But it was just luck that he hit the scope.
Anyway, a Canadian in Afghanistan beat his record last year, getting a confirmed kill at about 2800 yards.
At that distance, the bullet drop is about 18 feet, if I recall correctly. And if the shooter misjudges the wind between himself and the target by even 1 mph, the bullet would miss its target by several feet.
Umm, no. He was aiming at the flash of light offf the lens of the scope. He hit what he was aiming for.
From here
At the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor on May 25, 1935, Jesse set three world records and tied a fourth, all in a span of about 70 minutes. Jesse had an ailing back the entire week leading up to the meet in Ann Arbor. He had fallen down a flight of stairs, and it was questionable whether he would physically be able to participate in the meet. He received treatment right up to race time. Confident that the treatment helped, Jesse persuaded the coach to allow him to run the 100-yard dash. Remarkably, each race timer had clocked him at an official 9.4 seconds, once again tying the world record. This convinced Owens’ coach to allow him to participate in his other events. A mere fifteen minutes later, Jesse took his first attempt it the broad jump. Prior to jumping, Jesse put a handkerchief at 26 feet 2½ inches, the distance of the world record. After such a bold gesture, he soared to a distance of 26 feet 8¼ inches, shattering the old world record by nearly 6 inches.
Disregarding the pain, Jesse proceeded to set a new world record in the 220-yard dash in 20.3 seconds, besting the old record by three-tenths of a second. Within the next fifteen minutes, Jesse was ready to compete in another event, this one being the 220-yard low hurdles. In his final event, Owens’ official time was 22.6 seconds. This time would set yet another world record, beating the old record by four-tenths of a second. Jesse Owens had completed a task that had never been accomplished in the history of track and field. He had set three new world records and equaled a fourth
His times and distances were incredible, but the most amazing thing is how fast he did it all. Track athletes today would never be asked to run finals so close together, they are always given ample time to recover. The current 200 world record is 19.32 seconds, the long jump record is 8.95 meters, and the 220 low hurdles is not an official olympic event any more, and his 100 yard dash time is not comparable to the 100 meter times of today. I will add that these events would have been run on a cinder track.
The D Day landings
I don’t know who it was, but someone somewhere had to initially come up with the idea of an alphabet, making it possible to translate speech and thoughts into writing. The written word has recorded, and informed, and entertained, and eased communication between people the world over for millenia, and will probably continue to do so for millenia more.
Gymnasts are pretty darn skillful.
The feat by NASA engineers to plan and execute the rescue of the Apollo 13. By extension, the entire space program through Apollo.
“Failure is not an option.”
And freely admitted later that if he’d been a half a second slower on his shot, the NVA sniper would have bagged him.
Yeah, but…he wasn’t a half-second slower. Maybe that was luck…maybe it was skill.
Perhaps it was that of the serpent, a representation of the Devil, who beguiled Eve with an apple, not a Big Mac®, not a glass of chardonnay, but an apple.
Had that event not taken place, perfection for eternity would exist, and there would be no need for the Pit. Selah.
Here ends the lesson.
Tongue firmly in cheek 
WW2, Ernst Rudel, German pilot, flew Stukas modified to be a tank destroyer.
Confirmed tank “kills” Over 400. Real total: at least twice that.
Performed under conditions where he was always being shot at, bobbing his plane up and down like a yo-yo to take advantage of ever tree and hill for cover and concealmnet-frequently flying while wounded, completing missions while being wounded. Aiming was strictly by range estimage (auto cannon converged at 100 meters)–he had to get to effective point blank range, dip nose down, and fire off his two round burst in about a second–and then avoid the blast as tank fuel and ammoo went up in a fireball—and do this incredible feat again and again.
The only person ever to win the Iron cross with oak leaves, diamond, and crossed swords.
Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series. A perfect game in the world series is nothing to sneeze at.
Ever watch Iron Chef?
Iron Chef Michiba, one very skillful mofo.
I’ll go for Phaedippides. He ran from Marathon to Athens, leaving just enough energy to deliver his message then drop dead.
Irish explorers Thomas Crean and Ernest Shackleton:
According to what I’ve read, not only was south South Georgia uninhabited, the central part was uncharted. They successfully navigated the most dangerous ocean in the world in a tiny boat, then performed a mountain-climbing trek that had never been performed before, through totally unknown and desperately hostile territory. Following their bid for rescue, all members of their party were saved. That’s an astonishing mixture of skill, bravery, and endurance. And Crean went on to open a pub that’s still going today. What a guy!
Also, the much-maligned Captain Bligh:
They still had more than a week’s rations left when they arrived, thanks to Bligh’s leadership, and during the voyage in the lifeboat, Bligh made charts that were still being used by the Royal Navy more than a century later.
Tom Noddy does it for me. Spent 10 years practicing and perfecting a new art form that no one else had even thought of. He’s brought joy to thousands of children and adults with the most fascinating and beautiful of acts I’ve ever seen. He’s the only person in the world that can do what he does… that’s pretty skillful.
jjimm glad you mentione Bligh, he was a tough bastard and a genius seaman.
qts Phaedippides was a great choice.
I am not sure of the historical accuracy of what I have learnt of her, but Jean of Arc must had incredible charisma and skill to have been considered a valuable military leader in such chauvinist times.
I go with Bryan here and go with Isaac Newton’s invention of a whole new branch of calculus which he did overnight in order to solve a public mathematical problem that he had received that same evening. I cannot recall right now who it was that posed the question but he was an internationally respected figure who gave the solvers a deadline of a year to get back to him with a solution!!
I think that is a pretty fantastic physical feat frankly as well as a mental one. When I recall the phyical and mental exhaustion I have felt when completing one of my all night work sessions (that thankfully I have grown out of)…
Those quickdraw shooting exhibitionists are something to see. I saw a man in TX throw up 8 clay pigeons by hand and shotgun each one before it hit the ground. The hand-eye coordination alone is breath taking.
I would have to go with the pointed stick as being the top ranking invention of all time, then, how to make fire and then the wheel.
Kill it, cook it, take it some place else.