The Treacherous Snows by Andrew C. Hartzell recounts a climbing vacation to Mt. Kilimanjaro. For most, the climb is a test of strength, endurance, and willpower. But for local guides and porters who supply tourists with strong backs and knowledge of the terrain, the climb is just part of the job. The final leg to the summit on December 31, 1983 began with the lead guide Effatta Jonathan waking the group up at 1:00 a.m.

At 1:07 a.m. on February 2, 1915, a German agent named Werner Horn lit a bomb in an effort to destroy a bridge used to get supplies from the U.S. to England via Canada. To avoid collateral damage from the possibility of an unscheduled train passing through, Horn cut the fuse, which changed his escape time from fifty minutes to three.

With a new family member in the house, a father reflects on the birth of his first child. At 1:10 a.m. on October 20, 2007, he writes to her in a journal that will be given to her someday.

Former NFL football player turned police officer Patrick Goodpaster ran into a burning house at 1:15 a.m. on June 22, 2007 to rescue a 4-year-old. This song reflects on that moment through the eyes of (1) a fictional character who grew up with and continues to live in the shadow of the hero, and (2) another fictional character who sees the worth of this person who doesn’t find worth in himself.

On the evening of December 20, 1954, a small group gathered at a house, expecting to be visited by a spacecraft at midnight, sent by God to rescue them from earth’s impending destruction. After waiting well past 1:00 a.m., the youngest member, a teenager, made a call home to tell his mother he was on his way, as she had earlier threatened to call the police if he wasn’t home by 2 a.m.

At 1:28 a.m. on October 4, 2006, after reciting pi from memory for 16 hours, Akira Haraguchi stopped at the 100,000th digit.

Black Panther revolutionary Fred Hampton fell asleep during a phone conversation with his mother around 1:30 a.m. on December 4, 1969. Earlier that evening Hampton had been drugged in order to incapacitate him for a planned raid later that evening by law enforcement. At the time Hampton and his girlfriend Deborah Johnson were expecting the birth of their child, as she was more than eight months pregnant.

October 26, 1985, 1:35 a.m., Lone Pine Mall parking lot. Doc Brown has just survived an assault rifle attack. He has yet to experience the time travel machine that he invented, and will soon be having an internal conversation trying to decide what his next move will be.

What do you do if it’s the middle of the night and you are craving a sandwich from a restaurant 1000 miles away? If you’re Elvis, you hop on your private jet.

At 1:45 a.m. on September 17, 1988 in Boston, MA, a car was struck from behind, causing it to lose control, drive over a concrete median barrier, cross multiple lanes heading in the opposite direction, and jump a second curb, stopping on top of the pedestrian sidewalk as it hit the Tower Records on Mass Ave. Six people were struck by the car before it stopped, including 17-year old Frederick Cameron Weber, known to his family and friends as Ted.

On December 11, 1936 at 1:52 a.m., Parliamentʼs Bill of Abdication received Royal Assent, officially ending the reign of King Edward VIII, who had reached his limit with trying to please everyone but himself.

When recurring anomalies appeared to security guard Frank Wills during his early morning shift on June 17, 1972, he decided to call the police. His security log indicates that he returned to his station at 1:55 a.m. after doing his rounds at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C.