Chain mail tale on peniciliin & Churchill.

[Mr.Kobayashi]

This set off my BS alarm (as a tweaked version of Dicken’s Great Expectations), but is any of it true?:

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while
trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming
from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming
and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what
could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse
surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced
himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

“I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. “You saved my son’s life.”

“No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied
waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the
door of the family hovel.

“Is that your son?” the nobleman asked.

“Yes,” the farmer replied proudly.

“I’ll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my
own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll no doubt
grow to be a man we both will be proud of.” And that he did.
Farmer Fleming’s son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated
from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become
known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the
discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the bog was
stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son’s name?

Sir Winston Churchill.

Thanks in advance for answers.

[Dewey_Finn]

According to Snopes, it’s false.

[Northern_Piper]

Urban legend, according to SNOPES: What Goes Around…

[Rube_E.Tewesday]

What I always wonder is, what possesses anybody to make up this kind of crap? I mean, it’s not an honest mistake, it’s just total balderdash.

Since this is GQ, does anybody know of any studies that have been done on the personality types who create this sort of thing?

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@Rube E. Tewesday

What I always wonder is, what possesses anybody to make up this kind of crap? I mean, it’s not an honest mistake, it’s just total balderdash.

Since this is GQ, does anybody know of any studies that have been done on the personality types who create this sort of thing?

The Master Speaks!

[ultrafilter]

Was I the only one who looked at the thread title and wondered what armor had to do with a story about a prime minister and an antibiotic?

[Roches]

What’s strange about this story is that there is a glurge-worthy incident in Churchill’s life that has been historically documented, but is hardly ever mentioned. In 1899 at the age of 25, Churchill was captured while fighting in the Boer War and taken prisoner. He escaped on a coal train, rode it some distance west, and went in search of food. By sheer luck, he arrived at the home of an English coal mine manager, John Howard, who was the only Englishman for twenty miles (at least, that’s what he said). Churchill was hidden in a coal mine and given food, at great risk to John Howard’s life, since the Boers were searching for Churchill and Howard might well have been shot if he were found. I’m not sure what became of Howard later on, though.

[Xema]

@Roches

I’m not sure what became of Howard later on, though.

It took a while, but fate at last decreed that he could become Prime Minister of a large country. He chose to remain in the southern hemisphere.