Shooting an apple off one's child's head of the story is in the legend of William Tell, supposedly happening to start off the Swiss revolution, written first in the 15th-century "White Book of Sarnen", then in Aegidius Tschudi's 16th-century "Chronicon Helveticum", and later the basis for Friedrich Schiller's 1804 play. Tell is arrested for failing to bow in respect to the hat that the newly appointed Austrian "Vogt", Albrecht Gessler, has placed on a pole, and Gessler commands him to shoot an apple off his son's head with a single bolt from his crossbow. After splitting the apple with the single shot (supposedly on November 18, 1307),
How to Avoid Huge Ships confronted by the near presence of a large ship such as a freighter, along with anecdotes and background information such as the capabilities and operating procedures of the large ships. The book won the 1992 Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year and was used to title the first compilation of prize winners, "How to Avoid Huge Ships and Other Implausibly Titled Books" (2008). The book finished third in "The Bookseller"'s 2008 competition for the oddest book title of all time (behind "Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers" and "People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach