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'127 Hours' - Aron Ralston has quite the survival story. The hiker fell into a canyon in Utah, trapping his arm behind a boulder. He eventually severed his own arm to escape, and his story was told in the film ‘127 Hours’.

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22 months in Antarctica -

Ernest Shackleton tried to cross Antarctica on foot with his crew. It didn’t go to plan, and they were stranded for 22 months, before sailing to safety in an open lifeboat.

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Abby Sunderland - In 2010, Abby Sunderland tried to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The 16-year-old hit a storm, and was stranded at sea for two days.

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Jan Baalsrud - In 1943, Baalsrud was ambushed in Nazi-occupied Norway. With one shoe missing, he escaped their clutches, and survived the cruel tundra.

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'The Revenant' - In 1823, Hugh Glass led an expedition to find fur. He crossed paths with a bear, and sustained terrible injuries. Even after being abandoned, Glass survived, and his story was told in the film ‘The Revenant.'

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Resorting to cannibalism - This group of US pioneers were stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during winter 1846-1847. Some resorted to cannibalism, and only 48 of the original 87 members made it out alive.

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The tale of John McCain -

In 1967, Lieutenant Commander John McCain parachuted into Truc Bac Lake, Vietnam. He endured a year of torture and mistreatment before his father was made commander of US forces in Vietnam.

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The tale of John McCain - McCain Jr. was offered an early release, but apparently refused unless other prisoners were freed. He was kept as a prisoner until 1973.

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From Siberia to India - At the beginning of World War II, Polish officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army. He spent a year in a Siberian gulag, before escaping and marching miles from Siberia to India.

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Attack of the sperm whales - Back in 1820, a whaling ship called Essex was destroyed by sperm whales. Only eight of the 21 sailors survived. One sailor, Owen Chase, was saved 93 days after the ship was destroyed.

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Spared by cannibals - In 1945, American officers crash-landed in Dutch New Guinea. The natives were known cannibals, but spared the three remaining officers. They spent 42 days in the jungle, and lived to tell the tale.

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76 days in the Atlantic -

In 1982, a (nearly naked) man named Steven Callahan went adrift in the Atlantic. He spent over 76 days in the Atlantic, before landing in the Bahamas.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0)

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Lewis and Clark - In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out to find water and explore the West. If it wasn’t for their guide, an indigenous teenager named Sacagawea, they probably would have died in the Rocky Mountains.

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18 hours in the "death zone" - Beck Weathers tried to scale Everest, but spent 18 hours in the “death zone,” in sub-zero temperatures. He eventually came to his senses, and miraculously marched to safety.

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Nando Parrado - In 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Andes. Many died, but Nando Parrado led the survivors to safety.

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19 days in the jungle - Yossi Ghinsberg was one of three explorers in the Bolivian Amazon. They got lost, and Ghinsberg spent 19 days in the dense jungle before being rescued.

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36 days at sea -

In 1972, the Robertson family was set adrift after getting attacked by killer whales. The party of six survived 36 days on the water, before being saved by a Japanese trawler.

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Pierre Viaud - In 1766, Pierre Viaud and his crew were on their way to New Orleans when their ship was destroyed. They survived in the swamps of Florida, fending off alligators in the process.

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John Colter escapes capture - John Colter was an American explorer who was captured by the Blackfoot Confederacy. Colter had a chance to escape, and outran the group. Over 11 days, Colter walked 200 miles back to his base.

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The 17-year-old sole survivor - In 1971, a flight carrying 93 passengers crashed in the Peruvian rainforest. Juliane Koepcke was just 17 years old, and was the sole survivor. She followed a stream for nine days, before loggers came to the rescue.

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Surviving shark-infested waters - Deborah Kiley was one of five people who set out from Maine to Florida in a yacht. A storm sank the boat, and three died. Two survived in a rubber dinghy, sailing to safety in shark-infested waters.

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Parachuting to safety - During the 1950s, David Steeves set out from San Francisco to Alabama, USA. He claims his jet suffered a malfunction, and he parachuted to safety, spending two weeks without food. However doubts have been raised about the legitimacy of his story.

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Journey to Hudson Bay - In 1920, a band of military officials crashed a hydrogen balloon in the Canadian wilderness.

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Journey to Hudson Bay - The team traveled through the forest for a week during winter, before arriving at a trading post in Hudson Bay.

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Stranded in the Sahara - In 1815, Captain James Riley and his 11 sailors were shipwrecked on the shores of North Africa.

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Stranded in the Sahara - The team were apparently sold into slavery, before being dragged around the Sahara desert. A British merchant went on to free the team.

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The man who wouldn't surrender - Hiroo Onoda fought in World War II, but refused to surrender until 1974.

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The man who wouldn't surrender - Onoda spent 30 years in the jungles of the Philippines, refusing to believe that the war was over.

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Almost a millionaire - In 1998, Steve Fossett tried to win US$1 million by crossing the globe in a helium balloon, solo.

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Almost a millionaire -

Fossett’s balloon, The Solo Spirit, drifted into a storm. Fossett didn’t have a parachute, but survived a fall from the sky by laying on the passenger capsule and bracing for impact. He was rescued 10 hours later.

See also: Funny or absurd facts about the Victorian era.

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