10 Outrageous True Stories You Won’t Believe Actually Happened

Many bizarre true stories and unbelievable facts from history will either make you burst out laughing or cringe beyond belief. Thanks to the internet’s viral sharing power, these strange events have become some of the most talked-about moments in modern history.

Luckily, you’ve stumbled upon this article, where we dive deep into some of the weirdest, funniest, and most shocking real-life stories ever recorded. Prepare to laugh, gasp, and squirm as we explore 10 unbelievable true stories that sound completely fake—but actually happened.

1. Russia’s $20 Decillion Fine Against Google: The Largest Fine Ever Issued?

There are many outrageous moments in this world where you’re left wondering what was going on in people’s minds when they made an action. However, some events are beyond crazy and reach the point where we all have to ask—What are they smoking?

One such moment was when Russia, on October 29, 2024, fined the American tech giant Google 20 decillion dollars. That's right, Google received a 20-decillion fine for allegedly removing Russian YouTube channels from its website. 

When asked about how Google, a company worth only 2 trillion at the time, was supposed to pay the fine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated,

Although it is a specific amount, I cannot even say this number, it is rather filled with symbolism. The company should not restrict our broadcasters on their platform; this should be a reason for the Google leadership to pay attention to this and improve the situation.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, in response to the fine, stated,

We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect.

Read more about the story on NBC News.

What’s funny about the entire case is that even if Google sold the Earth, worth around five quadrillion, a million billion times, it wouldn’t still be able to pay 20 decillion.

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If we break down the Sun’s hypothetical raw material value, we'd see how Russia's weird fine against Google feels even more bizarre. The Sun has a mass of 1.989 × 10³⁰ kilograms, with roughly 74% hydrogen and 24% helium. If we price hydrogen at $5 per kilogram and helium at $30 per kilogram, here’s what we get: Hydrogen: 74% of 1.989 × 10³⁰ kg → 1.47 × 10³⁰ kg × $5 = $7.35 × 10³⁰ and Helium: 24% of 1.989 × 10³⁰ kg → 4.77 × 10²⁹ kg × $30 = $1.43 × 10³¹. This brings the total raw material value down to $7.35 × 10³⁰ + $1.43 × 10³¹ = $2.17 × 10³¹. So, in simple terms, the Sun’s raw materials would be worth about $21.7 nonillion dollars if you could somehow mine and sell them. Russia's fine is larger than this, so even if Google bought the Sun and sold all its raw materials, they'd still owe Russia.

2. Nigerian Student Faces 14-Year Sentence Over $22 Fraud: Is This the World’s Harshest Prison Sentence?

There are many insane prison sentences and unfair legal cases that leave people immensely shocked due to how bizarre everything turned out.

However, some cases are so absurd that they leave people wondering if the judge had a personal vendetta against the criminal and was out to get them for wrongdoing. One such case was the sentencing of Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, an undergraduate student at a Nigerian university.

On September 17, 2024, Henry committed a fraudulent act where he scammed a woman of 22 dollars. After his arrest, he appeared before a federal high court, where he pleaded guilty to his crime. 

However, what followed next would leave millions of people stunned. The judge found Henry guilty on seven charges and sentenced him to 2 years for each count, totaling 14 years. That’s right, 14 solid years. He was asked to pay 1.4 million Naira, or 852 dollars at the time. Imagine being sentenced to 14 years for 22 dollars? If that doesn’t have you gasping, what else will?

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Another Nigerian, Taofeek Adeniyi Oyedele, who was arrested and charged with committing internet fraud totaling 6 million dollars, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the United States. That means he'll serve his jail term and be free for 4 years before Henry, who stole 22 dollars.

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3. Meet the Man Who Ate an Entire Airplane (Seriously!)

Believe it or not, this story is 100% true. Michel Lotito, a Frenchman, became world-famous for holding one of the weirdest eating records in history. Known for his bizarre eating habits, he developed an unusual appetite for non-edible objects at just nine years old. By the time he was 16, Michel was publicly consuming strange materials, like glass, metal, and rubber, leaving crowds stunned.

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Pica is a mental disorder where people develop a craving for inedible things. Though doctors are uncertain about what causes the condition, it's more prevalent in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, and autism.

Read more about Pica at Nemours Kids Health. 

Michel eventually gained the nickname Monsieur Mangetout, meaning Mr. Eat-All. However, he performed his best act by eating an entire airplane. That’s right, Michel allegedly consumed a 4-seater Cessna. He died in 2006 from natural causes.

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Michel holds the Guinness World Record for the strangest diet. The list of his confirmed consumed objects includes a coffin, seven TVs, 18 bicycles, 15 supermarket trolleys, six chandeliers, a pair of skis, a low-calorie Cessna light aircraft, a computer, and two beds. Also, Michel stated that edible foods like eggs and bananas made him sick.

Read more about Michel's feats at the Economic Times.

4. The Woman Who Fell 33,000 Feet—and Survived!

Many people have been lucky throughout history. Some have survived deadly accidents, and others have won massive lotteries. However, there is one woman who took luck to a bizarre level.

Vesna Vulović was a Serbian woman working as a flight attendant. On January 26, 1972, she boarded JAT Flight 367, which was heading to the Socialist Federalist Republic of Yugoslavia from Stockholm, Sweden. While at cruising altitude, something shocking happened—an explosion! This resulted in the airplane being blown apart and the immense pressure from outside sucking Vesna out of the plane cruising at 33,330 feet (10,160 meters).

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Vesna Vulović was not supposed to be on the JAT Flight 367. She was put on the plane due to an error involving another flight attendant, also called Vesna.

Read a detailed account of Vesna's flight on the Mirror. 

Vesna fell without any parachute and landed in a village where a man named Bruno Honke found her. Though she suffered from a broken pelvis, fractured skull, broken ribs and legs, and three broken vertebrae, Vesna made a stunning recovery with only a limp.

In an interview about the incident, she noted something was off, as the crew seemed to know something was amiss.

She stated,

Everybody wanted to buy something for his or her family, so I had to go shopping with them. They seemed to know that they would die. They didn't talk about it, but I saw ... I felt for them. And the captain was locked in his room for 24 hours. He didn't want to go out at all. In the morning, during breakfast, the co-pilot was talking about his son and daughter as if nobody else had a son or daughter.

Vesna left her flight attendant job and was given a desk job at JAT. However, she lost her job after partaking in an anti-government protest, but the authorities never imprisoned her for fear of negative publicity. She died in 2016 at age 66. Wow, right?

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Vesna Vulović's plane exploded due to a bomb placed in the baggage compartment. Earlier reports of the incident attributed the explosion to the Czechoslovak Air Force shooting down the plane. However, this was dispelled. Vesna's survival was attributed to her position. She was in the tail sectio,n which landed in a favorable area with trees and snow, severely reducing the impact of her fall.

 

Vesna Vulovic in A Visit To Czechoslovakia

5. April 11, 1954: The Most Boring Day in Human History?

Have you ever felt like nothing interesting happened in your life? Well, you’re not alone. According to some sources, there’s even a day officially labeled as the most boring day in history.

A semantic search engine called Evi analyzed historical data and declared April 11, 1954, as the least eventful day ever recorded, claiming nothing noteworthy happened on that date. However, critics pointed out that the search only covered certain regions, meaning other events around the world were likely overlooked. Still, it’s fascinating to think that one day could be labeled the dullest in recorded history!

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Like the most boring day, it's almost impossible to pinpoint one day in history that's the most eventful. However, the top contenders for such a day are June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day—a turning point in World War II and September 11, 2001, also 9/11, a day that altered the world's security philosophy.

 

6. The Courtroom Attack Caught on Camera: Man Tackles Judge After Sentencing

Judges come across many criminals charged with varying degrees of crimes, from those arrested for minor offenses to others in for terrible crimes. However, a judge encounters a person so strange that a bizarre moment occurs. That was the case of Deobra Redden.

Redden, 30, was arrested for attempted battery with substantial bodily harm and brought before Judge Mary Kay Holthus. He pleaded, while awaiting sentencing, to face probation instead of prison. However, she denied his plea and said,

“But I think it’s time that he gets a taste of something else because – I just can’t, with that history.” 

Upon learning he faced jail, Redden made a move that catapulted him to the wrong kind of fame. He suddenly ran and dived at the judge, taking her to the ground with him. Though the authorities leaped into action, it was all over in a split second, and the judge had sustained minor injuries. 

Redden's act gained notoriety as it blew up on social media and became a meme. He later appeared before another judge but was in shackles, with his face and hands covered.

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Deobra Redden was initially sentenced to 19 months to four years in prison for his attempted battery case. However, his shocking and impulsive courtroom attack on the judge changed everything. After lunging at the judge during his sentencing hearing, Redden faced serious consequences. His actions resulted in an additional sentence ranging from 26 to 65 years in prison, drastically increasing his time behind bars and turning his case into one of the most extreme courtroom outbursts in recent history.

7. Zoom Court Fail: Man Takes Court Hearing While Driving

Some people are dumb, but sometimes someone makes a mistake so bizarre it leaves everyone facepalming in absolute laughter. That was the case of Corey Harris.

Corey, a Michigan man, attended a Zoom call for a case involving his driver’s license. When the judge, Cedric Simpson, joined the meeting, he was shocked to see Corey taking the call while driving in a car. 

Judge Cedric asked Corey if he was driving, and immediately, he realized what was wrong and exclaimed: “Oh my god!” Corey became an instant internet meme as everyone bawled at the situation.

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Following his viral stint, it was revealed that Harris was supposed to have had his license reinstated in 2022, but a clerical error led to it remaining suspended. However, in another twist, Judge Simons, who presided over the case, revealed Harris did not have a license in the first place. The judge said, “Based upon what the court has looked at, he has never had a Michigan license. Ever, and he has never had a license in the other 49 states and commonwealths that form up this great union. He has never had a license."

Read more about the case in the New York Post.

8. Klaus Schmidt: The Deaf Bank Robber Who Couldn’t Hear the Alarm

In 1995, an unusual heist occurred that left many people shocked. A man named Klaus Schmidt walked into a bank with a gun and demanded money. That sounds like any other heist, you might say, but things got weird during the robbery when the bank’s employees realized something was very wrong.

When the employees asked if Klaus wanted a bag to keep the money inside, he answered: “You’re damn right, it’s a real gun;” this made the staff realize Klaus Schmidt was deaf. That’s right, he planned to rob a bank without the ability to hear. The employees sounded the alarm, and the police were alerted to the scene, leading to Klaus’s arrest.

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Some versions of this story claim that Klaus Schmidt, after his failed heist, tried to sue the bank for discrimination because they used a silent alarm, which he couldn’t hear. However, there’s no official record to back up this part, and it’s likely just an extra sprinkle of internet legend. Either way, Klaus earned a permanent spot on the list of the world’s dumbest criminals.

 

9. Four Thieves Stuff a Cow Into a Tiny Car: The Internet’s Funniest Heist?

Some criminals are dumb, while others pull off schemes so absurd they become internet legends. One of the funniest heists caught on camera happened on February 7, 2018, when a CCTV video captured four thieves attempting something completely bizarre.

In the viral footage, the group of thieves somehow managed to stuff a large cow into the back of a tiny hatchback car, a feat of determination and questionable logic. Amazingly, they succeeded and sped away with the animal squeezed inside the hatchback. The video quickly went viral, leaving viewers around the world stunned by both the absurdity and the strange resilience of the culprits. This unforgettable crime remains one of the weirdest animal thefts ever caught on film.

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Cattle theft, also known as cattle rustling, is a serious and widespread crime affecting countries across the globe. The term refers to the organized, large-scale stealing of cattle, often involving sophisticated criminal syndicates. In South Africa alone, over 70,000 cattle are reported stolen each year, resulting in losses worth hundreds of millions of rand for farmers and the economy. The hardest-hit regions include the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West, Free State, and KwaZulu‑Natal provinces, where livestock theft has become a major threat to rural livelihoods. Neighboring countries such as Lesotho and Namibia also face rampant cattle theft, with cross-border smuggling and organized rustling syndicates worsening the problem throughout Southern Africa.

Learn more about cattle rustling on Research Gate.

10. Clown Pants, Wigs, and Bank Robbery: The Bizarre Case of Dennis Hawkins

We all watch movies where geniuses with 200-plus IQs create elaborate plans to rob banks without anyone realizing. Sorry to break it to you, but it's all a lie. Real bank robbers are, most of the time, beyond dumb. 

An example was Dennis Hawkins, a man who tried robbing a bank at gunpoint. Everything about Dennis’s robbery was bizarre and wild. First, he entered the bank wearing a blond wig, clown pants, and fake breasts. And as if that wasn’t enough, he had earlier shoplifted a BB gun from a local store to use as his weapon.  After robbing and leaving the bank, Dennis tried to make a glorious getaway, but an exploding dye pack in the money notes went off, covering him in bright red dye.

Though drenched in red dye, he still didn’t want to give up and tried stealing a car to escape. Someone eventually called the authorities, and he was arrested.

Conclusion

From plane crash survivors and bizarre criminals to strange court fails and viral heists, these unbelievable true stories prove that reality can be far weirder and funnier than fiction.

From a man eating an airplane, a courtroom dive that changed a man’s life forever, or an attempted bank heist that hilariously went wrong, these events have captivated millions worldwide, making us laugh, cringe, and gasp in disbelief.

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