Murphy's Law

Ever wondered where the phrase "Murphy's Law" came from? It actually has a factual beginning...

In 1949, the US Air Force wanted to test out the effects of G-forces on pilots. Edward Murphy, an accomplished pilot who moved into aerospace testing, was involved in these tests. When testing the effects on a volunteer, his assistant messed up applying the sensors to the volunteer's body and, after putting the poor volunteer through much pain and injury, there were no readings to use for his study. Murphy was obviously furious, and this was mentioned during an interview with the volunteer after the experiments, when he said that "Murphy's Law means that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". The press picked up on the coined phrase, and it gained currency through widespread usage.

Since then, there have been a number of variations - such as Finagle's Law, which states that 'anything that can go wrong will, at the worst possible moment'.

To quote a postcard I bought in Ireland, here are a couple of Murphy's great Laws:

- The other queue always moves faster
- You play your best golf shots when playing alone
- Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate
- The chance of a slice of bread falling butter-side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet
- The repairman will never have seen a model quite like yours before
- A short cut is the longest distance between two points

And finally, Murphy' Golden Rule: Whoever has the gold, makes the rules...