Strange Plot Twists In History That Blindsided The World

The conman who duped the CIA. The World War II battle fought between two luxury liners. A missing key that helped sink the Titanic. Now, you could be forgiven for thinking all those incidents sound like far-fetched plots from an improbable Hollywood screenplay. But the truth is that they’re all attested events from actual history. Read on to learn about 20 of the most unlikely historical twists the world has ever seen.

1. Ronald Rewald cons the CIA

The late Ronald Rewald’s extraordinary story starts off in the 1960s, when he was acting as a CIA snitch at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reporting on the doings of radical students. Later, in the 1970s, he moved to Honolulu and carved out an apparently successful and lucrative career as a businessman. He secured millions from investors with promises of 20 percent returns. But it was all a lie. Rewald was running a Ponzi scheme whereby he used new investments to pay off earlier investors — while he lived the life of Riley.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain

Somehow, the resourceful Rewald managed to persuade the CIA it would be a good idea to use his crooked investment firm as a front for agent activities. Many of the operatives actually invested their cash in his nefarious scheme. Rewald even managed to get the CIA to end an IRS investigation into his business. Eventually the law caught up with the fraudster, and in 1985 he was sentenced to 80 years. But those CIA guys never got a cent of their money back.

2. A wayward teenager 

Maynard Harrison Smith was what you might call a wayward teenager — if you were being kind. Otherwise, you might describe him as an out-and-out hooligan. Youthful misdemeanors included crashing his father’s automobile into a horse-drawn carriage. And then there was the time he rode a horse — a different one, presumably — right through a drugstore. But when the U.S. joined World War II, Smith showed another side to his character. He volunteered to train as an aerial gunner.

A war hero

In 1943 he was posted to England to fly on bombing missions over Europe. On his very first mission over France, he got the chance to show what he was made of. Enemy fire ripped into Smith’s Flying Fortress, setting it ablaze. Three of the crew bailed out, leaving Smith alone in the rear of the bomber with a badly wounded fellow gunner. Fortunately the crew at the front of the aircraft remained aboard. Somehow, Smith managed to extinguish the flames and the pilot was able to land the plane in England. For his exploits, Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor. Not bad for a former delinquent.