When the roof of Paris rsquo Notre-Dame Cathedral caught fire in April its ancient wood beams and lead sheeting created a furnace so hot it couldn rsquo t be contained After the cathedral rsquo s spire dramatically fell attention turned to its bell towers If the giant steel bells rsquo wooden frames also burned their collapse would bring both towers down leaving the cathedral in ruins Pulling his firefighters back for safety General Gallet commander of Paris rsquo Fire Department pondered what to do next A firefighter named Remi nervously approached ldquo Respectfully General rdquo he said ldquo I propose [... more]

During the American Civil War President Abraham Lincoln once found himself wanting to please a politician so he issued a command to transfer certain Union Army regiments When the secretary of war Edwin Stanton received the order he refused to carry it out He said that the president was a fool Lincoln was told what Stanton had said and he replied ldquo If Stanton said I rsquo m a fool then I must be for he is nearly always right I rsquo ll see for myself rdquo As the two men talked the president quickly realized that his decision was [... more]