Ping Pong Balls
In 1964 the freighter Al Kuwait which was carrying 6,000 live sheep capsized and sank in Kuwait's harbor. The sunken ship with its decomposing cargo was presenting a serious threat to the country's water supply through its desalination processing plant. To overcome the problem the ship had to be raised and moved to a safe place without falling apart and dumping its poisonous contents into the nation's water supply. Karl Kroyer, a Danish engineer working in Kuwait came up with a novel idea. He pumped 27 million ping-pong balls into the freighter's hull which slowly raised it to the surface. And where did he get this idea? From a Donald Duck comic book. Somebody sank Donald's boat and he and his feathered friends raised it by filling it with ping-pong balls!