Bold Endeavors

The 5 moments in this challenge

The scenes are shown below — tap a card to reveal its place and year.

1. 

   Round 1 · 1942

   Camouflaging the Taj Mahal

   Agra, India

   Fearing aerial bombardment by the Japanese Air Force during WWII, British authorities covered the Taj Mahal's iconic dome in a massive bamboo scaffolding to make it look like a stockpile of wood from above.

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2. 

   Round 2 · 2013

   Parbuckling the Costa Concordia

   Isola del Giglio, Italy

   In one of the most expensive maritime salvage operations in history, engineers used enormous steel sponsons and hydraulic jacks to slowly rotate the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia upright.

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3. 

   Round 3 · 1979

   Hot Air Balloon Escape from East Germany

   Naila, West Germany

   The Strelzyk and Wetzel families secretly sewed a hot air balloon from umbrella silk and tent nylon, using it to fly at midnight over the heavily fortified Inner German border into the West.

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4. 

   Round 4 · 1518

   The Dancing Plague of Strasbourg

   Strasbourg, Holy Roman Empire

   Frau Troffea began dancing fervently in the street, kicking off a bizarre mass psychogenic illness that saw hundreds dancing uncontrollably for weeks, some to the point of exhaustion and death.

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5. 

   Round 5 · 1946

   Assembly of the Spruce Goose

   Long Beach, California

   Howard Hughes’ massive H-4 Hercules, built entirely of birch wood due to wartime aluminum shortages, was assembled at the Long Beach drydocks before making its singular, one-minute flight over the harbor to silence critics of the government contract.

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