7. Hiker Christopher McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp, is found dead in a converted bus, the Fairbanks Bus 142, along Alaska’s Stampede Trail
His story spawned not only a best-selling novel — “Into the Wild” — from author Jon Krakauer, but a feature-length film directed by Sean Penn. McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska, after spending the previous two years since graduating from Emory University. The 24-year-old sold all his donated most of his savings to charity and adopted a vagabond lifestyle after graduating, traveling through Arizona, California, South Dakota and, eventually, Alaska.
It was in Alaska where McCandless, who began going by the name “Alexander Supertramp,” found himself trapped in the wilderness with minimal supplies. After 113 days, McCandless succumbed to the wild and was found later by a passing hunter. He weighed just 66 pounds when his body was found and McCandless’ final written journal entry, noted as “Day 107”, simply read, “Beautiful Blue Berries.”
The book by Krakauer became an international bestseller which has been printed in 30 languages and 173 editions and formats. Penn’s film adaptation made $56,822,960 at the box office while the soundtrack, was written by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder in his first solo album and sold more than 370,000 copies.
