The 1930s High School Athlete Who Died After A Prank Where She Sat On A Tack
A popular athlete passed away after a classmate tried to play a joke on her in class
High school is a place where among many things, students love to play jokes and prank each other. Since maturity isn’t always widely practiced, some of these tricks can quickly veer into the realm of inappropriate or even dangerous. A tragic example of this was a 1930s high school athlete who died as a direct result of sitting on a tack somebody had placed on her chair in a misguided attempt to be funny.
The January 15, 1930 issue of the Freeport Journal-Standard reported the sad story of Angelina Ceronit, a 14-year-old student attending Griegsville High School in Mount Morris, New York. The young girl was popular with her peers, and an athlete, playing forward for her school’s girls basketball team.
One day in class, one of Ceronit’s fellow students decided to play a joke and placed a tack with the sharp side facing up on her seat. Not seeing the tiny object, she sat right down on it with the accompanying expected exaggerated reaction from the pain. However, when the teacher inquired what had happened she kept the cause of her surprise to herself so as to not get anyone in trouble.
