December 2009
43 posts
3 tags
List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve →
Key West, Florida - a conch shell
Sarasota, Florida - a pineapple
Ty Ty, Georgia - a Peanut
Gainesville, Georgia - a Chicken (started 2009)
Duluth, Georgia - suprise object to be revealed at midnight, December 31, 2009
Vincennes, Indiana (near Terre Haute) - Watermelons
Eastport, Maine - a sardine
Brasstown, North Carolina - a live opossum in a cage
Mount Olive, North Carolina - a...
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Fictitious entry →
Fictitious entries, also known as fake entries, Mountweazels, and Nihilartikels, are deliberately incorrect entries or articles in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and directories. Entries in reference works normally originate from a reliable external source, but no such source exists for a fictitious entry.
Most listings of the members of the German parliament (including...
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Legal Drinking Age →
hullochristine:
I was curious as to what the legal drinking ages are in other countries, so I Wikipedia’d it.
In the UK, the legal drinking age is 5 years old (in private).
Children under 5 must not be given alcohol unless under medical supervision or in an emergency (Children and Young Persons Act 1933, Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937). However, children aged 5 and over may...
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Project Prevention →
Project Prevention (founded and formerly known as Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity [sic] or C.R.A.C.K.) is an American non-profit organization which pays drug addicts cash for volunteering to receive long-term birth control or sterilization. As of January 2006, Project Prevention offered $300 to each participant. As of July 16, 2006, Project Prevention had paid 1,854 women and 27 men for such...
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William Rankin →
sparo:
In the summer of 1959, Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin was flying over a thunderhead (about 45,000 feet in the air), when his airplane’s engine made a loud noise and the RPMs fell to zero. He was forced to eject himself from the airplane, and he fell for 45 minutes through a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud.
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Gay bomb →
The “Halitosis bomb” and “Gay bomb” are informal names for two theoretical non-lethal chemical weapons, which a United States Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing, which involved discharging female sex pheromones over enemy forces in order to make them sexually attracted to each other.
In both of the documents, the possibility was canvassed that a...
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“HWDP or ChWDP (read ha-voo-de-pe) is a frequently used acronym of a Polish...”
– HWDP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(via blondmustache)
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Death from laughter →
(via standardgrey)
On 24 March 1975, Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King’s Lynn, England, died laughing while watching the Kung Fu Kapers episode of The Goodies, featuring a Scotsman in a kilt battling a vicious black pudding with his bagpipes. After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mr. Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow...
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Ferdinand Cheval →
Ferdinand Cheval (1836, Charmes-sur-l’Herbasse, Drôme – 19 August 1924) was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building Le Palais Idéal (the “Ideal Palace”) in Hauterives.
Cheval began the building in April 1879. He claimed that he had tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot the next day and started collecting stones. For...
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Wolpertinger →
thingsforsusie:
A wolpertinger is sort of a hare with wings and horns, you’ll really like it. try putting it into google images. x
The Wolpertinger is not a typical cryptid, as local people likely never believed in its existence. Rather, it is some kind of traditional prank belief, as is evident from the many stuffed Wolpertingers displayed in village inns along with real hunting trophies,...
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List of Internet phenomena →
tristn:
Well there you go.
One red paperclip — The story of a Canadian blogger who bartered his way from a red paperclip to a house in a year’s time.
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Michael Malloy →
Michael Malloy (1873 – February 22, 1933) was a homeless Irishman from County Donegal who lived in New York City during the early twentieth century. Although he was a former firefighter, he is most famous having survived a number of attempts on his life by five acquaintances, who were attempting to commit insurance fraud.
Marino owned a speakeasy and gave Malloy unlimited credit, thinking Malloy...
6 tags
Ferret legging →
ilovewikipedia:
“Ferret legging, also known as put ‘em down and ferret-down-trousers, is a sport that seems to have been popular among coal miners in Yorkshire, England. The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English defines it as “an endurance test or stunt in which ferrets are trapped in pants worn by a participant”. The male-only contestants put live ferrets inside their trousers; the winner is...
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Pearl White →
Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American film actress, the so-called “Stunt Queen” of silent films, most notably in The Perils of Pauline.
The film was one where “Pauline” was the central character in a story involving considerable action, which the athletic Pearl White proved ideally suited for. The Perils of Pauline consisted of twenty episodes....
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Rachel Marsden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia →
occono:
Great Moments in Wikipedia #6 (skip to the end)
On more than one occasion Marsden asked Wikipedia to delete her biography on the site. Her concerns led her to contact Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales in 2006, claiming that it was wrong and libelous. Wales stated his involvement with her article was handled through the normal channels, and was “routine”. He also says he...
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Night of the Radishes →
The Night of the Radishes ((Spanish)Noche de Rábanos) is celebrated every year on December 23. Begun in 1897 in the “zócalo” (main plaza) of Oaxaca city. It lasts only a few hours but attracts thousands of people to this plaza. The event consists of an exhibition of sculptures made from a type of large red radish which can weigh up to 3.00 kilograms (6.6 lb) in weight and 50...
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Women's Christmas/Little Christmas →
Little Christmas, or Nollaig Bheag in Irish, is one of the traditional names in Ireland for January 6, more commonly known in the rest of the world as the Celebration of the Epiphany.
Little Christmas is also called Women’s Christmas (Nollaig na mBan in Irish), and sometimes Women’s Little Christmas. The tradition, still very strong in Cork, is so called because of the Irish men...
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Yule →
Finland On the eve of the Finnish Joulu, children are visited by Joulupukki, a character similar to Santa Claus. The word Joulupukki means “Yule Goat” and probably derives from an old Finnish tradition where people called nuuttipukkis dressed in goat hides circulated in homes after Joulu, eating leftover food. Joulupukki visits people’s homes and rides a sleigh pulled by a number...
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Eggnog Riot →
The Eggnog Riot was a riot that took place at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York on 24–25 December 1826. It was caused by the smuggling of whiskey by three cadets across the Hudson River two days prior to the incident to make eggnog for a Christmas Day party in the North Barracks that would eventually involve more than one-third of the cadet class by the time the riot...
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Christmas truce - WWI →
growingup:
The first truce began on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing...
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Vasanta (Ritu) →
Although Basant “travels” throughout Pakistani Punjab it is Lahore which made it popular not only in Pakistan but all over the world as the largest kite festival. Unfortunately there are accidents and even deaths during the festival each year because of the public’s ignorance towards the use of banned strings and also gunfire.
As a result, in 2005, kite flying has been banned...
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Georgia Guidestones →
(via automagico)
The Georgia Guidestones is a large granite monument in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. In June 1979, an unknown person or persons under the pseudonym R. C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure.
Inscriptions A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one...
Eigengrau →
areyousoma:
—the color seen by the eye in perfect darkness.
Eigengrau (German: “intrinsic gray”), also called Eigenlicht (“intrinsic light”), dark light, or brain gray, is the color seen by the eye in perfect darkness. Even in the absence of light, some action potentials are still sent along the optic nerve, causing the sensation of a uniform dark gray color....
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Dyatlov Pass incident →
The Dyatlov Pass incident refers to an event that resulted in the deaths of nine ski hikers in the northern Ural mountains on the night of February 2, 1959.
Investigators determined that the hikers tore open their tent from within, departing barefoot in heavy snow. Though the corpses showed no signs of struggle, two victims had fractured skulls, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her...
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Schoolhouse Blizzard →
The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard or the Children’s Blizzard, hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.
In Great Plains, South Dakota, the children were rescued. Two men tied a rope to the closest house,...
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Wendigo →
The Wendigo (also Windigo, Weendigo, Windago, Windiga, Witiko, Wihtikow, and numerous other variants) is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans. Those who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk, and the legend appears to have reinforced this practice...
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Florence Nightingale effect →
The Florence Nightingale effect is a psychological complex where people who are entrusted with the care and well being of vulnerable patients begin to form a romantic attraction and often erotic attraction toward their charges. Medical workers, such as nurses, are typically at risk, and it is a form of psychological countertransference. The effect can also occur in patients who see medical workers...
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Inedia/Breatharianism →
Inedia is the alleged ability to live without food. Breatharianism is a related concept, in which believers claim food and possibly water are not necessary, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana (the vital life force in Hinduism), or according to some, by the energy in sunlight. The terms breatharianism or inedia may also refer to this philosophy practiced as a lifestyle in place of the...
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Pioneer plaques →
beetx:
The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold anodized aluminum plaques which were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 are intercepted by extraterrestrial beings. The plaques show the nude figures of a human male and female along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the...
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New South China Mall →
New South China Mall (formerly South China Mall) in Dongguan, China is the second largest mall in the world after Dubai Mall. It has the most gross leasable area of any mall in the world; room for over 1,500 stores in approximately 7.1 million square feet of leasable space and 890.000 square metres of total area. The mall has seven zones modeled on international cities, nations and regions,...
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Cosmetics →
Cosmetics have been in use for thousands of years. The absence of regulation of the manufacture and use of cosmetics has led to negative side effects, deformities, blindness, and even death through the ages. Examples of this were the prevalent use of ceruse (white lead), to cover the face during the Renaissance, and blindness caused by the mascara Lash Lure during the early 1900s.
While there is...
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Spite houses →
hunsonisgroovy:
A spite house is a building constructed or modified to irritate neighbours or other parties with land stakes. Spite houses often serve as obstructions, blocking out light or access to neighboring buildings, or as flamboyant symbols of defiance.
Example
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Ancient astronauts →
According to ancient astronaut theories, intelligent extraterrestrial beings (called ancient astronauts or ancient aliens) have visited Earth and this contact is connected with the origins or development of human cultures, technologies, and/or religions.
Ancient astronaut theories also may include the idea that civilization may have evolved on Earth twice, and that the visitation of ancient...
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“Sergey Tuganov, a 28-year-old Russian, bet two women that he could continuously...”
– List of Unusual Deaths
(via screamfordreams)
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Extreme ironing →
Extreme Ironing (or EI) is an extreme sport and a performance art in which people take an ironing board to a remote location and iron items of clothing. According to the official website, extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.” Part of the attraction and interest the media has...
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Valentich Disappearance →
The Valentich disappearance is a mysterious event that occurred on October 21, 1978, in which 20-year-old Frederick Valentich disappeared in unexplained circumstances while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait to King Island, Australia. During a 125-mile (201 km) “training flight”, Valentich contacted Melbourne air traffic control, saying he “was being...
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Unit 731 →
Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel.
More than ten thousand people, from which around 600 every year were provided...
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Digambar →
Although Senior Digambar monks wear no clothes, following the practice of Lord Mahavira, they do not consider themselves to be nude. Rather, they are wearing the environment, that is the quintessential, akasha or space. Digambaras believe that this practice represents a refusal to give in to the demands of the body for comfort and private property. Only Digambara ascetics are required to forsake...
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List of Scientology Security Checks →
According to the Technical Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology, security checking has the purpose of “remedying the compulsion or obsession to commit actions which” the person then feels must be kept secret. They are given to all Scientologists on the Bridge, every six months to all OTs, according to officials, “to make sure they’re using the tech correctly”, and...
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Dorabella Cipher →
The Dorabella Cipher is an enciphered letter written by Edward Elgar to Miss Dora Penny, which was accompanied by another dated July 14, 1897. Penny was never able to decipher it and its meaning remains unknown to this day.
One possible reason for sending an unreadable message is that it contained sentiments of affection from an older man to a much younger woman.
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John L. Sullivan (elephant) →
John L. Sullivan, (circa 1860 - 13 April 1922), a tuskless, male Asian Elephant, was a performer in the Adam Forepaugh Circus and, later, in the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. He died of old age or of heart failure in Sarasota, Florida in 1932. Old John, as he came to be known, stayed on with the circus after he retired from performing. He babysat for the performers’ children,...