True Urban Legends

The Leaping Lawyer — A lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a Toronto skyscraper deliberately crashed through a pane of glass and plunged to his death. Garry Hoy, 38, fell from the 24th floor of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower in 1993 as horrified witnesses watched.

The Accidental Video Porn Star — In 1986, the sheriff of Council Grove, Kansas, (population 2,300) accidentally returned an erotic video of him and his wife having sex to his local rental store. Soon, everyone in town seemed to have a copy.

Cadaver Kin — In 1982, A student at the University of Alabama School of Medicine recognized one of the nine cadavers taken to her class for dissection. It was her great aunt, who had at one time discussed the merits of donating one's body to medical science.

The Flying Lawn Chair — In 1982, Larry Walters of Los Angeles soared thousands of feet in the air on a lawn chair tethered to 45 weather balloons. He got so high, he disrupted air traffic and was eventually fined $4,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration. The 33-year-old Vietnam Veteran purchased the chair from Sears, hoping to fly it 300 miles from his home to the Mojave Desert.

Pool Pervert — In 1994, a 33-year-old Floridian man got his penis trapped in the suction hole of a public swimming pool while apparently seeking sexual pleasure. Paramedics shut off the pool's pump, but the man's penis had become extremely swollen. They struggled for more than 40 minutes to pry him loose. After lubricating the suction fitting, the man was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

What a Dord! — For five years, Webster's New International Dictionary mistakenly included an entry for "dord," a nonexistent word. In the mid 1930s, Dord could be found on page 771, nestled between Dorcopsis (a type of small kangaroo) and doré (golden in color), It was defined as "density."

Funhouse Funeral — A prop corpse hanging in a Long Beach, Calif., funhouse turned out to be the real remains of an outlaw. In 1976, scenes for the hit TV show The Six Million Dollar Man were being shot at the Nu-Pike Amusement Park. When a production worker moved the fun house "hanging man," the prop's arm came off. Inside was human bone — the remains of train robber Elmer McCurdy.

Pure As Ivory — Early in her career, porn queen Marilyn Chambers appeared on Ivory Snow boxes, holding a baby. As her screen legend grew, Ivory sought out a cover girl that better reflected its image of 99 44/100% purity.
You might not believe everything on Mikkelson's site. It's always best to get your information straight from the horse's mouth, unless, of course, if that horse is the famous Mr. Ed. — who has been rumored to be a zebra.

Buck Wolf is entertainment producer

at ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files is

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