• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Human Cork?

A

Anonymous

Guest
Does anyone out there know how Angelo Faticoni AKA 'The Human Cork' managed to perform his various flotation tricks?

I seem to remember reading somewhere that he could stay afloat in water with 20 Pounds of lead attached to his ankles for amazing amounts of time.

Cheers!
 
tbh, ive never heard of him until this post, but after some rooting about on google, i came across this :-

http://www.resologist.net/talent27.htm

New York Herald Tribune, Aug. 13, 1931 -- The Man They Could Not Drown --(3)

"Hartford, Conn., Aug. 12 -- Angelo Faticoni, known as `The Human Cork', because he could stay afloat in water for fifteen hours with twenty pounds of lead tied to his ankles, died on August 2 in Jacksonville, Fla., it became known here today. He was seventy-two years old.

"Faticoni could sleep in water, roll up into a ball, lie on his side, or assume any position asked of him. Once he was sewn into a bag and then thrown headforemost into the water, with a twenty-pound cannonball lashed to his legs. His head reappeared on the surface soon afterward, and he remained motionless in that position for eight hours. Another time he swam across the Hudson tied to a chair weighted with lead.

"Some years ago he went to Harvard to perform for the students and faculty. He had been examined by medical authorities who failed to find support for their theory that he was able to float at such great lengths by the nature of [297/298] his internal organs, which they believed were different from those of most men.

"Faticoni had often promised to reveal the secret of how he became `The Human Cork', but he never did."


(Taken from Fort's book Wild Talent btw)

...and this...

http://members.tripod.com/Dragonrest/weirdos.html#no drowning

Some years ago he went to Harvard to perform for the students and faculty. He had been examined by medical authorities who failed to find support for their theory that he was able to float at such great lenghts by the nature of his internal organs, which they believed were different from those of most men

And that's all i could find (after 15mins or so :eek: )

So, what was his secret? Perhaps he was just naturally buoyant? I dunno, but its a great story :)
 
I must admit such a capability would be useful on board the Titanic, but apart from that, why???
 
I also seem to have an interesting ability, if I lay down in the water I sink like a 20-pound cannonball. I suppose it´s cos I´m so skinny since fat floats. But kind of annoying.
 
Here's a photo of Faticoni floating.

Faticoni-HumanCork-A.jpg

 
I'm not sure whether Faticoni was the one who started the fad, but ...

Apparently multiple 'floaters' were featured in odd news of the 1930's, and there were even competitions to see who was the champion floater. Here's a newspaper article about an E. F. Kellam, who was also billed as the 'Human Cork' in 1933 (a couple of years after Faticoni's death).

Kellam-HumanCork-A.jpg

 
Back
Top