Woman Struck by Meteorite | Smarter Every Day 84

Hey, it's me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! So, you probably didn't know that Alabama has its own Museum of Natural History. We also have the only meteorite to ever strike a human being. You want to check it out? It's known as the Hodes meteorite. It's 8 and 1/2 lb, and it hit this woman, Ann Hodges.

It's pretty funny because she was taking a nap on her couch, and she was rudely awakened by a huge fireball coming through her roof and nailing her on the leg. It was so forceful, it broke her radio. They didn't know if this meteorite belonged to the people that owned the house or Miss Hodges because it hit her. But the people that owned the house, they wanted it, so they went to court. Long story short, she bought it from those people.

Anyway, now it's here at the Alabama Natural History Museum. So now you know the only meteorite ever to strike a person happened in 1954 in Alabama. I'm Destin, you're getting smarter every day. Let's go hug a whale fossil!

Hug? Just not interested.

Other, what are you doing? Did you know there used to be elephants in Alabama? Come look at this! Look at this! That's an elephant tooth. It's called a mastodon. Mastodon elephant. They used to live in Alabama. You believe me? Yes? Pretty awesome, isn't it? Ah!