One day in March, Wenseslao Moguel was captured for taking part in the 1915 Mexican Revolution. As a result, Moguel was sentenced–without trial–to execution by firing squad. During the execution, Moguel was shot nine times with the final bullet going through his head at close range. Remarkably, he survived and managed to live on to a ripe age, even making an appearance on Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

Anne Greene was born in Oxfordshire, England in 1628 and eventually began work as a servant in a manor house. At the age of 22, Greene allegedly became pregnant with the house master’s grandson. Unwed, Greene hid the pregnancy and gave birth to a premature and stillborn child. Medical evidence proved this, but Greene was still condemned to death for her child’s murder. Despite her death by hanging in 1650 (and being beaten afterwards to ensure she was really dead), Greene was still bleeding when her body was sent to the coroner for dissection. She soon regained her health and was granted a full pardon.

Probably one of the better-known survival stories, this one occurred in October 1972 when a plane full of Uruguayan rugby players crashed into the Andes Mountains. Of the 45 passengers on board, 29 died from the impact, injuries or the avalanche that struck their eventual shelter. Those remaining survived -30°C temperatures with inadequate clothing, rations and even cannibalism. When the rescue search was called off, two of the passengers trekked across the Andes for 12 days in hope for a rescue. It eventually came on December 22, 75 days after the crash.

In October 1967, US politician John McCain – then a member of the air force – became a prisoner of war in Vietnam after his plane was shot down over Hanoi. He was taken into custody and stayed in the Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, where his torture lasted five and a half years. Already suffering from injuries due to the plane crash, which were inadequately treated by Vietnamese officials, McCain was subject to beatings and interrogations. He spent two years in solitary confinement, lost 50 pounds within the space of six weeks, suffered rope bindings, hourly beatings, and dysentery and even attempted to take his own life. Remarkably, McCain survived the ordeal and was released on March 14, 1973.

In September 1999, Joan Murray took part in a 14,500 feat skydive near North Carolina. However, luck wasn’t on her side as her initial parachute failed to open upon taking the plunge. On top of that, her backup chute deflated a mere 700 feet above the ground. Murray soon fell atop a mound of fire ants that, amazingly, helped her survive. Doctors believe the bites from the ants kept her heart beating and despite spending two weeks in coma, she was released from the hospital six weeks later. Despite such a traumatic experience, Joan Murray took up the extreme hobby again.

Excavated in 1968, the interior of Finland’s fantastic rock church boasts fine acoustics and natural lights streaming through its glazed dome.

Erected in the 1960s, the Berlin Wall divided communist East Germany from the noncommunist West. For 28 years, the Iron Curtain kept East Germans from fleeing to the West and the momentous occasion of its destruction signified a resounding international celebration for freedom.

Despite previous assertions that “Nobody intends to build a wall”, Communist East German leader Walter Ulbricht does just that in the guise of forging a protection barrier against anti-fascists. East German troops are enlisted to erect the wall and work commences after midnight.

East German soldier Conrad Schumann’s leap over a barbed wire section that divides the East and West provides the world with an amazing photo of the recently erected divide.

Serving as one of the most enduring deaths at the wall, 18-year-old Peter Fechter is shot in the pelvis and bleeds to death while trying to escape. Since he fell on the border strip on the east side, Western authorities and other bystanders aren’t allowed to help him and instead watch him die.

U.S. President Kennedy visits the West German side of the wall and utters the famous lines: “Ich bin ein Berliner”. His speech reiterates the values of freedom and solidarity to West Berlin:

“There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin.”

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union and introduces many reforms including the policy of openness. This spreads like wildfire amongst the populace and soon citizens begin to speak out against the government.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan visits the wall on the West Berlin side and demands peace and liberalization, stating:

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Hungary reopens borders with East Germany allowing for 13,000 East Germans to escape to Austria.

A demonstration is held with a million people protesting the wall in East Berlin.

The wall finally falls, leading to worldwide celebration.

Four years after the tribal leader surrendered to the United States, Sitting Bull posed with Buffalo Bill for this iconic 1885 photo. For a time, Sitting Bull even toured with Bill’s Wild West Show.