684528/newton-sanger-grimwood
|Interestingly, the news article gives a home address for him. It looks
|like this is now a parking lot a block from Willis tower


|u/BeerThot - 9 hours
|
|Too much coffee