Screen to sanctuary: As a teen actress in the 1957 film Loving You, newcomer Dolores Hart kissed Elvis Presley, marking her Hollywood debut. Her nine more films hinted at a glittering career. But while portraying St. Clare in Francis of Assisi in 1964, she met Pope John XXIII and told him of her role. He proclaimed, No, you are Clare! This helped redirect her path. Hart then broke an engagement, bid adieu to acting, and became a nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut (U.S.). She did attend the 2012 Academy Awards, where God Is the Bigger Elvis, a documentary chronicling her journey, earned an Oscar nod.
Long and lonely road: An amazing road connects Kashgar, China, with Islamabad, Pakistan. The Karakoram Highway snakes its way around mountains and through valleys for 800kms. Without this highway, much of the area would not be accessible. The road was built between 1959 and 1978 through an agreement between both countries. Over the course of the construction, over 24,000 workers dodged mudslides and rockfalls to get the job done. To this day, the road requires considerable maintenance to keep it functioning. Tourists who decide to travel this road are rewarded with beautiful views of mountains, glaciers, and alpine lakes.
Costly fix: Hiring a tradesman to come fix something can get pretty expensive these days, but it's not usually something to go berserk about. Not so for a man in Malaga, Spain. The fellow realised he had a broken pipe that needed tending, so he called a local plumber. When the tradesman arrived, he took a look at the job and provided a quote. However, the man was not impressed and got quite angry at the cost of the job. He was so irate, in fact, that he held the plumber hostage. Luckily, neighbours in the apartment building heard the ruckus and called police, who were able to intervene and arrest the angry man.
Shadowy art: Can shadows made from cut up cardboard boxes be considered art? To followers of a Japanese man named Kuronushi, the answer is a resounding yes! Kuronushi arranges pieces of cardboard in various ways. The seemingly mismatched piles of material don't look like anything unusual. But shine a light on the creations, and the shadows on the wall become art. One of Kuronushi's shadows reveals a pirate ship and, when the pile of cardboard is rotated, the ship turns into the pirate Jack Sparrow from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. The artist also created Harry Potter shadow art, to the delight of his fans.