The Leaping Lawyer of Toronto

Lawyer Garry Hoy worked on the 24th floor of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower. Hi’s favorite trick, during office parties, was to demonstrate how the building's glass windows were unbreakable. He did this by hurling himself at them. But when he performed his trick in July 1993, the window unexpectedly broke, sending him plummeting to his death.

Based on notoriety alone, I’d say this has to qualify as one of the top 25 weird news stories of all time. Wikipedia notes that it’s been featured on a number of television shows (such as Mythbusters), and was also re-enacted in the 2006 movie The Darwin Awards.

More info: wikipedia, snopes

The Ottawa Citizen - July 12, 1993

National Post - July 13, 1993

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Who We Are
Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 26, 2019
Category: Death | 1990s

Comments

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Posted by Phideaux on 07/26/19 at 08:27 AM

I was thinking more along the line of "Shake hands with the Devil and you get burned."

You just know alcohol was involved...

Posted by KDP on 07/26/19 at 10:02 AM

As a comedian has often said "You Can't Fix Stupid!"

Posted by Steve E. on 07/26/19 at 11:18 AM

Au contraire mon frère

Posted by John on 07/26/19 at 11:28 AM

I think this guy won the top Darwin Award in his year. Thanks for letting me know there's a Darwin Awards movie; I've seen all the Jackass movies.

Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 07/27/19 at 04:31 PM

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