1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (125 page)

954

FACT :
In 2005, a ten-year-old boy in Perth, Australia
lost both hands and a foot
when a brick wall supporting a basketball goal gave way when he attempted a slam-dunk.
He got gimp.

“Boy Who Lost Three Limbs Awake and Smiling,” Sydney Morning Herald, March 30, 2005,
www.smh.com.au
.

955

FACT :
There are an estimated
27 million slaves in the world today
, more than were taken from Africa during the four-century long transatlantic slave trade.
Where the hell are they? My car could use a wash.

Andrew Cockburn, “21st Century Slaves,” National Geographic,
www.ngm.nationalgeographic.com
.

956

FACT :
In 1970, a dead sperm whale on an Oregon beach was
blown up with dynamite
in an attempt to get rid of the decomposing corpse. Flying debris from the blast destroyed the roof of a nearby car, and onlookers were covered with whale particles.
Really? Because it sounds like such a great idea. Who came up with it, Gilligan or the Skipper?

“A Brief History of Actual Exploding Animals,” WebEcoist, September 5, 2008,
www.webecoist.com
.

957

FACT :
Blood in stool or diarrhea can be a sign of necrotizing enterocolitis, a condition which causes
the lining of the intestinal wall to die
allowing tissue to fall off. The disease has a death rate of almost 25 percent.
Because diarrhea wasn’t fun enough already.

Jenifer K. Lehrer, “Necrotizing Enterocolitis,” Medical Encyclopedia, Medline Plus, U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, May 3, 2007,
www.nlm.nih.gov
.

958

FACT :
Two minutes after lethal injection drugs were administered to Raymond Landry during his 1988 execution in Texas,
the syringe ejected from his vein
, causing deadly chemicals to spray across the room toward witnesses.
Ray wasn’t around to see it, unfortunately, and missed all the excitement.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

959

FACT :
The Amazon’s Uape Indians mix their recently cremated relatives’ ashes with alcohol
to be imbibed
by all members of the family as they share fond memories of the deceased.
“Who wants another shot of Grandma?”

eBizarre,
www.ebizarre.com
.

960

FACT :
In one case involving the lethal use of a Taser, a doctor suffered an epileptic seizure after crashing his car, and was repeatedly shocked when he failed to comply with an officer’s commands. The seizure was to blame for his lack of response, and
the Taser shocks resulted in death
.
Not the cop’s fault.

He kept asking the doc if he wanted another jolt, and the doc kept nodding his head yes.

“Tasers—Potentially Lethal and Easy to Abuse,” Amnesty International report, December 16, 2008,
www.amnesty.org
.

961

FACT :
There are
four sunken nuclear submarines
at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. One, located near Bermuda, holds sixteen live nuclear warheads.
No wonder Bermuda’s a little uptight.

Legends of America,
www.legendsofamerica.com
.

962

FACT :
Records show that money lenders in 1124 had
their hands and testicles cut off
by order of Henry I.
And you thought 2008 was a bad year for banks.

Jean Kellaway, The History of Torture and Execution: From Early Civilization through Medieval Times to the Present (Globe Pequot, 2003).

963

FACT :
In 1581, writer John Stubs was convicted of sedition for insulting Queen Elizabeth and
sentenced to public mutilation
, where his right hand was chopped off and the wound cauterized with a hot iron.
His right arm became known as Stubs’ stub.