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Believe there's nothing left in nature that can surprise you? Guess again.

These 23 animals will make you think again.

1. The Klipspringer could probably jump over your house.

Have a silver dollar nearby? Hold it in your hand. Now picture a 40-pound, 3-foot-tall deer balanced delicately on it. Congratulations, you've caught a klipspringer!


A klipspringer jumping about 20% as high as it could if it really wanted to.

Native to sub-Saharan Africa, the klipspringer is a tiny ungulate with a big vertical jump. Its little legs — tipped by tiny round hooves each the size of a dime — are incredibly strong and can propel the klipspringer up to 50 feet in the air. It's the highest jumper relative to body size in the animal kingdom.

Another fun fact? Thanks to the succulent plants they eat, klipspringers never need to drink water.

2. Hummingbirds have adorable tiny bodies and disturbingly big appetites.

If you think flight makes your heart beat faster, you have nothing on the hummingbird. To stay aloft, this tiny avian wonder flaps its wings up to 3,000 times a minute — with up to 1,260 heartbeats in the same time.

Can't talk. Busy. Photo by Andrew E. Russell/Flickr.

Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism of any warm-blooded animal and need to eat 3,500 calories a day (for a human, that would be about 510 cheeseburgers a day). When resting at night, they go into a state of semi-hibernation, slowing their metabolism to 1/15th of its normal rate.

3. The hippopotamus is fast. And will bring the pain.

A full-grown hippo is the third largest land mammal in Africa, behind elephants and rhinoceroses.

OH HAI LETS HANG OUT I HAVE NO BOUNDARIES!

Their name in greek means "river horse," and if you've ever seen them swim, you can understand why.

They're also just as fast on land — running up to 11 mph over short distances — as this unlucky gentleman found out.

Because of their aggression and size, hippos are considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. But maybe they have a right to be — the International Union for the Conservation of Nature rates hippopotamuses as "vulnerable" to habitat loss and at risk of poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth.

4. The mantis shrimp can boil water. Seriously.

First things first: This shrimp is not for scampi.

Beautiful. Deadly. Delicious? Photo by David Amsler/Flickr.

Unlike a lot of other shrimp, the mantis doesn't scavenge. It prefers to hunt its prey; attacking snails, mollusks, and rock oysters with quick hits from its club and spear-like appendages. Just how quick? This quick:

Dibs!

Or, as The Oatmeal put it in an ode to the Mantis shrimp: "If human beings could accelerate their arms at 1/10th that speed, we'd be able to throw a baseball into orbit."

A mantis shrimp strike can reach speeds of 75 feet per second, so fast that they cause the water around them to boil, creating a powerful shock wave of bubbles that blasts their prey immediately after a hit. Even if the first hit somehow misses the prey, that shock wave is often enough to incapacitate or kill it.

Not surprisingly, the mantis shrimp isn't super popular among aquarium keepers due to their tendency to destroy decorative corals, eat every other living creature, and sometimes (apparently) break the glass of the tank.

5. The albatross thinks 12-hour flights are for wimps.

With a wingspan stretching more than 12 feet, the great albatross is the largest living flying bird. Their huge wings make them expert gliders. By riding updrafts and downdrafts as they fly, albatrosses can cover up to 1,000 miles in a single day — all without flapping once.

When you call something an albatross, technically it's a compliment. Photo by Protographer23/Flickr.

Albatross pairs fall in love over several years and — after several complicated mating dances — will bond for life. The female lays a single egg every year.

Perhaps the most badass albatross is a female Laysan albatross named Wisdom. Born in or around 1951, she is the oldest known wild bird in the world. Researchers first banded her in 1956 and estimate that she's flown 3 million miles since then — the equivalent of circling the globe 120 times.

There are 22 subspecies of albatross in the world, all of which are endangered or vulnerable.

6. Bonobos take "make love, not war" to a new level.

Photo by Jeroen Kransen/Flickr.

The bonobo is neither violent nor vicious, which may have you wondering how it made it on this list of badass animals in the first place. But the bonobo wouldn't be thinking about that — it'd be too busy getting busy.

The bonobo is the second-most-sexual living animal, after humans. Researcher Franz de Wall dubbed them the "make love, not war" species, after noting that they resolve almost all of their conflicts through sexual activity.

Bonobo society is a gynecocracy, with groups of females responsible for maintaining the peace. The only pairings of bonobos who do not have sex are mothers and sons. Aside from that, bonobos are sex-positive, promiscuous, and appear to form no lasting monogamous bonds. They are also highly tactile animals, kissing and holding hands, with both males and females engaging in same-sex interactions.

Between 29,500 and 50,000 bonobos remain in the wild, only in the basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are endangered, with commercial poachers posing their greatest threat.

7. The Hercules beetle could kick your butt at Crossfit.

The Hercules beetle is the rare insect that even an entomophobic can appreciate. The third-largest insect in the world, it regularly grows to six and a half inches in length, though its prominent horn-like pincers can sometimes account for more than half that length.


Photo by Udo Schmidt/Flickr.

Unlike many other insects, Hercules beetles remain in their larval stage for a year or more, growing more than four and a half inches long and weighing 3.5 ounces. Researchers previously thought a Hercules beetle could carry up to 850 times its weight on its shell but have since adjusted that figure down to 150 times. Which is still pretty awesome.

By comparison: The strongest human, Paul Anderson, once lifted 6,270 pounds, or 17x his weight.

Hercules beetles are generally very peaceful herbivores and only fight other Hercules beetles during mating season.

8. The Pacific salmon has a built-in GPS.

Whoever coined the phrase "you can never go home again" clearly never met a Pacific salmon. Every year, millions of Pacific salmon leave the ocean and migrate up rivers and streams to spawn and die.

During their journey, Pacific salmon swim against powerful currents, hurl themselves up and over river rapids, evade wolves, birds, and even hungry grizzly bears before reaching the same spawning grounds where they were born a few years before. And they do it all based on their memory of what that stream smelled like when they swam in it as tiny fry.

Pacific salmon are a keystone species that feed otters, seals, eagles, wolves and bears. Researchers estimate that bears leave about half of the salmon they eat on the forest floor, where the carcass deposits life-giving nitrogen to help trees and plants grow.

Salmon are at great risk of habitat encroachment by industrial development, pollution, and overfishing. And yet there's still hope. A local citizens group in Burnaby, Canada, spent the past few years remediating Still Creek — a salmon-bearing stream in an industrial area that had not seen salmon for 80 years. And in 2013, the salmon returned for the first time.

9. The cold never bothers the wood frog. He just freezes solid in it.

In many ways, the wood frog is just your average amphibian. He's relatively small, likes to eat bugs, and has an excellent long jump. But there's one thing that makes him extremely unique, and it's how he handles cold weather.

He freezes solid.

No, really. Solid.

Please don't use me in your cocktails. I'm a wood frog, not an ice cube. Photo by Dave Huth/Flickr.

There are two reasons wood frogs can freeze and thaw and still live. First, they stuff their cells full of glucose and urea so that only a few ice crystals can form inside. Then they burrow under leaves and wait for the cold. When a wood frog touches an ice crystal, its skin freezes first, then its blood. As long as no more than 65% of the water in its body freezes during the winter, a wood frog will wake up in the spring ready to go.

10. The octopus can escape from things we haven't even thought up yet.

There are a number of reasons the octopus might land on a list of badass animals. It has jet propulsion, amazing camouflage, ink-jet self defense, and powerful sucker-studded limbs. But above all, the octopus is exceptionally intelligent — perhaps the most of all the known invertebrates.

Photo by NOAA Ocean Explorer/Flickr.

In research environments, octopuses can navigate mazes and solve puzzles with relative ease. They are famed for figuring out complicated locks and escaping enclosures. Like, for example, a jar:


Is your brain telling you to panic right now? Mine too.

In the wild they've been known to sneak aboard fishing boats and eat crabs in the hold. Oh, and they can use tools! Like this octopus toddling off with a pair coconut shells to construct a shelter.

Certain countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the European Union, have banned surgical research on octopuses and cephalopods without anesthetic, citing the animals' superior intellect.

11. The atlas moth isn't a pair of snakes, it just really really looks like it.

With a wingspan stretching nearly 10 inches, the atlas moth is one of the three largest insects in the world. It takes its name from three possible origins:

  • Atlas, the Greek titan who holds the world across his back.
  • The map-like patterns across its wings.
  • Or the Cantonese name "snakes head moth," which pays tribute to the details on its wingtips that make the moth look like it is two snakes intertwined in a tree. It's more than just a pretty pose; this also helps the atlas moth escape birds, who will see the wing tips and think a snake is about to eat them!

Gigantic nightmare moth with snakes for wings? Sign me up. Photo by Alias 0591/Flickr.

A lot of websites report that Taiwanese women use atlas moth cocoons as purses, but we couldn't find any photographic proof. Have you seen one? Let us know!

12. The giant squid is the size of a bus and lives in your nightmares.

Found in the deep sea worldwide, this massive cephalopod can grow to lengths up to 43 feet for females and 33 feet for males.

Nope. NOPE. NOOOOPE.

Like their genetic neighbor the Humboldt squid, giant squid are predatory, feasting on deep sea fish and other squids. To capture its prey, the giant squid reaches out with two of its six suction-studded tentacles. Each sucker is surrounded with sharp bone-like serrations, allowing it to grab hold and dig into the flesh of its target.

Once they grab hold, the giant squid uses its tentacles to pull the prey into its sharp beak, where more tiny serrations on its tongue shred anything left to bits.

Giant squid are so large that their only known predators are sperm or pilot whales. They're also totally terrifying to see underwater, particularly when they come at your camera.

13. The immortal jellyfish thinks your "YOLO" tattoo is adorable.

Some animals can regrow limbs. Others heal extremely quickly. But only one animal can never die.

I don't think you are ready for this jelly. Photo by Alexander Vasenin/Wikimedia Commons.

The immortal jellyfish is the only known creature to revert back to a youthful state after reaching full sexual maturity. Starting life as a tiny blob, the creature grows into a polyp colony, then into the full life cycle of a jellyfish, then back into a polyp colony. It does this over and over and over again, making it (as one researcher says) "biologically immortal."

The immortal aspects of this jellyfish were only discovered in the mid-1990s, so there's a lot still to be learned from it. But if researchers ever figure out how to make humans live forever, we might owe some of that to this little guy. Give him a high-tentacle next time you hang out.

14. The Tasmanian devil can bite through a bowling ball.

Pound for pound, the Tasmanian devil is one of the meanest, toughest mammals on the planet. It lives only on the island of Tasmania, south of Australia, which is probably for the best because this fella is lethal.

The cartoons about me were not a lie. Photo by S J Bennett/Flickr.

Honestly, it is. The Tasmanian devil likes to hunt at night and is capable of climbing trees, swimming across rivers, and running 17 miles per hour for 60 minutes straight. Once it has its prey within reach — watch out. The devil has a bite strength of more than 1,200 pounds per square inch — the same as a grizzly bear.

Devils have a voracious appetite, eating everything from roadkill to wombats to small kangaroos to swimming rats to discarded shoes.

Unfortunately, Tasmanian devils are now classified as endangered after a rare facial cancer wiped out tens of thousands of devils in the past several years.

15. The superb bird of paradise can beat you in a dance-off.

If the aptly named superb bird of paradise could sing, he'd be the avian equivalent of Justin Timberlake. After all, he's already got the best dance moves around.

This badass tropical bird lives only in the rainforests of New Guinea. In the species, males greatly outnumber females, to the point where a female superb bird of paradise will reject between 15 to 20 male suitors before selecting a worthy mate. So, what's a male bird got to do to stand out?

THIS:


Hola, mi mujer. ¿Vamos a hacer el baile del amor?

During mating season, male superb birds of paradise will select a dance floor (sometimes even cleaning it with leaves before a female arrives), then call out for a potential partner.

When she arrives, he'll dance up on her, plumage on fleek, until she either gives in to the moment or flies away.

16. Hey "Hunger Games" fans, the lyrebird is an IRL mockingjay.

The lyrebird has an incredible gift for imitating the sounds it hears in the forest, both from animals and humans. Check out this incredible video where David Attenborough watches a lyrebird imitate a kookaburra, two different types of camera shutters, a car alarm, and a chainsaw. You might not believe your ears.

Photo by Sean Kelleher/Flickr.

Amazing, right? But there's more. Here's another lyrebird who has learned to imitate the sounds of children's video games, among other sounds.

The odds are ever in your favor if you want to see and hear a lyrebird in the wild: They're found throughout Australia and Tasmania.

17. The clownfish takes its birth gender as a light suggestion.

For most of us, our knowledge of the clownfish is pretty much limited to what we picked up from watching "Finding Nemo." But the reality of these little tropical anemone-dwellers is quite different than what Pixar showed us and significantly more awesome.

Not funny clownfish is not funny. Photo by Per Edin/Flickr.

For one thing, clownfish are what you might call in fancy science terms, "sequential hermaphrodites." They'll develop first as females and then into males. A female clownfish is the head of a colony, which will usually have a few juvenile males in it along with one adult male breeding partner. Should the female disappear or leave the colony (say for barracuda-related reasons), the male breeding partner would reverse gender and become a female. The next eldest juvenile male would grow up quickly and take his place.

Gender fluidity and immunity to sea anemone venom? That's a pretty badass little fish (even if he can't really tell a joke).

18. The Galapagos tortoise will outlive your great-great grandchildren.

There are very few animals who've remained relatively unchanged for millennia. The Galapagos tortoise is one of them. These giant, lumbering ancient beasts can live well over 100 years and up to 225 years in captivity.

Early biologists discovered 15 subspecies of Galapagos tortoise, of which 10 remain. The differences between the species — particularly those between tortoises living in highlands versus lowland regions — were part of what sparked Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

I woke up like this. Photo by putneymark/Flickr.

One very famous tortoise, Lonesome George, lived in the Galapagos for more than 150 years before he passed away in 2012. George was famous for many reasons, the greatest being his reluctance to take a mate. His death marked the extinction of his subspecies (abingdonii).

While there are an estimated 19,000 tortoises worldwide, the species is still considered vulnerable.

19. The tarsier is a bug-eyed, branch-hopping bringer of death.

Believe it or not, this odd little creature is a primate —and the only exclusively carnivorous one in the entire order.

Come at me, bro. Photo by Bernard DuPont/Flickr.

Found only in Southeast Asia, tarsiers are known for their nocturnal habits, their long legs, and their gigantic eyes. Those eyes are almost the same size as the tarsier's brain, giving them incredible night vision for hunting their favorite prey: insects (though they'll also eat birds, snakes, lizards, and bats). Those giant eyes don't move in their sockets, though, so to see anything that isn't directly in front of it, the tarsier must swivel its head about 180 degrees.

Once it sees potential prey, the tarsier can jump 40x their body length from branch to branch to catch it. This is for the best since the combination of its long skinny back legs and smaller front legs means it cannot walk on land or dance a jig.

20. The leafy sea dragon's fashionable camouflage could make the cover of undersea Vogue.

With their beautiful feathery plumage, it's easy to mistake a leafy sea dragon for a piece of Australian kelp or seaweed.

I can't kelp that I look this good. Photo by VirtualWolf/Flickr.

These expertly camouflaged sea dragons are genetic cousins of sea horses. And like seahorses, the males raise the babies. After fertilization, male leafy sea dragons incubate eggs for four to six weeks, carrying them on a sponge-like "brood patch" on the underside of their tail.

In the 1980s, taking home sea dragons as pets became popular with divers. By 1990, population levels were so low that the Australian government instated full protection for the species. Numbers have recovered, but leafy sea dragons are still listed as near threatened.

21. Meerkats use teamwork — and venom immunity — to defend their manor.

How you like me now, Kalahari scorpion? Photo by Trisha Shears/Flickr.

We know what you're thinking: How can anything that cute possibly be badass?

But the meerkat is pretty incredible. They're devoted team players, living and working together with family and friends.

They're extremely vocal and use clicks and purrs to communicate while hunting. They have six distinct calls to warn each other about possible dangers. They live in the Kalahari desert, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. And unlike humans, they're immune to the venom of Kalahari scorpions. So jealous.

22. The platypus is an adorable venomous abomination.

With a duck bill, webbed feet, furry body, and beaver tail, the platypus looks like the Mr. Potato Head of mammals. Seriously, look at this little weirdo:

Don't let its seemingly contradictory appearance fool you, though. The platypus is venomous!

Twins attempting to not stab you with venom. Photo by Torsten Blackwood AFP/Getty Images.

When threatened, a male platypus secretes venom from a gland connected to spurs on its back feet. This venom isn't strong enough to kill a human, but it can cause excruciating pain and severe swelling to those unfortunate enough to be caught behind an angry platypus during mating season.

23. The narwhal is the unicorn of the sea.

The narwhal only has two teeth, but what it lacks in tooth quantity, it makes up for in quality.

As it matures, a male narwhal's canine tooth will grow through its upper lip into a giant spiral ivory tusk 9 or 10 feet long. The tusk is incredibly sensitive with up to 10 million nerve endings inside. Its true purpose is not certain — initially researchers believed the tusk was a weapon, others thought it had navigational functions, and others believe it is used for mating rituals or battles with other potential suitors.

A group of narwhals reminisce about that one time they tricked Ahab's Moby-Dick crew into thinking unicorns were real. Photo by Glenn Williams/Wikimedia Commons.

The narwhal is mentioned throughout classical literature — including Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" and Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick."

The two greatest risks to narwhal populations are pretty depressing: suffocation under shifting sea ice or starvation. About 80,000 narwhals live in the wild, and the species is considered near threatened.

These animals are undeniably awesome.

But there's one opposite-of-badass quality a lot of them have in common. Seven of them are considered endangered, vulnerable, or threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. If you're interested in learning more about helping at-risk animals, visit their website.

Oh, and if you could share this, that'd be awesome.

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5 ways people are going "All In" this week

From the silly to the sentimental, there are so many ways people like to go “all in” on something. Here are our five favorite examples this week.

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When you hear the words “all in,” what do you think? You might picture a color-coordinated, fairy-themed surprise proposal that took months to create, or maybe you think of a singer who went on stage and nailed the perfect high note in front of everyone (like this girl). Whatever you picture, the idea is the same: Going “all in” means doing something with total commitment—literally giving it your “all” and going completely over the top. No second guessing, no holding back—just full-throttle enthusiasm with some creativity and flair thrown in. That’s how we get those viral internet moments we can’t stop watching.

When people decide to go “all in,” something special usually happens as a result, and we’re here to show you how. This week, we’ve found the very best examples of people going “all in” across the Internet—moments where passion, creativity, and commitment take center stage. Follow along and feel inspired.

Hamilton superfans 

@itz.unique POV: You seen Hamilton the first night in theaters #hamiltonmusical #fyp #relatable #hamilton ♬ original sound - Uniii 😜

You already know we love a good Hamilton reenactment. This past weekend, though, Hamilton fans took their love for the musical to a whole other level. As theatres released the filmed stage production in honor of the musical’s tenth anniversary on Broadway, theatre kids everywhere showed up in costume and belted out every single word (it’s okay to sing in the theatre this time, by the way! Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda totally said we could). Some theatres sang along quietly, some chimed in loudly at the emotional parts, and some theatres truly went all in, staging elaborate reproductions of the scenes in the aisles, in time with the music. A bunch of theatre kids totally nerding out together, having fun, and celebrating good art? We love to see it.

Everyone's love of Pumpkin Spice Lattes

@deangelodbyrd It’s hereeee 😂🍂 #pumpkinspicelatte #fall2025 #funnyvideo #silly #funnydance @Starbucks ♬ original sound - DeAngelo

You know it's fall when you start seeing those plastic cups everywhere. That's right—it's Pumpkin Spice Latte season. Everyone is drinking them. Everyone is posting about them. Everyone is figuring out the perfect PSL pairing, whether that's pumpkin spice matcha lattes or just drinking a PSL curled up on the couch watching some spooky movies. (How about all of the above?)

Here's our recommendation: Pumpkin spice lattes pair perfectly with All In snack bars—specifically the Madagascar Vanilla + Almond option. It's got honey, it's got pumpkin seeds, and it's even got tons of fiber so you're getting some nutrition along with all the deliciousness. Don't take our word for it, though: Click here to try it yourself (for free).

This rendition of the Happy Birthday song

@kamoramakaylee Happy 84th birthday to our dad #tbt ♬ original sound - Kamora

There’s singing the Happy Birthday song, and then there’s singing the Happy Birthday song. This group of sisters did the latter. For their father’s birthday, they presented him with a cake (aww) and then launched into an embellished musical production of the last two lines that would put Whitney Houston to shame. The girls truly went all in, but perhaps the best part of this entire video is their dad,sitting wide-eyed at the table and gritting his teeth until the performance is over. (“He’s fine,” someone said in the comments section. “He lost his hearing ten birthdays ago.”)

Llama costumes

@kristeninmn Some of the costumes from the Minnesota State Fair’s 4-H Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest! #minnesotastatefair #mnstatefair #exploremn #onlyinmn #stpaulminnesota ♬ Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra

Every year at the Minnesota State Fair, the 4-H Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest steals the show. In it, participants dress their llamas in wildly imaginative costumes—everything from a sea anemone to a bucket of popcorn to Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story—and transform the livestock barn into a whimsical runway. Every glittery cape, hand-painted prop, or themed outfit is a testament to their creativity, their time and effort, and most importantly their love for animals. All of it is on full display and it’s seriously impressive work. You can tell when it comes to their animals (and creativity), Minnesotans don’t hold back.

This dog who's totally faking it. 

@binkythechichi2

The king of drama

♬ original sound - cass

Okay, you have to give this guy some respect—he really doesn’t want his owner to go to work and he’s found an absolutely genius way of showing it. As soon as her alarm goes off in the morning, TikTok creator Cassidy Butler shared that her chihuahua Binky runs to the front door and actually starts faking injuries to get her to stay home with him (and sometimes, she admits, it works). Binky is absolutely committed, holding up his paw as though it were injured, plus shivering and even squinting one eye to show just how injured he is. He’s almost perfectly convincing—until Cassidy offers to take him outside to play and he momentarily breaks character. Oops! Still, we respect his dedication to the craft.

Snag your free (!!) snack bars here while this deal lasts. Just pick up a box at Sprouts and text a pic of your receipt to get it for free. Enoy!

A dad got a sweet note from a fellow father after camping with his kids.

There are a lot of challenging things about being a parent; take your pick. The sleep deprivation, the overwhelming responsibility, the lack of free time. But truly, one of the hardest parts of being a parent is never being sure whether you're doing a good job or totally bombing it. If you're conscientious enough to even wonder if you're a good parent, you probably are, but parenting entails a million little choices and interactions, and there's always a lingering voice in your head saying, "What if you're really screwing this whole thing up?"

Reassurance and encouragement are always appreciated by parents, but not always received, which is why a note from one camping dad to another has people celebrating the kindness of anonymous strangers.

"You are killing it as a dad."

Someone on Yosemite Reddit thread shared a photo of a handwritten note with the caption, "To the man who left this thoughtful note on my windshield at Lower Pines Campground this weekend, I extend my heartfelt gratitude; your acknowledgment of my efforts to be a good father means a great deal to me."

The note reads:

"Bro,

I camped in the spot behind you last night. Let me just say, you are killing it as a dad. First off, I watched your wife guide you in as you backed up your trailer and nailed it on the first try without any yelling. Then your kids unloaded from the truck and were mild-mannered and well behaved. You told stories around the campfire and I had the pleasure of listening to the sounds of giggles and laughter.

From one dad to another, you are killing it. Keep it up.

P.S. Whatever you cooked for dinner smelled delicious!"

How often do we share these thoughts with strangers, even if we have them? And who wouldn't love to get a surprise bit of praise with specific examples of things we did right?

Everyone needs to hear a compliment once in a while.

dads, giving men compliments, fatherhood, camping, camping with kids A handwritten note with the words "good job!" on itPhoto credit: Canva

So many people found the note to be a breath of fresh air and a good reminder to compliment people when we feel the urge:

"That would make any daddy's eyes water."

"It’s always nice, as a guy, to get a compliment."

"I complimented a guy's glasses at work (I'm also a guy, and btw they were really cool glasses, I wasn't just being nice) and now he keeps trying to tell me where he got his glasses and how I should get some. But I'm just having to be polite because I already have glasses and I'm not in the market. I finally had to tell him I'm not going to buy them lmao I just like them on him.

Made me feel like that's the first compliment he's had in years because he can't stop talking about it. Also I mainly liked the glasses because I think he's cute but he really thinks it's just the glasses haha jokes on him that cute bastard.""I was in the store with my wife and one of our 'adopted nephews' yesterday (we’re close friends with his parents and we’ve known him and his brother since they were newborns and 2yo, respectively). A woman came up to me at checkout while my wife was running out to the car and said 'I’m not sure what your family relationship is here, but I just have to tell you how nice and refreshing it is to hear all the laughter and joy from the 3 of you. You both seem like such a good influence on him and it warms my heart.' It’s such a small thing but as a dude, I can’t remember the last time someone gave me a compliment in public and it made my freaking day."

"10/10 letter. The and not yelling part gave me a good chuckle lol."

"We need so much more of men getting such heartfelt and sincere compliments. Thanks for sharing. ❤️"

dads, giving men compliments, fatherhood, camping, camping with kids A man smilingPhoto credit: Canva

"I’ve never considered leaving a note, but when I see a harmonious family with good parenting, it’s healing for me. My childhood was awful."

"Such an awesome compliment! Even though I don't have children myself, I like to remind my friends too that they're doing great & it brings them happy tears."

"This made me cry. I love that you are getting your 'flowers.' My dad sucked, I’m so glad you are one of the good ones."

"This made me cry too. It’s so hard to be a human. Let alone a parent. Getting a good job sticker every now and then really means a lot these days."

"I'm a big bearded guy and I would cry if I got this note. More people like this, please."

The best part of this story is that no one knows who the dad who wrote the note is, not even the dad who shared it. It wasn't written for clout or notoriety, it wasn't to get attention or make himself look good. No name or signature, just an anonymous act of kindness to uplift a stranger whether he needed it or not.

dads, giving men compliments, fatherhood, camping, camping with kids A dad with his kid on his shouldersPhoto credit: Canva

We all need to hear or read kind things said about us, and sometimes it means even more coming from an anonymous stranger who has nothing to gain by sharing. A good reminder to share it when you feel it—you never know how many people you may move and inspire.

This article originally appeared last year.

Sandra visiting E’s family in Georgia (2023)

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Levi Strauss Foundation

Sandra McAnany isn’t one to sit on the sidelines. A 58-year-old grandmother from Wisconsin, McAnany spends her days teaching soft skills classes to adults and spending time with her family. Outside the classroom, however, she’s taken on a role that’s helping people in a big way: serving as a humanitarian parole sponsor and personally taking on the financial responsibility of supporting families fleeing from persecution, violence, and instability.

Since 2023, McAnany has welcomed 17 migrants—11 adults and six children through the CHNV humanitarian parole program, which allows individuals and families from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live and work temporarily in the United States with the support of an approved sponsor.

“Everyone has their own views and perspectives, but every person I sponsored is thriving and doing well here,” McAnany said.

McAnany didn’t know any of the parolees before sponsoring them, but she had a commitment to helping families from Venezuela specifically, hoping to reunite them with their families who were already living in the United States. After “praying a lot along the way” and communicating with the applicants through WhatsApp, she decided to apply as a sponsor and help them settle into the United States.

“I have a bedroom and a bathroom in my basement,” McAnany says. “My door is open and will always be open for any of the people I sponsored, if they ever have a need for housing.”

Sandra’s granddaughter, E’s daughter, and another friend at an indoor park (July 2025)

At the time, McAnany decided to volunteer as a sponsor to make friends and help other people through hardship. Now, her mission has grown: Seeing how humanitarian parole programs have changed her parole beneficiaries’ lives—as well as her own—for the better.

Humanitarian parole: A long history

Humanitarian parole programs are nothing new. Since 1952, both Democratic and Republican administrations have used humanitarian parole to provide a safer, lawful pathway for noncitizens to enter and live temporarily in the United States. In recent years, through different programs, people from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, and other countries have been able to come to the U.S. to escape urgent crises in their own countries, such as political instability or war.

Coming to the United States through humanitarian parole is no easy feat. The process has its own strict criteria and involves extensive applications and vetting for both beneficiaries and their sponsors. Parolees don’t need to qualify for any other immigration benefit like asylum, but they need to meet the standard for humanitarian parole and successfully pass vetting requirements.

According to Refugees International, 532,000 people have been granted parole through the CHNV program.

A life-changing experience

From the moment she met her first parole beneficiaries at the airport—two families —McAnany already knew it would be a life-changing experience. “It immediately felt like family, like we were lifelong friends,” she said. But she could also sense that it was a culture shock for the parolees. On the way home from the airport, McAnany pulled into a nearby McDonald's and encouraged them to order dinner. Hearing the word “Big Mac,” the families smiled in recognition.

Despite the culture shock, McAnany’s parole beneficiaries had to adapt quickly to life in the United States. Once they were settled, McAnany worked “nonstop” to help the families acclimate to their new lives, answering questions about school and vaccinations while also helping them create resumes, search for jobs, and find English classes online.

It was through this process that McAnany realized just how resilient people could be, and was amazed “not only how hard it was for individuals to leave their loved ones behind, but the amount of work they did to come to the country and remain here.” McAnany also realized how fortunate she was to have her own family living nearby. “I can’t imagine any one of us leaving a country and being apart for an unknown length of time,” she said.

Eventually, and as circumstances changed—one of the parolees found a new job in another city, for example, and was able to move out. But no matter the length of time they spent with each other, McAnany says that with every parolee they formed a bond built for life. One woman, who she refers to as ‘E,’ has even become “like an adopted daughter.” McAnany has traveled to Georgia, where E now lives, three times to visit her.

Uncertain ground: What’s next for humanitarian parole programs

Despite being a critical part of immigration policy in the United States for the last 73 years, humanitarian parole programs are under threat. Immigrant justice nonprofits Justice Action Center and Human Rights First are currently suing the federal government to protect humanitarian parole programs and allow parole beneficiaries to remain in the country for the duration of their parole. McAnany is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

One of the ladies Sandra sponsored from Venezuela and her partner during Sandra’s first visit to meet her (December 2023)

Participating in the lawsuit has only further bolstered McAnany’s belief in and support for humanitarian parole programs. She hopes the lawsuit will be successful, she says, so that parole beneficiaries and their families can finally have some stability.

“We don’t know what the future is,” she says, “but I want to be optimistic and hopeful that every person I sponsored will be able to stay here safely in the U.S. and continue to thrive.”

This article is part of Upworthy’s “The Threads Between U.S.” series that highlights what we have in common thanks to the generous support from the Levi Strauss Foundation, whose grantmaking is committed to creating a culture of belonging.


Pop Culture

Homeowners share the surprise 'hidden gems' they discovered after they bought their house

From the beautiful to the bizarre, people were not expecting these when they moved in.

Even when you check every nook and cranny, there tends to be something that goes unnoticed.

Buying a home is a milestone that often comes with many surprise discoveries that happen long after you sign on the dotted line. And while that sometimes includes unpleasant discoveries (like pests, foundational damage, or even unsettling left behind items), there are just as many stories about people being completely delighted by treasures they had no idea their home tucked away.

One Redditor asked people to share the hidden gems they discovered after moving into their homes, and the responses turned into a really fun and fascinating read.

Whether you’re a chronic renter looking to live vicariously or a fellow homeowner, this thread is sure to have something for everyone. Keep scrolling.

Old-timey relics

“I found the original owner's wedding rings... the mother died in childbirth in 1928. The dad died in an accident in 1932. We bought the house from the daughter, who was in a nursing home, in 2001. She had been raised by an aunt and had never been back to the house. I sent her the rings and a bunch of photos. She was ecstatic to receive them. She died and left me as her sole heir... it was only like 10k, but super nice. Plus, I got the rings back…”

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit two vintage rings Photo credit: Canva

“A large mason jar filled with a bunch of old silver coins…Ended up contacting the selling realtor and shipping it to him. Months later I got a check for the shipping price and a 1940 mercury dime that I’ve been using as a golf ball marker ever since.”

“Newspapers from 1928 underneath the tile/vinyl/rubber floors. They have advertisements for coal and ice and Vaudeville shows with blackface characters, Calvin Coolidge shooting a shotgun on the front page, and the big sports story was 2 completed forward passes in a football game.”

“I was taking apart one of the old out buildings to turn it into a little studio. On the back side of the wall panel there was a huge hand painted sign for some old timey snake oil cure all remedy. I’m going to see if I can get it restored and put it in the studio as art.”

“A 200 year old wheelchair, a Victorian ladies side saddle and complete bridal set, a hand sewn straw stuffed teddy bear from the Roosevelt era, a regulation sized carom table from 1850 and an organ built by a famous Detroit music instrument manufacturer from the 19'aughts.”

Unexpected upgrades

“In-floor heating. The previous owner didn't know it existed. Worked great.”

“A laundry chute. A door in the bathroom and another in the kitchen, it ends up next to the washing machine in the basement.”

“A working sauna-- like a walk-in two bench dry sauna with a spray-rock setup. Somehow during the three walk-throughs, we assumed it was a linen closet.”

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit A welcoming outdoor saunaPhoto credit: Canva

“A cupboard that wasn’t packed. Had a fry daddy, various teas, a French press and $50 in an envelope.”

“The whole house is made of concrete. From the foundation, to the reinforced concrete walls up to the ceiling. Then if that wasn’t enough, there’s massive concrete pillars and railways metal beams reinforcing everything. This is for a bungalow home that is ~1400sq ft. Inspector said we could take the roof off and add a whole level without requiring additional support.”

“All the doors in my condo were white flat/slab doors…They ended up being solid wood doors…with a mahogany veneer and a beautiful inlay…They are gorgeous [and] are definitely original to the 1922 building!”

“I had to do some work on the upstairs plumbing that required cutting into my ceiling downstairs. I was shocked to find that the ceilings had been dropped by almost 2.5’. I have 12’ ceilings!”

“Upstairs laundry room (and it has a window and storage closet!), right next to all of the bedrooms. It wasn’t mentioned or pictured in the listing, but it was a huge selling point for me. I used to have to go down two flights of stairs carrying a heavy hamper in order to do laundry in the dark garage next to spiders and stuff 😬 our movers weren’t happy that they had to bring our washer and dryer upstairs, but I’m thrilled 😅😆”

“Our toilet leaked so we repaired it and ripped out the living room carpet it had leaked to. Found beautiful red oak floor that we had sanded and stained, looks great. Found the same in the bedroom too covered up with boring carpet.”

Cold Hard Cash

“My brother found a few $50s in a light fixture shortly after he moved in after the bulb blew. He decided to look at the other fixtures… found $750 or so hidden around.”

“Just found $2500 in a bag underneath my bathtub when I removed it! Elderly ex-owners are great.”

“ $200 hidden in the freezer door.”

“Bought a nice sized piece of property with a rickety cabin on it…Inside an open safe welded to a steel plate bolted to the floor and framed with cement was about 50 ounces of gold and approximately $30,000 in cash. Each gold bar and round had a 💛 stamped in it.”

Gorgeous nature views that somehow went unlisted

“The area behind our house was just brush and not very impressive. But the city ended up buying it and re-wilding it. For the first five years, they just let it grow and then they did a controlled burn and now we have a forest with walking path behind our house 10 years later. And every June for the whole month, it’s full of fresh wild raspberries. We have a herd of deer, a fox, ground squirrels, squirrels, hawks, eagles, wild pheasants, and hundreds of rabbits. It was like winning the lottery.”

“A strawberry patch in the back yard. We bought the house in the winter so we didn’t discover it until the spring. We have enjoyed it ever since.”

“A biiiiiiiiiiiig wild rose bush growing at the far end of the property. It's so beautiful and fragrant in the spring.”

“We purchased a house that had fabulous views of the Chesapeake Bay...water view wasn't mentioned in the listing. “

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit A window overlooking a beautiful viewPhoto credit: Canva

“The home was a gorgeous mid-century perched high on a hill. We walked inside and thick heavy curtains blocked a wall of windows that lined the rear of the home. We opened the curtains and realized the home had panoramic views from the mountains to the ocean. Absolutely ZERO mention of the views at all (I even saved the listing because we were so shocked). We made an offer immediately. “

“An incredible mountain view- we toured and purchased our home in the winter in Oregon, so primarily overcast/grey weather that time of year. The first sunny, clear day, we look out our back window and BAM, clear shot of Mt. Saint Helens. Was an incredibly pleasant surprise considering there was no mention of the view in the listing.”

“A giant apple tree in the back yard. We knew about it when we bought the house, but we had no idea how productive it would be. I bought a fruit press, and I put away up to 10 gallons of cider every summer.”

Hidden Art

“Two huge aboriginal art paintings in the roof were discovered when having solar panels installed. We had to smash the garage ceiling to get them out but it was worth it.”

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit Aboriginal art i.imgur.com

“When we first toured the house, the walls were full of paintings - the seller's late husband was a prolific amateur artist. A few months after we moved in, we discovered a rolled-up canvas in our bedroom closet, which, upon unrolling we also discovered ... a topless portrait of the seller.”

Surprise Pets

“The former owners were moving across the country. They wound up leaving me most of their furniture and their [10 year old] cat (with my consent, of course) Nice furniture and the best cat ever!”

“When I was a kid we moved into a house (rental) that came with TWO amazing cats!!! They had been straight abandoned by the previous tenants, and were pretty thin and bedraggled when we moved in. When we had to move out of that house, the boy would wander around howling in anguish and pawing at the boxes. We realized he remembered his previous owners packing their stuff in boxes before abandoning him. When we packed him in the car and took him to the new place he purred the whole time. We let him down in the new house, and he pranced around for days, flopping over at every possible moment, and rubbing himself on all the walls. So happy.”

“Our house, unknowingly, came with a turkey. . . who showed up the day after we moved in and would randomly poop on our deck. We named him Levi, after our realtor who helped us buy the house.”

Secret rooms…just like in the movies!

“Found a secret room behind a bookshelf, like something outta a spy movie. Turns out, it's a perfect hideaway for all my junk.”

“This happened to my cousin! A bookshelf in their 1920s home swung out to reveal storage under the stairs. They found a cheap sci-fi book from the 80s, a flashlight, and a snack wrapper in there.“

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit A bookcase door leading to a secret roomPhoto credit: Canva

Heartwarming sings from the universe

“When my wife and I bought our forever home, I kept finding railway spikes every time I would drag the gravel driveway. My great-grandfather on my dad's side used to own a logging business just a few miles from here. Did some digging into it and found that all of the logs in my log home came from his business in the 60's. It's kind of nice to think that this home was meant to be mine.”

“In college, I rented an off-campus house. On move-in day I was walking around with my landlord when we opened a closet door to see a bunch of my dad’s friends' names scratched into the wall - It had been their house about 30 years prior! Was awesome having them come visit and tell us all their old college stories, more of a fun coincidence than a gem, but it was so crazy to find.””

…and just some really weird stuff…

“Basement wall folded down into a tabletop train setup.”

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit A Murphy bed that hid a model train setup i.imgur.com

home buying, first time homebuyer, homebuying tips, buying a home, realtor, real estate, ask reddit A Murphy bed that hid a model train setup i.imgur.com

“Not necessarily a gem....but we've found close to about 50 pairs of scissors randomly in our backyard. All different types and sizes. Very odd.”

“A creepy mural painted on a front room wall that was invisible at first glance because it was painted in that UV fluorescent paint…It was a bunch of eyes, snakes, and triangles… The eyes were the creepiest part.”

Treasures that brought smiles

“A Walmart employee of the month award. Go Janice!”

“The previous owner of our house was the daughter of a super high profile attorney, she was a high level exec of a bank, so they had eff you money. She left behind a mini fridge completely stuffed with brand new, unopened, high end cosmetics—serums, lotions, makeup, hair products, supplements, the works. That felt like a major score.”

“Literally found a gem: a diamond stud earring that I heard clinking around inside our vacuum cleaner while I was cleaning our basement a few weeks after we moved in. It was bigger than the diamond engagement ring I originally gave my wife 2 years earlier. She added the new diamond to her existing ring.”

And for some, the gems came in the form of people…

“The hidden gem was our neighbors. 2 other young families bought just after us and we are all great friends. Our other neighbour is an elderly lady. It makes such a difference having nice neighbors.”

Culture

A hundred years ago, everyone wore hats. In 1960, they suddenly stopped. Here's why.

Old footage from the '50s shows men, women, and children wearing hats everywhere they go.

When did everyone stop wearing hats?

It was everywhere. Men, women, and even children did it every time they left the house. If you see old newsreel footage of men in the office or on commuter trains from the advent of the motion picture camera to the early ‘60s, nearly everyone is wearing a hat. Hats were just as common for women in that era. For a woman to go out without a hat in the first half of the 20th century was akin to going out without clothes.

The funny thing is that everyone’s headgear is so similar in the old-timey footage that it makes previous generations look like big-time conformists. Then, in the early ‘60s, everything changed, and men and women started to go out in public with their hair exposed. Why did such a big aspect of fashion seem to change overnight?

Warmbru Curiosity investigated the question recently in a popular YouTube video. Warmbru’s channel is a lighthearted look at some of the more unusual people and events from our history and how they have influenced the world in which we live.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Why did people stop wearing hats?

Warmbru says fashion changed dramatically after World War II, when people in developed countries began to care less about expressing their social status. “This was especially true among the younger generation the rise of youth culture in the 1950s and 1960s emphasized rebellion against traditional norms, including formal dress codes,” the YouTuber says.

Mad Men, Don Draper, Jon Hamm, hats, mens fashion, men's hats, 1950s Don Draper from AMC's "Mad Men" Image via "Mad Men" AMC

Another big reason for the change in fashion was technology. Cars became the preferred mode of transportation for many after World War II and indoor environments became more hospitable. “People spent far less time exposed to the elements as people increasingly moved to urban areas and started using cars,” Warmbru says. “The practicality of wearing hats diminishes. Hats can be cumbersome in cars and on public transport, improvements in heating and air conditioning reduce the need for hats to provide warmth.”

Warmbru adds that President John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, rarely wore a hat and his decision to go bareheaded became associated with modernity. Further, in 1963, the mop-topped Beatles proudly flaunted their hatless heads as they shook them while singing, “Wooooo.” Hat-wearing among women began to decline around the same time as the restrictive and complex headgear clashed with the burgeoning women’s liberation movement.

Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, hats, men, men's fashion, 1960's, 1950's John F. Kennedy with his family Image via Wikicommons

The decline in hat purchases meant that manufacturers closed and the headgear became harder to come by. This reduced availability further contributed to the decline in hat-wearing. As fewer people wore hats, there became a greater demand for high-quality hair products and services. “Why spend a fortune at the hairdressers or the barbers just to cover the end result with a hat?” Warmbru asks.

Ultimately, there were many reasons why people stopped wearing hats. It appears that it was a combination of technology, influential people such as Kennedy and The Beatles, and the overwhelming mood of change that swept most of the Western world in the 1960s. But if one thing is true about fashion, it goes in cycles. So, it seems that hats may be ready for their big comeback.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

Photo Credit: Canva, Wiki Commons, Universal Pictures

E.T. is chilling in a basket. Elliott takes E.T. for a bike ride.

One can't fully be prepared for the emotional splash of waterworks that come with viewing Steven Spielberg's masterpiece E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (better known as simply E.T.). This is especially true upon seeing it for the first time. Nothing of its kind had ever quite been attempted and while often imitated as an homage to Spielberg, it hasn't been replicated.

The film, about an adorable extraterrestrial who befriends a boy named Elliott (played by Henry Thomas) after a spaceship accidentally leaves him behind, is a love letter to cinema. It won Oscars, broke box office records, and changed filmmaking forever, as many Spielberg movies tend to do.

For many Gen-Xers like myself, this film helped shape our childhoods. It gave us dolls, repeatable dialogue, and our own delicious candy (fun fact: Spielberg initially wanted M&Ms to be the treats Elliott leaves as a trail to lure E.T. to safety, but the Mars Company declined, so Reese's Pieces became iconic). For an extra layer of magic, I saw it the weekend it came out in 1982, at the exact age Elliott was in the film. It introduced me and many of my friends to the vastness of the universe and the importance of kindness across dimensions.

-A scene from Spielberg's film E.T. www.youtube.com, Universal Pictures

Now, Gen-Xers are showing it to their kids to get their reactions. On the Subreddit r/scifi, a self-described "ceramics guy" who loves nature, science, and sci-fi posted, "Just watched ET for the first time since I was a kid, with my son who is the same age now as I was then." Under this caption, he gave the experience a review: "10 out of 10 would absolutely recommend. What an incredible film. And getting to see my son watch it for the first time was even better than seeing it the first time myself."

Many commenters agree. One actually took their 10-year-old son to see it in the theater when it made the rounds recently. "I had the pleasure of taking my 10 yr old son and his best mate to see ET for the first time in our local cinema last year. It was magical and still absolutely holds its own, despite some scenes looking pretty basic with the CGI kids are used to now. Was great watching their faces and seeing them get totally hooked in emotionally. My son is a big fan of Stranger Things and he was loving the 80s vibes."

E.T., Spielberg, movies, Gen X E.T. looks up. Giphy GIF by MANGOTEETH

Lots of Redditors discuss the unabashedly earnest tear-jerking tactics. "One of the first movies I can remember as a tearjerker," one said. "I can remember being 6 or 7 and crying but not having the emotional maturity to understand why."

The film touches on friendship, but perhaps more than that—the idea of a touchstone. E.T. forms a beautiful bond with Elliott, but still longs for his home. So when he assembles a Speak & Spell as a communication device and starts muttering "E.T. phone home," there wasn't a dry eye in the theater. Spielberg threw in a seven-year-old pigtailed Drew Barrymore, a Golden Retriever mix, and a moonlit bike ride to cement the deal that we were all going to bawl. He showed no mercy.

The "I'll be right here" scene from Spielberg's E.T. www.youtube.com, Universal Pictures, MovieClips

Tod Perry, my colleague at Upworthy, also just recently watched E.T. with his child. He shared that they both loved it and openly wept. He further noted, "The big takeaways were the kids in that movie are so feral and unsupervised compared to kids today. Like Elliott stays home from school, alone. Normal then, criminal today. That and Spielberg pulls absolutely no punches, goes for the jugular with how emotional that movie is."

Community

The one reason Americans can't build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe

The stairs themselves are the problem in North America, though that's starting to change.

Why North America can't build European-style apartments.

One of the most beautiful features of old European neighborhoods are the rows of quaint, walk-up apartments that are the backbone of walkable neighborhoods. They help create a community where people can exit their front door and walk to a local café or market without getting in their car.

Unfortunately, these neighborhoods are hard to find in the United States, where these types of apartment buildings are exceedingly rare. Why is that? In the video below, About Here’s founder, Uytae Lee, explains why regulations in North America have made these quaint walk-up apartments, known by architects as point access blocks, nearly impossible to build.

apartment buildings, quaint walk-up Who doesn't love a quaint apartment building?Giphy

Uytae Lee is an urban planner and videographer passionate about sharing stories about our cities.

“Quaint walk-up apartments … are a beloved feature in cities around the world,” Lee says in his video entitled “Why North Americans Can’t Have Nice Apartments.” “They’re inviting and full of character. But, here in North America, they are not allowed to be built today. Instead, our apartments are big and imposing, often stretching across the entire block and the reason why it really comes down to one reason: staircases.”

- YouTubeyoutu.be

The problem is that one stairway in a point access block allows access to all apartments. This became a problem in the late 1800s when fires were commonplace in urban areas worldwide and people were more likely to die in a fire with only one exit route. So, in the U.S. and Canada, they created new regulations that made it so all buildings over two to three stories had to have two staircases to allow them to exit during a fire.

“Staircases take up a lot of space and fitting two of them in a small building means that there is much less usable floor space on every floor,” Lee says in the video. “As a result, developers here construct much larger buildings so that the staircases and hallways take up a much smaller proportion of the overall building. It's why apartments in North America, in general, are much bigger and wider than their European counterparts.”

staircase in tall building Regulations on staircases limit housing possibilities in the U.S and Canada.Giphy

But there are fires in Europe, too. Why did they stop short of requiring multiple staircases in apartment buildings on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Instead of changing the floorplans on new buildings, Europeans opted to require fireproof materials in new building construction. A big reason why the U.S. and Canada opted for larger buildings over fireproofing was because they had better access to materials and the new direction aligned with the move towards suburban sprawl.

The two-staircase regulations in the U.S also made it harder to build units greater than one bedroom because the buildings needed long hallways which reduced the number of layout options.

The current housing crisis has many rethinking the regulations that require apartment buildings to have two stairways in North America. Many urban planners believe that modern-day demands mean we should return to building more point access block buildings, but this time with modern fire-retardant materials.

In some cities, such as Seattle, Washington, lawmakers have repealed staircase mandates and begun building point access block housing to ease the crisis. And more appear to be joining the movement.

“Now, if all this makes you a bit nervous, I get it. After all, these codes are about our safety. But I do want to mention that these codes do change over time as our technology and our understanding of safety evolves,” Lee finishes the video. “It’s important that we discuss and update these rules as our world changes.”

Pew Charitable Trust reports that small, single-stairway apartments actually have a strong safety record, sharing that those kinds of buildings as tall as six stories are "at least as safe as other types of housing." As we gather data and learn more, we should be able to adjust our regulations. So maybe, hopefully, there are more quaint apartment buildings in our future.

This article originally appeared two years ago.