Thank you,
Greatfacts.com. Here are some of the more interesting ones, followed by my own afterthoughts.
A Kentucky statute states, "No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state unless she is escorted by at least two officers or unless she be armed with a club." Later, an amendment proposed: "The provisions of this statute shall not apply to any female weighing less than sixty pounds nor exceeding 200 pounds; nor shall it apply to female horses."
They have so got that backwards.Back in 1924, a monkey was convicted in South Bend of the crime of smoking a cigarette and sentenced to pay a 25 dollar fine and the trial costs.
But the real question is, what was a monkey doing in South Bend?An American urologist bought Napoleon's penis for $40,000.
Apparently, he wanted to show his patients what They could look like after he was done with them.An etiquette writer of the 1840's advised, "Ladies may wipe their lips on the tablecloth, but not blow their noses on it."
May they simply wipe their noses? What about their eyes? What if they feign wiping their lips, and then move up to the forehead before lowering the tablecloth?Attila the Hun (invader of Europe; 406-453), Felix Faure (French President; 1841-1899), and Pope Leo VIII (d 963-965) all died while having sex.
Hell of a way to go.Aztec emperor Montezuma had nephew, Cuitlahac, whose name meant "plenty of excrement."
It would seem Cuitlahac's mommy was unfamiliar with the process of childbirth, and mistakenly assumed... well...Both Hitler and Napoleon were missing one testicle.
It seems our american urologist got gypped.Between 1937 and 1945 Heinz produced a version of Alphabetti Spaghetti especially for the German market that consisted solely of little pasta swastikas.
Heinz--catering to the market for 68 years. Up until the early 20th century, New Jersey and Wisconsin had laws allowing the castration of epileptics.
Yet another reason flashing lights don't pay.Between April 1st and September 30th it is legal to capture and castrate any horse or donkey that you find roaming around your property.
"It's April now, Ranger, and I'll never catch you on top of my mare again, Goddamn it!"Bozeman, Montana, has a law that bans all sexual activity between members of the opposite sex in the front yard of a home after sundown if they're nude.
What about in broad daylight?Brazil is the location of the world's widest road. 160 cars can drive side by side.
Holy shit!Edit: Turns out it's just 6 lanes each way with 148 lanes worth of median. *Sigh*Bunny rabbits poop almost every time they hop around in a newly-explored area.
Or maybe they just have short memory spans. There is far too much rabbit poop in the world for that.Catholic Popes who died during sex: Leo VII (936-9) died of a heart attack, John VII (955-64) was bludgeoned to death by the husband of the woman he was with at the time, John XIII (965-72) was also murdered by a jealous husband, Pope Paul II (1467-71) allegedly died while being sodomized by a page boy.
But as long as John VII sought forgiveness of the lord in his last moments, then he's all right.Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.
Because, obviously, you wouldn't want pupils divulging any incriminating school system secrets to those damn LA spies.Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously. It can kill you.
How might one inject nutmeg?Non-dairy creamer is flammable.
Coffee and ciggarettes don't mix.October 1st is the official Coffee Day in Japan.
And I thought Americans were addicted.No man is allowed to make love to his wife with the smell of garlic, onions, or sardines on his breath in Alexandria, Minnesota. If his wife so requests, law mandates that he must brush his teeth.
He's out of luck if they're out of toothpaste.On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the American flag is flying over the Parliament Building.
Ha. Ha ha.Pac-Man, Namco's 1979 arcade game, was originally called "Puck Man". The name was changed when they realized that vandals could easily scratch out part of the letter "P".
Man. I can't even look at the word "Puck" without thinking that. The 70s were a different time...Paper bags are outlawed in grocery stores in Afghanistan. They believe paper is sacred.
... what?The first episode of "Joanie Loves Chachi" was the highest rated American program in the history of Korean television. "Chachi" is Korean for "penis."
Turns out Koreans aren't as wholesome as everybody thought.You may not sell your oragns in Indiana to cover travel expenses.
Damn. There goes that trip to Japan.You can see stars from the bottom of a well even in day light.
Course, if you're at the bottom of a well, you've not got much else to do than look at the stars. Or drown.You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.
Which is why drinking is a sin!Women say that the part of a man's body that they admire the most is his buttocks.
Oh, well, I'm screwed then.When you sneeze, all your bodily functions stop, even your heart.
Interesting.When the X-ray was discovered, a law in New Jersey was written forbidding the use of "X-ray opera glasses."
Cause you know, if it wasn't explicitly outlawed, everyone would be staring at the Fat Lady's bones.When the moon is directly over your head, you weigh slightly less.
Can't come up with anything witty here.When the Black Death swept across England one theory was that cats caused the plague. Thousands were slaughtered. Ironically, those that kept their cats were less affected, because they kept their houses clear of the real culprits, rats.
Cats are cute, rats are ruddy.When someone commits suicide while jumping off a building, so much adrenaline builds up that you have a heart attack and die before hitting the ground. Thus making this way of commiting suicide basically the easiest.
So, what's the cause of death? Heart Faliure, or hot dog stand guy with umbrella so unfortunately positioned that it passed directly through the heart?When gentlemen in medieval Japan wished to seal an agreement, they urinated together, crisscrossing their streams of urine.
Yokomura, I gotta piss. I promise I will not sleep with your wife.When a man was hanged in Mississippi in 1894 the noose came undone and the prisoner fell to the ground. He was set free and and since his innocence was later established he was granted $5000.
Divine rope intervention.Whale hunting is strictly prohibitted throughout the entire state of Oklahoma.
Give that one a second or two to sink in....Wedding cake was originally thrown at the bride and groom, instead of eaten by them.
Hmm. I want to have cake thrown at me...Virginia law forbids bathtubs in the house; tubs must be kept in the yard.
Virginia is just weird. *two thumbs up and commecial-guy-smile* Have fun, Emily!US gold coins used to say "In Gold We Trust".
But they had to change it under the new "separation of ore and state" laws.Hmm. That was fun. I didn't even read all of the ones on there, so if you're bored, go check out the rest.
