All language subtitles for The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd s02e07 Strange Games.eng

Warning, what you're about to see could
be disturbing to some viewers.

Viewer discretion is advised.

What if I told you there's a game so
brutal, it's fair play to electrocute

opponent?

As you are running, your opponent can
run up to you and tase you.

Guys are getting tased 30 to 40 times a
game.

Or you could enter a dangerous downhill
foot race against a well -aged rival.

The wheel of cheese is moving at 70
miles an hour.

People break legs, blown out knees, head
injuries.

How about staging a friendly competition
that's less of a ball game, more of a

head game?

They take a freshly severed head, attach
it to a rope, and then attach that to a

pole. It's brutal.

These are the games so strange, they are
truly unbelievable.

For more than a thousand years, people
have been facing off in perhaps the

simplest, yet deadliest game of all
time, the duel.

But for two Frenchmen in the early
1800s... The traditional take -a -few

turn -and -fire format lacks the je ne
sais quoi they're looking for.

So we're in Napoleonic France, 1808, in
Paris.

We have a famous dancer at an opera
house, a gorgeous lady, Mademoiselle

Thierry. And two gentlemen are
desperately in love with her. So one

Monsieur Grand Prix, decides to get her
an apartment in the city so that he can

visit her there. But this plan backfires
when he realizes that he's not the only

gentleman caller visiting her.

There's a second man named Monsieur Le
Peek.

So Mr. Grand Prix challenges Monsieur Le
Peek to a duel, a real to the

death duel.

But this isn't going to be a regular
duel.

No, they plan something much bigger,
something much more chic.

They're going to shoot at each other in
hot air balloons over the city.

And not just at each other. The goal of
this high stakes game is to shoot down

the opponent's balloon.

So this dancer must be very special
because it's pretty much guaranteed that

least one of them, probably both of
them, are going to die.

Now, we normally think of duels as a
spur -of -the -moment thing that two

hotheads kind of engage in. You slap
someone and then you go out back to

things. But no, they schedule this hot
air balloon duel for a month out. And

would think having a month to reflect on
this plan, somebody would have come to

their senses.

But no one's head cools down. No one
thinks to themselves, maybe this isn't a

great idea.

No, they all go forward with it.

On May 3rd, 1808, it's showtime.

As the crowd gathers in the Tuileries
Gardens just next to the Louvre Museum,

most people think they're watching a
simple balloon race until they see the

guns.

This is high stakes dueling. There's no
surviving in this game.

And this isn't even the strangest part
of this story yet. Dueling, it's common

practice to have a second man with you.
But in this case, you need to find

someone who is such a good friend that
they are willing to get into this hot

balloon with you, knowing that they will
likely also die.

So that's got to be a really strong
friendship.

As the balloons lift off, a mostly
unsuspecting crowd begins to cheer.

Now nearly 2 ,000 feet above the city of
lovers, the duel begins.

But first, they must follow the code
duello.

This isn't like a Western. You don't
have two guys standing there, both ready

draw, and they do what they want. The
code duello sets very specific rules for

how a duel is conducted.

The most important part of this code to
note is that the man who accepts the

challenge gets to shoot first.

So in this case, because Grand Prix
extended the challenge to Le Peek, Le

gets the first shot.

He doesn't have to hit Grand Prix. He
only has to hit this large floating

balloon.

But Lepique, who had a month to practice
this, totally misses.

That now gives Grand Prix the
opportunity to fire his shot, while

just stand there in his little basket
and pray that his opponent is as bad a

shot as him.

The shot rings true.

It blasts a hole through the hot air
balloon.

The balloon deflates just as you can
imagine.

Le Pic and his second both fall like
rocks from the sky and are dead.

Talk about falling hard for a woman.

Fortunately, over the next century, the
deadly game of dueling becomes outlawed

in most countries.

So how does it end up becoming an
international competition?

By the early 1900s, competitive pistol
dueling actually is quite popular. And

it's because in 1901, a French doctor
named Paul de Villa invents the wax

bullet. So you can shoot your buddies
without killing them.

Paul de Villa is so thrilled with his
new invention. He starts a club there in

Paris for this competitive pistol
dueling.

And then they start popping up all
around the world. They get tons of

and there's even a pistol dueling club
in New York that puts on duels in front

of Carnegie Hall.

While the wax bullet seems safe, you got
to remember it's coming out of the

barrel of a gun.

It's charged by gunpowder.

And you got to remember it's going with
the same amount of velocity.

It's just made out of a different
material.

In fact, one acclaimed pistol duelist,
Walter Winans, famously shoots off part

of his friend's hand with a wax bullet.

Rather than halting the sport, they just
add hand guards.

The sport becomes so popular that it
gets added to the Olympic program in

in Athens.

But the committee's a little nervous
about having people shoot at each other,

they put up dummies and have them shoot
at them at different distances.

There's a 20 -meter and 30 -meter duel
event, and they actually award medals

the winners.

But shooting dummies isn't enough for
these athletes.

Two years later, the world's best
duelists put on an exhibition in London

convince the Olympic Committee that they
should be allowed to shoot at each

other for sport.

It's the 1908 Summer Games, and people
are gathered around the fencing area,

two men appear waiting to face off.

They've got these thick jumpsuits on,
and they're wearing helmets with goggles

attached, and they're carrying guns. And
the crowd is thinking, is someone about

to die at the Olympics?

The two men square off, raise their
pistols, and in an instant,

one takes a direct hit to the chest.

As he goes down, the audience gasps.

It looks like they've just witnessed
someone being killed.

But then...

Like Lazarus, he rises from the ground.

The guy's fine. Everyone goes nuts.

It looks like competitive pistol dueling
is here to stay, but it's not.

World War I rolls around, and suddenly,
you know, shooting your friend for sport

is kind of in poor taste. So that marks
the end of competitive pistol dueling.

Personally, I prefer pretending to be
shot at.

But there's an even stranger kind of
duel.

One that gives new meaning to a face
-off.

Perhaps the most violent game I've ever
seen is not that of gladiators.

It's competitive power slapping.

And it's exactly what you think.

Two men face off and slap the living
hell out of one another.

It is both disturbing, but also
hysterical at the same time.

Competitive face slapping is one of the
craziest things I've ever seen.

They got these muscle -bound grown men,
referees, people watching. They're even

selling concessions. So how exactly does
slapping become an organized sport?

In 2017, a promoter named JT Tilly
decides that this could be a thing. So

starts a league called Slap Fight
Championship.

He starts making videos of the league,
and it takes off.

While it may look like a free -for -all,
there are rules.

There are anywhere from three rounds to
ten rounds.

A round is signified as one person
smacks the other person, the other

smacks the other person, round one.

And the judges score based on how much
damage you do with your slap. On the

other side, they want to see how well
you absorb the slap that was done to

If a person can't recover in 60 seconds
after getting slapped, they lose.

If a person gets slapped so hard that
the spotter has to catch them, it's a

knockout.

But this slap -happy game isn't without
controversy.

Neuroscientists and doctors are
obviously against this kind of sport.

But others, especially the fans, would
argue that it's no more dangerous than

boxing or mixed martial arts.

Despite the critics, the odd sport
continues to grow.

In 2022, this sport catches fire.

And UFC's Dana White starts a power
-slapping league. And he gets it

by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

So it started as this kind of viral
underground thing has now become an

sanctioned sport of the United States.

Slap -offs, wax bullets, and hot air
balloon dueling. We always seem to find

strange ways to challenge one another.

And we're just getting started.

Every game has an origin story.

Some start as religious ceremonies.

Others evolve from simpler, ancient
versions.

But there's one that starts the same way
a lot of crazy ideas do.

Over a couple of pints.

1974.

You've got a group of Englishmen in a
pub, and they are lamenting the fact

English sports are terrible at the time.
And so they decide it's time for

something new.

Two men whip off their shoes, whip off
their socks, and they start

wrestling.

But it's not the kind of wrestling you
might think.

It's toe wrestling.

And it starts gaining a foothold in
England.

The matches take place on a specially
designed podium, or totium if you will.

You have to put your foot against your
opponent's foot. Your heel has to be on

the line. You start with your right toe,
and then you switch toes for a total of

three rounds.

While it may look like a weird version
of footsie, going toe -to -toe with an

opponent is serious business.

Matches can last for hours.

Foot cramps, leg cramps, toenails torn
off.

You can have ankle sprains, knee
injuries, broken toes, broken foot.

This is no joke. The injuries are very
real.

The game is so popular that in 1997,
they tried to get it as an Olympic

and it's turned down.

I'm not sure why.

Despite the snub, toe wrestling gains a
legion of dedicated competitors,

including one man who's hooked from the
moment he stumbles upon it.

At 14 years old, Ben Woodruff walks into
a pub and encounters the World Toe

Wrestling Championship, and it is there.
Young Benjamin decides that he will one

day become the world toe wrestling
champion.

And sure enough, 20 years later, Ben is
locked into a toe battle with 17 -time

world champion Alan Nasty Nash.

And the match is tied at two rounds
each, heading into the final round. This

the moment Ben has been waiting for. For
the past 20 years, he has worked his

life. towards being the best toe
wrestler on earth. He's done grip

He's done squats. And culminating in
this, he has had the toenails of his big

toe surgically removed to remove any
hindrance from his toe wrestling career.

And like any great sport, the
championship comes down to one final

moment.

It's the third of three rounds.

They're tied one all.

And Nasty Nash and Ben are locked in the
competition of their lives.

And then Ben, in utter confidence, goes,
I've got it. This one is mine.

Turns Nasty Nash's toe, hits the side of
the toadium, and it's over.

17 -time champion toppled by longtime
lover of toe wrestling.

Ben Woodruff.

Never stop.

Go forward.

Pain is temporary.

Being a champion for a lifetime.

Risking a broken toe in the name of a
bar game is definitely unusual.

But risking a broken leg for a simple
snack?

Well, that's unbelievable.

We're at a green hilltop in England.

There are 15 ,000 cheering fans.

And they are cheering for the world.

strangest race.

The announcer calls for the start of the
event.

But first, a little wheel is sent
rolling down the hill.

And then, dozens of competitors start
facing it.

Everyone takes off down this 200 -yard
hill. And as they're picking up speed,

just means the harder they crash, the
harder they fall.

The hill is impossibly steep.

Some people are throwing themselves
headfirst to roll, figuring rolling is

and faster way down this hill than
running.

Among the tumbling competitors is 19
-year -old Canadian Delaney Irving, and

she's out in front of the pack.

As she's running, her feet get the best
of her, and soon she's tumbling. And

with a thud, she hits the finish line,
and she's knocked out cold.

Paramedics are rushing over to her. Is
she dead?

Is she comatose?

Two full minutes later, she pops up with
no recollection of what has just

happened, and she's handed that bizarre
wheel that we just saw rolling down the

hill. What is it?

It's a seven -pound wheel of double
Gloucester cheese.

Why are they giving it to her?

Because she just won the annual cheese
rolling contest.

She is literally waking up to find out
she is this cheese champion.

People are cheering her on. It's
absolute madness.

That's because cheese rolling is a
serious tradition in Gloucester. It

back, at least recorded, to as early as
1826 when the first cheese rolling

contest was recorded. But it probably
goes even further back than that.

It is believed that the tradition first
began 600 years ago as an ancient New

Year's celebration.

Pre -Christian villagers would take
these bales of hay, set them on fire,

roll them downhill as a way to mark the
end of winter and the beginning of a new

season. Nobody really knows what
happened, but it's possible that at some

cheese is introduced to this scenario.

Next thing you know, you go from a
rolling, burning bale of hay down a hill

rolling wheel of cheese.

And because we love to turn everything
into a competition, suddenly people are

chasing the wheel of cheese down a hill.

The premise of the game is to catch the
wheel of cheese. However, the hill is so

steep that the wheel of cheese is moving
at upwards of 70 miles an hour. So a

human cannot physically catch the wheel
of cheese. So obviously the rules are

altered a little bit now.

The rules are the first person to cross
the finish line after the Wheel of

Cheese is your victor, no matter if
they're out cold or not.

But it hasn't always been easy rolling
for this cheesy competition.

In 2009, the game is temporarily shut
down due to safety concerns.

People break legs.

They suffer head injuries, blown out
knees.

Some years have had over a dozen
injuries. And in fact, some local police

fire staff have actually refused to
staff the event until more safety

are put into place.

It gets so dire that in 2013, the police
come after Diana Smart, an 86 -year

-old woman. And why would they come
after an 86 -year -old woman?

Well, Diana is the maker of the infamous
Wheel of Cheese.

So the authorities think, why not just
go to the source?

No cheese, no cheese contest, no
injuries.

Luckily for us, Diana politely says
shove off, and the contest goes forward

Diana's own cheese.

And so the winner gets to take home the
cheese and taste victory, perhaps on a

nice, large cracker.

They say when you fall off a horse, you
should get right back on and keep going.

Well, I suppose that all depends on what
you mean by horse.

In 1965, a large crowd gathers at an
ostrich farm in South Africa.

On the other side of a fence, men
attempt to wrangle an unruly group of

massive flightless birds.

And then something truly bizarre
happens.

They jump on.

So a gun goes off, and these guys just
book it down a track on these ostriches.

There's feathers flying everywhere.
There's dust coming up in the air. It's

complete chaos.

Welcome to the sport of ostrich racing,
a strange game that dates back more than

100 years.

In 1883, ostrich plumes are known as
white gold. A single feather can fetch

$5, which is equivalent to $160 today.

Fortunes are made in the ostrich plume
industry, and in Outshorn, the great

mansions built at that time are known to
this day as feather palaces.

By the late 1800s, people are flocking
to Outshorn to see these nearly mythical

millionaire -making birds.

And they discover that people want to
ride these ostriches, and so they start

charging for it, and it's a huge hit.

Ostrich racing becomes incredibly
popular in South Africa. And in 1892, an

ostrich farm opens in Jacksonville,
Florida, and these races start drawing

incredible crowds.

But ostriches aren't the most
cooperative teammates.

To ride an ostrich is not a simple
matter.

They aren't horses. They weren't
domesticated for riding. They were

for feather production. And they're
still quite wily.

To ride one, you must leap from behind,
grab the bird by the feathers, and hold

on for dear life.

Ostriches can run up to 40 miles an
hour.

They can take single strides of 25 feet.

And when an ostrich gets annoyed, its
instinct is to eject the rider from its

back.

The other thing is there's not really a
way for ostriches to stop.

So once the race ends, the rider just
kind of bails out. They kind of roll off

the back of this ostrich, which might be
the best part of an ostrich race.

Turns out ostriches and humans don't
have the same connection as with, say,

man's best friend.

That's a bond that dates back many
thousands of years, when large

wolves began to evolve into those cute,
cuddly companions we just can't get

enough of.

But there's an odd competition out there
that celebrates a different side of

dogs. And I must warn you, it gets ugly.

So Scooter is a seven -year -old dog.

He's kind of bald, his tongue's hanging
out to one side, his back legs face the

wrong direction, and he kind of looks
like a rat melded with a gremlin.

So why is he being hoisted to victory as
his owner clutches a trophy?

Scooter. has just won the World's
Ugliest Dog Contest.

The World's Ugliest Dog Contest has been
going on since the 1970s, and it draws

crowds of 30 ,000 people a year to the
Sonoma Fairgrounds.

Last year he got second, so he's going
to go for first this year. The

of this event, they use it to promote
adoption and show that all dogs are

in their own way.

Past winners of the World's Ugliest Dog
Competition include a wide range of...

unconventional beauties.

There's Martha, who judges say looks
like a 150 -pound dog in 350

pounds of skin.

Zsa Zsa, whose tongue permanently sticks
out of her mouth, touching the ground.

And then there's Quasimodo, who looks
like Quasimodo.

But there's one particular breed that
seems to be the top dog of this

competition.

A favorite in these competitions is
usually the Chinese crested dog.

They're already a little funny looking
as it is, but once anything else starts

going off with them, they very quickly
become the ugliest dogs in the world.

So what are the judges looking for in
awarding the world's ugliest dog? It's

opposite of the Westminster Dog Show,
where you're not looking for perfect

or perfect teeth or perfect gait.

These judges are looking for anything
that looks weird, bulging eyes or weird

hair growths or tongues hanging out and
tails that don't look like they belong

there. As for Scooter, it's something
even more unusual that wins the judges

over. Now, Scooter is already a pretty
ugly little dog, but what likely cinches

it for Scooter is what Scooter can do.

Because Scooter's legs are backwards,
Scooter walks on his front legs.

And boy, if that ain't a crowd pleaser,
I don't know what is.

Scooter's Tour de Force performance
proves to be a real showstopper.

And I, for one, am curious to see the
beauty who will one day dethrone this

good boy.

Team sports are great at showing how
athletes can work together towards a

goal. But when that common goal is
taking out the opponent by any means

necessary, there are bound to be a few
broken bones and concussions.

And missing teeth.

There's a game that's played in Japan
that puts basically every other team

to shame, and it looks like the zombie
apocalypse.

It's called botaoshi, which translates
to pole toppling.

In botaoshi, each side lines up in
groups of 75 men, and they

start charging at one another.

Each group defending or attacking a
pole, and the goal of each side is to

topple the opponent's pole by any way,
shape, or form.

Teams' poles are up simultaneously, so
each team is trying to topple the others

while protecting their own.

You can tackle, yank, scratch, claw,
anything to stop a player

from taking down your pole.

It's total mayhem. And aside from a soft
sparring helmet, the players have no

protection.

Now, there are some rules. You can't
kick, punch, or pull a player by the

and you can't strangle a player.

Despite how absolutely chaotic and
unbelievably dangerous it seems, pole

toppling is a hit.

It's popular at schools and academies
throughout Japan. Even elementary

engage in Japanese pole toppling.

But it's kind of a mystery of the
origins of this sport.

The common belief is that it starts in
1945 by Japanese militia that are

training in the chaotic aftermath of
World War II.

The most famous version of this game is
played at the National Defense Academy,

which is their military academy, and it
draws thousands of spectators.

Regardless of the setting, the game is
certainly not for the faint of heart.

The nature of Baotaoshi is pretty
brutal.

There are broken legs, broken arms,
fractured skulls. People are carted off

stretchers. It sounds like total mayhem,
but if you watch a match of Botashi, it

is a very orderly game. It's just played
on a magnitude that we're not used to.

While a mob of athletes fighting over a
giant pole is certainly strange, there

is a sport out there that merges
athleticism with something else truly

electrifying.

On an indoor soccer field in California,
two teams are suited up in uniform and

ready for battle.

But they're not playing soccer.

The first indication that they're not
actually playing soccer, it's the ball.

It's cartoonishly large. It has a
diameter of 24 inches.

And that's not even the weirdest thing
that's about to happen.

Because that's when the players fire up
their tasers.

The game they're about to play is the
creation of three diehard paintballers

2011 looking for a new way to put the
extreme back in extreme sports.

You've got Leif Kellenberger, Eric Prum,
and you've got Eric Wunsch. And they

decide to make a promotional video of
this new extreme sport. And, of course,

goes viral.

So it blows it bigger than anyone
thought that it would.

The shockingly bizarre game that's
blowing up the Internet is called

Taser Ball.

Though I'm not sure there was ever a
regular Taser Ball.

Ultimate taser ball is essentially the
four -on -four version of handball,

you try to get the ball in the
opponent's goal.

But there's a catch.

As you are running, if you are carrying
the ball, your opponent can run up to

you and tase you to make you drop the
ball.

Ultimate taser ball is absolutely
insane.

Guys are getting tased 30 to 40 times a
game.

From a technical perspective, the amount
of current that the taser delivers is

only about 3 to 5 milliamp, which is not
sufficient to cause permanent injury,

but it will cause you to yell and drop
the ball.

There are some rules.

You can only tase the player with the
ball. You can't tase a player in the

or the neck, and you can only be tased
by one player at a time.

But I think one of the most interesting
rules would be if you're in the shock

zone. This is the area right in front of
the goal where you don't have to have

the ball.

Anyone can be shocked at any time.

By 2012, buzz about the new sport grows.

Before they know it, they've got
investors and a four -team international

league. The teams from L .A., San Diego,
and Toronto.

So they play their first tournament.
They stream it live.

They get a ton of publicity, a ton of
people watching. And they start to

Thousands of emails asking, how can we
join the league?

Now they're playing taserball matches, I
guess you would call them.

And these guys are just steady zapping
each other and the crowd's just lapping

it up.

It seems like momentum is building for
ultimate taserball.

And then, nothing.

After their mini -tour, they fail to get
any sponsorships or TV contracts, and

unsurprisingly, they fold in 2013.

Aside from being the only known sport to
use tasers, it also holds the title for

requiring the largest balls in sports.

It's pretty safe to say most of us love
eating, but about 400 years ago, one man

decides to make a game of it.

Long before Kobayashi and Nathan's hot
dog contest, there is a man from Kent,

England, who makes the folks in Coney
Island look like real weenies.

So Nicholas Wood is a farmer living
outside of London in the early 1600s,

all accounts, he is a totally normal
guy.

Except for one thing.

Nicholas loves to go to taverns and
stuff himself silly.

A writer and poet named John Taylor is
traveling through town when he comes

Nicholas Wood eating a lot of food. And
I'm not just talking about a second

helping of shepherd's pie.

Nicholas Wood is eating 60 eggs.

He's eating a whole lamb.

So Taylor immediately goes up to him and
talks to him and wants to know what

he's all about.

It turns out Wood has been making money
performing at fairs and taking bets on

how much he can eat.

And his exploits have made him a local
celebrity.

His most impressive feats include eating
seven dozen rabbits in one sitting.

Another time, he eats a four -course
dinner for eight people.

But maybe his most impressive feat is
when he eats an entire sheep, leaving

behind only the wool, the horns, and
some of the bones.

So what Wood is doing is turning this
into perhaps the world's first

eating competition.

with himself, where people bet on what
he can down, and generally he downs it.

Over a lifetime of gambling on himself,

Wood only loses two bets, both involving
beer.

Once is when he accepts a bet from a
nobleman named John Dale, and the bet is

eat 12 loaves of bread, no problem,
except they're soaked in beer.

He doesn't even make it through half the
loaves of bread.

The second loss comes at the hands of a
nobleman named John Sedley. And while

Nicholas Wood is eating Sedley, he is
pouring him beer after beer after beer.

And eventually, Wood passes out and
therefore loses the bet.

Still, John Taylor sees dollar signs and
proposes taking Wood to London.

So what Taylor wants to do is take this
eating game on the road.

One of the ideas Taylor has is to have
Wood eat an entire wheelbarrow full of

carp. While Wood thinks it over, Taylor
rushes back to London to promote his new

act, the Great Eater of Kent.

Taylor comes back to Kent, ready to
bring his champion to stardom, and Wood

tells him he's retiring.

Taylor is shocked and asks why, and Wood
confides in him that when he was eating

that whole sheep a while back, the
bones...

crushed his teeth, and he just can't
compete like he used to.

It may have cost him his teeth, but he
becomes the godfather of a new sport.

Four centuries later, eating
competitions are everywhere.

But it's not always about how much you
can eat.

Sometimes it's about what you can eat.

However unusual it may seem to most
Americans, half the world's population

bugs in their diet.

Insects are common in nature, and many
of them are quite nutritious.

Also, most insects are safe to eat, and
many of them are quite tasty.

But people being people, we have to make
a contest out of everything, so bug

-eating contests are born.

Take it from a guy who's eaten a lot of
crazy stuff, I won't eat that.

In 2012, a reptile store in Florida
holds perhaps the strangest eating

yet. Ben Siegel Reptiles in Florida
holds midnight madness.

Show up and eat as many worms and
cockroaches, yep, both alive, writhing,

wriggling, biting, and scratching in ten
minutes, and then you win the grand

prize. And the grand prize is a python!

Is it because pythons eat bugs?

No, they eat monkeys. But it's worth 800
bucks, so I guess that makes it make

sense?

While most eating competitions are
overseen by an official organization,

Midnight Madness bug -eating contest is
not.

This is totally rogue.

No regulation, no oversight.

They just make a bunch of guys sign
waivers.

Despite the risk, 30 contestants sign up
for a chance to win the coveted snake.

Here's how it works.

On one side is a giant bucket of bugs,
and on the other side is a barf bucket.

And these guys just dig in and start
going crazy.

So the crowd's going wild, and the
cockroaches are rolling out of their

and worms are everywhere.

Finally, they call time, and the winner
is Edward Archbold.

But as the crowd cheers, the 32 -year
-old Archbold seems a bit off.

He starts breathing heavily, he vomits,
he passes out, and he's rushed to the

hospital.

Just a few hours later, Edward is
pronounced dead.

People are speculating that Edward died
from toxins from the bugs or from the

worms, but everyone is quick to point
out that these are farm -raised bugs.

While bugs in the wild may pick up
deadly toxins, bugs from a farm are

a sterile environment and completely
safe to eat.

So what killed Edward Archbold?

A few weeks later, the medical
examiner's report is released and the

death is choking on bugs.

I think it's safe to say in an eating
contest, you're not really chewing. He's

just inhaling these bugs whole. So a lot
of them are ending up in his stomach,

still alive.

So some of them are literally crawling
up his esophagus, and he chokes on them.

That's what kills him.

You have to wonder what the great eater
of Kent would think about today's eating

contests. At least everything he ate was
already dead.

Some of the most popular games have very
dark origins.

Take that playful playground dancing
game, Ring Around the Rosie.

I didn't know the song's lyrics are said
to represent symptoms of the Black

Plague. Another seemingly innocent
recess romp gets its start as a much

version of itself.

Tetherball gets really popular in the
1930s, but nobody really knows where it

comes from.

There's theories that it comes from
volleyball or the short -lived swing

where the goal is to smack your partner
with the ball and not get hit yourself.

But there's another possibility that's
much more unbelievable.

Life in 9th century East Asia is pretty
rough.

There's basically a lot of nomadic
tribes moving around and fighting each

over resources.

But by far the meanest and most feared
are the Tartars.

And there's a good reason why.

The Tartars are unpleasant.

They're known for decapitating their
enemies.

They're a big fan of putting their
enemies' heads on those wooden stakes to

basically deter any other tribe from
attacking them. They don't just win

battles, they obliterate their enemies.

Some believe they do more with the
severed heads than just put them on

There's some evidence that suggests they
take a freshly severed head, attach it

to a rope, and then attach that to a
pole.

Then two warriors armed with bat take
turns hitting the head.

Bored warriors make a game out of it.

The idea is the winner wraps the rope
with the severed head.

around the pole in one direction before
the other guy does it.

It's brutal.

But this is a brutal time in life.

And I actually am not surprised that
there's such a violent path to

because when I was in elementary school,
it was when I was my most aggressive

was on the tetherball court.

I mean, that's where you really got some
street cred growing up, in elementary

school. And it's a game that requires a
little bit of intimidation and

aggression, and that's without the
severed head.

Severed head tetherball is certainly
unsettling.

But there's another childhood game with
an even harder hitting past.

I think we all remember playing
dodgeball as a kid, right? You're in the

you're lined up on the line, you've got
the big red rubber ball, and you get to

take out your aggression for like 30
minutes in B .E.

Dodgeball is an incredibly popular
sport. There's actually adult league for

people who want to resurrect that
feeling of fear they had as children.

Surprisingly, dodgeball doesn't start in
a gym.

The roots go back at least 200 years to
Africa.

But they're using something with a
little less bounce.

In the 1880s, Dr. James Carlisle is
doing mission work in Africa. And he

across this game that the locals are
playing, and it completely blows his

Two teams of men squaring off, trying to
peg each other as hard as they can with

rocks.

And not just any rock.

We're talking about the biggest rock
they could find.

And the point of this game is not just
to hit your opponent, but it is to

them unable to continue.

And here's where it gets crazy.

Once a player gets hit and goes down,
the other team has to keep throwing

and pummeling that player to make sure
that he stays down.

For tribes who must fight to survive
every day, it's a rite of passage to

distinguish the weak from the strong.

And when rocks are being thrown at you,
you want to show that you're nimble and

athletic enough to dodge the rocks and
not die.

Carlisle notices that actually there's
strategy to this. There are people who

work together.

There are people who actually
coordinate. It's teamwork.

James is watching this and enjoying
every minute of it. Thinks to himself,

can I bring this game home, have people
play it, but not have them get their

heads bashed in?

Then he returns home to a teaching job
at St. Mary's College. He introduces the

game, but with a big difference.

Instead of rocks, he uses a leather
ball.

Students love this game. It becomes
extremely popular.

And in 1884, St. Mary's actually takes
on Yale in the first ever dodgeball

match.

Now, there's no record on who won, but a
Yale professor, Philip Ferguson, he

watches the game and falls in love.

And Ferguson comes up with some key
rules that you might recognize.

Splitting the field to two sides. And
also the best rule of all, if you catch

the ball thrown at you, the thrower is
out.

Ferguson draws up the first official
dodgeball rules in 1905, and the rest is

elementary school history.

For thousands of years, we've yearned
for the thrill of competition.

And as long as we seek out new ways to
challenge each other and ourselves,

keep playing games that are truly
unbelievable.

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