TEAM DARWIN had a lot of fun at a recent Las Vegas tradeshow. Three
Brazilians wandered up. Suddenly the one who could not speak English broke
out into laughs and shouts. "Padre Baloniero! Padre Baloniero!" Turns
out that Brazil is proud and honored to be the home of a rare Double Darwin
Award given to Father Adelier Antonio. (read more...)
Great lecture on by Michael Shermer on Patterns and
Self-Deception--mentioning the Darwin Awards at 4:25! (read
more...)
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Electric Bathtub Blues
(darwin award)
1978, France | Historic Darwin Award: The career of French singer Claude
Francois can be compared to that of Elvis Presley. One evening, he returned
to his Paris apartment from a busy touring schedule, and ran a bath...
Read on.
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Muffled Explosion
(darwin award)
January 2009, Pennsylvania | Living Darwin Award! An embarrassed and
seriously injured 17-year-old initially claimed that an explosive had been
planted in his backpack by persons unknown. However, investigators soon
extracted the truth...
Read on.
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Glacier Erasure
(darwin award)
(From the archives of a 30-year ER MD) In the late fall, snow-covered
mountains become infested with hunters. One ambitious pair climbed high up
a mountain in search of their quarry. The trail crossed a small glacier
that had crusted over...
Read on.
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Dynamite Rancher
(darwin award)
May 2009, Utah | 59-year-old Brent L. found a stash of dynamite in a shed
on his ranch three miles south of the ATK Thiokol rocket testing area.
This stash of flash was something he felt he could deal with on his own...
Read on.
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Welcome to our archive! 843 accounts of less-than-stellar plans that
seemed like a good idea at the time. Over the past fifteen years, I
have read thousands of fatal reports. Consequently I no longer stand on
wheeled chairs near windows, attempt to defeat the safety features on
common household tools, and never, ever drive while talking or texting.
Read these stories--and be safe! --Wendy
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Spin Cycle
(at-risk survivor)
July 2008 | Two co-workers decided to celebrate the 4th of July in their
own special way. The plan? They loaded an old washing machine with tens of
pounds of firecrackers, lit a fuse, dropped the lid, and ran. Nothing
happened...
Read on.
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A Really Bad Commute
(at-risk survivor)
August 2008, The Netherlands | A 33-year-old man was carpooling to work in
Hindeloopen when he mentioned to his colleague that he was carrying a
self-made bomb. The driver immediately stopped the car and ejected the
lunatic...
Read on.
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Shocking Rappel
(at-risk survivor)
June 2008, West Virginia | A man climbed the power line tower behind his
house, attached a rope to the top of it, and began to rappel down...
Read on.
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Shockingly Conductive
(at-risk survivor)
The Aviation Electronics instructor began his class on 'Insulators' with
this observation: "Wood is a non-conductor, right? Don't you believe
it!" He had purchased an acre of property that was covered in
fast-growing poplar trees. Axe in hand...
Read on.
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Epitaph, She Liked Feathers
(darwin award)
February 2009, UK | A woman in her 40's was following a coastal footpath
along the top of a cliff in Devon. Fencing was in place to protect people
from falling to their deaths, but this protective fencing was no match for
a feather...
Read on.
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Double Parking
(darwin award)
December 2009, Philippines | This small island nation has already produced several illustrious winners. Now, they offer up that rare oddity, the Double Darwin Award. We begin with two businessmen who own restaurants adjacent to one another...
Read on.
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Tiny Elec Fence
(darwin award)
January 2010, Brazil | An electrical discharge made toast of municipal guard Arthur C., 47, on Sunday evening. According to police reports, he had installed a tiny electric fence around his car to protect against robbery...
Read on.
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Carbidschieten
(darwin award)
1 January 2010, Netherlands | Every now and then a completely new window into the world opens before our eyes. Here we have rural Dutch families enjoying their traditional winter sport, carbidschieten, or Carbide Shooting...
Read on.
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Mock Death
(darwin award)
November 2009, Belgium | Police received a desperate call from a man who had been attacked on a motorway near the town of Liege. When the policemen arrived, the 37-year-old man was lying dead on the ground...
Read on.
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Teeming With Crocodiles
(darwin award)
January 2010, South Africa | Let's see, class. Do you or don't you go swimming in the crocodile-infested Limpopo? Do or don't leave the banks of the great grey-green, greasy river and swim in its limpid waters not once, not twice...
Read on.
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Hard Science: With Zombies!
(at-risk survivor)
Since reading the Zombie Survival Guide, Bub is convinced that the undead will rise up. Bub cited two facts that I found to be in error. 1) the human skull is one of the hardest surfaces in nature. 2) a medieval mace lacks the stopping power to crush it...
Read on.
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Medieval Mayhem
(at-risk survivor)
Every summer, the Society for Creative Anachronism holds a two-week-long
"war" in rural Pennsylvania. At any event that attracts over 10,000
attendees, there are bound to be some potential Darwin Award winners
running around...
Read on.
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Flying Door
(at-risk survivor)
(personal account) When I was in the Marines, one evening I showed up for watch duty to find the NCO limping, and covered with dozens of fresh scabs. He was reluctant to reveal what caused his injuries...
Read on.
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Anchor Bomb
(at-risk survivor)
Shiver me timbers! A man from Logmozero, Karelia, a village in northwestern Russia, was brought to the attention of police when concerned neighbors realized he was using a World War II aviation bomb as an anchor for his boat...
Read on.
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Skate The Interstate
(at-risk survivor)
The Burlington Free Press reported that a man with a suspended driver's license was caught pulling a sled behind his vehicle along Interstate 89. The driver was trying to switch places with the sled rider...
Read on.
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The Mettle of the Kettle
(at-risk survivor)
The Terrible Teakettle Incident. Sunday morning I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, put the kettle on, prepared the cups, and whilst waiting for the boil, I thought I'd refill my lighter...
Read on.
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Agua Ski Calamity
(at-risk survivor)
December 2009, Mexico | Sun, sea, sand, well-built hombre's in small bathing suits, Mazatlan is everything you could wish for on a long winter holiday. Boats, sunscreen, rum-related judgment-imparing drinks, what could possibly go sideways?
Read on.
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Pipe Cleaner
(at-risk survivor)
January 2010, UK | Oh dear. Yet another man has got his hoo haw stuck in a pipe, taking many delicate maneuvers with a blow torch and metal grinder to cut him loose from the steel, might as well say it, iron maiden...
Read on.
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White Spirit
(at-risk survivor)
Marie-Eve writes: I would like to submit a friend's accident to the Darwin Awards Supreme Court. He doesn't deserve First Prize, but hopefully he could reach the level of special mention...
Read on.
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Bonehead Bowling
(at-risk survivor)
Category: Gravity. Location: Cincinnati. Date: Super Bowl weekend. Brad tends to be rather wild at times. Brad was bowling. On one of his turns, he had trouble controlling the ball. Everyone froze...
Read on.
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Duct Don't
(at-risk survivor)
December 2009, Canada | Peter has expertly inspected buildings around the world for many years. He entered a structure with a boiler room in the bowels of the building, containing a vast air duct that feeds into the air filters...
Read on.
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