Modern Rip Van Winkle...

Jan Grzebski, A comatose man woke up after being asleep for 19 years, to find that his world had changed beyond all recognition.Polish railway worker Jan Grzebski lost consciousness in 1988 after being struck by a train. He suffered horrific injuries when his head was trapped between two carriages.He didn't come out of his coma until Sunday June 3 2007 when he opened his eyes to see his devoted wife Gertruda's face looking at him. She cared for him all through his coma.Mr. Grzebski was given only about two years to live after he slipped into unconsciousness in 1988 and doctors discovered he had a tumor on his brain.But he remained in good health due to the tireless efforts of his saintly wife Gertruda. She fed and washed her husband's motionless body every day and moved him every hour to prevent bedsore infections.Jan's doctor said she had "done the job of an entire intensive care team."Her devotion was rewarded when at 65 years of age Jan came out of his coma. He told members of his family he had vague memories of family gatherings and relatives talking to him, trying to provoke a response.But he woke up to an entirely different world to the one he remembered, and a Poland that was a far cry from the bleak communist country he was used to."When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops," the wheelchair-bound Jan said. "Meat was rationed and there were huge petrol queues everywhere. Now I see people on the streets with mobile phones and there are so many goods in shops it makes my head spin"Just a year after Jan's accident, Poland shed its communist rule and the nation began its journey to becoming the westernised state it is today.TV ads and fashion are all new concepts for Jan. He is amazed at the colorful streets and the goods, and says the world is a much prettier place now.These are just some of the world events that he missed while he was sleeping:1989 - Soviet troops pull out of Afghanistan; Berlin wall comes down1990 - First digital mobile phone call1991 - First Gulf War1993 - Bill Clinton becomes US president1997 - Princess Diana dies in Paris crash2001 - September 112003 - Second Gulf War; MySpace.com launched2005 - Pope John Paul II, a fellow countryman, diesThe wife who never gave up on him said she cried and prayed a lot throughout the long and lonely coma years. "Those who came to see us kept asking, 'When is he going to die?' But he's not dead," Gertruda said.Delighted that her Ian has now rejoined the world, she added: "This is my reward for all the care, faith and love."

The Steely Shores of Sealand...

Welcome to the beaches of Sealand! Hundreds of yards of sunny beaches stretch along a beautiful coast, the breeze whispers softly while the waves lap against the shores - made of iron. Yes, Iron. Steel estate in the middle of the sea... Sealand was founded as a sovereign Principality in 1967 in international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain. The history of Sealand is a story of a struggle for liberty. Sealand was founded on the principle that any group of people dissatisfied with the oppressive laws and restrictions of existing nation states may declare independence in any place not claimed to be under the jurisdiction of another sovereign entity. The location chosen was Roughs Tower, an island fortress created in World War II by Britain and subsequently abandoned to the jurisdiction of the High Seas. The independence of Sealand was upheld in a 1968 British court decision where the judge held that Roughs Tower stood in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. This gave birth to Sealand's national motto of E Mare Libertas, or "From the Sea, Freedom".
I get a kick out of this little rebel principality... read more about its wars with Holland, trials by Brittain, and other nuggets of history on Sealand's official webpage.