snip story

Years ago in an EE lab my lab partner was working on the 120 VAC power
section of our project. All of a sudden, I hear BANG, my partner jumps
out of his seat, and the entire bench goes dead. Turned out the guy
had INTENTIONALLY placed a penny between the bare 120V leads. The
current had blown two divots in the penny before tripping the breaker.
"I thought it would just warm up the penny a little." he murmured.

Come to think of it, I didn't see him around the EE department much
after that.