Defenestration: throwing someone out of a window

I've been exploring Wikipedia's page on the unusual. It's subdivided by names, places, numbers, language, science, death - whatever takes your fancy. Now, I'm not a huge Wiki person, since accuracy is so very difficult to control, but that said, this is fascinating.

Some entries might be familiar (the town of Hell, Michigan; the sobering thought of safety coffins; or maggot therapy, by all accounts wonderful and worthy of celebrity endorsement and a massive awareness-raising campaign).

Others are more curious or bemusing or downright worrying: a list of death-defying situations resolved by MacGyver (in the pilot episode he disarmed a missile with a paper clip - seriously); the Ontario town of Punkeydoodles Corners (known for its frequent sign theft - and who wouldn't!); and there's a whole section on Exploding Animals. That's right. The good news is that Exploding Head Syndrome is a total misnomer. Phew.

And coincidentally, the same Wiki page also details the Wilhelm scream, which I only just heard about from my brother this very day. It's a staple in-joke of the film industry, apparently, and you can hear it in all its glory below - from its 1953 origins through Reservoir Dogs to The Phantom Menace.



Note to self: pay more attention to death screams.