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Lindsey Graham (0:24)
It's January 30, 1925, in southwest Kentucky. Cave explorer Floyd Collins is 55ft underground. By the flickering light of a kerosene lantern, he scrapes rock from the side of a narrow crevasse with a crowbar. It's painstaking work to give Floyd just centimeters more space. He's in such tight quarters, it would give the average person instant intense claustrophobia. But for Floyd, it's just another day at work. He's been exploring caves around Kentucky since he was six years old. Now 38, he's been working for weeks to expand this tunnel in search of a cave so beautiful and majestic that tourists will come from all over the world to see it and pay him good money for the privilege. Floyd scoops up the loose rock he's chipped away and puts it in a burlap sack. He sets it aside to be taken to the surface, and with this section of the cave slightly widened, he decides to move deeper in. Floyd wiggles first down a narrow fissure through the limestone. A trickle of cold water dribbles down alongside him, dampening his shirt. At the bottom, Floyd finds a hole with a cool breeze whistling through it. It's a promising lead and a search for a larger cave. But it can wait. Floyd is tired and decides to call it a day. Pulling himself back up the limestone fissure, he comes to an especially tight spot. But as he's maneuvering his limbs to squeeze through, he drops his lantern. The flame goes out, and Floyd is left in total darkness. Undeterred, Floyd triumph. Squeezing up the narrow space head first, he lifts his right foot to push himself up a rocky outcrop. But in the dark, he can't see that he's actually putting his foot on a loose boulder. His body weight dislodges it, and it tumbles on top of his other foot. Floyd tries to move, but he can't budge. His ankle is pinned to the floor of the tunnel. He begins to panic. He kicks and struggles, but that only has more rocks and gravel falling down on top of him, partially pinning down his left arm as well. Floyd stops moving and lies still, realizing too late that the more he moves, the more loose rock he dislodges onto himself. He's on his back, alone in the cold, wet pitch black crevasse. He can't sit up. He can't roll over. He is hopelessly trapped. Floyd Collins will fight for survival in this exact spot for the next 15 days. The enormous effort to save him would become the biggest news story in America before rescuers final dig deep enough to reach him on February 16, 1925. I'm still putting the finishing touches on my live show. I've got about 10 days left before we begin rehearsals and it's kind of stressful, but the reason is I'm packing this show with all sorts of entertainment. There's history, of course, but also drama, music, maps, even time series population charts. And I know you love a good data visualization. Speaking of visualizations, imagine this. The perfect seat, dead center in the theater, not too close and not too far from stage. Well, that one's been sold already. Tickets are going fast for the Dallas show, so buy yours today. And to be the first to know when we announce new dates, go to historydailylive.com to register for details. That's historydailylive.com.