2006 Darwin Awards
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 11:04 am by Neal
(Hat tip: slashdot)
Remember the Darwin Awards? These are yearly awards given to folks who do humanity the favor of removing themselves from the gene pool by committing acts of unmitigated stupidity. The Darwin Awards are always given posthumously as the recipient must die from the action for which the award is given. From the website, here’s the description of the award:
Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.
Well, the 2006 Darwin Awards have been announced and, as usual, they demonstrate the seemingly limitless capacity of human belief in the maxim, “It Can’t Happen to Me,” that spans all cultures and civilizations.
Here is this year’s winner:
Hammer of Doom
(August 2006, Brazil) August brings us a winner from Brazil, who tried to disassemble a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) by driving back and forth over it with a car. This technique was ineffective, so he escalated to pounding the RPG with a sledgehammer. The second try worked–in a sense. The explosion proved fatal to one man, six cars, and the repair shop wherein the efforts took place.
14 more RPG grenades were found in a car parked nearby. Police believe the ammunition was being scavenged to sell as scrap metal. If it wasn’t scrap then, it certainly is now!
Check out the website for the top 7 runner’s up.