The Thread of Cool Wikipedia Links

Join the fun!

from Elemental Forums

There seems to be a lot of 'doom and gloom' posts these days, so I thought we should lighten things up with a fun thread.

Basically, find a cool Wikipedia link and post it here for others to enjoy.  I'm not to be held responsible for any time lost due to random information binges.

I'll get us rolling with the most obvious one:
A list of common misconceptions.


There is no evidence that Vikings wore horns on their helmets.

The United States Constitution was written on parchment, not hemp paper.

It is commonly claimed that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made object visible from the Moon. This is false. None of the Apolloastronauts reported seeing any specific human-made object from the Moon, and even earth-orbiting astronauts can barely see it. City lights, however, are easily visible on the night side of Earth from orbit.[94] The misconception is believed to have been popularized by Richard Halliburton decades before the first moon landing. Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt has been quoted as saying that "the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up."

The claim[102] that a duck's quack does not echo is false, although the echo may be difficult to hear for humans under some circumstances.

Bats are not blind. While many (most) bat species use echolocation as a primary sense, all bat species have eyes and are capable of sight. Further, not all bats can echolocate and these bats have excellent night vision (see megabat, vs. microbat).

Hair and fingernails do not continue to grow after a person dies. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth.

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.[323] He did, however, develop the first practical light bulb in 1880 (employing a carbonized bamboo filament), shortly prior to Joseph Swan, who invented an even more efficient bulb in 1881 (which used a cellulose filament).
 

misc
32,265 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Trusting Wiki to be an authority on misconceptions is like trusting your next stock-take to a Kleptomaniac ...;)

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

That's merely a common misconception ;)

Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

 From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumb_laws

Some laws have been revealed as hoaxes:

- The law that claims that "sorority houses are illegal since more than a certain number of single females living together constitutes a brothel" has been debunked as fake.[10]

Some laws are however real and still exist on the books:

  • In New Orleans it is prohibited by the fire code to curse a fireman when he is engaged in his official duties.[11]
  • In Tennessee duelists, preachers and atheists are not allowed to be elected to public office.[12] However this law is unconstitutional under the first amendment and would not be enforceable in practice.[citation needed]
  • In Washington state, there is a law that 'a motorist with criminal intentions [must] stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town.'[13]
  • In Chester, England, any Welshman caught within the city walls after sunset may be shot with a longbow.[14][15]
  • It is legal for a betrayed wife in Hong Kong to kill her adulterous husband, but only with her bare hands. She may, however, kill her husband's mistress in any way she pleases.[16]
  • Every high school in New Zealand is entitled to 1 pound of uranium, and 1 pound of thorium, for experimentation.[17] However, there is a fine of $1 million for letting off nuclear explosions.[18]

I'd post some of the dumbest laws but there must be a million of them

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

In Oz [no, not on Wiki...but a true idiot law] a pram is a vehicle and thus must travel on the left of a carriage way....however its pusher is a pedestrian and thus must travel on the right facing traffic.

Makes the 'arm issue' problematic.