10. Blindfolded Driver

Stated in the Section 32-5A-53, according to the laws of the US state, Alabama, a person cannot drive as long as someone is obstructing the driver’s view or interfering with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle. The law was implemented in the acts of 1980, No. 80-434, p. 604, 11-104. The law states that:

 (a) No person shall drive a vehicle when it is loaded, or when there are in the front seat such a number of persons as to obstruct the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle or as to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.

(b) No passenger in a vehicle shall ride in such position as to interfere with the driver’s view ahead or to the sides, or to interfere with his control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.

9. 25 years for murdering a Cactus

In the state of Arizona, there is a certain species of cactus known as Saguaro cactus which is highly treasured by the Arizonians. However, the treasured cactus has been added into the series of endangered plants as people had become obsessed with shooting or cutting down these cacti. So the state of Arizona passed a law that proclaims, anyone involved in cutting down or shooting Saguaro cactus will face a possible term of 25 years in prison.

8. Dogs should keep their masters leashed in public

Ordered by the City Council of California, the law actually states that “No dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash.”

Actually, the law is quite common in about every state of the United States except the wordings are quite not the same. Maybe, in California pets own their masters instead.

7. Firing missiles at vehicles

Throwing missiles at vehicles???  Owning a missile should be illegal, but that’s not the case in the state of Colorado. The State law defined in Section 11-50 specifically states that it is unlawful for any person to deliberately project any missile at or against any vehicle or mode of transportation of persons or property.

The act was ordered on November 17, 1999 against order number 21-1999.

6. Entertain yourself before 2:45 AM.

Another absurd law, this one comes from Athens-Clarke County in Georgia. The law declared in Section 6-18-2, prohibits all types of public entertainment facilities, dance halls and live entertainment to be closed from 2:45 AM to 7:00 AM.

By the laws of the state, no public gathering is allowed in the given time boundary even if it means literary reading. If anyone is found violating the rules, he shall be punished pursuant to the provisions of section 1-1-5 of the Code of Athens-Clarke County.

5. Don’t let your pants fall

It might be a fashion for all the other parts of the world but in Collinsville, Illinois it is actually illegal to wear baggy pants in public. According to a copy of the ordinance the law states that “(the pants must be) secured at the waist to prevent the pants from falling more than 3 inches below the hips … causing exposure to the person or the person’s undergarments”. Anyone found violating the law shall be fined $100 and will also have to perform community service for the offense committed the first time. If the person is found guilty again he will be charged with $300 and community service.

 Although the mayor of Collinsville opposed the law, it was still implemented as majority of the city council found it to be appropriate. And thus the people of Collinsville were banned from wearing baggy pants from July 11^th, 2011.

 4. Illegal to sell cold soft drink

 The law implemented in the Chapter 10, Liquor Dealers’ Permits Indiana IC 7.1-3-10-5 Section 5. A package liquor store’s exclusive business shall be the selling of the following commodities only:

(1) Liquor in its original package.
(2) Beer in permissible containers, if the permitted has the proper permit.
(3) Wine in its original package.
(4) Bar supplies used in the preparation for consumption of alcoholic beverages and in their consumption.
(5) Tobacco products.
(6) Un-cooled and un-iced charged water, carbonated soda, ginger ale, mineral water, grenadine, and flavoring extracts.
(7) Printed materials.
(8) Lottery tickets as provided in IC 4-30-9.
(9) Cooled or un-cooled nonalcoholic malt beverages.
(10) Flavored malt beverage in its original package.

We can only wonder what the poor people of Indiana had done to have such a terrible law forced upon them.

3. Commit murder but don’t wear body vests

A totally insane law that was implemented in New Jersey in 1999, the term “body vest” denotes bullet-proof body armor intended to provide to protection. The law stated in section 2C is defined as:

Unlawful use of body vests

A person is guilty of a crime if he uses or wears a body vest while engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit murder, manslaughter, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, kidnapping, criminal escape or assault under N.J.S.2C:12-1b. Use or wearing a body vest while engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit a crime of the first degree is a crime of the second degree. Otherwise it is a crime of the third degree.

2. Keep your pockets wire-cutter free

We can assume that the people of Texas must be very much inspired by the old “wild west” stories. Else the state of Texas might not have come up with such a law. Since the old cowboys loved to cut barbed wire fences of private properties in order to allow cattle herds to escape. Maybe it was time to put a stop to all the fun and the Texan government finally passed this ordinance.

1. Politics and government don’t mix well

This is actually a constitution of the State of Tennessee where it is stated that, “Ministers are to be dedicated to God and therefore are not eligible to hold a seat in either House of the Legislature”.

The Section 1 of the Article IX of Disqualifications; prohibits ministers and priests to gain seats in the legislature. The ministers by profession must only be dedicated to God and to the care of the souls, and must not divert from their duties; therefore, no Minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.

10. William Lepeska

The 40 year old homeless man, William Lepeska swam across the Biscayne Bay to get to his celebrity lover, tennis star Anna Kournikova. What seemed a harmless act to Lepeska, got him arrested. William Lepeska swam through the bay in hopes to reach the tennis star’s Miami Beach house, but was caught on her neighbor’s property where he was roaming naked. The stalker, much to the humiliation of Ms. Kournikova, was ordered to stay away from the tennis star’s entire neighborhood.

9. Reverend David Ajemian

Much to the embarrassment of the Catholic Church, Rev. David Ajemian’s actions added more to the negative publicity of the Church since the molestation scandals of the 1990s. The stalker priest from the Archdiocese of Boston was accused of sending threatening letters and DVDs to the late-night talk-show host Conan O’Brien. The reverend was arrested for threatening the host of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and in 2007 he pleaded guilty for his disorderly conduct. The court ordered Ajemian to stay away from the talk show host and the Archdiocese of Boston later stripped him off his priestly duties.

8. Dawnette Knight

Developing an obsession with actor Michael Douglas and of course naturally becoming an enemy of his wife, actress Catherine Zeta Jones, Dawnette Knight sent threatening letters to the Hollywood couple in 2003-04. Knight was ultimately sent to prison, after the couple testified against her claiming that Knight threatened to cut up Zeta Jones and feed her to the dogs. Knight pleaded guilty but was sentenced to three years in prison.

7. Cristin Keleher

The stalker of former Beatles guitarist George Harrison, Cristin Keleher became famous when she broke into the star’s house in Maui in 1999 and raided his refrigerator. However, this wasn’t the only time that Harrison has been the object of Keleher’s fancies. She was sent to prison for four months on charges of breaking in the rock-star’s house. Cristin Keleher made her way back in the news in 2006 when she was shot dead in California, in what appeared to be a victim of murder-suicide.

6. Jack Jordan

The long-term stalker of actress Uma Thurman, Jack Jordan sent the actress cards with threatening messages and drawings, one of which had an open grave, a headstone and a man standing over the edge of a razor blade. After the actress testified, stating that she was “totally freaked out” and was frightened for her family’s security when confronted with Jordan’s advances, Jack Jordan was found guilty and was sentenced to three years probation.

5. Margaret Mary Ray

The long-time stalker of David Letterman, the host of The Late Show with David Letterman, Margaret Mary Ray suffered from schizophrenia. Although David Letterman occasionally joked about her on his show, the advances made by Ray were no laughing matter. Her obsession and fantasies led her to break into her lover’s house several times, stealing his Porsche at least once. Margaret Mary Ray also stalked retired astronaut Story Musgrave. In 1998, Ray committed suicide by kneeling on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train.

4. John Hinckley Jr.

The ill-famed stalker of Jodie Foster, John Hinckley was so obsessed with the actress for her role in movie Taxi Driver, that he enrolled in Yale University the same year Foster became a student at Yale. For Hinckley, the sole purpose of getting into Yale was to be close to the actress and soon he began mailing love letters and poems. In an effort to win her affections, Hinckley mailed Foster his plans to assassinate Ronald Reagan. Reagan survived and none of the shooting victims died, Hinckley did not attempt to flee from the scene and was arrested. He was charged with 13 offenses but was found not guilty on reasons for insanity, during his trial in 1982.

3. Anthony Gary Silvestri

The 21 year old stalker who murdered his victim, Anthony Silvestri broke into the house of television reporter Kathryn Dettman, a woman he was stalking for several months. Dettman was in the shower when Silvestri broke in, stood waiting in her bedroom and attacked her as soon as she stepped in. In a brutally violent attack, Silvestri stabbed Dettman with a knife more than 15 times, leaving her dead on the apartment floor. Silvestri is currently serving a 40 year old jail term.

2. Robert John Bardo

The stalker and murderer of the young Hollywood star and the former star of the television series My Sister Sam, Robert John Bardo cut Rebecca Schaeffer’s life short in 1989. Stalking the actress for years, Bardo turned up at Schaeffer’s apartment after obtaining her private address through her driving records from the Department of Motor Vehicles, and shot her as she stood at her door.

The method by which Bardo tracked the actress sent chills throughout Hollywood. In 1994, the US federal government passed the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act that prohibits state Departments of Motor Vehicles from releasing the home addresses of state residents.

1. Mark David Chapman

Everyone must have heard about the stalker who assassinated the former Beatles singer and political activist John Lennon. On December 8, 1980, Chapman shot Lennon as he was leaving The Dakota apartment building with Yoko Ono, in New York City. Aiming five shots at Lennon of which four shots hit John Lennon in the back. Chapman remained unmoved at the spot until the police arrested him. He was sentenced to a jail term from 20 years to life, and is currently imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. Chapman has been denied parole six times.

10. Anne Bonny

No one knows her complete life story but, Irish-woman Anne Bonny was there as the most respected and famous female pirate. Born to an Irish family who moved to North America, Anne bonny was disowned by her considerably rich father when she married a poor sailor and pirate named James Bonny.

After being disowned by her father, Anne Bonny and her husband moved to Bahamas, but her marriage didn’t last long and she ran away with pirate Mary Read and another known pirate John “Calico Jack” Rackham, and joined the crew of Revenge. Anne Bonny never disguised herself as a man and was very competent and fierce in combat. She was captured along with all the crew of Revenge, however; there are no records of her death.

9. Stede Bonnet

Often called “the gentleman pirate”, Stede Bonnet belonged to a wealthy English family at Barbados. In 1717, Bonnet decided to turn to piracy due to his failing marriage and despite having any experience as a sailor he bought a vessel, which he named Revenge.

In 1718, Bonnet was pardoned by North Carolina governor Charles Eden and received clearance to go privateering against Spanish ships. Although Bonnet was tempted to resume his piracy, he also wanted to keep his pardon. Therefore, he adopted the alias “Captain Thomas”, changed his ship’s name to Royal James and returned to piracy in July 1718. However, he was caught on October 24, 1718 and this time received no pardon. Bonnet was hanged in Charleston on December 10, 1718.

8. Cheung Po Tsai

A son of a fisherman in Hong Kong, Cheung Po Tsai was kidnapped at the age of 15 by a pirate couple. He was adopted by his kidnappers and was later handed down the pirating business by his adopted parents. Cheung Po Tsai operated along the Guangdong coastal area during the Qing Dynasty. It is said that he had over 50,000 followers and his fleet possessed 600 ships.

In 1810, Cheung Po left piracy and joined a captain in the Qing imperial navy, where he spent rest of his life in a very comfortable government position. Cheung Po is mostly infamous for a legend about his hidden treasure. Although never found, it is still rumoured that his treasure is hidden in the Cheung Po Tsai cave in the Cheung Chau island.

7. Edward England

His real name was Edward Seegar, Edward England was a pirate during 1717 to 1720 where he robbed the ships in the Indian Ocean off the African coast. England entered into pirating when he kidnapped and forced into piracy by the pirate captain Christopher Winter, who forced him to join the crew.

England acquired the command of the stolen vessel, The Royal James and renamed it as the Pearl. He was later thrown out of his ship by his quarter-master on Mauritius with two other crew members. He died begging for food at the end of 1720.

6. William Kidd

The Scottish sailor who started his career as a privateer and a pirate hunter, William Kidd was given the command of the ship called Adventure by the governor of New York and Massachusetts, Sir George Bellomont.  He was given the task of hunting down pirates in the Red Sea.

Troubles began when Kidd was forced to recruit his own crew, as his best crewmen left for the Royal Navy. The new crew turned out to be full of smugglers and old pirates. Resisting at first, Kidd finally gave in the pressure put down by his new crew and carried out his first and last act as a pirate. In 1698, he captured a treasure ship owned by the British East India Company and renamed the ship Adventure Prize. William Kidd was arrested and in 1701, he was trialed and sentenced to death.

5. Thomas Tew

Known as the Rhode Island pirate, Thomas Tew was another English privateer-turned-pirate. He was the commander of the ship Amity, which was provided to him by his supporters in Bermuda. Tew struck it rich on his first strike, when he captured a large ship in the Red Sea, en route to the Ottoman Empire from India. The ship was carrying worth £100,000 in gold and silver alone.

His second journey ended up in a disaster, when the Amity tried to overtake the Mogul ship, Fateh Muhammad, at the Mandab Strait in 1695. Thomas Tew was blasted off by a canon and his crew, demoralized by their captain’s death, surrendered immediately.

4. Howell Davis

The captain of four ships, namely the Cadogan, Buck, Saint James, and Rover, Howell Davis was a well known pirate even though his career lasted for only 11 months. The Welsh captain is also famous for bringing up Bartholomew Roberts, who served Davis as a navigator.

Davis became a pirate when the slave shi

Cadogan, where he was serving as a mate, got caught by pirate Edward England. Deciding to join, Davis was given the command to the ship. Howell Davis, unlike other pirates did not use strength but used trickery and deception. One of his greatest feats was the capture of the commander of the Royal African Company slaving fort for ransom. Davis pretended to be a legitimate privateer and deceived the commander by inviting him for dinner. Davis shot dead on June 19, 1719, when he was trying to kidnap the governor of the Portuguese island of Príncipe.

3. Charles Vane

The English privateer who turned to piracy in 1716, Charles Vane was known to prey upon English and French ships only. With his flagship, Ranger, Vane set his base in Bahamas and was known to be cruel not only to his enemies but also to his crewmen, cheating them off their fair share. In February 1718, Vane was cornered by Vincent Pearse, commander of the HMS Phoenix, where he accepted royal pardon but was back on his sinister ways as soon as he was free.

After a narrow escape from the royal navy, which set out to oversee the pardon, Vane’s crew voted him off from captaincy replacing him by his quartermaster Calico Jack Rackham. Vane, however, clawed his way back on top of piracy ranks by seizing much larger ships. After quite a long and aggressive career in piracy he was finally captured and executed in 1721 by hanging at Gallows Point, Port Royal, Jamaica.

2. Blackbeard

His real name was Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard – the notorious English pirate who terrorized the waters of the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies from 1717 to 1718. Teach came under the apprenticeship of Benjamin Homigold in 1716. But he quickly acquired his own ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. His alias, Blackbeard, was derived from his thick black beard and formidable appearance. With an alliance of pirates, he successfully ransomed the inhabitants of Charleston, South Carolina.

Although Teach accepted a royal pardon, he was soon back up on the sea which led the Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood to send a party of soldiers to capture the pirate. On 22 November 1718, a ferocious battle took place where Teach was killed by a small force of sailors led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.

1. Bartholomew Roberts

His real name was John Roberts and was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy. Estimated to have captured over 470 vessels, the Welsh pirate terrorized the seas between America and West Africa from 1719 and 1722. With very little details about him, it is known that Roberts took to sea at the age of 13.

He took to piracy in 1719, when the slave ship he was working for as a third mate came under attack by two pirate ships, the Royal Rover and the Royal James, led by captain Howell Davis. Davis took a fancy to the young Welsh and on discovering his abilities as a navigator and took to consulting him. When Captain Davis was killed, the ship chose Bartholomew Roberts as the captain of the Royal Rover. Roberts died while battling with HMS Swallow, commanded by Captain Chaloner Ogle in February 1722. And as by his command, the pirates threw their captain’s body into the sea so the royal navy could not get hold of him even after death. His death came as a shock to the pirate-world as well as the Royal Navy, for all considered him to be invincible.

The craziest of claims filed by these people, the companies might have to work very hard to fill in the gaps so as not to give the most insane people a chance to make a few extra cash with their own stupidity and obnoxious stunts.

10. Tripping over your own toddler

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas actually won this case and was awarded $80,000 by the jury, which of course was comprised of her peers and friends, for tripping over a toddler and breaking her ankle. The toddler was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were baffled when the final verdict was read out. That is understandable so, for the running toddler was Robertson’s own son. Maybe the store should now place a rack where customers must deposit their little ones.

9. Theft overlooked

How the justice system of Los Angeles California works? We have no idea. 19 year old Carl Truman actually bagged $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Apparently Truman didn’t notice the moving car or even noticed that there was someone behind the wheels, for he was too busy trying to steal his neighbor’s hubcaps.

8. Even robbers are compensated

Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, had just burglarized a house and was leaving by the way of the garage. Sadly for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener of the house needed to be repaired and so Dickson could not escape as planned. Even worse was the fact that he couldn’t go back into the house because Dickson pulled the door, connecting the garage to the house, shut. Probably the owners of the house had gone on a vacation for Dickson was stuck in the garage for eight days, with a very few rations namely a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food. Soon as he got out, Dickson sued the homeowner’s insurance company claiming excessive mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury agreed with Dickson and the insurance company had to pay $500,000.

7. You get what you deserve

This guy’s case actually won him 4^th place in the Stella’s Awards. Jerry Williams from Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses for being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor’s pet beagle. Although the beagle was said to be chained in its owner’s “fenced yard”, Williams still filed a claim but did not get as much as he desired for obvious reasons. The jury knew that the beagle have been provoked prior to biting Williams in the butt because Williams had climbed over the fence into his neighbor’s yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

6. Crying over spilled drink

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was paid $113,500 by the restaurant on the orders of the jury because Carson slipped over a soft drink spilled on the restaurant floor and broke her tailbone. The restaurant was obviously shocked at the verdict because Ms. Carson herself had thrown the drink at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. We all know that restaurants have to have quick service but 30 seconds is insane! Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?

5. Pay with your teeth

Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, sued a night club owner of a nearby city after she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out both her two front teeth. Wonder what got the jury to decide against the club owner because Ms. Walton was trying to sneak outside, through the ladies bathroom window to avoid the $3.50 cover charge. The jury gave the verdict that the night club had to pay her $12,000 plus dental expenses.

4. Cruise Control versus dumb customers

Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. However, on her first trip home, from an Oklahoma University football game, she set the cruise control at 70 mph on the freeway, leaving the driver’s seat to go at the back of the Winnebago for a sandwich. It didn’t come as a surprise when the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Predictably, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for failing to give this useful information in the owner’s manual. Naturally the Oklahoma jury awarded her with $1,750,000 and a new motor home. To avoid further confrontations with such insane customers, Winnebago actually changed their manuals.

3. You fall, town pays

While shopping one day in Reeds Spring, Missouri, Sally Stewart tripped on a pothole. While trips she did, she didn’t take it too well and sued the friendly small town, which consequently filed for bankruptcy as they didn’t have enough money to pay her award. The poor people!

2. Outsmarting the insurance companies

A lawyer from Charlotte, North Carolina bought a box of very expensive and rare cigars and got them insured against casualties that included fire. In just one month, the lawyer smoked his entire stock of cigars. Without even having paid his first premium payment, he filed a claim with his insurance company.

     His claim stated that the entire stock of cigars were lost “in a series of small fires.” The insurance company seeing a scam refused to pay for obvious reasons – the man consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. On the refusal, the lawyer sued the insurance company and astonishingly won the claim. While delivering the final verdict the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous, he also said that the lawyer kept a policy from the company where it was warranted the cigars as insurable, guaranteeing that they would be insured against fire, without signifying the “unacceptable fire,” and hence was obligated to pay the claim. The insurance company not wanting to endure a lengthy and expensive appeal process, the insurance company agreed to the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the “series of small fires.”

     However, as soon as the lawyer cashed his check to the claim, the insurance company got him arrested on 24 counts of Arson! The lawyer’s own insurance claim and testimony from the earlier case was used against him. The lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced to 24 months in jail with a $24,000 fine.

1. Coffee vs. McDonald

McDonalds might have by now set a record with all the lawsuits filed against them but no lawsuit can be as crazy as the one filed in 1992 by the then 79 year old Stella Liebeck. Liebeck filed the claim stating that McDonald’s coffee scalded her as she tried to take off its lid to put in cream and sugar, while sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car. She received third degree burns over 6 percent of her body, which resulted for her to be hospitalized for 8 days, undergoing debridement treatments.

Liebeck later sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused and so the case went to court, where it was showed that around 700 people had filed claims against McDonalds for being burned by their coffee. The jury awarded Liebeck ten times more than she asked for, $200,000 as compensatory damages but the amount was reduced to $160,000. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, an amount equal to the then two days of McDonalds’ coffee sales. The two parties settled their scores outside the court.

10. The Loudest Burp

Now this is disgusting, makes me want to throw up. Paul Hunn from Great Britain performed the loudest burp with an intensity 118.1 decibels. The intensity of the burp can be compared to, let’s say a pneumatic drill or an airplane taking off. Let’s hope no one else tries to break this record as for Paul himself, he can’t indulge whenever he fancies. The loudest burps occur only when Mr. Hunn eats spicy food and sucks in a lot of air. For something gross as this, it actually requires a lot of hard work for just a burp.

9. Drinking Ketchup

How can anyone even come up with a stunt like that? Sure beats me! Dustin Phillips from California is the record holder of drinking ketchup faster than we can imagine, saying the least. Draining 90% of a 14 ounce ketchup bottle in just 33 seconds using a straw, Mr. Phillips now proudly holds his title of the “Fastest Tomato Ketchup Drinker”. Well it is a perfect combination at a fast food restaurant, having burgers and draining it down with ketchup.

8. Longest Kiss

Love can last forever – but a kiss? How long can that last. Tell that to the Israeli couple from Tel Aviv who spend not one, not two but exactly 30 hours and 45 minutes in April 1999. The couple did not even take a single break. Sigh! And they say love is dead. The record holders Karmit Tzubera and Dror Orpaz not only got their names in the Guinness Book of World Records but were remarkably compensated with a trip around the world.

7. The Largest Handmade Pocket Knife

Designed by Telmo Cadavez and handmade by Virgilìo, Raúl and Manuel Pires of Portugal in Jan. 9, 2003, the world’s largest pocket knife is a marvel. The knife measures 3.9 meters when opened and weighs 122 kilograms in total is an extraordinary creation, except a tiny bit of a flaw – who will be pocketing it?

6. Enduring Ice

This insane record was set by Wim Hof from the Netherlands on January 23, 2009. Checking how long his body can withstand the below freezing point temperature, Mr. Hof spent exactly 1 hour 42 minutes and 22 seconds precisely without any clothes buried in the ice. Talk about being crazy!

5. Fastest on all fours

 This would have been fun to watch, the “fastest 100m running on all fours” record was set in Tokyo, Japan at Setagaya Kuritsu Sogo Undojyo on November 13, 2008.

The record was attempted as a part of the Guinness World Record (GWR) Day and was set by Kenichi Ito, who ran 100 meters on all fours in just 18.58 seconds.

4. Packing Yourself

Leslie Tipton wasn’t joking when she said she could pack herself on September 14, 2009 in New York, USA on the LIVE! with Regis & Kelly show. While many of us were skeptical of how she’ll manage to fit into a suitcase, she actually made a record out of it.

Leslie Tipton, belonging from San Francisco, USA fit herself perfectly into a zipped suitcase in just 5.43 seconds. With her feat, she has made it to the top list of extraordinary Guinness Records.

3. Walking Over Hot Plates

Accomplished at the Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 18 April 2009, Rolf Iven from Regensburg, Germany set a record of the “longest distance walking over hot plates”.

Rolf Iven walked 22.90 m (75 ft 1 in) barefooted, a distance that was lined with hot plates. We do wonder how many seconds or minutes his feet could withstand the heat before screaming “I’m burning, I’m burning!”

2. Car Balance

The man with the Iron Skull is how I’d like to call him. John Evans is no doubt a smart man. As seen from a technical mind, he actually found the car’s center of gravity when he managed to balance a Mini on his head in London, May 1999.

The car which weighed 352-pound stood on John Evans head for exactly 33 seconds and didn’t tip off. The record is so incredible that no one since then has ever even tried to break it.

1. The Tattooed Senior Citizen

Well people have strange hobbies, from crazy body piercings to insane tattoos. But that’s all supposed to come in the wild, reckless age. However, Isobel Varley from the United Kingdom proved us all wrong when she appeared on the set of Lo Show dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 25 April 2009.

Isobel Varley grabbed the record for the “most tattooed senior citizen”, when she flashed her bodice 93% of which was covered in tattoos.

While most wills set the persons financial affairs right, after they’re dead, many just use it to mock their relatives or in some case, the people in general or the government. And while some wills are contested by family, friends or the court, others are just left as they are.  Here are some bizarre last wills and testaments of some of the rich and famous.

10. Virgil - October 15, 70 BC to September 21, 19 BC

The famous Roman poet known for his works – the Eclogues or Bucolics, the Georgics, and the Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro or Virgil influenced the Western literature mainly by his epic work on the Aeneid. Virgil was the son of a wealthy landowner, who let Virgil study mathematics, medicine, rhetoric and law, but the young Virgil turned his talents towards literary arts and poetry.

Last Wish: Burn the Aeneid

His greatest accomplishment would have been the Latin poem, Aeneid that tells the story of a legendary Trojan, Aeneas. However, Virgil died before he could have completed or edited his poetry to completion. Around 19 BC, in order to revise the Aeneid, Virgil travelled to Athens to meet Emperor Augustus. However on his journey back to Italy, he caught a fever and died. His last wish was to his literary executors to burn the Aeneid, which was opposed by Augustus, who ordered the work to be published with minimum changes possible. The Aeneid is said to be the best of the literary works by Virgil.

9. William Shakespeare - April 26, 1564 to April 23, 1616

The English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare was the author of the most widely admired and influential body of literature by any individual in the history of Western civilization.  His work comprises of 36 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 narrations. Knowledge of Shakespeare is derived from two sources: his works and those remains of legal and church records and contemporary allusions through which scholars can trace and the external facts of life.

Last Wish: Bequest his “second best bed” to his wife.

Although the National Archives state that “beds and other pieces of household furniture were often the sole bequest to a wife”, the last will of William Shakespeare raised much speculation over the relationship he shared with his wife. By law, his wife was entitled to one third of his estate, but Shakespeare scarcely mentioned his wife in his will, leaving his large estate to his eldest daughter, Susanna with an instruction that she pass it down intact to her first son. His will even deprived his youngest daughter, Judith. Shakespeare direct line ended as all of his grandchildren died childless.

8. Charles Dickens - February 7, 1812 to June 9, 1870

The English novelist who was considered the best of the Victorian period, Charles Dickens took pleasure in the wide popularity he received in his lifetime. Dickens still remains widely popular in his novels and characters, especially in his novel David Copperfield, which was an autobiography derived from events of his own life. Charles Dickens was the second of eight children born to Elizabeth and John Dickens. His break came when his grandfather left him £450, eventually leading him to study at the Wellington House Academy in North London. His most famous works include Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickelby, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol to name a few.

Last Wish: To be buried at Rochester Cathedral “in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner” and that the mourners “who attend my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hatband, or other such revolting absurdity.”

Although he wished to have a small quiet funeral, Charles Dickens last wishes were side-lined and he received a grand funeral and was buried in the Poets’ Corner at the Westminster Abbey. Dickens died of a stroke he suffered, a day prior to his death. He never regained consciousness. His funeral was a national event. Opposed to getting what he wanted in life, Dickens did not get his last dying wish.

7. Sir George Bernard Shaw - July 26, 1856 to November 2, 1950

The Irish playwright, critic, political activist and co-founder of the London School of Economics, George Bernard Shaw mainly wrote in black comedy and in a mocking manner. His greatest achievement was his play, the movie Pygmalion, for which he received both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.

Last Wish: Shaw disapproved of a religious service and ordered that his memorial should not “take the form of a cross or any other instrument of torture or symbol of blood sacrifice.”

It is hard to define Shaw’s religious beliefs and it might be said he held no religion, yet he followed the best out of every religion. In his last will and testament, Shaw spoke about his religious beliefs that his “religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative revolution.”

6. Benjamin Franklin - January 17, 1706 to April 17, 1790

On e of the founding fathers of the United States, Dr. Benjamin Franklin was a noted polymath, author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. Benjamin Franklin was his parents eighth child, and 15^th child of his father.

Last Wish: For his daughter, to withhold her from “the expensive, vain, and useless fashion of wearing jewels.”

This last will and testament came when Benjamin Franklin gave his daughter, Sarah Bache the portrait of the King of France. The portrait had its frame studded with 408 diamonds, which was the reason why Franklin made it clear in his will that his daughter shall not be removing the diamonds from the frame in order to make jewelry for herself or her daughters.

5. John B Kelly - October 4, 1889 to June 20, 1960

Probably one of the most famous celebrity family, John B Kelly was the father of the actress Grace Kelly. Also known as Jack Kelly, he was one of the most successful oarsmen in the history of rowing sports. The triple Olympic gold medal winner, Kelly’s fame is comparable to that of Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey.

Last Wish: A word of advice to his son-in-law that his daughter’s clothing bills not bankrupt the principality of Monaco.

He left his sons-in-law nothing, saying that if they are right type, they will tend for themselves and their families. John Kelly Sr. left all his personal belongings to his son John Jr. Kelly’s last will and testament showed his good sense of humor. The most amusing collections of his will are:

[To my son John,] all my personal belongings, such as trophies, rings, jewelry, watches, clothing and athletic equipment, except the ties, shirts, sweaters and socks, as it seems unnecessary to give him something of which he has already taken possession.

4. Harry Houdini - March 24, 1874 to October 31, 1926

The American magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer, Houdini was born in Hungary, to Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz and Cecelia, Houdini was one of the seven children. Beginning his career in 1891 as a magician, he performed in dime museums and in side show in various circuses. He married his fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner.

Last Wish: His wife should hold an annual séance in order to reveal himself to her.

After the death of his mother, Houdini became deeply involved in spiritualism. After years of trying, he gave it up but left it as his last will for his wife in a secret note with 10 randomly selected words. Despite promising his wife that he would communicate with her after death, Houdini never turned up while his wife gave up trying after holding it for 10 years.

3. Napoleon Bonaparte - 15 August 1769 to 5 May 1821

The French military and political leader of the post French Revolution era, Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica. His parents were from a noble Genoese lineage and trained their son as an artillery officer in mainland France.  Napoleon brought France at a secure dominant position in continental Europe.

Last Wish: His friends have his head shaved and their hair divided up amongst them.

This brought a strange twist in events, Napoleon’s hair were kept by his friends as he asked but a recent study revealed that his hair contained large amounts of the poisonous chemical. This led to the belief that the walls of his confinement had arsenic and led to his death. For a fact, Napoleon died of stomach cancer since his doctor was poisoning him that added to his death.

2. William Hearst - April 29, 1863 to August 14, 1951

The American newspaper magnate and newspaper publisher, William Hearst was the son of the self-made billionaire, George Hearst. The owner of The San Francisco Examiner sold the company to George Hearst as a payment to a gambling debt. William Hearst, on knowing of the change in the company’s possession, asked his father to let him run the paper. He eventually built the newspaper company in a multi-million dollar empire.

Last Wish: Anyone who can prove that if “he or she is a child of mine [receive] the sum of one dollar. I hereby declare that any such asserted claim [...] would be utterly false.”

Hearst was the grandfather of the Stockholm syndrome patient, the heiress Patty Hearst.

1. John Bowman - October 16, 1824 to September 21, 1891

The American lawyer and educator, John Bowman was the great grandson of the famous Virginia colonists George Bowman and Jost Hite. He is known as the founder of the Kentucky University and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky.

Last Wish: For his servants that dinner is to be prepared each night, even after his death in case he comes back to life.

John Bowman’s wife and his two daughters died before him, convincing him that when he died his whole family would come back to life. This bizarre belief led him to set up a trust worth $50,000, which would pay servants to still keep running the usual house chores. His will also requested that the meals be cooked daily, just in case his family arrives hungry. The odd will was honored and his house chores kept running until the trust Bowman set ran out of funds in 1950.

Just for Laughs

Here are some of the last words by some the rich:

• “I give to Lieutenant-General Cromwell one of my words, which he must want, seeing that he hath never kept any of his own” – Philip, 5^th earl of Pembroke, 17^th century.
• “To the worst of women, Claude Charlotte de Grammont, unfortunately my wife, I leave five and forty brass halfpence, which will buy a pullet for her supper.” -  Henry, earl of Stafford, 1648 – 1719.
• “Before anything else is done fifty cents [is to] be paid to my son-in-law to enable him to buy for himself a good stout rope with which to hang himself.” – author Garvey B. White, 1908

Apart from all that, these crooks are so refined in their methods and cultured that nothing else sounds more appealing than the famous paintings, well maybe with an exception of drug dealing, money laundering but that’s hard-core. It is estimated that the worldwide trade in stolen and forged art is worth upwards of $6 billion annually. Here are the 10 most high profile art thefts by these crafty thieves.

1. The Last Judgment – 1473

Now this was a medieval case of art theft. A three panel altar piece by Flemish painter Hans Memling, The Last Judgment, is stolen by pirates en route from Flanders to Flourence, in what is known to be the first documented art theft. However, a pious pirate gave the painting to a church. Today it is in the National Museum in Gdansk.

2. Duchess of Devonshire – 1876

Con man Adam Worth, the man who inspired the villainous character of Moriarty in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, known for his criminal mastermind for robbing several banks and forging documents steals an art treasure in 1876. The Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire is hoisted up to the window of a London gallery on the shoulders of his 213-centimetre assistant. The portrait by Gainsborough’s is valued at the then world-record price of 10,000 guineas ($1 million today), and was stolen by Worth to get the bail money for his brother’s release from prison, but the brother was released without bail. Selling the portrait for ransom, Worth was never caught and died a year later. The portrait was recovered and now hangs in her ancestral home.

3. Mona Lisa – 1911

One of the greatest art thefts that will always be remembered. Stolen from the Louvre in 1911, the greatest work of art by Leonardo Da Vinci the Mona Lisa costs over $100 million. When the portrait was stolen, a lot of people working in and out of the Louvre came under suspicion and one of the now famous people to be questioned was Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.

However, the thief turned out to be an employee, named Vincenzo Perugia, of the Louvre who stole the portrait at the behest of an art forger who wanted to make copies of the famous lady. The thief was caught trying to sell the Mona Lisa to Uffizi Gallery in Florence and was sent to prison.

4. Nativity – 1969

Caravaggio’s Nativity was stolen off from a church of San Lorenzo in Sicily on Oct 18, 1969, where the painting. The painting was cut out from its frame and was seen in the possession of a mafia kingpin, who stole the masterpiece for his mother, who grew too ill to go to church to see it. The painting which is now worth $20 million has since never been found.

5. The Gardner Museum Theft – 1990

The largest art theft in the history took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Two thieves entered the museum wearing police uniforms, after taking down two guards and taking the security surveillance tapes. The thieves leave with 13 works by different artists. The 13 paintings had three paintings by Rembrandt including his only seascape Storm on the Sea of Galilee, The Concert by Vermeer, one by Manet, five paintings by Degas, and others valued at around $300 million.

The case still remains open and the authorities still are trying to find the criminals despite investigating everyone from the Irish Republican Army to a Boston mob boss!

6. The Scream – 1994

A popular target amongst art thieves in Norway, The Scream was stolen on the opening day of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. The stolen painting was one of the four different versions of Munch’s famous work.Thieves took the painting from Oslo’s National Art Museum. A perfectly planned crime the crooks took less than one minute, coming in through a window and cutting the wires that held up the painting, and leaving through the same window.

The reason for the crime was to ransom the painting to the Norwegian government. Although the crime was well planned the thieves blundered as they left a piece of the frame at a bus stop, which led the authorities straight to them. The painting was recovered a few months later. The four men involved in the crime were convicted in January 1996.

7. Stockholm Museum Theft – 2000

A crime that sent the whole Sweden in mourning when three crooks barged into the National Museum, wearing ski masks and carrying pistols and machine guns. The criminals knew exactly what they wanted, having studied the flooring plans for months, they went straight for the Rembrandt Self Portrait and two works by Renoir, Jeune Parisienne and La Conversation.

Finally the Swedish government with an aid of the FBI caught eight criminals. Each crook was sentenced up to six and a half years in prison for being involved in the theft of the three paintings. All of the three paintings were recovered separately and are now restored at the National Museum Stockholm. The Rembrandt now rests in a bulletproof glass case with security cameras to help ensure that it never leaves the museum again.

8. The Collection by Stephane Breitwieser – 2001

Can anyone imagine a waiter being involved in as many as 200 art thefts? Everyone will have their doubts but then there is the French waiter Stephane Breitwieser, a man who is collected artifacts worth $1.4 billion from various European museums. In 2001, Breitwieser was caught red-handed, trying to steal a bugle in Switzerland. Caught by authorities, Breitwieser confesses to all his crimes. But when his mother learned of his arrest, she does what any good mother would do: She chops up the paintings and throws the artifacts into a canal.

9. Madonna of the Yarnwinder – 2003

A good disguise always works, apparently even for criminals. Take the crooks who stole the Madonna of the Yarnwinder by Leonardo Da Vinci. The two crooks entered the Scotland’s Drumlanrig Castle with a group of tourists, overpowered a guard, and took off with the famous painting. Since alarms around the art do not set off during the day, the thieves managed to convince the other tourists from intervening, telling them: “Don’t worry . . . we’re the police. This is just practice.” Although the thieves were never caught the painting was recovered in 2007.

 10. The Scream and Madonna – 2004

In 2004, two masked and armed men barged into the Munch Museum and threatened its workers at a daring daylight theft. The thieves got away with a pair of Munch’s famous paintings, The Scream and The Madonna. The ballpark figure of both paintings was a 100 million Euros, combined. In May 2006, authorities arrested and sentenced three men who were said to have played a part in the crime. The accused received 4-8 years in jail, and the two paintings were recovered three months later.

10. The Tasmania Island

An island at the edge of the world, the Tasmania Island is a natural paradise. Tasmania is Australia’s island state lying approximately 240 km south of the state of Victoria in the South Pacific Ocean. Tasmania is known as the most wonderful and magical destination on Earth.

The island attracts many adventurers boasting of its wildlife and wilderness, pristine beaches, food and luxurious resorts. The inviting island with its pleasant holiday deals gives its visitors a memory they’ll cherish all their life.

9. The Baikal Lake

Located in the USSR in southeastern Siberia west of Yablonovy Mountains, the Baikal Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia. It covers an area of 31,494 sq. km. the Baikal Lake is also the deepest freshwater lake in the world, having a maximum depth of 1,620 m.

On an interesting note, the Baikal Lake supports an unusual aquatic population, including the Baikal seal, omul salmon, and certain rare animal species that exists only at Baikal. The lake, called the “Pearl of Siberia” is a major tourist attraction and a must visit is the Olkhon Island that lies in the freshwater lake.

8. The Plitvice Park

The oldest national park in southeast Europe, the Plitvice Park is located in Croatia, becoming the signature natural attraction of the country. The Plitvice Waterfalls are actually a large network of karstic lakes and waterfalls that have attracted tourists since the late 19^th century.

The 16 inter-linked lakes and the complex forestry set the Plitvice Park apart, making it one of the most beautiful natural sights in Europe. Inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Plitvice national park is heavily forested, mainly with beech, spruce, and fir trees, and features a mixture of Alpine and Mediterranean vegetation.

7. Jiuzhaigou River

A fairyland nestled comfortably amongst the mountains of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in the northwestern Sichuan Province, the Jiuzhaigou Valley is another natural heritage of the world.

The most striking feature of the valley is the clear, lucid and colorful water, which is unique and cannot be found in any other place of the world. The main tourist destination of China, the Jiuzhaigou Valley attracts many tourists, mostly from China, and is known as one of the natural wonders of the world. The Jiuzhaigou is home to around 140 species of birds, rare plants and rare animals like the Panda.

6. Yellowstone National Park

The largest U.S. wilderness preserve covers an area of 8,982 sq. km, lies in the eastern Idaho, southern Montana and northwestern Wyoming. Most of the Yellowstone National Park lies on a high plateau in the Rocky Mountains. Best known for its geographical features the park includes about 200 geysers, 10,000 hot springs and many fumaroles.

The Yellowstone National Park is vast and varied and therefore attracts numerous visitors with different interests. The top ten attractions in the Yellowstone that no visitor should miss are:

• Old Faithful Geyser and Upper Geyser Basin

• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

• Hayden Valley

• Mammoth Hot Springs

• Yellowstone Lake

• Norris Geyser Basin

• Lamar Valley

• Tower Falls

• Lower Geyser Basin / Fountain Paint Pots

• West Thumb Geyser Basin

5. Bali Island

Bali, a province of Indonesia, is part of the Lesser Sunda Islands, 3.2 km east of Java. Its area is about 5,560 sq. km and its highest peak, Mount Agung, reaches 3,142 m. Volcanic in origin, Bali has a dry, mountainous coastal section and a southern plain with rainy monsoon season. The islands wildlife includes tigers and deers.

Bali is the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music. Each year it attracts tourists with its rich culture and lively population.

4. Barbados

The tourist attraction of a magical kind, vacationing in the Caribbean creates an album full of memories. Barbados is the largest island in the Caribbean and a place which is full of caves, providing an experience for adventure lovers.

The largest and most majestic cave of Barbados is the Harrison Cave, a large limestone cave. Each cave has its own attraction, like the Animal Flower Cave that provides a wonderful sight of the animal flowers with interesting rock formations, rivers and waterfalls.

3. Seychelles

The Republic of Seychelles, formed by an archipelago of 115 scattered islands in the Indian Ocean, is located in Eastern Africa. The Seychelles Beaches offer more than just sand and sunshine, it is home of a world heritage site that we know as “The Garden of Eden”. Everything about the island is perfect – the natural beauty, wildlife, people and even the islands weather is inviting, devoid of any extremes

A perfect mix of love, beauty and exclusivity, Seychelles attracts hundreds of curious visitors and honeymooners each year and modestly exhibits its beauty to the world. It’s a place that you’ll fall in love with at the first sight.

2. The Preikestolen Cliff

Norway boasts of many wonderful tourist attractions and the greatest place for all sightseers is the Fjords and Preikestolen cliff. The cliff towers 604 meters above sea level. The 25 sq. meters Preikestolen plateau sits on top of Pulpit Rock and offers a breathtaking view of the fjord and creates marvelous photo opportunities.

From the top of the plateau, the tourists can view the beautiful panorama, landscape sky and rocks. On full moon, Fjords and the Preikestolen cliff offers a very romantic spectacle, creating sweet memories.

1. The Bora-Bora Island

Bora-Bora is an island in the Leeward Island group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean. About 225 km northwest of Tahiti, Bora Bora is about 6 km long and 4 km wide.

The Bora Bora Island is a heaven on Earth with its magnificent velvety verdant hills, crystalline azure sea and powdery white sand that stays with the islands’ tourists forever.

By far, mans greatest invention has been the creation of the wheel that set him on the path of success. Although not every invention scores high on the scale of usefulness, but we should always remember that Thomas Edison didn’t create the light bulb without failing first. However, taking a look at these interesting inventions most of us would probably eat our words philosophizing about the hit and trial methods.

10. The Nucleon

Ford’s crazy concept when they actually toyed with the notion of creating a nuclear powered car. The Ford motor company eager to show the public that they were on the cutting edge of innovative design came up with a totally insane concept of toying with nuclear power. The concept of using a nuclear powered engine was developed in 1958 and the vehicle was supposed to be powered by a small nuclear reactor at the rear. The Nucleon was designed to use a steam engine powered by uranium fission comparable to how nuclear submarines work.

However, the idea of designing a full fledged Nucleon models was terminated when questions were raised regarding the hazards of having radiations from the nuclear reactor in a car. Ford, nonetheless, built a model of the Nucleon half the size of an average car and displayed it at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

9. The Rocket Belt

A type of a rocket pack, the Rocket Belt was a low power propulsion device designed for military purposes. The primary uses of the Rocket Belt were to overcome smaller obstacles and spying. Created in the early 1960s, the Rocket Belt became one of the most intriguing flying inventions that failed.

There rocket belt failed on all accounts. It was too loud to provide safe spying, there was only enough fuel for 21 seconds trip, it was too complex to fly and fire weapons at the same time and it did not assure a safe controlled landing. One of these Rocket Belts is on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s, National Air and Space Museum.

8. Peace Prize

Stephen Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern Switzerland determined by experiment which hurts more – being smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottles. Since this crazy invention couldn’t actually grab the Nobel Award; they definitely managed to grab the 2009 Ig Nobel Peace Prize.

An inherent problem in an experiment of this nature was finding volunteers agreed to be brained with a beer bottle in the name of science. The scientists overcame this obstacle by dropping steel balls onto full and empty beer bottles. They found that the empties were sturdier than there full brethren because the gas pressure from the liquid produces additional strain on the glass.

7. Chemistry Prize

Javier Morales, Miguel Apátiga, and Victor M. Castaño of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México won the Ig Nobel Prize for creating diamonds from tequila.

As if people already didn’t have any less reason to love the alcoholic drink, it seems they can spill a little on the bar and create diamonds. Of course, you will have to heat it up to 536 degrees Fahrenheit and do a bunch of hocus pocus  before you can place it on your finger.

6. Biology Prize

Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu, and Zhang Guanglei of Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Japan won 2009 Award, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced by more than 90 percent by producing enzyme-producing bacteria extracted from the faeces of giant panda.

While this has potential applications – reducing garbage and waste – it still raises a question. How did it dawn on someone to try this experiment? And, of course, if one of your aims in ridding yourself of garbage is to get rid of the stench, adding poop to it is not likely to help.

5. Management Prize

The wonderful thing about mathematics is that every thing has comes with logic. And even though, we don’t understand this one – we love it! Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo of the University of Catania, Italy deduced mathematically that companies would become more efficient if they started promoted people at random.

A brilliant idea, no one needs to work themselves off. Just depend on your luck and voila! You just might get a raise or even your boss’s office. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. The brilliant team from Italy won the management prize in 2010.

4. The Comet

The first commercial jetliner, The Comet, was developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield in 1930. After a series of incidents and accidents the plane was finally grounded in 1997, much to the relief of the general public.

The Comet, failed because of its squared shaped windows caused deadly cracks in the fuselage.

3. Radithor

The discovery in the 1898 of the radioactive element of Radium spawned dozens of lethal medical inventions. From medicines to drinking water, chemists and even grocery stores would sell this fatal element as drugs and purified water without any know-how of the consequences.

The element, abundantly imported from Europe, was thought to have a certain sense of vitality in the early 20^th century. Radium medicines promised a cure for arthritis, and drinking Radium water gives an invisible hand of Mother Nature vital for a healthy life. All was going fine, until a man at Pittsburg, drank 1400 bottles of a Radium medicine called Radithor with time, only cause his upper and lower jaw to fall off. That was the end of the healthy effects of Radium.

2. Back Scratcher’s T-Shirts

Back scratching can be maddening, “To the right … the right! Now to the left … Ok, up … up!” those days are gone thanks to this utilitarian garment, which is part Battleship, part itch’s worst enemy.

It’s another item that you have to keep in the bag, for you never know when your back needs a little scratchy!

1. Hay Fever Hat

Allergy sufferers, rejoice! Never again will you endure the ignominy of being out in public with no way to blow your nose. And you’ll be blowing in style with this handsome toilet-paper-roll holder on your head.

1. The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is an enormous ravine situated in the state of Arizona in the United States. Seen from the space the Colorado River is most conspicuous feature of the south western desert, which creates The Grand Canyon. In just a few million years, this river has cut through the ancient Colorado plateau creating a canyon 277 miles long and in some places 18 miles wide. The most ancient rocks of The Grand Canyon are approximately 2 billion years old, which is nearly half the age of the Earth itself.

The world’s largest canyon creates its own awesome weather. One day can bring both blistering sunshine and scores of snow. Yet another more fundamental force is at work, the rim of the Grand Canyon is still rising and consequently the river below is still cutting its way ever deeper through the rocks.

2. Iguazu Falls

South America is a land of water, in the wet season its rivers swell to bursting point. In January and February, the Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina are at their most impressive. Every second 10,000 tons of water tumble from the Paraná Plateau and thunder down into the giant horseshoe canyon.

The panorama is over-whelming as more than 200 individual falls cascade over the two and a half mile rim.

3. The Himalayan Range

The Asian pride – the Himalayan Range is home to the highest mountains in the world and the largest deposits of accumulated ice outside the poles. The Himalayas appear like a frozen forest yet it has its own natural habitat, which teaches us the beauty and the fragility of life. The Himalayas form a 2,000 mile scar across Asia, across six countries – China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma.

What seems to be the most hostile range of the world, the Himalayas has a fascinating wildlife, mountains and glaciers that attract scores of tourists every year.

4. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River

Also known as St. Paul’s Subterranean River it is located in the Saint Paul Mountain range in the Philippines. The Subterranean River is the longest underground river in Asia and the second longest underground river in the world, with an 8.2 km of navigable river that winds through a cave before flowing into the South China Sea.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is a part of the St. Paul’s Subterranean River National Park. It was also one of the 28 finalists for the “New Seven Wonders of Nature” competition.

5. Yamdrok Lake

Known as the “Swan Lake” in Tibetan, Yamdrok Lake means “the jade lake in the upper pastureland”. The Lake is one of the three sacred lakes in Tibet and covers an area of 638 square kilometers. The other two holy lakes are the Lake Namtso in North Tibet and Lake Manasarovar in Ali.

The Yamdrok Lake is a continental lake with constant rains, thawing snow and icebergs. It lies at an altitude of 4,441 meters

6. Eisriesenwelt Cave

The largest cave in the world, the Eisriesenwelt Cave is extends 26.1 miles (42 km) inside Hochkogel Mountain in Austria. The word Eisriesenwelt stands for the “World of Ice Giants” in German. The entrance to the cave is a narrow doorway, which keeps in the cold and opens to blast out freezing air that literally takes the breath away.

Visitors pick their way up a series of boardwalk of 700 steps and the steep route follows its way along the course of the ancient river that carved its way through the rock. At a high altitude, the air inside the cave remains below freezing point and any water dripping inside freezes into ice formation defining various shapes.

7. Aurora Borealis

In the far north of Sweden is the Abisko National Park, where La Porta, a classic U-shaped valley, is located. La Porta means the gateway to Lapland. On winter nights, it offers a fleeting natural wonder that attracts many enthusiastic watchers of the night sky. Here nature offers its spectacular light shows – the Aurora Borealis.

Also known as the polar auroras, people can witness the most amazing sight when the northern lights appear as waves across the sky; it is almost as if the lights are dancing.

8. Victoria Falls

Located on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls Victoria Falls is a spectacular waterfall falling from the Zambezi River. The falls is also known as the Mosi-oa-Tunya in the local African language, meaning “smoke that thunders.”

The Victoria Falls is 1.7 km and 108 meters high. It was named by the Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone in the honor of Queen Victoria.

9. Ngorongoro Crater

Africa’s Garden of Eden is the largest known caldera in the world. Ngorongoro Crater is a gigantic basin about 12 miles wide and covers 102 square miles. The crater is the remains of an extinct volcano which once towered high over its present realm. The explosion of the volcano created the caldera wilderness haven, which is now home to 30,000 species that includes the rare black rhino.

The Ngorongoro Crater rises over 2,000 feet above the caldera floor in the Arusha Region of Tanzania.

10. Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef of the world that can be seen from outer space stretches over 1,600 miles and consists of over 2,900 separate reefs. It is the largest coral reef system in the world with 133,000 square miles including 900 islands off the coast of Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef supports the most diverse ecosystems of the world, home to a large variety of marine life