Bizarre Facts About America

Need something new to bet on? Head out to Deming, New Mexico for its annual duck races.

Okmulgee, Oklahoma still holds the world record for the biggest ice cream and cookie party.

Here's a stretch for tourism in Berkley Springs, West Virginia: "George Washington bathed here."

If you like Idaho potatoes, think about visiting Shelley, Idaho, home of the "Idaho Annual Spud Day."

Chittenago, New York, is home to the annual "Munchkin's parade."

Arizona's official state neckwear is the Bola tie.

Maine produces 90 percent of the country's toothpick supply.

Every year on September 10, the people in Fruita, Colorado celebrate "Mike the Headless Chicken Day" in honor of a chicken that lived four years after it was beheaded.

In Wyoming, you need a license to take a picture of a rabbit during January, February, March, or April.

Texas has an official state shell. It's the Lightning Whelk.

The International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal, Mississippi.

Bizarre U.S. Laws

Alabama

It is illegal to play dominoes on Sunday.
It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.

Alaska

In Fairbanks, it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.
While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.
In Alaska, it is illegal to look at a moose from the window of an aircraft or any other flying vehicle.

Arizona

In Tucson, it is illegal for women to wear pants.
In Globe, it is illegal to play cards in the street with a Native American.
In Glendale, it is illegal to drive a car in reverse.
In Nogales, it is illegal to wear suspenders.

Connecticut

In Hartford, it is illegal to educate a dog.
It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades.
In New Britain, the speed limit for fire trucks is 25 m.p.h., even when going to a fire.

Delaware

Getting married on a dare is grounds for an annulment.
It is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.

Florida

Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.
In Pensacola, a women can be fined (only after death), for being electrocuted in a bath-tub because of using self- beautification utensils.
Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.
You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.M. on Thursdays.
In Daytona Beach, the molestation of trash cans is banned.
It is considered an offense to shower naked.
In Sarasota, if you hit a pedestrian you are fined $78.00.
You may not kiss your wife's breasts.
In Sarasota, you may not catch crabs.

Illinois

In Chicago, it is illegal to fish in one's pajamas.
In Chicago, it is illegal to take a French poodle to the opera.
According to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American."
In Gurnee, it is illegal for women weighing more than 200 pounds to ride horses in shorts.
In Joliet, it is illegal to mispronounce the name Joliet.
You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least one dollar bill on your person.
It is a felony offense to eavesdrop on your own conversation.
You must contact the police before entering the city in an automobile.
The English language is not to be spoken.
Law forbids eating in a place that is on fire.
It is an offense to feed whiskey to a dog.
It is legal to protest naked in front of city hall as long as you are under seventeen years of age and have legal permits.
It is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals kept as pets.
A law at Kirkland, forbids bees from flying over the town.

Iowa

State law forbids any establishment from charging admission to see a one-armed piano player.
In Fort Madison, firemen are required to practice for 15 minutes before attending a fire.

Kansas

It is illegal for restaurants to sell cherry pie a la mode on Sundays.
In Wichita, a man's mistreatment of his mother-in-law may not be used as grounds for divorce.
In Wichita, it is illegal to carry a concealed bean snapper.
In Lang, it is illegal to ride a mule down Main Street in August, unless the animal is wearing a straw hat.
In Natoma, it is illegal to throw a knife at anyone wearing a striped shirt.

Louisiana

In New Orleans, fire trucks are required by law to stop at all red lights.
It is considered "simple assault" to bite someone in New Orleans;
it is "aggravated assault" if the biter has false teeth.
It is against the law to gargle in public.

Maine

In Portland, it is illegal for men to tickle women under the chin with feather dusters.
The most money one can legally win gambling is three dollars.
In Rumford, it is illegal for a tenant to bite his/her landlord.
In Waterville, it is illegal to blow one's nose in public.

Nevada

In Nyala, a man is forbidden from buying drinks for more than three people other than himself at any one period during the day.
It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.
In Eureka, men who wear moustaches are forbidden from kissing women.
Everyone walking on the streets of Elko is required to wear a mask.

New York

Women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business.
You may not smoke within 100 feet of the entrance to a public building.
It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing "body hugging clothing."
Citizens may not greet each other by "putting one's thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers".
A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket.
While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door.
Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 P.M.
At Greene, New York State, it is against the law to walk backwards while eating peanuts during a concert.

New Jersey

It is against the law to "frown" at a police officer.
In Newark, it is illegal to sell ice cream after 6pm, unless the customer has a note from his doctor.
It is illegal to slurp soup.
In Trenton, it is illegal to throw a bad pickle in the street.

Rhode Island

In Providence, it is illegal to sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer on a Sunday.
It is illegal to throw pickle juice on a trolley.
In Newport, it is illegal to smoke a pipe after sunset.

Tennessee

It is illegal to use a lasso to catch a fish.
In Dyersburg, it is illegal for a woman to call a man for a date.
In Memphis restaurants, it is illegal to give any pie to fellow diners. It is also illegal to take unfinished pie home. All pie must be eaten on the premises.
Also in Memphis, it is illegal for a woman to drive by herself; "a man must walk or run in front of the vehicle, waving a red flag in order to warn approaching pedestrians and motorists."

Utah

Birds have the right of way on all highways.
A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence.
In Monroe, daylight must be visible between partners on a dance floor.

Virginia

In Richmond, it is illegal to flip a coin in any eating establishment to determine who buys a cup of coffee.
There is a state law prohibiting "corrupt practices of bribery by any person other than candidates."
In Lebanon, it is illegal to kick your wife out of bed.

West Virginia

In Nicholas County, no clergy members may tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during church services.
It is illegal to snooze on a train.

Wisconsin

In St. Croix, women are not allowed to wear anything red in public.
It is illegal to cut a woman's hair.
It is illegal to kiss on a train.
Cheese making requires a cheese maker's license; Limburger
cheese making requires a master cheese maker's license.
In Milwaukee, residents must keep pet elephants on a leash while walking them on public streets.

Bizarre American Local Laws

In Oklahoma, it is illegal to catch whales or to get a fish drunk. Oklahoma is an inland state.

In Muncie, Indiana, it is illegal to carry fishing tackle in a cemetery.

An Ohio law states that pets have to carry lights on their tails at night.

In Waterloo, Nebraska, barbers are prohibited from eating onions between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

At International Falls, Minnesota, it is illegal for a dog to chase a cat up a telegraph pole. Owners are liable to be fined.

It is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pockets in Lexington, Kentucky.

Bizarre Historical Misconceptions

There is no evidence that Betsy Ross sewed the first U.S. flag. The story didn't even flutter forth from her relatives until 1870.

George Washington did not toss a dollar across the Potomac. Even if he did toss something, the dollar didn't come into being until after the U.S. gained independence.

Francis Scott Key did not write our national anthem. He penned the words then set them to an old English drinking song. It did not become our national anthem until 1931.

Most of the midnight ride of Paul Revere was accomplished by other horsemen. It was Samuel Prescott, in fact, who carried the warning to Concord.

The Declaration of Independence was not approved on July 4, 1776. Only John Hancock, for the assembly, signed it that day. The other signatures were made on August 2.

George Washington wasn't the first U.S. President. John Hanson was the president of the Congress of the Confederation and carried the title of president of the U.S., as did eight men after him.

"Yankee Doodle" is not an American song. It was a British ditty designed to harass ragtag colonists during the French and Indian War.

Bizarre Political Insults

"He makes George Bush seem like a personality" - Jackie Mason on John Major.

"He is a sheep in sheep's clothing" - Winston Churchill on Clement Attlee.

"Winston, if I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee." "Nancy, if I were your husband, I would drink it." - A conversation between Nancy Astor and Winston Churchill.

"He could not see a belt without hitting below it." - Margot Asquith on David Lloyd George.

"Richard Nixon impeached himself. He gave us Gerald Ford as his revenge." - U.S. politician Bella Abzug on Tricky Dickie.

"Nixon's motto was, 'If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." - U.S. writer Norman Cousins.

"Gerry Ford is so dumb that he can't fart and chew gum at the same time." - former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

"I wouldn't say she is open-minded on the Middle East, so much as empty-headed. She probably thinks Sinai is the plural of sinus." - Jonathan Aitken on Margaret Hatcher.

"Harry Truman proves that old adage that any man can become President of the United States." - U.S. politician Norman Thomas.

"A shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Harold Wilson on Edward Heath.

Bizarre Lawsuits

[Courtesy of netscape.com]

A student attending a college in Idaho fell from his window while mooning a friend. The student then sued the college, claiming that it had not provided adequate information about the dangers of upper-story windows.

A California woman sued a grocery store after she dropped a six-pack of beer on her feet. The woman was not injured, but she said that it hurt. She won the lawsuit.

A construction worker in Tulsa intentionally cut his hand off with a circular saw. When he was taken to the emergency room, he told doctors not to reattach the hand, saying that it was possessed. The man is now suing the doctors for not reattaching his hand, claiming that the doctors should have known he was psychotic.

A Blue Cross-Blue Shield worker sued IBM, claiming that their keyboard's "faulty design" had caused pain in her hand that kept her from working.

A man riding his bike from work at night with no lights, only reflectors, was hit by a Jeep after the driver ran a stop sign. The bicyclist sued the bike manufacturer because he was not warned that reflectors might not be enough to prevent an accident. The man was awarded $6 million.

Robert Lee Brock, an inmate in Virginia, has filed a lawsuit against himself, claiming that he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested. He is suing for $5 million and asking the state to pay, since he can't have an income in prison.

A man filed a suit against his son's baseball team when he was asked to stop smoking so close to his kid's dugout. The father claimed that this caused his son great emotional distress. The judge fined the man and his lawyer $2,250 for filing a frivolous suit.

Chris Morris brought a suit against the state of Michigan for $1 million. Morris claims that he caught a cold in the rotunda (a large, round room) of the state capitol building. He was there to observe an art exhibition.

Bizarre Canadian Laws

You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies.

Citizens may not publicly remove bandages.

In British Columbia, it is illegal to kill a sasquatch.

In New Brunswick, driving on the roads is not allowed.

In Montreal, you may not swear in French.

Also in Montreal, citizens may not relieve themselves or spit on the street. Punishable by a fine of over 100 Canadian dollars.

In Beaconsfield, it is considered an offense to have more than two colors of paint on your house.

In Toronto, you can't drag a dead horse down Yonge St. on a Sunday.

The city of Guelph is classified as a no-pee zone.

Bizarre Lawsuits of 2003

Allstate dragged food maker Kraft into court during an argument over a house fire. Allstate claimed that Kraft's "Toastette" pastries are flammable and caused the fire that burned the house that Allstate insured, and now doesn't want to pay out on.

Wal-Mart sued K-Mart in federal court over the "Lazy Susan" rotating carousels that hold plastic bags at the checkout lane. Wal-Mart claims a patent on the holders and is intent on making sure that K-Mart stores are left without rotating plastic bags.

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc sued Disney to stop the release of the children's tale, George of the Jungle 2. Caterpillar claims that the Disney film about wild animals attempting to protect their jungle homes might hurt the reputation of bulldozers and other Caterpillar equipment.

Nike tried to fight for their right to lie to the public. The California Supreme Court ruled that Nike violated a consumer protection law by publicizing "false and misleading information" about its use of abusive sweatshop labor in poor countries. Nike claimed that if it had to follow the law and be honest that would hurt their business and their public relations activities.

Kellogg sued a local golf course, Toucan Golf, Inc., because the name and picture of an actual toucan on its logo was too similar to the company's imaginary Froot Loops bird Toucan Sam. The U.S. Federal Courts informed the corporation that real toucans existed first and golf courses have little to do with selling children's cereal.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Mattel over allegations that a 1997 pop song by the group Aqua referred to the well-endowed plastic Barbie as a "bimbo." The Barbie the Bimbo lawsuit spent five years in the court system before finally being dropped.

Hasbro sued over allegations that a cereal box game featuring Tony the Tiger (Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal icon) looked too much like some long forgotten game that Hasbro made in the 1960s.

Soap making rivals Amway and Proctor & Gamble have spent seven years fighting in court over strange allegations that Proctor & Gamble is Satanic, and/or that Amway is spreading rumors that P&G is Satanic.

Bizarre Laws From Around the World

In England, any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks.

Also in England, it is illegal to stand within one hundred yards of the reigning monarch when not wearing socks.

In Scotland, it is illegal to be a drunk in possession of a cow.

In Singapore, if you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying,"I am a litterer." This will then be broadcasted on the local news.

In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself while standing up, after 10 P.M.

In Australia, under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, a modem can't pick up on the first ring. If it does, the ACA permit for your modem is invalid and there's a $12,000 fine.

In Beijing, China, drivers of power-driven vehicles who stop at pedestrian crossings are liable to a fine of up to five yuan, or a warning.

Bizarre Presidential Facts

Ronald Reagan saved 77 people from drowning while working as a lifeguard in his youth at a beach near Dixon, Illinois.

James Garfield was able to write Greek with one hand while writing Latin with the other.

Abraham Lincoln used his black top-hat to carry letters, bills, and notes.

George Washington rejected a movement by army officers to make him king of the United States.

William Taft had a special oversized bathtub installed in the White House because he weighed over 300 pounds.

Gerald Ford rejected offers to play professional football for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.

Bizarre Animal Laws in the U.S.

In Kingsville, Texas, it is against the law for two pigs to have sex on the city's airport property.

It is illegal for hens to lay eggs before 8 a.m. and after 4 p.m. in Norfolk, Virginia.

Ducks quacking after 10 p.m. in Essex Falls, New Jersey are breaking the law.

In Quitman, Georgia, it is against the law for a chicken to cross any road within the city limits.

In McDonald, Ohio, farmers cannot march a goose down a city street. And fowl, particularly roosters, are prohibited from going into bakeries in Massachusetts.

Dogs in Foxpoint, Wisconsin, may not bark profusely, snarl, or make any menacing gestures.

Bizarre Government Proposals

Arkansas assemblyman Jim Lendall wished to use $3,000 of state money to play lotteries in other states to erase the budget shortfall.

Maryland's house created a bill to make walking the official exercise of the state.

The city council of Bend, Oregon proposed banning smelly people from city buses.

The mayor of Mount Sterling, Iowa, wanted to ban lying.

The Pennsylvania house and senate fiercely debated whether sugar or chocolate chip should be the official state cookie.

Bizarre Lawsuits

A Philadelphia man sued U.S. Airways claiming that he thought the plane he was on crashed and he was dead after the crew accidentally left him sleeping on the aircraft. (The Birmingham News)

A judge in Germany sued Coca-Cola, claiming that his habit of consuming two Cokes a day over several years caused him to develop diabetes.
(www.ananova.com)

The pet guardians of a golden retriever asked an Ohio court to expand the legal status of dogs to allow the canines to sue in court after their dog was injured by an invisible electrical fence. (Associated Press)

Financially ruined day trader Mark Barton killed nine people in an Atlanta office. His lawyers argued that the industry itself was to blame because the risky nature of the business made such a crime foreseeable. (Fulton County Daily Report)

Bizarre Laws

Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.

Oklahoma will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another's hamburger.

It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots.

People who make "ugly faces" at dogs may be fined and/or jailed.

Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings.

Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Anyone arrested for soliciting a hooker must have their name and picture shown on television.

Fish may not be contained in fishbowls while on a public bus.

Tissues are not to be found in the back of one's car.

It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.

Bizarre Comments on the Campaign Trail

"You'd be amazed at the number of people who want to introduce themselves to you in the men's room. It's the most bizarre part of this entire thing." -Sen. John Kerry, during an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

"For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions that Irish-Americans..." -Sen. John Kerry, who is not Irish

"As you know, we don't have relations with Iran. I mean, that's ever since the late 70s, we have no contacts with them, and we've totally sanctioned them. In other words, there's no sanctions - you can't - we're out of sanctions. -Pres. George W. Bush, Annandale, VA, Aug. 9, 2004

"I figured out Karl Rove's political strategy - make gas so expensive, no Democrat can afford to go to the polls." -Sen. John Kerry

"There's Adam Clymer, major-league @$!hole from the New York Times." -Pres. George W. Bush, referring to a reporter at a campaign stop in Naperville, Illinois, when he leaned over to running mate Dick Cheney. Bush's microphone was on.

"I cut the taxes on everybody. I didn't cut them. The Congress cut them. I asked them to cut them. -Pres. George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

"I guess the President and you and I are three examples of lucky people who married up. And some would say maybe me more so than others." -Sen. John Kerry, third presidential debate

"People tell me that Senator Edwards got picked for his good looks, his sex appeal, and his great hair. I say to them, 'How do you think I got the job?'" -Vice Pres. Dick Cheney

"Did the training wheels fall off?" -Sen. John Kerry, after being told by reporters that President Bush took a tumble during a bike ride.