Sometimes life is ridiculous. I have met people who are ridiculous. I have found myself in ridiculous situations, I have read ridiculous articles and I have heard of ridiculous things.
And on several websites, I have read about really ridiculous laws all over the world. I thought it was simply one of our urban legends, like the Candy Man and Bloody Mary, but no…
Well, I found these in The Daily Telegraph, an Australian newspaper which is read by more than 1.19 million people. Is there anyone who can help me to find out if these “laws” are real?

- In Victoria, Australia, it is forbidden to wear pink hot pants after mid-day on a Sunday.

- It England, it is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

- In Alabama, it is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle.

- In Ohio, it is against state law to get a fish drunk.

- In London, Freemen are allowed to take a flock of sheep across London Bridge without being charged a toll; they are also allowed to drive geese down Cheapside.

- In Chester, Welshmen are banned from entering the city before sunrise and from staying after sunset.

- In the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

- In Boulder, Colorado, it is illegal to kill a bird within the city limits and also to “own” a pet – the town’s citizens, legally speaking, are merely “pet minders”.

- In Logan County, Colorado, USA, it is still illegal to kiss a woman while she is asleep.

- In Baltimore, Maryland, USA, it is still an offence to take a lion into a cinema.

- In Afghanistan the Taliban militia banned women from wearing white socks just in case men find them attractive. The police are also ordered windows to be painted black to stop women being seen from the outside.

- In Ames, Iowa, USA, a husband may not take more than three gulps of beer while lying in bed with his wife.

- In Hastings, Nebraska, USA, the law says that hotel owners have to provide a clean white cotton nightshirt for each guest. Also no couples are allowed to have sex in the hotel unless they are wearing these nightshirts.

- In Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada, in 1917, it was illegal to tie a male horse next to a female horse.

- Chewing gum is illegal in Singapore.

- In Milan, Italy, there is still a law that requires citizens to smile at all times or risk a hefty fine. The only exceptions are visiting hospitals and funerals.

- In Romania, in 1935, Mickey Mouse was banned because the authorities thought that the sight of a 10ft high rodent on screen would terrify the nation’s children.

- Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because he never wore pants.

- In Turkey, during the 16th and 17th centuries, it was illegal to drink coffee and anyone caught doing so was sentenced to death.

- At one time it was against the law to slam car doors in Switzerland.

- In Denmark it is illegal to start your car without first checking to see if there are any children asleep underneath it.

- In Indiana, USA, in the 1950’s anything to do with Robin Hood was banned on the grounds that robbing from from the rich to give to the poor was a communist act!

- In England, in 1837, a law was passed that entitled a woman to bite off a man’s nose if he kissed her against her will!

- In California, USA, in 1986, Judge Samuel King became so annoyed that jurors were absent from his court because of heavy rain that he issued a decree which stated “I hereby order that it cease raining by Tuesday.”
Amazingly it stopped raining on Tuesday and California suffered a 5 year drought.
In 1991 the judge then decreed “Rain shall fall in California beginning February 27th.” Later that day California had the heaviest rainfall in ten years.

You can check out more of these in The Daily Telegraph.

In France, it is illegal to call a pig Napoleon. Is it then also illegal in the USA to call a pig George W. Bush ? Or in France to call a hamster after French president Nicolas Sarkozy?