Until the 1950s, no one had run a mile in less than 4 minutes.
It wasn't for lack of trying.
People tried breaking the 4-minute barrier going back at least as far as the 18th century.
Then in 1954, on a windy day in Oxford, England -- Roger Bannister proved them all wrong and became the first human in recorded history to break this barrier.
But here's the weird part:
Just 46 days later, somebody else ran the mile even faster.
Then a year later, three more people ran the mile in under 4 minutes -- in the same race. And today hundreds of others have achieved the "impossible" 4-minute mile.
Now, if you've heard this story before, that's usually where it ends. The moral is supposed to be that once you know something is possible, it's easier to achieve.
But it wasn't Bannister's amazing genes, or that he was super athletic… or even that he might have been part cheetah (he's neither confirmed nor denied that last one) that led him to breaking this record.
He had something else going for him.
Besides being a talented athlete, Bannister was also an Oxford medical student. He was a man of science.
So when Bannister decided to get serious, he did what scientists do...
He tested running shoes and tracks. He knew how many steps he needed to take on the turns and the straightaways and how fast he had to run at each point on the track. He even tested his blood before and after running.
Ultimately, the data helped turn the impossible into reality.
So why am I telling you about something that happened in the 1950s as if it's breaking news?
The fact is, today we're seeing the impossible happen all the time. But it's not because we're more evolved or more capable or smarter than humans used to be…
It's because we're finally learning what Bannister knew six decades ago:
If you've got the right data, you can make incredible things happen.
The kind of stuff we aim to help people do every day in The Hustle's premium publication, Trends.
You see, we're actively searching for "seemingly-impossible-but-actually-doable-and-super-profitable" ideas.
Whenever we see something interesting happening in the world, we find out everything we can about it. I mean, we REALLY nerd out and dig deep into the data.
Then we distill it all down into easy-to-read charts, reports, and case studies… all so smart subscribers (like you) can apply all that science to your own "impossible" idea.
