Gerald Ford is not a very memorable US President when it comes to "official" rankings. He is neither the worst nor the best. He was rated 28th in a survey, or about center of the pack as is humanly conceivable. But even if nothing else, Gerald Ford should be commended for his incredible and unparalleled contributions to American politics. Having never been chosen by anyone for either role, he is the only individual to have ever held the offices of vice president and then president.

At the height of the Watergate affair in 1973, when Vice President Spiro Agnew was accused of tax fraud and accepting bribes, Ford served as House Minority Leader. Ford was then appointed by President Nixon to serve as Vice President.

A little over a year later, Ford has just received a promotion because Nixon will depart from office. He was in office from 1974 to 1976 and is best remembered for forgiving Nixon of his misdeeds while accomplishing little else.

• Born: July 14, 1913
• Died: December 26, 2006

According to medical terminology, dwarfism is a disorder that prevents someone from becoming taller than 4-foot-10. However, the main symptom that most of us would associate with it is that small stature. It can also be caused by a number of other disorders. The opposing condition would be acromegaly, often known as gigantism. Those affected can reach remarkable heights, sometimes even approaching eight feet. But it usually shows up later in life, in adolescence or even early adulthood.

You might be curious as to whether it's feasible for someone to have both dwarfism and gigantism since they are two distinct conditions, as well as how it could possibly occur. Yes, it is the answer. Both were present in Adam Rainer, and it resulted in an extremely odd situation that was probably very upsetting for the young guy.

At age 19, Rainier was 4-foot-8. Despite his diminutive stature, he was rumored to have extraordinarily huge hands and feet. For instance, he wore shoes that were size 10. He was a size 20 three years later. By the age of 21, Rainier had grown noticeably. He would grow to a height of 7 feet 1 in ten years. His acromegaly, which included his accelerated growth, a bent spine, huge lips, hands, feet, and forehead, was brought on by a tumor on his pituitary gland. When he passed away at age 51, he was reportedly about 7 feet 8 inches tall. It's important to note that most stories about Mount Rainier include images that aren't even of Rainier. The images that are shown most frequently are of Baptiste Hugo, who was also a giant but never a dwarf.

• Born: 1899
• Died: March 4, 1950

Despite how absurd it may sound, some deceased politicians have won elections. So it's not quite unique, but it's rare. Nevertheless, there are other extraordinary feats that the deceased have accomplished, and one of the most amazing of them was probably when the ancient Greek athlete Arrhichion won an Olympic competition despite passing away during the contest.

Arrhichion was a pankratiast, which is to mean that he participated in the deadly old-school MMA combat sport of pankration, which combined boxing and wrestling. So how did the man triumph and then pass away? According to legend, Arrhichion had triumphed in two prior Olympic competitions. In his third championship match, the man was being slowly but surely killed by his opponent, who had him in a choke hold. Arrhichion fractured the man's ankle in retaliation, forcing him to release the hold. The move helped Arrhichion win the battle, but the harm had already been done. Despite winning the match, he passed away from his wounds.

• Died: 564 BC

Polish-born naturalized Frenchwoman Marie Salomea Skodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist who made significant contributions to the field of radioactivity. She was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, the first and only female recipient of the award twice, and the only recipient of the prize in two different scientific disciplines. Her first Nobel Prize was shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, making them the first married couple in history to share the honor and beginning the Curie family heritage of five Nobel Prizes. She was the first female professor at the University of Paris when she was appointed there in 1906.

Andre Geim's accomplishment of winning both a Nobel Prize and an Ig Nobel Prize is already amazing, but Marie Curie is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific categories. Her first honor came in 1903 when she and her husband shared the physics Nobel Prize for their contributions to the study of radiation. She is perhaps best recognized for this, which is why a curie is a unit used to measure radiation intensity. But it wasn't the only thing she concentrated on during her time as a scientist. For discovering the elements polonium and radium, Curie received her second Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911.

• Born: 7 November 1867
• Died: 4 July 1934

Most people would agree that anyone who survives a deadly event is lucky. To survive something so terrifying can seem miraculous, whether it's a tornado, a ship that's sinking, a fire, or something else else. The person who knows this well is Peter Siebold. He is the first guy in history to have fallen from space and survived.

When a catastrophic accident occurred on a Virgin Galactic spaceship at a height of around 50,000 feet, Siebold was the test pilot. Before his chute released, he plunged 30,000 feet at a speed of around 200 kph while still in his seat. This gave him 20,000 more feet to fall before he hit the ground and made it out alive. Tragically, Siebold's co-pilot perished in the tragedy, and Siebold himself actually passed out during the fall but recovered in time to come to and even give the thumbs up to let everyone know he was okay.

• Born: 1971
• Selection: SpaceShipOne 2003

These days, hardly many people are familiar with Harold Russell's work. The WWII veteran and actor passed away in 2002, leaving only five acting credits in his resume. Interestingly, one of them was in the 1946 movie The Best Years of Our Lives, for which Russell ended up earning not one, but two Academy Awards, making him the only actor to accomplish that accomplishment.

Naturally, a lot of other actors have previously garnered numerous acting honors. If a person also authored or directed a movie in which they also starred, they may have won numerous Oscars for that movie. But with Russell, none of it applied. He received two acting accolades for playing the same part in the same movie.

The inaugural award was given for Best Supporting Actor, which is still well-known to modern audiences. However, things started to become a little strange with the second reward. For "'offering aid and consolation to handicapped warriors through the medium of motion movies,'" he received the honorary award.

• Born: January 14, 1914
• Died: January 29, 2002

Although it's true that life has its ups and downs, only Kathy Sullivan can assert that she has understood this truth better than anybody else in history. With trips to orbit as an astronaut and the Challenger Deep, the deepest portion of the ocean, Kathy has gone higher and lower than any other person.

In fact, Sullivan made history in 1984 when she became the first woman to conduct a space walk. 72 women had traveled to space as of 2021. But in 2020, Sullivan upped the ante for investigating the farthest reaches when she descended to Challenger Deep, seven miles below the ocean's surface. Additionally, she was the first woman to complete that accomplishment.

It is important to comprehend why Sullivan is extending the bounds of investigation. As much as she can, Sullivan has stated she wants to "understand the world around her."

• Born: October 3, 1951
• Occupation: Geologist & NOAA scientist

Alcatraz will rank among the most notorious jails in history. The fact that it was impenetrable was even more well known than the fact that it housed some of the country's most notorious offenders. Of course, some people tried, and they were never heard from again. But just one guy has ever survived after leaving the Rock.

Numerous efforts came near, including when John Giles stole a uniform to board a boat. Sadly, he skipped San Francisco in favor of Angel Island. The attempt by the Anglin brothers and Frank Morris, who made it off the island but are thought to have perished, was described in the well-known tale Escape from Alcatraz. John Paul Scott, who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, is the only guy who has been recognized as having stepped foot on San Francisco soil after leaving the prison. He was nearly dead when he arrived at the coast near the Golden Gate Bridge, but he was quickly apprehended and taken back to the prison. He did escape, albeit no one claimed he did so for very long.

• Born: April 19, 1721
• Died: July 23, 1793
  

Typically, when someone mentions the Founding Fathers of America, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin come to mind. The most founding of the founding fathers, Roger Sherman, should, nevertheless, be the subject of their discussion. Which means he was the only person to sign four of the most important documents relating to the nation's formation.

Sherman signed the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Association, sometimes known as the Articles of Association, while others may have signed the Declaration of Independence or perhaps the Constitution.

Sherman, a real man about town, began his career as a lawyer when another lawyer advised him to simply practice law, went on to become a judge, a Superior Court Justice in Connecticut, and entered politics not long after. Many of the other Founding Fathers reportedly looked up to him, and he devoted much of his life to building the country and defining it.

• Born: April 19, 1721
• Died: July 23, 1793

To commemorate "those who, during the preceding year, shall have bestowed the greatest benefit to humankind," according to Alfred Nobel's worldview, the Nobel award was established. They are given out in a variety of scientific as well as humanistic subjects.

The Ig Nobel awards, on the other hand, are given to recognize accomplishments in odd or unimportant fields that nevertheless required a lot of time and effort to complete. In reality, the two prizes don't often collide, although Andre Geim, the only guy to win both, did so once.

Geim's "groundbreaking" work with graphene earned him the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Given the strength of graphene, his work included isolating single layers of graphite, which could one day be used to make practically limitless objects.

For levitating a frog ten years earlier, Geim was also awarded the Ig Nobel Prize. Of course, his research extended beyond flying frogs and centered primarily on a phenomenon known as diamagnetism. If magnetic fields are strong enough, they can push away diamagnetic materials and keep them in place. A frog will float if you put it in water and apply a magnetic field because water is diamagnetic. That is also how you get an Ig Nobel Prize.

• Born: 21 October 1958
• Known for: Discovering graphene, diamagnetic levitation, Gecko tape
• Awards: Ig Nobel Prize (2000), Mott Medal (2007), EuroPhysics Prize (2008), Körber Prize (2009), John J. Carty Award (2010), Hughes Medal (2010), Nobel Prize in Physics (2010), Knight Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2010), Knight Bachelor (2012), Copley Medal (2013), Carbon Medal (2016), Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (2018)