For those of you not familiar with the "Darwins", they are awards given (posthumously) to those individuals who ensure the long term survival of our species by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion. I've got a book with all the Darwins for the past twenty years. If there's a good response to this, I'll post more.
Darwin Awards for the Day:
Darwin Award: Bonn, Germany, April 18, 1999
Source: CBS News Radio
A sword swallower died in Bonn, Germany, after he put an umbrella down his throat...
and accidentally pushed the button that opened it.
~~~~
Darwin Award: Newton, North Carolina, December 21, 1992
Source: Hickory Daily Record
A 47 year old man accidentally shot himself to death in Newton, when, awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone by his bed, he reached for the phone, but instead grabbed his loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Special, which had been sitting on his nightstand. The gun discharged as he put it to his ear.
~~~~
Also, The Darwin Committee gives honorable mentions to those individuals who, although made a spectacular attempt at full candidacy for a Darwin, somehow survived the attempt.
Darwin Honorable Mention: Ceres, California, April 3, 1995
Source: Sacramento Bee
Anyone who has watched the movie "Caddyshack" will have a good idea of the resiliance of gophers. In the spring of 1995, three employees of Carroll Fowler Elementary School received one gopher in good condition. their subsequent actions show that they were unfamiliar with the movie in particular, and with the vengeful nature of gophers in general.
One janitor and two maintenance men hauled the gopher into a small janitorial closet and apparently decided to kill it. There is no other plausible reason for spraying cleaning solvent on the gopher.
The solvent was designed to remove gum by freezing it. Elementary schools have an ongoing need for such solvents, but the gopher was stronger than gum. Three cans later, it was still alive and kicking.
They paused for a moment of silent reflection, and the janitor lit a cigarette in the fume filled room. The subsequent explosion injured all three men, and sixteen children were treated for minor injuries.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the gopher was discovered clinging, unharmed, to a wall.
Darwin Awards for the Day:
Darwin Award: Bonn, Germany, April 18, 1999
Source: CBS News Radio
A sword swallower died in Bonn, Germany, after he put an umbrella down his throat...
and accidentally pushed the button that opened it.
~~~~
Darwin Award: Newton, North Carolina, December 21, 1992
Source: Hickory Daily Record
A 47 year old man accidentally shot himself to death in Newton, when, awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone by his bed, he reached for the phone, but instead grabbed his loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Special, which had been sitting on his nightstand. The gun discharged as he put it to his ear.
~~~~
Also, The Darwin Committee gives honorable mentions to those individuals who, although made a spectacular attempt at full candidacy for a Darwin, somehow survived the attempt.
Darwin Honorable Mention: Ceres, California, April 3, 1995
Source: Sacramento Bee
Anyone who has watched the movie "Caddyshack" will have a good idea of the resiliance of gophers. In the spring of 1995, three employees of Carroll Fowler Elementary School received one gopher in good condition. their subsequent actions show that they were unfamiliar with the movie in particular, and with the vengeful nature of gophers in general.
One janitor and two maintenance men hauled the gopher into a small janitorial closet and apparently decided to kill it. There is no other plausible reason for spraying cleaning solvent on the gopher.
The solvent was designed to remove gum by freezing it. Elementary schools have an ongoing need for such solvents, but the gopher was stronger than gum. Three cans later, it was still alive and kicking.
They paused for a moment of silent reflection, and the janitor lit a cigarette in the fume filled room. The subsequent explosion injured all three men, and sixteen children were treated for minor injuries.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the gopher was discovered clinging, unharmed, to a wall.