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Darwin Awards
1994 Darwin Awards
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. Next Prev Random

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1994 Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed True by Darwin

rockrelf says, "I wonder how many of the bicycles and cars this guy 'stopped' were driven by alert drivers who were able to hit the brakes before turning this nincompoop into roadkill. One would think a person of average intellect, or even average stupidity, would jump four feet to safety at the last moment, as they realized the 'mind trick' wasn't working."

(September 1989, USSR) The Soviet Union is home to a growing number of psychics and mentalists. One of them, E. Frenkel, became convinced that he could use his powers to stop vehicles in their tracks. He believed that "in extraordinary conditions of a direct threat to my organism, all my reserves will be called into action."

Frenkel started small -- a bicycle here, an automobile there -- before graduating to streetcars. Finally, he devised an ultimate test of his psychic power: he would halt a freight train in its tracks.

The engineer of the train that ran Frenkel over saw him toss his briefcase aside, and step onto the tracks with arms raised, head lowered, and body tensed. The engineer applied the emergency brakes, but it was too late.

The mentalist psyched himself out.

DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2008
Submitted by: Grim
Reference: Associated Press

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Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest

Hardback. 304 pages. Autographed.
$15
The human race's most popular humor series returns with a brand-new collection of macabre mishaps and misadventures. Honoring those who improve our gene pool by inadvertently removing themselves from it, the Darwin Awards III shows once more how uncommon common sense still is.

Salute the sheriff who inadvertently shot himself--twice! Witness the insurance defrauder who amputated his leg with a chainsaw! Heed the story of the farmer who avoided bee stings by sealing his head in a plastic bag! Cringe at the man crushed by a branch he'd just severed... directly over his head!

123 new stories, 18 full-page illustrations, plus discussions of transgenic animals, the origin of life, and more.

Autographed by Author!

 


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