Proof that truth really is stranger than fiction.
“A man who becomes upset when he hears certain words was sentenced to six years in prison for shooting his girlfriend because he thought she was about to say ‘New Jersey.’ Thomas Mitchell, 54, was convicted earlier this month of aggravated assault for shooting Barbara Jenkins in March 1999. Jenkins survived the attack. His relatives testified that Mitchell gets angry, curses and bangs on walls when he hears certain words or phrases, including ‘New Jersey,’ ‘Snickers,’ ‘Mars,’ and ‘Wisconsin.’”
—Associated Press
“An Oregon man who was shot in the leg removed the bullet himself with an X-acto knife, and then sold it back to the shooter for $200 to hinder the prosecution’s case against him.”
—The Bend Bulletin
“More than 600 people were injured in this year’s Stone-Throwing Festival in central India. The ritual, in which residents of two villages form groups on either side of the river Jaam and hurl stones at each other, is held every year. Last year, only 250 were injured.”
—Reuters
“Who said romance is dead? Twenty-five-year-old Paul Armstrong proposed to his girlfriend by having ‘Connie, Will You Marry Me?’ tattooed on his butt, which she then discovered while giving him a massage. ‘How could I say no after that?’ said Connie, a school-teacher. A week later, he discovered on her rear end the tattoo, ‘Yes!’ And they were married.”
—London Daily Telegraph
What did they use before that? The first chalkboard was used in a school in 1714.