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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)

▲From 'Robinson Crusoe' to 'The Revenant,' stories about overcoming odds have always been popular. It's easy to see why, as there's nothing quite like watching someone on the edge, doing anything they can to live another day. Here's a roundup of real-life survival stories, so gripping that they surpass any work of fiction. Take a look at the most suspenseful survival stories of all time.

▲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.

▲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’.

▲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.

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

▲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.

▲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.

▲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.

▲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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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.

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

▲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.

▲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.

▲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.

▲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.'

▲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.

▲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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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.

▲In 1920, a band of military officials crashed a hydrogen balloon in the Canadian wilderness.

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

▲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.

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

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

▲In 1815, Captain James Riley and his 11 sailors were shipwrecked on the shores of North Africa.

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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.

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

▲Hiroo Onoda fought in World War II, but refused to surrender until 1974.

▲Onoda spent 30 years in the jungles of the Philippines, refusing to believe that the war was over.

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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.

▲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.

The most suspenseful survival stories of all time

Two hundred years ago today, the American whaling ship Essex was sunk by a sperm whale

20/11/20 por StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Suspense

From 'Robinson Crusoe' to 'The Revenant,' stories about overcoming odds have always been popular. It's easy to see why, as there's nothing quite like watching someone on the edge, doing anything they can to live another day. Here's a roundup of real-life survival stories, so gripping that they surpass any work of fiction. Take a look at the most suspenseful survival stories of all time.