Violence
Church challenge
1941: Patrick Gunn, 46, left a note in the church collection plate challenging the priest, Monsignor Edmund J. Reilly, to a fight in the street.I found a photo of the Monsignor. He doesn't look like the fighting type.
Wilmington News Journal - Mar 24, 1941
Monsignor Edmund J. Reilly
source: FindAGrave.com
Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 28, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Religion, Violence, 1940s
I Was a Teen-Age Caveman
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 26, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Antiques, Anachronisms and Throwbacks, Antisocial Activities, Music, Violence, Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Creatures, 1950s
Explosion, Assault, Ostriches
Somehow I missed this video from 2012. Theorized at the time to be a viral marketing ploy. But I can't find any evidence it was ever resolved. Can WU-vies pin down a definitive answer?
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 10, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Ambiguity, Uncertainty and Deliberate Obscurity, Animals, Violence, Advertising
Woodpecker eats brains
Nature is brutal. And apparently, woodpeckers are particularly so.Smithsonian.com offers some background info:
Greeney has a possible explanation as to what’s happening—but it probably won't make you feel any better. When Gila woodpeckers get thirsty, he speculates, they crack open a couple of nestling heads like you or I might open a six-pack.
Warning: the video is not for the squeamish!
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 20, 2019 -
Comments (0)
Category: Nature, Violence
Beat your wife tonight… at bowling
I think it was 1973 when a Detroit bowling alley first got the idea to use the tagline "Beat your wife tonight" in an ad. Protests quickly followed. Strangely, this didn't discourage other bowling alleys from then using the same tagline. The last use of it I can find was in 1980.
Lansing State Journal - July 5, 1973
Southern Illinoisan - May 16, 1980
Fort Lauderdale News - July 15, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 04, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Violence, Advertising, 1970s
Beware of Killer Umbrellas
About five years ago (on June 30, 2010), Lynn Stevens was sitting on the beach, minding her own business, when an umbrella came plummeting out of the sky and impaled her leg. Here's her account of the incident:
That's pretty terrifying. The worst part is that there's not much you can do to prevent randomly being attacked by an umbrella that falls silently from the sky, because it's other people's umbrellas (improperly set in the sand) that are going to get you. You're at the mercy of their stupidity.
Image source: Nikos Patsiouris, Flickr.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 02, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Violence
Nurse goes nuts
Another day in Florida: nurse rips off all her clothes and starts attacking a patient, who's reported to be uninjured. The police officer says, "The whole thing is unusual." [clickorlando.com]
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 15, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Violence
Honk-O-Bag
Please nominate a celebrity from 2014 that you would like to see modeled in punching-bag format.
Original ad here. (Page 13)
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 05, 2014 -
Comments (8)
Category: Celebrities, Toys, Violence, 1950s
Grape Nuts Flakes Promotes Fisticuffs
Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 19, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Food, Regionalism, Violence, 1950s
Giant Slingshots
Slingshots taken from young vandals, May 1952. If the police hadn't stopped them, the kids probably would have been building full-sized trebuchets next.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 27, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Violence, 1950s, Weapons
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |