Standing Room Only
It's illegal to spontaneously dance in a bar or restaurant in Sweden. Owners must adhere to a bygone law and get a dance licence. The Swedish parliament announced its intention to repeal it in 2016, yet a restaurant owner in the province of Härjedalen was prosecuted as recently as 2020.
Lights Out
No light must be visible within five kilometres of the king's bedroom in the Palace of Versailles in France. This 18th-century law means the Versailles football club doesn't have floodlights and, as a result, can't host all of its home games including one against Toulouse in January 2022. It had to move the match to its opponent's pitch nearly 700 kilometres away.
Rodent Repellent
Rats aren't allowed to enter the province of Alberta in Canada, not even as pets. They're considered a pest that destroys crops and spreads disease, and a rat-control programme has kept them at bay since the 1950s.
Fishing Rights
All beached whales and sturgeons in the United Kingdom must be offered to the reigning monarch, according to a decree from 1322. Nevertheless, as recently as 2004, the late Queen Elizabeth II waived her right to a 120-kilogram sturgeon caught by fisherman Robert Davies in Wales.
Wedding Wakeup Call
Being unconscious at your own wedding is verboten in Germany. The marriage can be annulled if one of the parties wasn't aware that they were getting hitched.
Weather Warning
In Texas in the United States, you must make an announcement if you want to mess with the climate. Anyone wishing to engage in cloud seeding to generate rain must publish a notice in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks.
Creatures Great and Small
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From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi
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SWITCHED
In 1962, nurses at a small Canadian hospital sent home two women with the wrong babies. Then, 50 years later, their children discovered the shocking mistake.
ECHOES OF THE PAST
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A young woman finds a unique way to honour the many men who helped her survive her childhood
Fiction's Foresight
British-Bangladeshi author Manzu Islam's works reveal startling parallels to recent political upheavals in Bangladesh, begging the question: Besides helping us make sense of our world, can stories also offer a glimpse into the future?
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
The Divine Defence Picture this: A tractor in Rajasthan‘s Banswara district,a group of loan agents closing in to seize it and the defaulting farmer and his family standing by.
