Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Truth or fiction?

This is topic Truth or fiction? in forum Officers' Lounge at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.

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Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :

My sister sent me this. The local library is closed, so I thought it would be fun to see if we (collectively) could confirm or debunk the following anecdote (sent to me by my sister).

I myself have not attempted to look this one up yet. Let's see how well we do, shall we? (I will not look myself, yet, as it is I who threw down the gauntlet in the first place.)

A little bit of history . . .
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."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer said, 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 take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son 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 nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

The clock is ticking.

(Remember, this is an exhibition, not a competition. No betting please!)

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Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

Sounds like a Paul Harvey story....

"And now you know...the rest of the story..."

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"We are all a product of the environment we live in.... the rest, good or bad, may be free will." Charles C. Bohnam

Posted by Cargile (Member # 45) on :

I'll have to raise the caca de torro flag on this one.

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"Minsk."

Cmdr Worf

Posted by Feste on :

It's true. Only it was Ian Fleming. Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia, God's own hangover and forbidden alcohol and cigars. What saved him from going out of his mind with boredom? Bond, James Bond.

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"'I'm afraid there's nowhere for you to sit,' I said coldly; 'the verandah is full of goats.'" --Saki "The Guests"

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

Xually it's caca de toro, not torro :]

BTW these lttle stories ae awful, I expect to see one implying Napoleon and the duke of Wellington were school mates in the near future.

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

"Torro", "toro"... Either way, it's all BS. :-)

Uh... I don't mean the story. I have no idea about that...

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"Have plenty of minions."
-Darth Vader parody of the "Sunscreen Song"