That Time More Than 300 Nebraskans Moved A Barn By Hand

For the last four months or so we’ve heard over and over that we’re all in this together.

It’s a state of mind, yes, but it’s also true.

There are times when we really do rely on those around us to do what needs to be done.

Take, for example, what happened on this day in 1988, when a whole bunch of people in Nebraska got together and did something kind of astonishing.

The Ostry family had a farm in of Bruno, Nebraska, and on this farm they had a barn, which needed to be moved to higher ground because of repeated floods.

Moving a barn is not easy. They’re heavy and bulky and so it typically requires a bunch of expensive equipment to get them from one place to another.

The Ostrys, however, chose a more cost-effective course of action: they crowdsourced the project.

They called for volunteers, and 328 people used steel poles to lift the nine-ton structure, move it 110 feet uphill, and rotate it clockwise.

There were also around 4,000 spectators, many of whom had bet the barn couldn’t be moved.

They had to pay up, but the Ostrys saved money that day. And they made a couple hundred friends in the process.

Here’s an invention that could win you a lot of friends.

Harrison McIntyre has taught a mechanical contraption how to share something special: when he gives the command to his smart speaker, the machine starts launching M&Ms at his face.

And yes, it’s designed to look for his face’s exact location and adjust its aim accordingly.

It’s launching the candy at 23 miles per hour, so hopefully McIntyre has good reflexes.

At least the candy isn’t melting in his hand.