Book One : Chapter Two
FATAL
STUPIDITY
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Seventeen people rushing home to celebrate Christmas were burned to
death when the criminally-overcrowded minibus in which they were
travelling crashed in the southern Phillipines. The driver lost
control of the vehicle descending a steep hill.
Police also discovered the remains of several plastic gasoline containers in the burnt-out bus - probably being transported by one of the dead passengers. | |
| John Spaulding Settle was keen to demonstrate a 'safe' method of playing Russian Roulette to his friends. The 24-year-old died of a bullet wound to the head. |
Twenty year old Jason Jinks of Mississippi lost his hat
as it blew out of the window of his car. According to
friends in the rear seat at the time, Jinks put the car
into reverse and sped backwards to search for his hat -
apparently reaching as much as 45 kmh (30mph).
Braking suddenly, Jinks was thrown out of the car and struck his head. He died three days later. |
| Dewey Bruce Bale, 40, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake he had taken to church. As a faithful member of a congregation that took the Bible literally, Bale was apparently following the Good Book's instructions that believers "shall take up serpents". |
Is stupidity genetic?
Six peple died, trying to rescue a chicken that had fallen into a well in the village of Nazlat Imara, in southern Egypt. The first to descend into the 60 foot well was an 18 year old farmer, who was apparently pulled down by an undercurrent. His sister and two brothers - none of whom were good swimmers, followed one by one, but all drowned. Two elderly farmers - who should have known better - came to help, but were also pulled down. The chicken was eventually recovered, alive. |
| At their family's annual Thanksgiving dinner, Glenn R Williams and his uncle started arguing over who should get the dark meat. The uncle produced a 22-calibre rifle and shot Williams four times. |
Mid-air S.N.A.F.U.
A routine Saudi Arabian commercial flight in 1980 didn't remain routine for very long. A warning light began flashing in the cockpit shortly after take-off, indicating a possible fire in the cargo hold. The highly trained crew wasted several minutes searching through an aircraft manual for instructions and checking the instrumentation for faults before the Captian finally decided to return to the airport. By this time toxic fumes had begun to seep into the passenger cabin from the smouldering cargo hold, and the hapless passengers had not been instructed how to use the oxygen masks. Panic ensued when passengers were warned to prepare for a crash landing. The plane landed safely, but that was not the end of the drama. Instead of deploying the emergency chutes and evacuating the plane, the captain taxied casually back to the terminal where he allowed the engines to idle for a further three minutes. Finally gases emitted by overheating furnishings ignited and the cabin was instantly engulfed by flames. All 301 people on board perished. |
| Four women died in Mexico City after inhaling a deadly brew of ammonia and herbs while they were trying to cook up a solution that would drive away evil spirits during a witchcraft ceremony. |
Now joining the ranks of 'Urban Legend' is the following gem... There's a reason for speed limits... Your average American automobile is not designed to be powered by a jet engine, and your average American highway is not built as a runway. But that didn't stop one bright spark from attaching a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off - essentially a solid fuel rocket) to his Chevy Impala and taking it for a ride in the midwest desert. The mangled remains of the Chevy were found deeply imbedded in a cliff face rising above the road. Authorities estimate the vehicle was travelling between 250 and 300 mph (400-480 kph) when it came to a curve in the road. The brakes on the car were completely burned away from the driver's attempt to stop. |
| Mark Maples has the unhappy distinction of being the first person killed at the Happiest Place on Earth (aka Disneyland). In May, 1964, Maples, a 15-year-old Long Beach resident, took off his protective harness and attempted to stand on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. He lost his balance and was thrown to the track below, fracturing his skull and causing internal injuries. He died three days later. | |
| Between 1589 and 1607 - a period of only 18 years - at least 4,000 French noblemen were killed in duels. That's more than four a week. |
Union General Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881) must surely go down in history as one of the worst military commanders of all-time. At the Battle of Antietam (1862), he sent masses of men across a narrow bridge where they were mercilessly slaughtered by Confederate gunners. If he had bothered to check he would have found that the river below was shallow enough to cross and he would have saved many lives. At the siege of Petersburg, he had his men dig a tunnel beneath the enemy trenches. They placed explosives at the end of the tunnels, beneath the enemy, and ignited them. After the explosion he ordered his troops to storm the resulting crater, where they were gunned down by surviving Confederate soldiers dotted along the rim. President Lincoln summed it all up superbly; "Only Burnside could have managed such a coup, wringing one last spectacular defeat from the jaws of victory." |
| A 55-year-old Tokyo man who was too absorbed in a conversation on his mobile phone was killed by an express train. The man was standing too close to the platform and did not see or hear the approaching train. |
Two Chinese co-workers, in an attempt to relieve their boredom, challenged
each other to a smoking contest. The two men would have a smoking marathon,
with the loser paying for the cigarettes.
The first man, Liu, gave up after smoking 40 cigarettes. But his 19-year-old co-worker, Wu, cheered on by a crowd of spectators, elected to continue. As he was nearing his 100th cigarette, Wu collapsed and died. The cause of death was found to be severe nicotine poisoning. |
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"The government must crack down on this disgusting craze of
`Pumping'," said a spokesman for the Nakhon Ratchasima hospital to
reporters. "If this perversion catches on, it will destroy the cream
of Thailand's manhood."
He was speaking after the remains of 13 year-old Charnchai Puanmuangpak had been brought into the hospital's emergency department. "Most Pumpers use a standard bicycle pump," he explained, "sticking the nozzzle up their rectum and giving themselves a rush of air. Not only is that a sin against God, but it can be dangerous even for onlookers." Charnchai took it further still. He started using a two-cylinder foot pump, but even that wasn't exciting enough for him, and he boasted to friends that he was going to try the compressed air hose at a nearby gasoline station. They dared him to do it so, under cover of darkness, he sneaked in. Not realising how powerful the machine was, he inserted the tube into his body, and placed a 1 baht coin in the slot. Of course, he died instantly, but passers by are still in shock. One woman thought she was watching a twilight firework display and started clapping. "We still haven't located all of him. Pumping is the devil's pastime, and we must all say no to satan," he concluded. "Inflate your tyres by all means, but then hide your bicycle pump where it cannot tempt you." | |
