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Dreams that changed the world.
Explore documented accounts and famous traditions connecting dreams with discoveries, works of art and decisive ideas.
Paul McCartney
The melodies behind “Yesterday” and “Let It Be” emerged around sleep and dreams.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 02Mary Shelley
A waking nightmare helped give birth to Frankenstein.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 03Dmitri Mendeleev
The periodic table is famously associated with a vision during sleep.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 04August Kekulé
A dreamlike serpent biting its tail suggested the ring structure of benzene.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 05René Descartes
Three dreams in 1619 became part of the story of his intellectual method.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 06Elias Howe
A violent dream is linked to the decisive placement of the sewing-machine needle's eye.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 07Otto Loewi
A dream prompted the experiment that demonstrated chemical neurotransmission.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 08Salvador Dalí
The painter cultivated the instant between waking and sleep to nourish his imagery.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 09Thomas Edison
He used short naps and objects held in his hands to catch half-dream ideas.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 10Winston Churchill
His disciplined afternoon naps helped sustain his wartime working rhythm.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 11James Cameron
A fever dream helped form the metallic nightmare that became The Terminator.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 12Larry Page
A dream about downloading the entire web fed an idea that would become Google.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 13Robert Louis Stevenson
Dream figures supplied scenes for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 14Giuseppe Tartini
A legendary dream of the Devil playing violin inspired the Devil's Trill Sonata.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 15Srinivasa Ramanujan
The mathematician described formulas appearing to him in dreams.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 16Abraham Lincoln
Accounts describe a troubling dream shortly before his assassination.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 17William Blake
A dream of his deceased brother reportedly suggested a new printing method.
Discover the story →Extraordinary dream no. 18Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Kubla Khan is tied to a vivid dream interrupted upon waking.
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