Charles Darwin is a famous scientist whose theory of evolution promoted his term "natural selection." Today, on the 207th anniversary of his birth, I bet Darwin would be surprised at how the term is applied.The Darwin Awards were established in 1985 as a way to recognize those who have basically taken themselves out of the gene pool -- as Darwin said, by "natural selection."

How do you become a nominee for such an award? Well, the first criteria is that you must be rendered sterile or dead by your own folly.

Death is nothing to laugh at, but once someone's gone, we might at least find a little humor in how it happened and see it as a lesson for all of us to learn.

Two Darwin Awards were given in 2014. Two men from the Netherlands decided to find out if a train would pass over them if they laid down on the train tracks. The second man decided that it wasn't such a good idea so he put his head down as close as possible to the tracks trying to prove that the train would pass right by. Neither one of the theories were correct. The train was lower and much wider than either one of them had anticipated. The received the award because the train killed them instantly.

Another Darwin Award commemorates a scooter accident that ended with the rider's death. Sad and funny all at the same time.

Here's what we mean:

 

Find out more about the Darwin Awards and take a little quick advice: Think before you do anything that might win you a posthumous prize.

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