Darwin Awards

The Darwin Awards are a manifestation of Internet humor. They are a tribute to those members of the species Homo sapiens who have generously contributed to the well-being of the gene pool by removing themselves from it. This is optimally done in a spectacularly stupid fashion: the more imbecilic the cause of premature demise, the better the chances of an individual scooping the big prize. Although some of the better-known Darwin award recipients have proven to be fictitious (see Urban legends), the exploits of a great many award winners have been independently verified from original source material.

While most Darwin winners win the award posthumously, death is not required as the awardee only has to remove themselves from the gene pool. (In some cases, the winners rendered themselves unable to procreate, but still alive.)

The Awards are the creation of Wendy Northcutt[?], and have spawned two books.

Books

• The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action ISBN 0452283442
• The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection ISBN 0452284015