[Misc] I wouldn't have believed this was true if I didn't know it was actually true

[Bozza]

In 1998 Gino D'Acampo was convicted of burgling singer Paul Young's London home, and served two years in prison.

He stole Paul’s £4,000 guitar collection, alongside a platinum disc.

D'Acampo was caught after his DNA matched tests on cigarette butts he had dropped in the star's bedroom in Mill Hill, North London.

D'Acampo subsequently apologised to Young, who accepted and suggested that D'Acampo could invite him to dinner in his restaurant.

Your turn. Surprise me.

 

[vegster]

I never suspected that Gino smoked...I'm shocked!

 

[Swansman]

Komodo dragons were unknown to the Western world until as late as 1910. Hard to imagine as its such a big badass lizard.

The first contestant to get voted off from a series of Survivor killed himself due to the embarrassment and shame. If the series had been cancelled, its possible the reality TV revolution would never happen... which would have been pretty nice.

Zebras sound like laser horses.

 

[Pondicherry]

The male duck billed platypus is venomous. The venom is strong enough to kill a dog and will produce prolonged severe pain in humans. If you see one, don't pick it up unless you are sure it is female.

 

[METALMICKY]

Mike Nesmith the wooly hat wearing former Monkee had his musical fortune boosted in the 80's when he inherited his mum's fortune.She had invented tippex !

 

[Lenny Rider]

Shakin Stevens and The Sunsets once opened for the Rolling Stones.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

This was featured on R5 recently when the victim gave an interview. Raisuddin "Rais" Bhuiyan. What a man.

Raisuddin "Rais" Bhuiyan (Bengali: রইস ভূঁইয়া) (born September 1973) is a Bangladeshi American working as a technology professional in Dallas.[1] He was an officer in the Bangladesh Air Force. He was a student of Sylhet Cadet College. He went to New York City to study computer technology.[2] After the September 11 terror attacks, Bhuiyan was one of several people shot by white supremacist Mark Anthony Stroman. Bhuiyan survived, but lost sight in one of his eyes.[1]

Bhuiyan gained media attention after revealing that he would appeal to the court to save Stroman from the death penalty. He told MSNBC, "I'm trying to do my best not to allow the loss of another human life. I'll knock on every door possible".[1][3] He said, "In Islam it says that saving one human life is the same as saving the entire mankind. Since I forgave him, all those principles encouraged me to go even further, and stop his execution and save another human life".[4] He started a movement named World Without Hate to prevent hate crimes through education and worked with Amnesty International.[4]


Here is the story in full

Mark Anthony Stroman (October 13, 1969 – July 20, 2011)[1] was an American white supremacist and spree killer who was convicted and executed for a shooting spree in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. During the shooting spree in 2001, Stroman killed two people and injured a third. Stroman claimed he carried out the shooting spree in revenge for the 9/11 attacks. He specifically targeted Arabs or people who looked "of Muslim descent." His victims were all from South Asia, two of whom were Muslim and one was a Hindu.[2]

Stroman was allegedly abused as a child by his stepfather. According to a documentary film made on his case, Stroman got married at 15 and had children shortly after. He identified as a white supremacist and was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Just prior to his shooting spree, he was free on bond for a gun possession arrest. Stroman had several previous convictions for burglary, theft, robbery and credit card fraud. He served at least two prison terms and had been paroled twice. His juvenile record showed he was involved in an armed robbery at the age of 12. He was covered in tattoos featuring Nazi and KKK images.[3]

On September 16, 2001, Stroman walked into a Pleasant Grove convenience store in Dallas, Texas, called Mom's Grocery. He encountered 46-year-old Waqar Hasan, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant who owned the store and had moved to the area that same year. As Hasan grilled hamburgers, Stroman fatally shot Hasan in the head and fled the store.[4]

On September 21, Stroman walked into a gas station in Dallas, where he encountered 28-year-old, Rais Bhuiyan, a former Bangladeshi air force pilot who worked there as a cashier. Stroman pointed a double-barreled shotgun at Bhuiyan. Thinking it was an armed robbery, Bhuiyan began to empty the cash register, but Stroman instead asked Bhuiyan where he was from. Before Bhuiyan could give a proper answer, Stroman shot him once in the head. Bhuiyan fell to the floor and collapsed while Stroman left the store.[5] Bhuiyan was left partially blinded in his right eye from the shooting.[6]

On October 4, Stroman shot and killed 49-year-old Vasudev Patel, a Hindu Indian immigrant who worked at a gas station in Mesquite, Texas. Patel had moved from India to Texas in 1983 and was a naturalized U.S. citizen.[7] Stroman murdered Patel during an attempted armed robbery at the gas station, which was caught on video by a store security camera. Stroman entered the station with a .44-caliber handgun and demanded money from Patel. Patel tried reaching for a gun that he kept hidden under the counter, but Stroman shot Patel in the chest before he could grab it in time. Patel fell to the floor and lay dying while Stroman tried to force open the cash register. Unable to open the register, Stroman fled the store empty-handed.[8]

Stroman was captured on October 5. He said he had targeted Arabs in revenge for the 9/11 attacks. He claimed his sister died during the attacks and was in the World Trade Center's North Tower when it collapsed, a story that has never been verified.[9] He told police he was avenging the deaths of those who died on 9/11 and had targeted his victims specifically because they looked like people "of Muslim descent". At the time of his arrest he told police he had done what every American wanted to and that they were at war.

On November 15, 2001, Stroman was charged with capital murder. On April 5, 2002, a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to death.[10]

A year after the killings, Stroman expressed no remorse for his crimes. He wrote on his blog that what he did was not a crime of hate but an act of passion and patriotism. Up until his date of execution, Bhuiyan protested Stroman's death sentence, believing he did not deserve to be executed.[11] Bhuiyan sued and tried to stop the execution but was unsuccessful. Bhuiyan argued that his Muslim beliefs told him to forgive Stroman and that killing him was not the solution.[12] The courts denied his requests.[13]

In his later years of imprisonment, Stroman expressed remorse for his crimes. After learning that a surviving victim of his shooting spree was appealing to save his life, Stroman changed his views, and described Bhuiyan as "an inspiring soul". His racist views were reportedly altered. He eventually spoke to Bhuiyan and thanked him for his compassion.[14]

Stroman was executed on July 20, 2011, by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit state prison in Huntsville, Texas, United States.[15]

 

[spongy]

Paul Young only had a guitar collection worth £4k?

Me thinks that be just one guitar....

 

[Stat Brother]

Mike Nesmith the wooly hat wearing former Monkee had his musical fortune boosted in the 80's when he inherited his mum's fortune.She had invented tippex !

I don't think you've fully understood the premise of this thread.

 

[Weststander]

2 Tone’s/The Specials guru Jerry Dammers, he of no teeth and a Coventry accent ….

…. was born to a privileged background in the former Empire in India, his father was a senior Church of England figure and Dammers went to a famous public school with an illustrious alumni.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

In 1998 Gino D'Acampo was convicted of burgling singer Paul Young's London home, and served two years in prison.

He stole Paul’s £4,000 guitar collection, alongside a platinum disc.

D'Acampo was caught after his DNA matched tests on cigarette butts he had dropped in the star's bedroom in Mill Hill, North London.

D'Acampo subsequently apologised to Young, who accepted and suggested that D'Acampo could invite him to dinner in his restaurant.

Your turn. Surprise me.

Bet that was one time he regretted living in the world of the common people.

 

[Whitechapel]

Cornflakes were invented by brothers, one of whom was a surgeon who believed in eugenics to stop 'race degeneracy' and also hoped that Cornflakes would somehow lead to people masturbating less.

 

[Eeyore]

Kid who stole my car was caught on the evidence of DNA taken from a ciggy bud. Not very clever really. He got sent down. Actually felt sorry for him. It was a rubbish car to do time for.

 

[Tory Boy]

The Clock Tower in Preston Park, the Clock in Brighton Station and the Clock Tower at the Palace Pier are all in a straight line.

TB

 

[clapham_gull]

In 1998 Gino D'Acampo was convicted of burgling singer Paul Young's London home, and served two years in prison.

He stole Paul’s £4,000 guitar collection, alongside a platinum disc.

D'Acampo was caught after his DNA matched tests on cigarette butts he had dropped in the star's bedroom in Mill Hill, North London.

D'Acampo subsequently apologised to Young, who accepted and suggested that D'Acampo could invite him to dinner in his restaurant.

Your turn. Surprise me.

It's quite well known and was brought up (again) when he killed and cooked that rat on I'm a Celeb, the relevance being he already had a criminal conviction.

 

[essbee1]

Here you go (source wikipedia) - similarities between JFK and Abraham Lincoln's shooting.

"Lincoln" and "Kennedy" each have seven letters.
Both presidents were elected to Congress in '46 and later to the presidency in '60.
Both married women in their 20s while themselves in their 30s.
Both lost a son while living in the White House.
Both were shot in the presence of their wives.
Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, were born in '39 and were known by their three names, composed of fifteen letters.
Booth ran from Ford's Theatre and was caught in a warehouse; Oswald ran from the Dealey Plaza warehouse and was caught in a theatre.
Both presidents were runners-up for the party's nomination for vice-president in '56.
Both successors were Southern Democrats surnamed Johnson; both were born in '08 and their first names contained six letters.
The assassins were both Southerners.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights and made their views strongly known. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which became law a year later. A century later, Kennedy presented his reports to Congress on Civil Rights, during the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that same year.
Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and died at nearby locations (Lincoln at the Petersen House across the street and Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital down the road).
Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car: a Lincoln limousine.
Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to Ford's Theatre. Kennedy had a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln (whose husband Harold's nickname was Abe), and she warned him not to go to Dallas.
Both Oswald and Booth were assassinated before they could be put on trial.

 

[lawros left foot]

This could be the justification of a certain Amex rule that infuriates some.

The playwright Tennessee Williams choked to death on a bottle top.

 

[clapham_gull]

Mike Nesmith the wooly hat wearing former Monkee had his musical fortune boosted in the 80's when he inherited his mum's fortune. She had invented tippex !

Sort of. "Tippex" as a company was already a going concern but with the paper variety if anyone can remember type writers.

His mother invented "Liquid Paper" (a completely different product) which sold in America under that name and others.

Tippex released their version later, but I've no idea whether it was under licence.

However yes, he was a very rich kid before he joined the Monkees.

 

[Taybha]

Brighton & Hove Albion do not have or never have had a player on their books called Alan Connerly.

 

[crookie]

Brighton & Hove Albion do not have or never have had a player on their books called Alan Connerly.

Or a manager named Chris Houghton

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