American magician David Blaine has captured the attention of the world in his attempt to last 44 days without food in a box suspended over the River Thames.
But more than 50 years ago, fellow New Yorker Jack Wafer starved for almost twice as long in Queen's Road, Brighton for a bet.
The big difference is that while Jack emerged from the box wafer thin, he had also smoked 2,000 cigarettes to make fasting seem less of a fag.
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