‘Got Weird’: 28 Pics From History That Look Odd At Present (New Pics)

The contest was held because the Prince and Princess of Wales will be in Washington a week later

The farm had 20 ponds for the trained alligators where patrons could mingle freely with them

At the time, the National Weather Service estimated the storm had caused $26.5 billion in damages, making it the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Total damages would later be surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 at $81 billion. Ron Magill, Zoo Miami goodwill ambassador and communications director, took these photographs on Aug. 23, 1992. Magill said he believed there were a total of 38 flamingos in the Zoo Miami (then Miami Metrozoo) flock at the time, and they would have all been put in the restroom together. “This was part of a hurricane protocol that required us to round up all of the flamingos in the front lake of the zoo and place them in the ladies public restroom, which was used as a bunker, whenever a hurricane warning was issued,” said Magill. The bathroom was the obvious choice—no windows, a tile floor for easy cleanup, and plenty of room for an improvised bed, made out of hay hastily dumped all over the floor. Most importantly, “it had a ready-made supply of fresh water.” Magill and his coworkers opened up all the stalls, made sure the toilets were full, and set out for the flamingo exhibit to grab the new tenants. The birds were not very cooperative. “These flamingos are flapping everywhere, we’re grabbing them, we’re getting full of flamingo water and stuff,” said Magill. “It got to the point, I’ve got to be honest—I thought, ‘After all this work, this storm better freaking come!’ That’s a cocky young attitude that you have.” But the team managed the job, and as they left the bathroom, Magill turned back for a moment to appreciate their work. He had always been a photography buff, and liked to carry a point-and-shoot wherever he went, even to emergency zoo batten-downs

Apparently, Wojtowicz had based his plans on the movie, The Godfather (1972), which he had watched earlier that day. 2,000 onlookers, FBI, roof-top snipers, TV crew, and police all gathered at the Chase Manhattan bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn on a hot summer night. Wojtowicz held 7 hostages for 14 hours during which time he demanded food for the hostages, paid the pizza delivery boy wads of cash, threw money at the outside onlookers, shot through the bank's exit rear door (fearing the police would storm it), and accidentally fired a shot after dropping his rifle on the floor. In the end, his robbery attempt failed, and he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison, of which he served five. Wojtowicz’s story was later turned into a movie called Dog Day Afternoon (1975), starring Al Pacino and John Cazale, both of whom, interestingly enough, had starred in The Godfather. For the rights to his story, Wojtowicz was paid $7,500 and 1% of the movie's net profits, which he gave to Eden. After her operation, Eden married someone else before dying of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987. Wojtowicz attended her funeral and delivered a eulogy. John Wojtowicz spent the rest of his days in New York. At one point, he even applied to work as a guard at a Chase Bank, reportedly claiming, “I’m the guy from Dog Day Afternoon, and if I’m guarding your bank, nobody’s going to rob the Dog’s bank.” They declined. He spent some of his final years on welfare before dying of cancer in 2006