Canadian prankster gets the last laugh
When he died in 1926 Canadian lawyer Charles Vance Millar was a multimillionaire with no heirs. A renowned prankster, he decided to disperse his fortune in other mischievous ways. Firstly, he gave his shares in a jockey club to gambling opponents and shares in a brewery to teetotalling religious leaders. Then he left his house in Jamaica to three men who hated one another, on the condition that they must continue to own it together. But that was just a prelude to the big finish. In clause 10, Millar revealed a biology and math challenge that would change the lives of dozens of Toronto families. The remainder of his fortune - about $9 million - would be bequeathed a decade later to "the mother who has since my death given birth in Toronto to the greatest number of children as shown by the registrations under the Vital Statistics Act". So a challenge to the women of Toronto to have as many children as possible (The media dubbed it the Stork Derby). Of 32 mothers who filed claims after the deadline, one was disqualified because some of her 10 children were born out of wedlock, and another because some of her 11 children were stillborn. Four other families with nine young children were each awarded $2 million. Read more here...
Lost and tired visitors saved by Kiwi generosity
A reader writes: "Our American relatives are over for a couple of weeks - on Friday evening after work we'd arranged to meet them in Cornwall Park and take them back to Pukekohe where we live. They'd decided not to buy or bring their own phones (to get away from it all!) and ended up lost. Although we waited an hour we just couldn't find them, so we drove out to their motel in Puke. A few hours later, they got in touch and all was well. I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Benjamin the taxi driver who gave them a free ride to the train station, even while he was on a break. My husband's aunt was nearly moved to tears after an exhausting Coast to Coast walk. Once again, Kiwi generosity shines through."
Picture this: Short gifs on the production line of different factories making things - inserting bristles into a toothbrush and fork making are particularly fascinating...
