Phenomenal memory is the human ability to exceptionally remember information at high speed, and then accurately reproduce it. A person who has such a memory does not need a semantic connection between components; he can remember random numbers, dates, data. Many famous personalities were famous for their exceptional memory, but even an ordinary person can develop it by constantly doing exercises. To develop similar skills, you need to understand how memory works, what types there are, and how to train your brain.
How memory works
We take memory for granted, but scientists are still studying the human brain and are amazed at its capabilities, including memory.
Without the ability to remember, we would not be human, because our personality is a collection of memories and conclusions drawn from them.
From a scientific point of view, memory is information encoded in the brain in the form of signals transmitted and changed between neurons. This is a complex process involving billions of neurons, each part of the brain responsible for a specific type of memory.
The parietal cortex of the brain is responsible for musical abilities; when a person needs to play an instrument, this area is involved. The hippocampus is responsible for new memories. If it is removed, then the person will remember the past, but will not be able to remember new information, it will simply be instantly forgotten.
The localization of memory has not been precisely proven, but the hypothesis that each area is responsible for its own type of memory remains relevant.
There is a procedural memory, it is not connected with the hippocampus, so it is impossible to unlearn how to ride a bicycle, run, walk, or swim if it is removed.
Scientists cannot say exactly how long-term memory works; the exact mechanisms of memorizing information and storing it have not been studied. There are only guesses and assumptions. But a memorization algorithm has been identified that works on all healthy people:
- the process of capturing information;
- retention in the brain;
- reproduction;
- forgetting.
People tend to quickly forget information that is not valuable and is not relevant. This rational use of neural networks allows us not to think about everything we know, giving us the opportunity to focus on new knowledge.
Phenomenal memory is also not fully understood. People with this ability can extremely quickly process new information in their brain and store it, when a person with ordinary memory quickly forgets random data that is not supported by meaning, emotions, etc.
People with phenomenal memory can look at a piece of paper with random notes on numbers, words, dates, facts and remember them by heart in a few seconds, and then voice what they saw exactly. This is amazing and opens up new boundaries of human capabilities.
Kinds
Phenomenal memory also comes in several types, like ordinary memory, depending on the area responsible for the type of memory. This means that people do not remember absolutely everything, but rather remember information best in a certain way.
The most popular type is photographic memory. It is characterized by an accurate reproduction of the picture of what was seen, be it a route somewhere or the arrangement of things in a room. A person with such a memory can easily remember, even after many years of absence, what and where was located, lay, was built, etc.
Auditory phenomenal memory is less common; most often it is characteristic of composers and musicians. A person who has this type of memorization can easily reproduce audio information. As soon as he hears something, it is immediately stored in his brain. Such people can write down what they hear from memory in a notebook or immediately repeat it on their musical instrument.
There are also individuals with mathematical memory who can easily do complex calculations in their heads and remember these processes.
And there are those who easily reproduce information received in text form. Such people only need to read it once and that’s it. They can recite paragraphs, novels, stories, etc. by heart.
How to develop phenomenal memory
To surprise others with instant reproduction of information, you need to train your memory.
Our brain has limitless possibilities if it is developed. First, you should get into the habit of memory exercises. Only if you practice daily for a long period will the result be visible.
To do this, you need to sit down and try to reproduce the information in your brain into images:
- Colored: the more spectacular, the better the information will be reflected;
- Volumetric: spatial thinking will be useful to consider memories from different angles;
- Large: the larger the image, the more space it will take up in the brain and the better it will be remembered;
- Detailed: do not forget about the details and little things, they matter;
- Bright: the brighter, the easier it is to remember; dull and nondescript images are quickly lost.
In addition to developing memory through imagery, there are other techniques. Some of the most popular are associative and mnemonics.
The essence of such exercises is to find an association with anything to strengthen the semantic connection and store information in the brain. Some people try to find a pattern in the numbers or associate them with the birthday of their relatives. Others associate numbers not with dates, but with images: two is a swan, five is the English S.
Mnemonics involves the development of event chains for better memorization. If a person is given random words that are in no way connected with each other, then he should come up with a story that involves all the objects.
For example, a number of words are given: candy, scarecrow, bottle, sock, snow. Using mnemonics, we come up with a series of events: the scarecrow found candy in a bottle and poured it into a sock while it was snowing. The main goal of the technique is not only to come up with a chain of actions, but also to clearly present it.
This type of memorization is often used in language learning apps. While you are learning words, the program suggests looking at a picture to create a connection with the word, and suggests reading a phrase involving the word being studied to create an image and a vivid event.
Another effective method to train the brain and develop memory is mindful reading. To do this, you just need to regularly read, take notes, and speak out the information you have learned. It is important to read not for the number of pages, but for the information, having time to analyze every word.
Famous personalities with phenomenal memory
Phenomenal memory has helped many people become outstanding and go down in history.
Knowledge is power, and these people were able to remember it and apply it competently.
- Napoleon. Historians say that the French leader knew his military personnel by heart: by sight and name. He could also retell in detail a book he had read many years ago.
- Theodore Roosevelt. He was able to do many things at the same time and was famous for multitasking. The US President read 2-4 books daily, memorizing the contents and easily retelling them in detail to his family and colleagues.
- Nikola Tesla. The world-famous inventor, who gave humanity research on alternating current, was famous not only for his discoveries and deep knowledge in the field of physics and engineering. He had a photographic memory, which helped him store a huge amount of information in his brain. The researcher rarely wrote down notes because everything was stored in the safest place - memory. When the laboratory suffered a fire, he easily recovered the data thanks to his phenomenal memory.
- Alexander Alekhin. The Russian chess player, famous in the 20th century, according to contemporaries, could play simultaneously with dozens of opponents, easily switching between games, thanks to his memory and rapid processing of information. He easily remembered combinations and moves, which gave him an advantage in the game and made him a great grandmaster.
- Sergei Rachmaninov. He had a phenomenal auditory memory, could remember a complex piece in a few seconds and reproduce it, write it down in a music notebook. Thanks to his skills, he became an outstanding pianist, composer and conductor.
These people made a huge contribution to the development of humanity and not without the participation of their amazing ability to quickly remember. Phenomenal memory is not a fiction or a myth, but a real skill that can be innate or acquired if you train it regularly.
To have exceptional abilities, regular practice to improve them is important.
- Spend at least 15 minutes a day training your brain and memory;
- Play chess;
- Read consciously, retell what you read out loud;
- Solve puzzles, puzzles, crosswords, rebuses;
- Learn poetry or prose by heart;
- Do math, don’t delve into integrals and logarithms, even solving arithmetic examples has a strong effect;
- Try to constantly train your memory in life by memorizing phone numbers, addresses, names, shopping lists, car numbers, random facts about people;
- Don't neglect your health and eat right;
- Play sports, scientists have found that this has a beneficial effect on intellectual abilities;
- Get enough sleep and don’t get overtired, give yourself a rest if you’re tired;
- Don't forget to walk and breathe fresh air.
By following these tips, you can improve not only your memory, but train your brain, make yourself a more well-read and interesting person.
For most of us, memory is a kind of notebook or photo album in which information and pictures of the past are stored. Most often it resembles blurry and faded photographs from our lives. The further you go, the paler the memories become, and some things disappear from memory altogether. This is normal. It is also normal that we often remember things from long ago and cannot remember what we saw or heard a month ago. Memory is selective.
But there is also such a phenomenon - some people never forget anything. Is it good or bad? Blessing or Punishment? After all, sometimes you really want to forget some events, people, feelings... But a person remembers every day of his life and every step, names, weather on a certain day last year, the clothes he was wearing then. It is more likely not a memory, but a kind of library or video cassette where the whole life is recorded.
Interest from a scientific point of view
Of course, phenomenal memory as a phenomenon is a subject of study for neuroscientists. Scientists have conducted experiments to thoroughly examine the brain's unique ability to record life. They are more inclined to believe that we are, after all, dealing with some kind of deviation from the norm. In some cases, fantastic brain abilities accompany such a serious problem as autism. There are cases when a person suffering from autism could draw from memory an entire city with houses, streets, numbers and signs, although he had only seen the city in a photo or in a movie once. In another case, a young man could answer questions about old football matches or other events with dates and names. 
Or maybe it's talent?
Indeed, the phenomenon of absolute memory can be a form of knowledge or a special gift, such as musical, literary or athletic.
Scientists at the University of California tested two groups of people - with normal memory and phenomenal memory. They were asked about events and observed how perceptions changed. Data were compared one day, one week and one month after the events. For ordinary people, the brightness of their memories weakened every day, while for phenomena they remained just as fresh. 
Surprisingly, brain scans revealed no anatomical differences in either group of subjects that could explain how this happened. No additional processes or third hemisphere were found. It is quite possible that this was a result of skill, and not a cause: after all, engaging in any creative activity, be it music, sports or language, can stimulate the brain to build more efficient neural networks.
Types of memory
This is also a very interesting point. Each unique person has his own characteristics of memorization. Some people remember everything, some remember numbers, some remember sounds, smells, tactile sensations, while others have a brilliant memory for visual details. But they all have greater abilities than the average person. 
It is very difficult
Oblivion is given to man as salvation. If you had to remember every minute about some unpleasant or tragic incidents, keep in your memory the addresses, names and telephone numbers of people you no longer need and any other similar rubbish, the brain of an ordinary person would burst from stress. We manage to get rid of obsessive thoughts, unnecessary and even necessary information by writing it down in a notebook or on a computer. And one can only guess how those people who cannot forget anything cope with this volume of brain material.
Is it possible to train your memory?
Of course, it is possible and necessary. There are special techniques and exercises to improve memory. Moreover, there is information that scientists hope to soon launch an application that will constantly stimulate memory and increase the ability to remember. One of the secrets of the new technique is a detailed reproduction of an event immediately after it happened, which contributes to its best memorization. This is how we try to remember an elusive dream and consolidate it in memory. 
In any case, the idea of developing super-memory is in the air. Why not? After all, we can stimulate and “tighten” any organ in the body. Brain activity is no exception.
Let's return to our phenomena
People with phenomenal memories unanimously say that for them such abilities are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it helps to relive the pleasant moments of life again and again - a long date, a wedding day, every picture seen in a gallery, every detail of a trip. Unique abilities help to assimilate any material, help in learning, in work. 
But, on the other hand, remembering all your disappointments, suffering, losses, failures, moments of awkwardness, as clearly as if all this happened just today... This is an unbearable burden. In addition, constantly staying in the past, in his memories, sometimes very painful, a person can remain closed to new sensations and new relationships.
It’s not for nothing that they say after some difficult moments in life: “We must forgive and forget.” This luxury is not available to everyone. Is it good to have a phenomenal memory, or is it easier to remain an ordinary person keeping diaries and notebooks... There is no definite answer.
A mechanic from Lipetsk A.V. Nekrasov can mentally extract roots of powers from two to a thousand from numbers consisting of... several hundred digits. Before counting, he prepares (concentrates) for several tens of minutes. At the same time, he begins to shake his head. Then he asks to see a tape with numbers, looks closely at them and after 20 seconds, looking into space, begins to dictate the answer. He names the first five digits correctly, and the sixth is the result of rounding the subsequent digits.
Nekrasov explained: the numbers of the answer appear in the mind’s eye “in the form of numbers in balls.” Experiments confirm that he has telepathy and telekinesis.
ONLY ONCE HEARD...
One day, A.K. Glazunov (1865 - 1936) came to the composer S.I. Taneev (1856 - 1915) to play him a musical piece he had just written. Taneyev, who loved to play tricks, had previously hidden Sergei Rachmaninov, then a student at the conservatory, in another room. When Glazunov finished playing, Taneyev called Rachmaninov. The young man sat down at the piano and, to the great surprise of the author, repeated his entire composition. The composer was puzzled: no one had yet seen the notes of the work. The whole point is that Rachmaninov could reproduce from memory a melody he had heard only once.
WITHOUT PROMPTER.
The great Russian singer Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (1873 - 1938), when staging the opera, did not limit himself to studying only his vocal part. He kept the entire score of the opera in his memory and knew all its solo, choral and orchestral parts. His stage partners claimed that he never used the services of a prompter. For example, in Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, Chaliapin knew by heart all the male and female parts: Godunov, Shuisky, Pimen, the Pretender, Varlaam, Marina Mnishek. He had to perform the roles of Boris, Pimen and Varlaam at different times.
BLIND ON 32 BOARDS....
The first Russian world chess champion Alexander Alekhine (1892 - 1946) had an extraordinary memory capacity. He remembered and could reproduce any of the games he had played before. In 1932, Alekhine gave a session of simultaneous blind play on 32 chess boards.
9 BOOKS A DAY.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Rubakin (1862 - 1946) - a famous Russian educator, bibliographer, writer and publicist - lived 84 years. He had the talent of extremely fast reading. Rubakin himself claimed that during his adult life he read about 200 thousand books. If we assume that he began reading at the age of ten, it turns out that he read an average of 9 books a day.
"THE MAN WHO REMEMBERS EVERYTHING."
This is what doctors called a reporter from one of the Moscow newspapers, Shereshevsky, who easily memorized tables with a huge number of numbers, large combinations of words in a language unknown to him, and complex formulas (by the way, he remembered what he did not understand much easier than meaningful ones).
Scientific observations of Shereshevsky were carried out for about 30 years, starting in 1926. Experiments were invariably recorded. Shereshevsky could remember colossal amounts of information. It also turned out that his memory is absolute in terms of memorization strength: 20 years later he was asked to reproduce a table of numbers he had once heard, Shereshevsky closed his eyes, slowly moved his finger through the air and named all the numbers in the table without a single mistake. This is an absolute record for “recency of memorization.”
Shereshevsky possessed eidetism - a unique type of visual memory. When numbers were dictated, he saw them written in his clear handwriting on a board or paper, and they were arranged in columns of 4-6 in a row. Memorizing the words, he usually mentally took a walk from Pushkin Square along Gorky Street to the center and along the way he “arranged” everything he heard. When playing a series, he seemed to repeat the route, “reading the images.”
IN YOUR MIND... LOGARITHM TABLE.
The director of the Institute of Semiconductors of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician A.F. Ioffe (1880 - 1960), used tables of logarithms with 30 million digits from memory.
I READ THE BOOK IN A MINUTE.
16-year-old Kiev resident Ira Ivanchenko reached a reading speed of 163,333 words per minute with complete assimilation of what she read. This achievement was registered in January 1990 in the presence of journalists from a number of Ukrainian publications. Ira achieved the record thanks to special training at the Kiev Center for Brain Development, which teaches speed reading techniques. According to the school’s students, many people have a figurative perception of information when texts are perceived as an endless movie reel.
The unofficial record for reading speed (416,250 words per minute) belongs to another 16-year-old from Kiev, Evgenia Alekseenko. The record was recorded on September 9, 1989 during testing under the guidance of the Center in the presence of 20 course participants. In order to fully read, for example, a magazine such as “New Time,” Zhenya needed only 30-40 seconds. It took her about a minute to read a medium-sized book... Zhenya retold the contents of what she read for hours, not missing the slightest detail.
IN 38 LANGUAGES.
The editor of the international department of the newspaper "Soviet Sport" Yu. A. Solomakhin speaks fluently in 38 languages, among which there are quite rare ones, such as Faroese and the language of the Lusatian Serbs, which is spoken by representatives of one of the nationalities of Germany.
Daily training, listening to radio broadcasts in languages and translation work help him maintain his language skills. Solomakhin believes that his capabilities are not the limit, and even a person with average abilities can master 50 or more languages.
MIRACLE COUNTER.
Aron Chikvashvili lives in the Van region of Georgia. He can freely manipulate multi-digit numbers in his mind. Somehow, friends decided to test the capabilities of the miracle counter. The task was harsh: how many words and letters would the announcer say when commenting on the second half of the football match “Spartak” (Moscow) - “Dynamo” (Tbilisi). At the same time the tape recorder was turned on. The answer came as soon as the announcer said the last word: 17,427 letters, 1835 words. It took five hours to check. The answer turned out to be correct.
CALENDAR MAN.
In a matter of seconds, having carried out hundreds of operations in his mind, Vladimir Kutyukov is able to report that January 1, 180 was a Friday. He will immediately answer the question of how many seconds have passed since the death of Nero until the fall of Constantinople or what day will be October 13, 28448723... And all this taking into account leap years, the change of the calendar in 1582, etc. difficulties, including non-decimal ratios (a week of seven days, a day of 24 hours, an hour of 60 minutes).
The unique abilities of oral calendar calculation, which were demonstrated by the engineer from Yoshkar-Ola, are confirmed by the test report carried out on May 18, 1992 at the experimental design bureau of control and automation devices in the Mari capital.
MISTER MEMORY.
This is what journalists nicknamed Yerevan lawyer Samvel Gharibyan. During an experiment in June 1990, he remembered and almost accurately reproduced 1,000 unfamiliar foreign words offered to him. Not knowing any languages, Samvel managed to memorize and reproduce from memory words in Arabic, Urdu, Khmer, Bengali, English, Dari, German, Esperanto, and Italian.
Having achieved amazing success in mnemonics (the art of memorization), Gharibyan helped develop memory for thousands of people of various professions. Almost all of our memories from early childhood are associated with emotions, but as we grow older, they become duller. Samvel, with the help of special psychological techniques, helps to resurrect emotions and put them at the service of a person when working with information.
A large role in the technique is given to breathing exercises that promote memory concentration. S. Gharibyan travels a lot at invitations from different countries, demonstrating his capabilities and methods. He created a correspondence “School of Memory”, which can be attended by anyone seeking to develop their memorization abilities.
10 outstanding personalities who influenced the course of history, transformed our understanding of the world and perception of the importance of man in it, his endless possibilities and power. 10 representatives of different eras and generations, various professions - from politicians and musicians to physicists and brilliant military strategists, from show business representatives to spiritual mentors. Their life and biography will always be the object of research and scientific interest, but, despite the fact that the mystery of their unique abilities has not yet been fully revealed, there is one quality that unites them all - a phenomenal memory.
10. Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943) - inventor, physicist and engineer, widely known for his contributions to the creation of devices operating on alternating current. Tesla had a “photographic memory” and rarely felt the need to write anything down. It is said that in 1885, when his laboratory burned down, he was able to reconstruct many of his inventions from memory.
9. Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919) - 26th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 1906 (for mediating the conclusion of the Russian-Japanese Portsmouth Peace). Roosevelt honed his memory skills by reading two or three books every day and then recalling all the details from memory. He was also blessed with the unique ability to do several things at once. According to stories, he could work with two secretaries and, at the same time, read a book.
8. Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943) - an outstanding Russian composer, conductor and one of the greatest pianists of all time. His photographic memory allowed him to memorize notes with incredible speed. They say he could easily remember several passages from complex pieces of music.
7. Kim Peak (1951 - 2009) - the prototype of Dustin Hoffman’s hero from the film “Rain Man” (1988, USA), an American with a phenomenal memory, remembered up to 98% of the information he read. Throughout his life, Peake memorized more than 9,000 books and could read two pages at a time.
6. Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005) - spiritual mentor and head of the Catholic Church from 1978 - 2005. John Paul II also had a photographic memory. His ability to pay attention to detail allowed him to learn 21 languages and speak fluently more than 100 different dialects.
5. Ferdinand Marcos (1917 - 1989) - controversial president of the Philippines from 1965 - 1986. Marcos had a phenomenal memory. Without much effort, he memorized complex texts, could recite any chapter of the 1935 Philippine Constitution, and, once reading a long speech, was able to recite it by heart.
4. Marilu Henner (1952 - present) - actress, producer and creator of the television show "Taxi". Henner is one of twelve people on the planet who has an incredible memory capacity (hyperthymesia). Her exceptional memory allows her to recall the smallest details from her childhood, right down to her baptism in infancy.
3. Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) - Roman commander, rightfully considered one of the greatest military leaders in the history of the formation of the Roman Empire. Legend has it that Caesar knew every one of the 25,000 soldiers in his army by sight.
2. Mary Elizabeth Bowser (1839 -?) – Civil War heroine, spy for the Union Army. While working as a domestic servant in the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Bowser memorized and passed on valuable information to the Union.
1. Bonaparte Napoleon (1769 - 1821) - the first emperor of France, a talented military leader who gained fame during the French Revolution. Napoleon had an extraordinary memory. He could remember countless people, maps, and troop locations. His talent allowed him to act quickly and develop win-win strategies, anticipating the enemy’s actions several steps ahead.
By more than 10%, life will become easier, and half of human problems will be solved by themselves. But so far doctors are only picking at the gray matter with iron tools, and the whole world admires the unique ones, whose abilities are much higher than that of an ordinary person. People with unique memories are especially admired. You involuntarily think: “I wish I could remember everything the first time.” But alas, this “gift” does not always bring happiness. Sometimes this is just the consequence of a tragic accident.
1. Daniel Tammet: a savant with a phenomenal memory
Each brain is different, but they tend to be balanced. But it happens that some areas work flawlessly, forcing others to believe in the genius of a person, while others are underdeveloped. The writer Daniel Tammet is the brightest representative of such “limited genius”, which manifests itself in phenomenal memory. For Tammet, each number has its own unique shape, color and texture. For example, one is bright white, 5 is thunder, 6 is a hole into nowhere, and 89 is snowfall. It was precisely this mastery of abstract mathematical concepts that allowed him, within 5 hours, without hesitation, to name 22,500 numbers following the well-known combination - 3.14.
True, this is not to say that such a life brings a lot of joy. Daniel is a savant, or, as he calls himself, a “superpowered autist.” Tammet's brain clings like a tick to everything that happens around him. Even a trip to the supermarket is inconvenient, since the abundance of shapes and textures generates a strong intellectual reaction. Plus, he lives according to a strict schedule - everything must be clear, precise, even the amount of food on the plate. If you remember the film “Rain Man”, then this is exactly the same case, only Daniel is socialized and is not afraid to appear on television. For example, he appeared on an Irish reality show, where he proved that you can learn Icelandic in a week. And, unlike other savants, he can explain how he does it all.
2. Scott Flansberg: Human Calculator
The human brain is a rather fascinating organ, where each zone, each, so to speak, “compartment” is responsible for a specific action. But there are various kinds of deviations that can lead to both tragic consequences and superpowers. Scott Flansberg, known as the "human calculator", was lucky - his specific brain was awarded incredible computing abilities. In 2014, the Guinness Book of World Records recorded how Scott added a double-digit number to itself 36 times in 15 seconds.
Flansberg has uniquely arranged areas of his brain. The so-called “area 44”, located in the central part of the brain, is responsible for calculation abilities. In Scott, this area is shifted upward and significantly expanded compared to the brain of an ordinary person.
3. Alonzo Clemons: The Fool Who Creates Reality on Canvas
The brain is famous for its plasticity, its ability to adapt to various blows of fate. Moreover, to blows both literally and figuratively. So, Alonzo Clemons fell headfirst onto a tiled floor in early childhood, damaged his brain and, it would seem, remained a fool with an IQ of 40 who cannot tie shoelaces, read or write. But at the same time, he discovered an amazing artistic talent. It is enough for him to see an animal in a photograph once for a few seconds in order to paint a stunningly realistic portrait an hour later. Clemons not only paints, but also sculpts, just as quickly and just as realistically. Now his works are valued at tens of thousands of dollars, but whether Alonzo himself realizes his value is a big question.
4. Isao Machii: a real ninja
One of the main functions of the brain is to process a bunch of data that comes from our eyes, ears, nose and so on. But not every brain can perceive with incredible accuracy the smallest objects moving in space, as Isao Machii does. Machii is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as being able to deliver 252 katana strikes in three minutes. One of his latest achievements was cutting apart a bullet fired from a pistol at a speed of 320 km/h. In order to capture the record, a special camera was needed that captured several hundred frames per second. Scientists believe that he trained himself to instinctively predict the movement of objects and anticipate his position faster than any other person can. So in this precedent, thank God, no illness is involved - only training and tribute.
5. Harold Williams: The Man Who Knew 58 Languages
They say that the best time to learn languages is during childhood, because a child's mind is more plastic and adapts to changes more easily. New Zealand journalist Harold Williams claimed that at the age of seven there was a flash in his brain, and from then on his brain acquired the ability desired by many. Williams was able to memorize as many as 58 different adverbs. He just learned Latin and away he went. It was so good that he spoke Zulu and Russian fluently. As a reporter, he traveled all over the world, but he is interesting to us in many ways due to the fact that he worked as a correspondent in Russia for 14 years and even married a Russian journalist.
In 1914, he accompanied the Russian army during the fighting in the Carpathians, where he learned Romanian. Rumor has it that before his death he confessed to a Russian Orthodox priest. So there are many things that connect him with Russia, and not just knowledge of the languages of the 6 nationalities that inhabited the Empire. He was the only person on Earth who could talk to every member of the League of Nations in his native language, which he actively used, agitating those at war for peace. Williams was a true pacifist, imitating in everything his idol - the Count, with whom he was friends.
6. Jason Padgett: how a blow to the head turned a poor student into a mathematician
Traumatic brain injury is an unpleasant thing, but without a doubt, magical. A simple blow to the head with something heavy can turn an ordinary student into a famous mathematician. This is roughly what happened in 2002 to furniture salesman Jason Padgett. One night, near a karaoke bar, unknown men attacked a drunken Jason, beat him thoroughly and took his money. When he came to his senses, he discovered that the world had changed dramatically. In the bathroom, he turned on the water and caught himself thinking: how perfectly perpendicular the streams of water from the tap were falling. Since then, Jason has noticed mathematical and geometric "patterns" and "oddities" in everything around him. Simply put, it visualizes the mathematical relationships of the world around us. This is despite the fact that before the shell shock he had no interest in mathematics. This is because after the fatal blow, Padgett activated the part of the brain that unites our diverse senses into a single perception of the world.
7. Stephen Wiltshire: an artist with a photographic memory
Some people remember numbers or words by looking at a piece of paper once. This is called "photographic memory", but even they are far from Stephen Wiltshire, who can draw any building he has seen at least once in his life in great detail. What's even more amazing is that he can draw a 3D image just by looking at a photo of a building's facade. Once he has flown over the city in a helicopter, he can depict an aerial view of the city on any scale with perfect accuracy. But the average person is delighted not by the accuracy, but by how beautiful it looks. Unfortunately, this gift has a downside - autism, which Steve was diagnosed with at the age of 9. And for him, his gift is just a way to communicate with the world around him. But how talented and accurately he does it, damn it.
8. Aurélien Hayman: the man who remembers absolutely everything
Human memory is a funny thing. Everything that happens to us is imprinted forever in our brain, but getting to these memories is not an easy task. Our brains are programmed to bring to the surface only those things that we consider important, and leave everything else in the depths of memory. But a simple Welsh boy, Aurelien Hayman, was unlucky to have hyperthymesia or, as it is also called, “exceptional autobiographical memory.”
In layman's terms, this means that he can easily go back to any point in his life and tell what the weather was like that day, what he was wearing, what food he ate, and just about everything else. It was not in vain that we used the words “unlucky”, because this is a terrible curse, not a gift. Remembering your entire life, including negative moments, is perhaps the most inconvenient curse that could be invented. Heyman admits that memories of particularly unpleasant moments make him relive them every time.
9. Leslie Lemke: the most precise musician
They say that for disabled people, the lost function is compensated twice as much. When the parents first saw little Leslie Lemke, it was difficult to understand what could be done to compensate for this unfortunate creature: crooked, with a damaged brain and cerebral palsy. In addition, Leslie turned out to have a severe form of glaucoma, so doctors had to amputate the child’s eyes in the first days of his life. The parents immediately rushed to abandon the boy. Fortunately, only the nurse took pity on him, who adopted Leslie and, with great difficulty, taught him to eat, talk and move independently. For a long time, Leslie did nothing but sit for hours in silence, listening to sounds and other people's conversations, and then repeating them with precise intonation. One day he heard a recording of Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 on TV. After listening to the music, Leslie went to the old piano in the living room and played it the first time. And to this day, Leslie can repeat a piece he has heard at least once without a single blot. Even if not very artistic, it is amazingly clear.