Inner Banks Laughter - Darwin Awards

A community college professor gave his students an impromptu lesson in safety during his safety class. The professor assumed the 40-mm shell he had found on a recent hunting trip must be inert. He kept the round and used it as a paperweight on his desk. After all, ordnance is such a unique conversation piece.

One spring morning, a bug crawled across his desk. Should he squash it with a tissue? Sweep it out the door? Leave it to pursue its happy existence, and continue on with his lesson? No; the professor picked another alternative. He took up the "inert" artillery shell and slammed it onto the insect.

The impact set off the primer, but luckily not the rest of the explosives in the shell. The resulting explosion caused him burns and shrapnel lacerations on his hand, forearm, and torso. No one else in the classroom was hurt. His actions did succeed in two respects: the bug was eliminated and the class learned an important lesson.