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.

Here's one of the most recent stories:


Slippery When Wet
(2008 Darwin Award Nominee)
(15 January 2008, Sweden)

The Darwin Awards have celebrated many bone-headed things burglars do in the commission of their crimes.
For instance, taking a shortcut down a 55-foot sheer rock face.

Early one morning, two men broke into a gymnasium (high school) east of Stockholm.
After a profitable stroll through the building, they were startled by a janitor.
They raced out of the building into the pre-dawn darkness.
Fearing imminent detection, they took a shortcut to safety -- down the face of a steep 55-foot rock escarpment.
But in selecting this convenient shortcut, they failed to consider three crucial facts:
First, it was pitch black. Due to the northern latitude, the sun rises late in Sweden.
Second, it had rained during the night.
And third, the rock in eastern Sweden is granite, the type of rock that is polished into posh floors and fancy countertops. The danger of slippery granite is a well-known fact for residents of the area.

Escaping down a granite cliff, in the rain, in the dark?
Try tilting a slab of polished granite, pouring water over it, and making a controlled descent while carrying a load of loot.
This is the province of mountain goats, not humans hoping to pass on their genes.
In short, one of the burglars slipped and fell head-over-heels to his death, bringing a new meaning to "the crack of dawn."
His worldly riches were scattered around him.


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