posted on January 14, 2004 09:13:51 PM new
January 13, 2004
This guy almost made the list.
An Argentine man leapt into the lion's pen during a weekend visit to the Buenos Aires zoo, challenged one of the animals to a bullfight.
"He jumped into the lion's pen, and when the lions didn't react, he took off his jacket and egged them on," said zoo veterinarian Miguel Rivolta. "It was an act of madness."
The would-be matador was being examined by a psychiatrist.
http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/
(January 2003, India) Regarding accidental deaths during the construction of a subway in New Delhi, the New York Times wrote, "One of those killed was an unlucky thief who tried to steal braces holding up a concrete slab; it fell and killed him."
(9 April 2003, New Zealand) Phil needed to make repairs to the underside of his car. But when he jacked it up, there wasn't enough room for him to work. So he removed the car's battery, placed the jack on top of it, and set to work again, this time with plenty of elbow-room.
Unfortunately for Phil, car batteries are not designed to carry much weight. The battery collapsed and the jack toppled, trapping him beneath the car. Unable to breathe due to the weight on his chest, he quickly expired in a pool of battery acid.
This incident is illuminated by two additional facts: First, Phil's occupation was Accident Prevention Officer at a large food processing plant. And second, ten years previous, he had been working under a car when the jack collapsed, trapping him and breaking one of his legs. Some people just don't learn -- even from their own mistakes.
posted on January 14, 2004 09:24:59 PM new
1994
This year's Darwin Award went to the fellow who was killed by a Coke machine, which toppled over on top of him as he was attempting to tip a free soda out of it.
(25 March 1993) (unconfirmed)
A terrible diet and room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man killed by his own gas. There were no marks found on his body, but an autopsy revealed the presence of large amounts of methane dissolved in his blood.
His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage, just the right combination of foods to produce a severe gas attack. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed.
Had his windows been open, the flatulence wouldn't have been fatal, but the man was shut up in a nearly airtight bedroom. He was an obese man with an unlimited capacity for creating the deadly gas. Three rescuers became sick and one was hospitalized.
1992 Darwin Awards Winner
Confirmed True by Darwin
(21 December 1992, North Carolina)
Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death
in December in Newton, when, awakening to the sound of
a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone
but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson .38 Special,
which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
