On Monday, he went in to work and Jeannie, the front-office secretary, stopped by with a cannoli and some vanilla chai.

NEWYORKER: The Lie

Topham, an English fireplug who was five feet ten and weighed two hundred pounds, could bend iron pokers with his bare hands, roll pewter dishes into cannoli, and win a tug-of-war with a horse.

NEWYORKER: The Strongest Man in the World