We call them "Minute Mysteries" where I grew up in the US... I'd guess it was brought over from Russian immigrants. I remember the ones you mentioned, along wit

We call them "Minute Mysteries" where I grew up in the US... I'd guess it was brought over from Russian immigrants. I remember the ones you mentioned, along with one about someone hanging themselves on an ice brick, another about someone drawing a short straw on a hot air balloon, and I think one about a runner in baseball coming in to home.