Three short stories
In 1913, Canadian politician Sam Hughes proposed the MacAdam Shield Shovel, a spade that could double as a protective shield in the trenches - it was provided with a hole through which a soldier could survey the enemy. Some 20,000 had been manufactured before it was
discovered that the blade was not remotely bulletproof, and it wasn't much use as a shovel ... because there was a hole in it.
Landlords in Glasgow, Scotland, tried to increase rent by 25 per cent on women whose husbands were fighting in World War I. The women organised a rent strike and stopped bailiffs from entering their buildings by throwing flour bombs at them and pulling down their trousers.
New Zealand author Janet Frame was falsely diagnosed as schizophrenic and was scheduled to be lobotomised. Several days before the operation, she won New Zealand's most prestigious literary prize, convincing doctors to cancel the procedure.
Living on the edge
