Voting Station

Roy C. Sullivan

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Bureaucrat

The Resume

    (February 7, 1912-September 28, 1983)
    Worked at the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia
    Nicknamed the Human Lightning Rod
    Holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being struck the most times by lightning and surviving (7 times)
    The strikes and the outcomes:
    1942 (while in a lookout tower) - struck in leg, loses nail on big toe
    1969 (while driving his truck) - knocked unconscious, eyebrows singed off
    1970 (while standing in his front yard) - left shoulder burned
    1972 (while standing in ranger station) - hair catches on fire
    August 7, 1973 (while driving his car) - knocked out of car, hair again catches fire, shoe blasted off
    June 5, 1974 (while sitting in campground site) - struck and injured on ankle
    June 25, 1977 (while fishing) - direct hit, hospitalized for burns in chest and stomach

Why he might be annoying:

    He went 27 years between the 1st and 2nd strikes, then was struck six times in 8 years.
    While lightning couldn't kill him, a broken heart could. He was jilted by a woman and it drove him to suicide by handgun at age 71.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His mannerisms can only be described as electrifying (insert *groan*).
    There is no indication that after the 7th strike he looked up at the sky and said: 'Is that all ya got?'
    After the 4th strike, he took to carrying a jug of water in his vehicle in case of emergency.
    This proved wise as the inevitable occurred a year later and he used it to douse his flaming head.
    According to a National Weather Service publication, odds of being struck by lightning once in an 80-year lifetime are about one in 3,000 (or one in 650,000 in a given year). Being stuck twice in a lifetime, the odds jump to one in 9 million.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 15 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 33 Votes: 51.52% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 584 Votes: 56.51% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 851 Votes: 48.88% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 41.18% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 87 Votes: 47.13% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 58 Votes: 44.83% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 35 Votes: 31.43% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 70 Votes: 47.14% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 151 Votes: 47.02% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 478 Votes: 41.84% Annoying