with repeated practice he eventually managed to endure twenty-five seconds of swinging by his neck.

In 1810, Englishman Theodore Hook engineered an audacious caper that makes calling in a prank pizza delivery look like child’s play. During the course of a single day, Hook had nearly every product and service available in the city of London delivered to the home of a Mrs. Tottenham. First thing in the morning, a load of coal arrived. Soon after, deliveries of furniture, musical instruments, flowers, bread, fish, a wedding cake, and countless other goods showed up at her doorstep. Doctors, dentists, gardeners, undertakers, even the Mayor of London were all sent to the woman’s house until there was a huge traffic jam on her street. Hook had made a bet with a friend that he could turn any home into the most talked-about address in London. Needless to say, he won.