Category:
Accidents
Accidents
People who have slipped on banana peels
I came across a 1927 case of a cliche come to life — a thief fleeing on foot who was caught because he accidentally slipped on a banana peel, which sent him sprawling.
New Cambria Leader - Nov 11, 1927
I figured that Chuck must have documented cases of people who have slipped on banana peels, and sure enough he has.
• 2011 — Ida Valentine, who filed a lawsuit against a California 99 Cents Only store after slipping on a banana peel and suffering a herniated disk. (posted here on WU)
• 2007 — Joyce Walker, awarded $4,110 for injuring her knee in a hospital restroom after slipping on a banana peel. (newsoftheweird.com)
• 2001 — Dorothy M. Ellis Williams, who sued a Quiktrip gas station after she slipped on a banana peel on the pavement outside their store and injured her back and knee. (google groups)
MythBusters has investigated whether you can really slip on a banana peel, and they concluded that although it's not as easy to do as the cliche might suggest, it's definitely possible. Older skins are more slippery. They also note that the cliche originated in the early 20th century after bananas first became a popular fruit, which led to numerous old skins littering sidewalks, and therefore numerous accidents.
Also, back in March 2016 it briefly became a fad among teenagers to take videos of themselves slipping on banana peels and then post the videos online. It was called the "banana peel challenge" #bananapeelchallenge. (Daily Mail)
Photo by Sandman_KK (via Flickr)
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 03, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Accidents, 1920s, Bananas
Rube Goldberg Accident
An 87-year-old woman was backing out of her parking spot when she accidentally hit the accelerator. This caused her car to spin 180 degrees and hit a van.
The van was knocked to the side and hit a jeep.
The jeep started to roll forward and hit a concrete barrier.
The poles holding the concrete barrier in place snapped, and the barrier fell over, landing on the foot of 75-year-old Patricia Piercy.
Piercy was subsequently taken to the hospital for her foot injury. She was the only one hurt.
More: wdtv.com
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 13, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Accidents
Love trapped
A man who died after having sex with a prostitute ended up trapped inside of her. They had to be taken to the hospital to be "de-coupled"
Posted By: BrokeDad - Sat Feb 06, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Accidents, Love and Romance, Public Humiliation, Sexuality
Bus Driver Asks Kids If He Should Hit Dog, Then Does
January 1994: A school bus driver in Port Washington, Wisconsin insisted he was only joking when he shouted out "Should I hit the dog?" seconds before he hit a dog on the road. The animal belonged to two of the children on the bus. It often came up to the road to meet them. The driver, who later resigned, blamed the accident on icy conditions.
The Journal Times - Feb 4, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 03, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Animals, Dogs, 1990s
Fire Alibi
This has to be one of the worst excuses ever.
The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) — Mar 2, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 03, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Accidents, 1950s
Death By Condom Machine
Three men decided to boost a condom machine and blow it open to get at the condoms, and presumably, the money inside. They set up the blast and ran to their vehicle for cover. Unfortunately the last guy in the car did not get his door shut in time and was struck in the head by a piece of the machine when it blew up. He later died at the hospital, Darwin Award.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 28, 2015 -
Comments (15)
Category: Accidents, Goofs and Screw-ups, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Death
The All New Ford Informer
A woman who left the scene after she rear ended someone got turned in by her Ford vehicle via the automated emergency assistance system. When contacted by the dispatcher she tried to deny the accident but when police came out the car gave her away, again, due to all the damage.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 05, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Accidents, Goofs and Screw-ups, Technology
Life (Death) Hack
British lady tried out a life hack she read about on Facebook with unfortunate results.The suggestion was to lay the toaster on its side to make cheese on toast instead of grilling it. The idea back fired nearly destroying her kitchen before fire fighters arrived to put out the blaze. Life Hack: Using a toaster on its side to make cheese toast. Result: Epic Fail!
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 23, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Goofs and Screw-ups, Food
Flying Cows
When I started researching my latest about.com article, I figured that most of the alleged cases of people hit by flying cows were probably urban legends. But now I've concluded that, although there is one famous flying-cow urban legend (involving a Japanese fishing boat being sunk by a cow falling out of the sky), people actually do get hit by flying cows pretty regularly.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 19, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Accidents, Cows, Alex
The Hambone Award
The Hambone Award was named after a "dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting for someone to find him."
The most recent winner is Curtis, a 5-year-old Boxer, who ate an entire BBQ skewer during a birthday party. He was rushed to the hospital, but doctors couldn't find the skewer. It was only a year later, when he was taken back to the doctor because he still wasn't feeling well, that surgeons found the skewer, which had become a "baseball-sized mass" encapsulated by the body, located between the dog's stomach and pancreas.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 16, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Accidents, Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |