#1. A Major Head Case

Margret Wegner underwent surgery in August to remove a pencil that had been stuck inside her head for 55 years. The German woman had suffered from chronic headaches and nosebleeds after falling at age 4 with the writing implement in hand. "The pencil went right through my skin and disappeared into my head," she said. It was too risky at the time to remove the three-inch object, which did not pierce any vital parts of her brain. But thanks to significant technological improvements, this summer surgeons in Berlin were able to remove all but the pencil's tip.