Five days before the best game of his life, Jim Abbott got crushed. Cleveland scored seven runs, collected ten hits, and knocked him out before the fourth inning was over. On September 4, 1993, Abbott faced the same team again at Yankee Stadium, and this time Cleveland did not get a single hit. The Motion Nobody Else Had to Learn Abbott was born without a right hand, yet he became an elite left-handed pitcher.
By the end of 2017, Patrick Henry was homeless in Los Angeles. Some nights he slept in 24-hour spas. Other nights he found himself sleeping outside or staying in a homeless shelter in Koreatown. He had spent years making expensive clothes for other people, but now he couldn’t afford a place of his own. He … Read more
Jessica Cox had always been afraid of flying. But during a flight one day, the pilot sitting beside her offered to let her try the controls. She took off a shoe, wrapped her toes around the control wheel and began moving it. Then the pilot took his hands away. Jessica was flying the airplane herself. … Read more
Arunima Sinha was traveling to Delhi in April 2011 when her life changed in a matter of seconds. She was on her way to take an exam for India’s Central Industrial Security Force, hoping to build a career after years of playing competitive sports. During the journey, men on the train tried to steal her … Read more
Chung Ju-yung grew up on a poor farm in Korea, where his family expected him to spend his life working the land. But even as a teenager, Chung dreamed of leaving home and finding something better. He tried running away more than once. His father kept bringing him back, determined that his eldest son would … Read more
In 2002, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow was visiting a family in Malawi, where a terrible famine was leaving people struggling to find enough food. The family’s mother was dying from an AIDS-related illness. Sitting beside her was her 14-year-old son, Edward. MacFarlane-Barrow asked the boy what he wanted most in life. Edward didn’t talk about becoming rich … Read more
In 1976, Lillian Lincoln Lambert walked into her boss’s office expecting to discuss the small cleaning company she had started on the side. Instead, she walked out knowing she was about to lose her job. Lambert had been honest with her employer about her plans. She didn’t want him hearing from someone else that she … Read more
In October 1938, Chester Carlson stood in a tiny makeshift laboratory in Queens, New York, staring at a piece of wax paper. Something extraordinary had just happened. He and his assistant had successfully copied an image without using photographic chemicals. It was a rough experiment involving a metal plate, sulfur, electricity, and powder, but Carlson … Read more