Situation puzzles inspired by real events

Aborigines lived on an island in the middle of the ocean. However, they found a way to get rich. How did they do it?

Why Alexander the Great told his army to shave off their beards?

A man is stranded on an island covered in forest. One day, when the wind is blowing from the west, lightning strikes the west end of the island and sets fire to the forest. The fire is very violent, burning everything in its path, and without intervention the fire will burn the whole island, killing the man in the process. There are cliffs around the island, so he cannot jump off. How can the man survive the fire? (There are no buckets or any other means to put out the fire)

There were many reasons why John enjoyed coming here. But his wife Mary hated this place, as did other women in the city. Why?

The German police was totally confused. Over the course of 15 years, the same person had been stealing, killing, and driving away. By 2008, they had spent 14 thousand working hours and over 15 million euros to find the criminal but failed. How did it happen? This is a true story.

A man had lunch at the restaurant, and the waiter brought him his bill. He wrote out a check for the required amount but suddenly turned it over and wrote a few words on the reverse side of the check as congratulations to the restaurant owner. What for?

When kids were watching TV, they were not frigthened so much. But when they saw others suffering, they realized that something was not right.

At the end of the XIX century one american enterpreneur invented a system to withstand competition. This system we all use nowadays.

Students are taking an exam at military academy. One of them chooses a ticket and goes to his seat to get prepared. After some minutes he goes to the professor, silently gives him the student's record-book and leaves the classroom. The student got the excellent.

On a beautiful road, there’s a bus stop that is fully operational. However, no public transport stops there. Why?

At one time, the following warning notices appeared on one of the main squares of Prague, “Attention! Beware of pickpockets!” The local police knew that there really were a lot of pickpockets here, but they actively tore these notices down. Why?

They had to throw away plenty of their valuables, but it didn’t made them upset. What happened?