This man has fascinated me ever since I first read about him. My great grandfather worked for Hughes Aircraft for a few years, until he left to work in the mining industry as a hoist engineer. I was able to keep the photos of he and my great grandmother having dinner under the wing of the Spruce Goose after is inaugural flight in Long Beach harbor.
From what I read, a leading theory into Hughes eccentric behavior was PTSD and brain damage from plane accidents, plus his natural neuroticism and OCD combined and he ended up being full blown insane.
I credit Howard Hughes with my OCD diagnosis. Watching the film The Aviator and seeing his descent into mental health crisis made me aware of just how debilitating it can be, so I started seeing an expert to get an official medical diagnosis and to learn some coping mechanisms to make sure I never got as bad as he did.
Ah that is awesome, so glad you got some help i have known a few people with OCD and it is such a hard thing to deal with for them, i could see how much they struggled.
I recommend jumping into a dumpster or being homeless for a year. You lose all sense of hygiene after that, much less OCD. These western doctors know nothing about true cures, they only give you the treatment so they can get money from your insurance plans. ;D
Fun fact about the Silver Slipper. Once buying the hotel casino profits dropped after turning the lighted slipper off. Hughes had lights turned on again and was fine living with the annoyance knowing it was making money.
One story is he liked "ice station zebra so much " he brought the television station so he could watch it repeatedly. Another story was he was so upset about an interracial couple on a dating show, he brought the station to complain.
I don’t know why but when I first came across the story of Howard Hughes many years ago I was absolutely fascinated, I loved planes as I child and always remember the sundays tinkering around with tools in the garage at my grandparents house. I would read articles about Howard’s life on the internet and used to watch the the film The Aviator’ about once a month haha. Howard is part of the reason I decided to study engineering when I got a bit older. I’m still quite young but my job has taken me all over the world from The United States to Australia and several places in Africa. Thank You for the video Thoughty and Thank You Howard Hughes
I too felt drawn to his story as a kid ,and more in adulthood having PTSD with a few additional helpers ,its like maybe I could see similar in him ,I am very poor but I'm also very rich in eccentric lol
I grew up in the 50s and 60s hearing a lot about him. In his later years when he started becoming paranoid about germs and going out some mormons started caring for him which many felt they they were the cause of him becoming a recluse. When Hughes dies he left all his money to the mormon church which only added to the belief that they had a motive. At the time of his death there was a man who came forward saying that he had an encounter with Hughes and did a favor for Hughes. Hughes was s grateful he gave the man a sort of a will that he was to get something when he died. I don't recall how much it was and the note seemed authentic. The mormons disputed it so that man never got a cent.
Out of all the ailments that have ever plagued mankind, mental illness has to be one of if not the worst, as not only does it rob the sufferer of their health but of their peace, dignity, and even their very identity. Truly an interesting life, a bona fide Greek tragedy.
I worked in a medical clinic in Houston with one of his heirs, a doctor. We young women were in awe, but the doc was old and married. My husband and I live close to Sumerlin, NV, the land he donated, and it’s the prettiest city around here. We’ve seen the Spruce Goose and it’s awesome.
Towards the end there were people who kept him in a vulnerable state so they could control his wealth. It’s not just that his mental condition overwhelmed him but that there were people helping that to happen
I’m just wondering how a guy building a hospital with his own money is a bad thing. The person that’s made this video took a cheap shot at Hughes with the line he threw in about taxes. He was smart enough to build a hospital, so it out loud him not to pay taxes ever again. Is that worse than having a hospital to begin with? It seems like it’s a brilliant maneuver that anyone of us would’ve made had we had a chance
@@chrisconley8583so you don't see anything bad with exploiting loopholes to avoid paying something that is pittance to you and that every other person in your country and world pays no matter how poor they are? nice, I suppose it's the zero sum game isn't it, you help one person and destroy another and it all evens out.
A wonderful rendition of Howard Hughes tortured life. I never knew he lived in the Bahamas at the time of his death. I thought he died in Las Vegas. Leonardo Decaprio's portrayal of his remains one of the most undercelebrated performances in movie history. I just wonder, considering all of the protective secrecy around Mr. Hughes, what his true story was. I think that was a concerted effort to make sure Howard Hughes never regained his sanity and remained pliable and hidden in his own isolation. Keep the boss, high, happy and in his room and we can run everything from here. Once you lose your ability to realize what is happening in your life, you are doomed. Mental illness plus rampant drug use is a life sentence in Hell. It is on every city street in America right now.
I believe Hughes was in Acapulco, Mexico, when he was dying & flew back to Houston for medical aid! The pilot reported that Hughes sat up from his gurney & observed him flying & then fell back & died, while still in flight! p.s. My wife had to be airlifted, by Medi-Jet from Jamaica to Fla. 3 yrs. ago, so I could relate to this!
The spruce goose lives in my home state in Oregon at the McMinnville aerospace museum. It literally takes up the entire main hall, and has smaller planes parked underneath it.
I'd love to see you make a video about the Tepui mountains and the mysteries hidden inside them. There's not enough good content about them out there and I really like the way you explain things
He's by far one of the best UA-cam influencers to date, intelligent content with independent fact finding and proper writing with the occasional pun. I watch Thoughty2 every Sunday. I'm actually going to buy his book on audible if it's on there I hope her reads it!! Great voice, classic accent that harkens deep attention to be paid for an interesting finish. Thanks Aaron keep up the good work chap
@Jack Smith Money may not make you happy but it influences your happiness both in negative & positive ways, it's all about mentality, you can be wealthy and be happy, you don't need billions, for the perfect happy life you'd almost never need more than 30 Million Euros. (Alot I know, however not in relative comparison to multi, multi billionaires)
@Jack Smith it can't hurt if you're already happy being broke. It's gotta be better than wondering how you're gonna pay the light bill or eat anything besides macaroni for a week until the next paycheck comes
He actually used the tissues (at least most of them) to grab things from people because of germs. During a period in which he would only eat Campbell's soup, his servants would hand him his spoon with a tissue, and he would grab the spoon from them with a different tissue.
one thing that always stuck with me was HH film "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell. He designed a bra for her which was supposed to have the illusion she wasn't wearing one. He understood sex sells and what would get past the censors in early Hollywood. Russell looked incredible, but fun fact, she discarded the bra he created for her, allegedly, and padded her own. Either way the shots are iconic
I feel sad for Howard's suffering due to his disability and such a fear of germs. But I'm glad he at least found joy in the many dates that he had and movie he produced. I hope he could still fondly remember these successes in the later years of his life. 😊
Imagine if, rather than fearing "germs", he'd invested his time and wealth into studying and eliminating/controlling them. Passed couple years might have been a breeze, just sayin'.
@@deanmartin7924 Yes, that was used repetively in the movie where Leonardo Dicaprio played his role. An amazing movie in my opinion. I love the scenery of the shots and the escentric traits of Howard.
Dude is the very definition of a quote by Leonardo da Vinci: "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
That saying seems to afflict every airline pilot I know. 🤣 And due to the nature of my work, I know quite a few. But it doesn’t afflict everyone. I’ve been a passenger in both airliners and helicopters but it’s never gotten me. I’m happy to help prep the aircraft on the ground and stay on the ground and watch that plane I prepped fly gracefully into the sky without me.
It's amazing that he survived all of those plane crashes! I have heard of him of course, but I never knew his life was kickass like that. He's my new hero.
My Dad worked for Hughes Aircraft from the late 50s to the late 80’s. I worked for Hughes Helicopters late 70’s early 80’s. It was at the same location where they built the Spruce Goose in Culver City. It was pretty trippy roaming around the massive buildings and the offices where Hughes would pretty much live for various lengths of time while building the Goose. So much history and so many other contributions to aviation. We were building the first prototype Apache helicopters to sell to the Army. My dad helped build Surveyor, the first soft landing craft on the moon, to prepare for the Apollos.
While living in Vegas he purchased local Television Station KLAS so that they would play the movies he wanted to see all night long. If he missed part of the movie for some reason he would make a call and have them restart it where he left off. Sometimes he would get bored of the movie so he would make a call and have them stop it and start a new movie.
Howard Hughes started a company in Tucson (pronounced Too Saun) during WWII. The company specialized in refurbing aircraft engines for the war effort. All the engines were cleaned and degreased using Hydrofluorocarbons (TCA, TCE, PCE) to dissolve the oil and grime from the engines. Back then, nothing was known about the cancer causing properties of these compounds. The used Hydrofluorocarbon solution was poured into unlined large evaporative ponds so that they would evaporate. Years later, all those compounds were found in aquifer (ground water) underneath Tucson. The source of the contamination wasn't known until the 1980s when a University of Arizona hydrogeology professor found a way to trace the contaminated plume of groundwater back to the source. It turned out to be the Hughes plant. Now Raytheon owns the building and land and inherited the mess when they bought Hughes. To this day, the ground water near the source has to be remediated. They do this by pumping out a large amount of groundwater, aeriate it to further evaporate the Hydrofluorocarbon from the water and then put it back into the ground. It's a very expensive process.
Hey, at 12 I had put an old washing machine motor on my bicycle. It was not fast and had terrible range but it had tons of torque. The brakes on my bike could not cope and I now have the scrapes and scars as a reminder of that time - along with a few electrical burns. I did not learn my lesson. At university I made a methane powered potato gun, more a potato bazooka, which managed to launch a 600g potato over the three storey university library. I never found that potato. I do hope it went on to have a good life. I wonder if there are any adventurous children left.
I wish you'd mentioned the Glomar Explorer. A Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Pacific Ocean in the late 1960's, so, naturally, the CIA collaborated with Hughes to build a giant ship to clandestinely retrieve the sub from the ocean floor.
I heard this story directly from the founder of Downwinders Hughes spent millions trying to stop nuclear testing, because he felt guilty for the cancer and death of many people involved in the movie The Conquerer
He also, while in the hotel in Vegas I believe, bought a television station just so he could watch what he wanted whenever he wanted just by making a phone call. He would even call to have a movie rewound if he, very rarely, dozed off. Or would have the movie changed if he didn't like it.
I’ve read that HH smelled. The women he was with complained that he stunk of B.O. but he was so rich they just put up with it. Thanks for the show. Interesting subject. Love the channel.
I imagine the "shed" behind the house that his father let him use, congers up a different kind of shed most of us would consider a "shed". He was a "billionaire" back when a million dollars was a lot of money. When he died, people were crawling out of the wood work claiming they had a claim on his estate. I don't remember how it was finally worked out by the Court.
Another great video... I'm considering checking into a 21 day detox to break my addiction to this channel. I start to get the shakes if I don't check to see if there is another video, clip, or short that got posted somehow without my knowledge! LOL just messing around, but seriously, you have really found your stride man. I really enjoy your content and your way of thinking is quite similar to mine - This leads my to say "This is one great zarking channel, and for the love of Bob, what did Zaphod do with Slartibartfast's spacecraft?"
hes one of the very few rich people to actually do all of the crazy stuff cause now rich people dont really do much except complain about nonsense that no one really cares about howard was by far one of the few rich guys id like to hang out with if i was alive at that era and i dont think tony is like him cause if he was he would do what howard did
Many people are very wealthy, in spite of not having large sums of money. Having a loving family is the greatest thing I possess. That one thing is all I ever wanted as a child. My wife and I celebrate 34 years of marriage this year. ❤
There was a study that showed that rich people lose the ability to empathize. They actually put people into an MRI. The part of the brain that's supposed to light up when you are considering other people's needs, wants, and experiences had very little brain activity. If you have the ability to do what you want and have a physical inability to think outside your own singular existence and desires, that a recipe for a very strange personality.
@schwingedeshaehers there's actually an answer to this, or at least an interpretation. Being rich and successful usually means you are surrounded by subordinates, whether your rich from fame, or rich from business. These people end up depending on you financially if you are a rich business person, therefor their boss, or a celebrity with fans, even celebrities are surrounded by people who they employ. People don't ever give their employers reality checks, they rarely give them true information, so rich people end up in a bubble of self involvement. Which isolated them from normal human life, and they lose the ability to empathize. Also, as people get more rich they tend to think it was all them and they got what they got because they are better than the common person, Even if it's objectively untrue and luck had a lot to do with how they got there. Humans have an inate instinct to inflate their own ego and abilities. There was a study done where they had 2 people play monopoly with each other, 1 person was given a clearly obsurd advantage. They got to roll twice as much, they collected double the amount of money for passing go, snd got to buy property for half the price. The people with the cheats even started gloating and tease the person who had to At the end of the game they were asked why they thought they won, and they all said it was because of their skill at rolling or smart tactics for property purchasing. Not a single one of them said the reason they won was because of the advantage they were given over the other player. So, human psychologically become delusional garbage as they become richer. They did find that if you actively try to be a better person, and regularly remember and see how normal people live and what they go through, that they can avoid the delusional self interested pithole.
I grew up in Vegas and live here. I worked for a PBS station here and talked with some guys I worked with that where around when Hughes was alive. He bought Channel 8 here in town and used it like his personal VCR (1967). He made them broadcast 24 hours a day (back when stations would go off air around 10 or 11). He would call the station all the time to play movies at night with no commercials. If he got board of what he was watching he would call the station, and tell the staff to change the movie to what ever he wanted. He did not care about that other people might be watching. Regular viewers got pissed all the time, but he owned the station so they had to do what he wanted. It was a pain for the staff. And he bought the Desert Inn because they became tired of him and tried to kick him out of the Penthouse. So he just bought the casino.
I knew it was Howard Hughes the minute I saw the thumbnail. Yeah he suffered from OCD and not much treatment was around in those days for this condition. He actually died of malnutrition because he practically lived off pills. A shame really because there is treatment for it now. It can be just checking your front door is locked six times or as bad as confining you to your house. He wasn't insane but suffering from OCD and having the money to succumb to his obsessions is a lethal combination.
Psychiatrist / MD here: Burns do not stop hurting once the skin has healed - the nerve damage leaves a person in unrelenting pain which is less and less sensitive to pain medications. Today we have some that do address the post burn problem.....obviously unrelenting pain is unrelenting stress which is appalling for any pre-existing tendencies that can blossom in the wrong direction as happened with his ocd.
I have OCD, I can barely drive a car without freaking out. They are literally designed to pull to the right on purpose in case you fall asleep (true) and it seems like I'm the only one who notices, and my shoulder getting an impingement because of it is definitely not fun Its not ALWAYS just in your head. People with OCD are not completely delusional, it's not like germaphobia for everyone. I can only define it as hyperperception. It's hard sometimes.
I know some cars pull to the left, it's just that they mostly pull to the right because they aren't adjusted for road crown. (According to google this is also apparently done intentionally for the falling asleep thing) If your car goes straight down the road that means it's actually slightly pulling to the left, in your case its just pulling left too much. It is all due to the road crown, If your car pulls to the left then you are steering slightly right to compensate, which shifts weight to the left wheels, which are already sitting up higher because of the crown. The Road crown is a hump in the middle that is higher up than the edges so water will run off. On a two lane road This can cause uneven wear and tear on wheels suspension and even differentials if the left wheels and suspension are under more load every time u accelerate or hit the brakes. With the exception of user controls and seating positions, cars are mostly symmetrical, the road is not that's the problem. We need a better design for roads and/or for automobiles. There is a reason the McLaren F1 has the driver seat and steering wheel in the center of the car, so unless your driving one of those, you shouldn't force both arms and shoulders to mirror each other while driving. Hold the wheel in different positions take breaks, switch it up , be fluid. From driving too much and not noticing how I was having to twist one arm more than the other to go straight, my shoulder pops around now , I have a rib impengement from compensating, which is a form of "injury by repetition" which usually affects factory workers and those who do the exact same movements or strenuous activity over a period time. I have had physical therapy for it and still have to work on it myself. My OCD knew something was wrong before I had the shoulder popping. I should have listened to my OCD more in this case.
I was raised by a pretty smart guy. When it came to projects, he did a lot more work than I would like to admit. I bet that 12y/o had some help from dad.
Respect to him for doing that stunt but also all those first time test flights. Even being that rich and powerful it seems he didn't just send the people that "didn't matter" to do the dangerous stuff.
The Spruce Goose only flew once. On that occasion Hughes was scheduled to do an over water taxi test. The story goes he just fire-walled the throttles and took off for a very short and low flight. I believe he told people “I told you it could fly” as there was a lot of controversy over whether or not it could get off the water it was so big.
Very enlightening video. Over the decades I heard tidbits about Howard Hughe's life and eccentricities, but I didn't know much about him. (We had no internet with which to quickly look up data.) Decades ago there was a story going around that a man driving in Nevada picked up a hitchhiker who claimed to be Howard Hughes. I also recall reading in a book about Katharine Hepburn that Hughe's used to buzz her house in an airplane, supposedly to win her admiration. Aside from that, a slight correction. The city Tucson, Arizona, is pronounced two-sawn.
I have seen the spruce goose before, and inside of it there was a giant machine in the middle of the airplane that we found out was an air filter that he had installed in the plane just so that clean air could blow into the cockpit as he was flying the plane. really takes being afraid of germs to the next level.
Thank you thoughty 2 ,this man was always high in my books , im glad his stories are told ,it got me as a kid i was obsessed in that era,,When he started repeating single words in the movie , I felt for him , DiCaprio did a good portrayal ,but anyone with trauma and other added conditions could understand , despite the outcome I remember growing up looking at him as inspiration , that spruce baby and how he proved to people his creation COULD fly but he refused to lift high up just for principal and said ,she wont fly ever again , ,yes ...yes I'd do that too but be more spiteful and colorful worded lmao
I recently had the opportunity to see the spruce goose in McMinnville Oregon, and let me tell you, it is bigger than you would think. I paid extra to get to go in the cockpit and overlook the top of the aircraft. I highly recommend.
I saw the movie Aviator, and have seen it thrice more since. His life is simply epic, and so is Leonardo Di Caprio's, who I think so systematically transformed himself to the character he played.
Another thing Hughes did was recognize the prowess of Hedy Lemarr and gave her a lab to work in which is supposedly partially how she engineered the base concept that she later turned into a patent that was rejected because she was a woman and an actress.
Hey @Thoughty2, you could make a series out of this topic on excentric bilionairs. Could be fun to know many of them. I'm sure there is many others that are worthy of making a video for. Love your style and narration so much! Great work from all the team as always. Keep it up!
I read an article in a professional magazine about Hugh’s written about 1984. The fellow was in THREE accidents that were usually life and mind destroying to have just one. Time and the accidents, especially the last one, finally took their toll on him. I wish I would have kept the magazine so I could forward more, but reading that really put him in focus…
Absolutely love the content, for those who's wondering, there is a movie about him. It's call the aviator, starring leonardo dicaprio as howard, although it's 3 hours long, it's a pretty good movie! I do recommend checking it out if you're interested :)
Rich man 1: Your hotel sign is annoying, take it down! Rich man 2: Nah, we’re good. Rich man 1: Overpays for entire hotel just to demolish the annoying sign. That’s a whole new level of FU money.
I think some of the modern billionaires reflect the ways Howard Hughes developed from genius to an unfortunate man. Maybe some of this is what is possessed by geniuses?
There’s an interesting Vice article where they interviewed sugar babies and friends of billionaires and it’s super interesting. Billionaires are completely different people and they’re just weird.
Howard suffered from allodynia. This caused him great pain if his hair was cut, fingernails were cut, teeth were brushed, taking a shower, or wearing clothes. His heart was located on the right side of his chest because his internal organs were displaced during the plane crash. Behavior like watching movies distracts a person from pain.
This man has fascinated me ever since I first read about him. My great grandfather worked for Hughes Aircraft for a few years, until he left to work in the mining industry as a hoist engineer. I was able to keep the photos of he and my great grandmother having dinner under the wing of the Spruce Goose after is inaugural flight in Long Beach harbor.
That IS history Indiana!
That's awesome
Wow 🤩
The Spruce Goose was built in Long Beach and was flown in Long Beach harbor. Not San Diego.
As a kid who's heroes and wonders mainly came from the ww2 era ,I was drawn to Hughes and that wonderful plane
From what I read, a leading theory into Hughes eccentric behavior was PTSD and brain damage from plane accidents, plus his natural neuroticism and OCD combined and he ended up being full blown insane.
That's what I thought
Most definitely he had PTSD after the crash , difficult how I could say I knew he would ,but its there , I guess long sufferers spot it like nature
I can relate to him a lot and without copious amounts of thc I would be fully insane
@@bbk9787 same😂do you also have ocd?
@@abdul6975 a little
I credit Howard Hughes with my OCD diagnosis. Watching the film The Aviator and seeing his descent into mental health crisis made me aware of just how debilitating it can be, so I started seeing an expert to get an official medical diagnosis and to learn some coping mechanisms to make sure I never got as bad as he did.
Ah that is awesome, so glad you got some help i have known a few people with OCD and it is such a hard thing to deal with for them, i could see how much they struggled.
Very admirable of you , wishing you good luck 🍀
I recommend jumping into a dumpster or being homeless for a year. You lose all sense of hygiene after that, much less OCD. These western doctors know nothing about true cures, they only give you the treatment so they can get money from your insurance plans. ;D
Leo killed it on that role
@@thetruthisonlyperspective4872 absolutely would’ve won the Oscar for it if competition wasn’t so stiff that year.
Fun fact about the Silver Slipper. Once buying the hotel casino profits dropped after turning the lighted slipper off. Hughes had lights turned on again and was fine living with the annoyance knowing it was making money.
One story is he liked "ice station zebra so much " he brought the television station so he could watch it repeatedly. Another story was he was so upset about an interracial couple on a dating show, he brought the station to complain.
understanding corrected his pain. Understanding can do that.
I don’t know why but when I first came across the story of Howard Hughes many years ago I was absolutely fascinated, I loved planes as I child and always remember the sundays tinkering around with tools in the garage at my grandparents house. I would read articles about Howard’s life on the internet and used to watch the the film The Aviator’ about once a month haha. Howard is part of the reason I decided to study engineering when I got a bit older. I’m still quite young but my job has taken me all over the world from The United States to Australia and several places in Africa. Thank You for the video Thoughty and Thank You Howard Hughes
I too felt drawn to his story as a kid ,and more in adulthood having PTSD with a few additional helpers ,its like maybe I could see similar in him ,I am very poor but I'm also very rich in eccentric lol
I grew up in the 50s and 60s hearing a lot about him. In his later years when he started becoming paranoid about germs and going out some mormons started caring for him which many felt they they were the cause of him becoming a recluse. When Hughes dies he left all his money to the mormon church which only added to the belief that they had a motive. At the time of his death there was a man who came forward saying that he had an encounter with Hughes and did a favor for Hughes. Hughes was s grateful he gave the man a sort of a will that he was to get something when he died. I don't recall how much it was and the note seemed authentic. The mormons disputed it so that man never got a cent.
Out of all the ailments that have ever plagued mankind, mental illness has to be one of if not the worst, as not only does it rob the sufferer of their health but of their peace, dignity, and even their very identity. Truly an interesting life, a bona fide Greek tragedy.
Have U ever been inside a hospital burn unit ? I wouldn't wish that on the devil himself. Never again.
Sad..Poor man..just shows that money isn't everything.
I hope he found peace.
Love the content matey, keep up the good work! 💚
I worked in a medical clinic in Houston with one of his heirs, a doctor. We young women were in awe, but the doc was old and married. My husband and I live close to Sumerlin, NV, the land he donated, and it’s the prettiest city around here. We’ve seen the Spruce Goose and it’s awesome.
Towards the end there were people who kept him in a vulnerable state so they could control his wealth. It’s not just that his mental condition overwhelmed him but that there were people helping that to happen
Much like diego maradona
I’m just wondering how a guy building a hospital with his own money is a bad thing. The person that’s made this video took a cheap shot at Hughes with the line he threw in about taxes.
He was smart enough to build a hospital, so it out loud him not to pay taxes ever again. Is that worse than having a hospital to begin with? It seems like it’s a brilliant maneuver that anyone of us would’ve made had we had a chance
The “Mormon Mafia”
@@chrisconley8583so you don't see anything bad with exploiting loopholes to avoid paying something that is pittance to you and that every other person in your country and world pays no matter how poor they are? nice, I suppose it's the zero sum game isn't it, you help one person and destroy another and it all evens out.
A wonderful rendition of Howard Hughes tortured life. I never knew he lived in the Bahamas at the time of his death. I thought he died in Las Vegas. Leonardo Decaprio's portrayal of his remains one of the most undercelebrated performances in movie history. I just wonder, considering all of the protective secrecy around Mr. Hughes, what his true story was. I think that was a concerted effort to make sure Howard Hughes never regained his sanity and remained pliable and hidden in his own isolation. Keep the boss, high, happy and in his room and we can run everything from here. Once you lose your ability to realize what is happening in your life, you are doomed. Mental illness plus rampant drug use is a life sentence in Hell. It is on every city street in America right now.
I believe Hughes was in Acapulco, Mexico, when he was dying & flew back to
Houston for medical aid! The pilot reported that Hughes sat up from his gurney
& observed him flying & then fell back & died, while still in flight! p.s. My wife had
to be airlifted, by Medi-Jet from Jamaica to Fla. 3 yrs. ago, so I could relate to this!
@@rongendron8705 For a man who found his greatest joy in the sky, this was a fitting way to leave his life. I hope your wife is o.k.
The spruce goose lives in my home state in Oregon at the McMinnville aerospace museum. It literally takes up the entire main hall, and has smaller planes parked underneath it.
Been viewing your videos for a couple three years now and am still impressed . Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to interpretation .
Been waiting for this weeks video to drop! Love the variety of your videos, you never know what it’s gonna be.
I'd love to see you make a video about the Tepui mountains and the mysteries hidden inside them. There's not enough good content about them out there and I really like the way you explain things
He's by far one of the best UA-cam influencers to date, intelligent content with independent fact finding and proper writing with the occasional pun. I watch Thoughty2 every Sunday. I'm actually going to buy his book on audible if it's on there I hope her reads it!! Great voice, classic accent that harkens deep attention to be paid for an interesting finish. Thanks Aaron keep up the good work chap
Imagine being rich
Imagine imagining being rich.
@@211inprogress I don't think I'd ever get tired of constantly hooking up with beautiful women though
@Jack Smith Money may not make you happy but it influences your happiness both in negative & positive ways, it's all about mentality, you can be wealthy and be happy, you don't need billions, for the perfect happy life you'd almost never need more than 30 Million Euros. (Alot I know, however not in relative comparison to multi, multi billionaires)
@Jack Smith it can't hurt if you're already happy being broke. It's gotta be better than wondering how you're gonna pay the light bill or eat anything besides macaroni for a week until the next paycheck comes
@@211inprogress, so find something that is actually interesting to do...
Excellent clip and great message for us all at the end.
Arran, you've done a great job building your Channel. Keep up the great work!
The best story rundown from this channel, always entertaining and you learn stuff.
As always your videos are entertaining, interesting, and fascinating, and you keep me captivated lol. Thanks for the great video!
He actually used the tissues (at least most of them) to grab things from people because of germs. During a period in which he would only eat Campbell's soup, his servants would hand him his spoon with a tissue, and he would grab the spoon from them with a different tissue.
Watching your videos is my favorite hobby during dinner time. Thanks mate.
"Step Inside The Mad, Bad World Of History's Most Bonkers Billionaire" incredible title, i love it XD
one thing that always stuck with me was HH film "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell. He designed a bra for her which was supposed to have the illusion she wasn't wearing one. He understood sex sells and what would get past the censors in early Hollywood. Russell looked incredible, but fun fact, she discarded the bra he created for her, allegedly, and padded her own. Either way the shots are iconic
I feel sad for Howard's suffering due to his disability and such a fear of germs.
But I'm glad he at least found joy in the many dates that he had and movie he produced. I hope he could still fondly remember these successes in the later years of his life. 😊
Imagine if, rather than fearing "germs", he'd invested his time and wealth into studying and eliminating/controlling them.
Passed couple years might have been a breeze, just sayin'.
No. Yeah it's nicer to be stealthy and it is common for the team to be able to get rid of the best part of one of those guys 😂😂🤣
Nikola Tesla also had a great fear of germs washed his hands 100 times a day.
@@deanmartin7924 Yes, that was used repetively in the movie where Leonardo Dicaprio played his role. An amazing movie in my opinion. I love the scenery of the shots and the escentric traits of Howard.
Don't think so. I think he was a chronic pain patient due to that plane crash. And the opiates got him.
Thanks for the video !
Congrats on hitting 5 million subs Arran!
Thank You !
Love your content.
The weirdness didn't end with his death. Thoughty2 could do an entire episode about claimants to his will.
Yeah, a lot of drama there.
Dude is the very definition of a quote by Leonardo da Vinci:
"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
That saying seems to afflict every airline pilot I know. 🤣 And due to the nature of my work, I know quite a few.
But it doesn’t afflict everyone. I’ve been a passenger in both airliners and helicopters but it’s never gotten me. I’m happy to help prep the aircraft on the ground and stay on the ground and watch that plane I prepped fly gracefully into the sky without me.
Love your videos man thanks for all you do for us
You’re videos keep getting better
It's amazing that he survived all of those plane crashes! I have heard of him of course, but I never knew his life was kickass like that. He's my new hero.
Its not the number of crashes gets you ,but a quality one or two can put a big dent in you ,trust me...
@@agentorange81 How many other people do you know about that crashed not once, not twice but three times and survived?
My Dad worked for Hughes Aircraft from the late 50s to the late 80’s. I worked for Hughes Helicopters late 70’s early 80’s. It was at the same location where they built the Spruce Goose in Culver City. It was pretty trippy roaming around the massive buildings and the offices where Hughes would pretty much live for various lengths of time while building the Goose. So much history and so many other contributions to aviation. We were building the first prototype Apache helicopters to sell to the Army. My dad helped build Surveyor, the first soft landing craft on the moon, to prepare for the Apollos.
The man made it that far. It's a shame how it had to end. I honor his enthusiasm.
This guy inspired some of the most iconic fictional characters, because he practically was one
While living in Vegas he purchased local Television Station KLAS so that they would play the movies he wanted to see all night long. If he missed part of the movie for some reason he would make a call and have them restart it where he left off. Sometimes he would get bored of the movie so he would make a call and have them stop it and start a new movie.
Howard Hughes started a company in Tucson (pronounced Too Saun) during WWII. The company specialized in refurbing aircraft engines for the war effort. All the engines were cleaned and degreased using Hydrofluorocarbons (TCA, TCE, PCE) to dissolve the oil and grime from the engines. Back then, nothing was known about the cancer causing properties of these compounds. The used Hydrofluorocarbon solution was poured into unlined large evaporative ponds so that they would evaporate. Years later, all those compounds were found in aquifer (ground water) underneath Tucson. The source of the contamination wasn't known until the 1980s when a University of Arizona hydrogeology professor found a way to trace the contaminated plume of groundwater back to the source. It turned out to be the Hughes plant. Now Raytheon owns the building and land and inherited the mess when they bought Hughes. To this day, the ground water near the source has to be remediated. They do this by pumping out a large amount of groundwater, aeriate it to further evaporate the Hydrofluorocarbon from the water and then put it back into the ground. It's a very expensive process.
Pretty sad ending indeed. But his early life was freaking crazy!
Hey, at 12 I had put an old washing machine motor on my bicycle. It was not fast and had terrible range but it had tons of torque. The brakes on my bike could not cope and I now have the scrapes and scars as a reminder of that time - along with a few electrical burns. I did not learn my lesson. At university I made a methane powered potato gun, more a potato bazooka, which managed to launch a 600g potato over the three storey university library. I never found that potato. I do hope it went on to have a good life.
I wonder if there are any adventurous children left.
I wish you'd mentioned the Glomar Explorer. A Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Pacific Ocean in the late 1960's, so, naturally, the CIA collaborated with Hughes to build a giant ship to clandestinely retrieve the sub from the ocean floor.
Cia killed jfk
The cia is a terrorist organization
Orders are shoot on site
I heard this story directly from the founder of Downwinders
Hughes spent millions trying to stop nuclear testing, because he felt guilty for the cancer and death of many people involved in the movie The Conquerer
Excellent. Another good story, told well.
Incredible writing and delivery, as always, doesn’t get any better than this
Thank you for this story.
He also, while in the hotel in Vegas I believe, bought a television station just so he could watch what he wanted whenever he wanted just by making a phone call. He would even call to have a movie rewound if he, very rarely, dozed off. Or would have the movie changed if he didn't like it.
You videos are well thought of. i love everyone you always put up
Eccentricness is always a good trait to have, rich or poor.
unless your bill gates eccentric, it's not always good.
"NO! Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric."
Eccentricity*
no it isnt. it is the money lets underlying negative conditions to prosper.
how the HELL is that 'a good trait'????
That was awesome and educational. A few times I had to back up the video to catch all the facts.
I’ve read that HH smelled. The women he was with complained that he stunk of B.O. but he was so rich they just put up with it. Thanks for the show. Interesting subject. Love the channel.
I saw a tea tray in a shop in Knightsbridge that reads, "Travel first- class, or your heirs will."
Can't argue with that.
That's just so amazing how he did this all in his life time. & thanks @Thoughty2 for sharing
I imagine the "shed" behind the house that his father let him use, congers up a different kind of shed most of us would consider a "shed". He was a "billionaire" back when a million dollars was a lot of money. When he died, people were crawling out of the wood work claiming they had a claim on his estate. I don't remember how it was finally worked out by the Court.
I don't either but it was in the papers.
Another great video... I'm considering checking into a 21 day detox to break my addiction to this channel. I start to get the shakes if I don't check to see if there is another video, clip, or short that got posted somehow without my knowledge! LOL just messing around, but seriously, you have really found your stride man. I really enjoy your content and your way of thinking is quite similar to mine - This leads my to say "This is one great zarking channel, and for the love of Bob, what did Zaphod do with Slartibartfast's spacecraft?"
hes one of the very few rich people to actually do all of the crazy stuff cause now rich people dont really do much except complain about nonsense that no one really cares about howard was by far one of the few rich guys id like to hang out with if i was alive at that era and i dont think tony is like him cause if he was he would do what howard did
Good one thoughty, thanks.
Many people are very wealthy, in spite of not having large sums of money. Having a loving family is the greatest thing I possess. That one thing is all I ever wanted as a child. My wife and I celebrate 34 years of marriage this year. ❤
I'd take the money
The Aviator is one of my all-time favorite movies and has changed my life for the better ever since after watching it.
Love your stories ❤ keep them cooming
There was a study that showed that rich people lose the ability to empathize. They actually put people into an MRI. The part of the brain that's supposed to light up when you are considering other people's needs, wants, and experiences had very little brain activity. If you have the ability to do what you want and have a physical inability to think outside your own singular existence and desires, that a recipe for a very strange personality.
The question is, which way around
@schwingedeshaehers there's actually an answer to this, or at least an interpretation. Being rich and successful usually means you are surrounded by subordinates, whether your rich from fame, or rich from business. These people end up depending on you financially if you are a rich business person, therefor their boss, or a celebrity with fans, even celebrities are surrounded by people who they employ. People don't ever give their employers reality checks, they rarely give them true information, so rich people end up in a bubble of self involvement. Which isolated them from normal human life, and they lose the ability to empathize.
Also, as people get more rich they tend to think it was all them and they got what they got because they are better than the common person, Even if it's objectively untrue and luck had a lot to do with how they got there. Humans have an inate instinct to inflate their own ego and abilities. There was a study done where they had 2 people play monopoly with each other, 1 person was given a clearly obsurd advantage. They got to roll twice as much, they collected double the amount of money for passing go, snd got to buy property for half the price. The people with the cheats even started gloating and tease the person who had to At the end of the game they were asked why they thought they won, and they all said it was because of their skill at rolling or smart tactics for property purchasing. Not a single one of them said the reason they won was because of the advantage they were given over the other player.
So, human psychologically become delusional garbage as they become richer.
They did find that if you actively try to be a better person, and regularly remember and see how normal people live and what they go through, that they can avoid the delusional self interested pithole.
Amazing video bro
Always a suprised to find more out about the decline of Katherine Hepburn, money and Hollywood changed her
I grew up in Vegas and live here. I worked for a PBS station here and talked with some guys I worked with that where around when Hughes was alive.
He bought Channel 8 here in town and used it like his personal VCR (1967). He made them broadcast 24 hours a day (back when stations would go off air around 10 or 11).
He would call the station all the time to play movies at night with no commercials. If he got board of what he was watching he would call the station, and tell the staff to change the movie to what ever he wanted. He did not care about that other people might be watching. Regular viewers got pissed all the time, but he owned the station so they had to do what he wanted. It was a pain for the staff.
And he bought the Desert Inn because they became tired of him and tried to kick him out of the Penthouse. So he just bought the casino.
I knew it was Howard Hughes the minute I saw the thumbnail. Yeah he suffered from OCD and not much treatment was around in those days for this condition. He actually died of malnutrition because he practically lived off pills. A shame really because there is treatment for it now. It can be just checking your front door is locked six times or as bad as confining you to your house. He wasn't insane but suffering from OCD and having the money to succumb to his obsessions is a lethal combination.
Good job. A brief overview of his life.
The Aviator did a decent job at portraying his life. The full story is always better though.
I absolutely loved that film when I discovered it on an hbo preview last school year
Psychiatrist / MD here: Burns do not stop hurting once the skin has healed - the nerve damage leaves a person in unrelenting pain which is less and less sensitive to pain medications. Today we have some that do address the post burn problem.....obviously unrelenting pain is unrelenting stress which is appalling for any pre-existing tendencies that can blossom in the wrong direction as happened with his ocd.
Sad tissues and happy tissues.
What a creative word choice. 🤭
Congratulations on 5m subs been watching for years now 🎉
Thanks as usual, Aaron, mate.
Always enjoyable to be educated in the sometimes obscure..!
So interesting, thanks.
I have OCD, I can barely drive a car without freaking out. They are literally designed to pull to the right on purpose in case you fall asleep (true) and it seems like I'm the only one who notices, and my shoulder getting an impingement because of it is definitely not fun Its not ALWAYS just in your head. People with OCD are not completely delusional, it's not like germaphobia for everyone. I can only define it as hyperperception. It's hard sometimes.
My car pulls to the left
@@a4l1f3 my old truck does too but it also has an uneven weight distribution. Be careful if u fall asleep or get tired
I know some cars pull to the left, it's just that they mostly pull to the right because they aren't adjusted for road crown. (According to google this is also apparently done intentionally for the falling asleep thing) If your car goes straight down the road that means it's actually slightly pulling to the left, in your case its just pulling left too much. It is all due to the road crown, If your car pulls to the left then you are steering slightly right to compensate, which shifts weight to the left wheels, which are already sitting up higher because of the crown. The Road crown is a hump in the middle that is higher up than the edges so water will run off.
On a two lane road This can cause uneven wear and tear on wheels suspension and even differentials if the left wheels and suspension are under more load every time u accelerate or hit the brakes. With the exception of user controls and seating positions, cars are mostly symmetrical, the road is not that's the problem. We need a better design for roads and/or for automobiles. There is a reason the McLaren F1 has the driver seat and steering wheel in the center of the car, so unless your driving one of those, you shouldn't force both arms and shoulders to mirror each other while driving. Hold the wheel in different positions take breaks, switch it up , be fluid. From driving too much and not noticing how I was having to twist one arm more than the other to go straight, my shoulder pops around now , I have a rib impengement from compensating, which is a form of "injury by repetition" which usually affects factory workers and those who do the exact same movements or strenuous activity over a period time. I have had physical therapy for it and still have to work on it myself. My OCD knew something was wrong before I had the shoulder popping. I should have listened to my OCD more in this case.
It remarkable he survived that horrendous plane wreck.
I was raised by a pretty smart guy. When it came to projects, he did a lot more work than I would like to admit.
I bet that 12y/o had some help from dad.
As always, awesome video
Respect to him for doing that stunt but also all those first time test flights. Even being that rich and powerful it seems he didn't just send the people that "didn't matter" to do the dangerous stuff.
What a life he led- Great Video- & all this content without even mentioning The Conquerer 1956 Movie with John Wayne.
The Spruce Goose only flew once. On that occasion Hughes was scheduled to do an over water taxi test. The story goes he just fire-walled the throttles and took off for a very short and low flight. I believe he told people “I told you it could fly” as there was a lot of controversy over whether or not it could get off the water it was so big.
Very enlightening video. Over the decades I heard tidbits about Howard Hughe's life and eccentricities, but I didn't know much about him. (We had no internet with which to quickly look up data.) Decades ago there was a story going around that a man driving in Nevada picked up a hitchhiker who claimed to be Howard Hughes. I also recall reading in a book about Katharine Hepburn that Hughe's used to buzz her house in an airplane, supposedly to win her admiration. Aside from that, a slight correction. The city Tucson, Arizona, is pronounced two-sawn.
That guy's name is Melvin Dummar. You can watch a movie about that event called Howard and Melvin.
I have seen the spruce goose before, and inside of it there was a giant machine in the middle of the airplane that we found out was an air filter that he had installed in the plane just so that clean air could blow into the cockpit as he was flying the plane. really takes being afraid of germs to the next level.
Surrounded by hundreds of gallons isocyanate glue used in construction, off gassing would mske me think of air quality.
Man literally won the lottery of life to then piss it all in jars he likely had his staff keep in storage for him.
Thank you thoughty 2 ,this man was always high in my books , im glad his stories are told ,it got me as a kid i was obsessed in that era,,When he started repeating single words in the movie , I felt for him , DiCaprio did a good portrayal ,but anyone with trauma and other added conditions could understand , despite the outcome I remember growing up looking at him as inspiration , that spruce baby and how he proved to people his creation COULD fly but he refused to lift high up just for principal and said ,she wont fly ever again , ,yes ...yes I'd do that too but be more spiteful and colorful worded lmao
Probably higher than Giraffe pussy...
Stoned like a biblical whore.
I recently had the opportunity to see the spruce goose in McMinnville Oregon, and let me tell you, it is bigger than you would think. I paid extra to get to go in the cockpit and overlook the top of the aircraft. I highly recommend.
How convenient this video comes in my recommend when I'm more broke then I've ever been hahah
I saw the movie Aviator, and have seen it thrice more since.
His life is simply epic, and so is Leonardo Di Caprio's, who I think so systematically transformed himself to the character he played.
Another thing Hughes did was recognize the prowess of Hedy Lemarr and gave her a lab to work in which is supposedly partially how she engineered the base concept that she later turned into a patent that was rejected because she was a woman and an actress.
We need more people like him, screw the norm, build something awesome!
I like your style
Such a fantastic life… tragically marred by mental illness….
You really can’t buy good health… ❤
Excellent summary
Hey @Thoughty2, you could make a series out of this topic on excentric bilionairs. Could be fun to know many of them. I'm sure there is many others that are worthy of making a video for.
Love your style and narration so much! Great work from all the team as always. Keep it up!
I read an article in a professional magazine about Hugh’s written about 1984. The fellow was in THREE accidents that were usually life and mind destroying to have just one. Time and the accidents, especially the last one, finally took their toll on him. I wish I would have kept the magazine so I could forward more, but reading that really put him in focus…
Soon... You'll at least be rich enough to have a gold toilet paper holder, Thoughty2!
were you from thought 2 🙂 love your vids
Absolutely love the content, for those who's wondering, there is a movie about him. It's call the aviator, starring leonardo dicaprio as howard, although it's 3 hours long, it's a pretty good movie! I do recommend checking it out if you're interested :)
It was fantastically well done
He did him honor ,best acting DiCaprio ever did IMO
Rich man 1: Your hotel sign is annoying, take it down!
Rich man 2: Nah, we’re good.
Rich man 1: Overpays for entire hotel just to demolish the annoying sign.
That’s a whole new level of FU money.
I think some of the modern billionaires reflect the ways Howard Hughes developed from genius to an unfortunate man.
Maybe some of this is what is possessed by geniuses?
Thank you for the interesting story of a interesting man.
There’s an interesting Vice article where they interviewed sugar babies and friends of billionaires and it’s super interesting. Billionaires are completely different people and they’re just weird.
Did I miss you covering the Glomar Explorer and operation Azorian?
Howard suffered from allodynia. This caused him great pain if his hair was cut, fingernails were cut, teeth were brushed, taking a shower, or wearing clothes. His heart was located on the right side of his chest because his internal organs were displaced during the plane crash. Behavior like watching movies distracts a person from pain.