Alan Magee was an American airman who amazingly survived a 22,000-ft (6,700-m) fall from his damaged B-17 bomber during World War II. In 1943, Magee was on a daylight bombing run over France when German fighters shot off a section of his plane’s right wing, causing the aircraft to enter a deadly spin. His parachute had been damaged and rendered useless, yet the wounded airman had no choice but to leap from the plane. He fell over four miles before what broke his fall? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Two weeks after their 1944 escape from Auschwitz, Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler met with Jewish officials in Slovakia and gave them a detailed report on the Nazi concentration camp as well as sketches of its layout, gas chambers, and crematoria. Although the report’s release to the public was controversially delayed, it was the first detailed report on Auschwitz that the Allies found credible and is credited with having saved many lives. Why did Vrba claim the report was deliberately withheld? 
Philippe Petit is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his illegal 1974 walk between the former Twin Towers in New York. After six years of planning, Petit used a 450-pound (204-kg) cable and a 26-foot (8-m), 55-pound (25-kg) balancing pole to make eight crossings between the still unfinished towers—walking, jumping, and lying down on the wire for more than an hour before being arrested when he returned to the tower roof. What punishment did Petit receive for his stunt? 
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called “changes.” Differing from many other forms of bell ringing in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody, change ringing is performed by groups the world over. However, it remains most popular in the setting where its modern form developed during the 17th century: English church towers. Why was church bell ringing prohibited during World War II? 
Modern antipopes are religious leaders who reject the popes selected by the Roman Catholic Church and instead claim the title for themselves, sometimes developing their own religious infrastructure. The Roman Catholic Church regards these claimants as schismatics and heretics. Unlike historical antipopes, most modern antipopes have few followers and are usually not recognized as serious claimants to the papacy. Who are some of the modern antipopes? 
The idea that reality could be simulated to a such a degree that it becomes indistinguishable from “true” reality raises a number of questions, including whether the reality we experience is in fact a simulated reality, whether it is possible to determine if we are in a simulated reality, and whether a simulated reality differs from a “real” one. What common phenomenon, which leads many people to believe that a false reality is true, is cited as proof that people will accept simulated realities? 
Due to a wealth of fossil remains, the first of which was found in the late 1870s, Diplodocus is one of the best-studied dinosaurs. The herbivorous dinosaur roamed western North America about 145 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period, walked on four legs, and had an extremely small brain and skull. One of the longest known sauropods, Diplodocus could grow to be 88 ft (27 m) long, most of which was neck and tail. With what man-made structure is it often compared? 
Street art is any art developed in public spaces and includes traditional graffiti, stencil graffiti, sticker art, video projections, street installations, and posters. Though it usually refers to art of an illicit nature, the term is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art. Some street artists have even achieved mainstream recognition and commercial success. Who are some prominent street artists? 
Disparaged by critics as the new opiate of the masses, “mourning sickness” is the relatively recent phenomenon of collective public grieving for murder victims and celebrities who have died. Princess Diana’s death in 1997 prompted one of the most widespread examples of this in the UK, where makeshift memorials quickly became gathering places for public displays of mourning. The advent of the Internet provided the public with a new forum in which to share their grief. Who was Anna Svidersky? 
Also called vote swapping, vote pairing is an election system that allows people to vote tactically. A person who engages in this sort of vote trading agrees to vote for a less-preferred candidate who has a greater chance of winning in his district, and in exchange, a voter from another district agrees to vote for the candidate the first voter prefers. Though the practice is fairly informal, it can sometimes be quite sophisticated and involve websites that pair up voters. Is the practice legal?