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Darwin Awards
2007 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Another elemental mistake!

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Reading the story 'Elemental Mistake' reminded me of one told by my Chemistry professor. I heard the story in '94-'95ish, and it happened in the late '60s/early '70s.

My prof (then a grad student) and a bunch of other grad students were taking a well-deserved break from their studies, and rented a lake-side cabin for the July 4th weekend. And being chemistry students, they made their own fun.

The capper was the huge chunk of elemental sodium- they'd managed to get ahold of a chunk around 2' in diameter- the size of a beach ball. They decided to give their fireworks a big finale by lugging the sodium down the dock, and flinging it off into the water. So the gang of them (likely fortified by a quantity of liquor) did just that- and stood at the end of the dock, waiting for the resounding *BOOM!*

Nothing happened.

Disappointed, they turned to walk back up to the cabin, arguing over displacement and specific gravity and whether the sodium had embedded itself in the silt, perhaps changing the chemical equation, when suddenly-

*FFFWOOOOM!* The blast knocked them flat to the dock, and a huge wave of water ground their faces into the boards. Of course they staggered back to their feet, yelling "Cool! Did you hear that?"

The end of the dock was destroyed and hanging partway into the water, and if they'd still been on the end of the dock, looking into the water when the explosion happened, they likely would have been seriously injured. As it was, when the local constabulary came around to investigate, they managed to look bewildered and sufficiently innocent as to escape scrutiny. And when my professor told the story to the class, of course he prefaced it with "Now don't ever try this- it's dangerous!" Which naturally will give someone ideas...

Submitted on 05/20/2007

Submitted by: Laura Minnick
Reference: personal account

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

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James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
This is an even more grandiose variation of the ol' "sodium & water" gag! It's most likely part UL and part true! Whereas these gents apparently blew up a whole dock (as opposed to a mere toilet), I feel that they are deserving of some sort of reckognition! Thanks, Laura!


Shadow said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
It is indeed worthy of mention! thanks for the submission


Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection

Hardback. 240 pages. Autographed.
$15
A fresh collection of magnificent misadventures! Lust, Vanity, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, and Wrath extract an evolutionary toll on the wicked. Salute the owner of an equipment training school who demonstrates the dangers of driving a forklift by failing to survive the filming of his own safety video. Witness the man who becomes a victim of his own strange passion for jumping into rivers. Heed the honest bricklayer who loses a battle of wits with 300 pounds of tools.

This book includes more History of the Awards, Gordon's Law, and 10 discussions of evolution, including speciation and the role of verbal memes in civilization.

Autographed by Author!

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