Sunday, Aug 30, 2020, 3:02 pm

By:Tony Williams

#3 Sir Francis Beaufort

The dignified and distinguished gentleman you see in this picture very nearly suffered a not-so dignified finish in 1795 he when almost drowned in Portsmouth harbor. He claimed to have then seen his entire life flash before him -- but backwards for some reason. It's not known if he swam the backstroke to safety.