13 Weird Wikipedia Lists To Waste Your Time On

The best, strangest articles in the Wiki world, from "sexually active popes" to "people who have lived at airports."

1. List of sexually active popes

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Pope Julius II (1503–1513) had three illegitimate daughters... The schismatic Conciliabulum of Pisa, which sought to depose him in 1511, accused him of being a 'sodomite covered with shameful ulcers.'" (In fairness, most people back then were covered in ulcers.)

[Link to article]

2. List of premature obituaries

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Kanye West: was the subject of an Internet hoax news report on 20 October 2009 claiming that he had been killed in a car crash. The rumour quickly spread via social networking websites such as Twitter, prompting West's girlfriend Amber Rose to respond 'This 'RIP Kanye West' topic is not funny and it's NOT TRUE!'" (It's kind of funny tho.)

[Link to article]

3. List of nicknames used by George W. Bush

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Pootie-Poot, Ostrich Legs – Vladimir Putin, President and former Prime Minister of Russia" (I'm sure Putin loved this.)

[Link to article]

4. List of entertainers who died during a performance

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"1673: Molière, the French actor and playwright, died after being seized by a violent coughing fit while playing the title role in his play Le Malade imaginaire (The Hypochondriac)" (If there's one thing the man knew, it was comedy.)

[Link to article]

5. List of English-language metaphors

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Teaching grandmother to suck eggs" (I hope this is a metaphor for "any image that is horrifying.")

[Link to article]

6. List of oracular statements from Delphi

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"One... famous prediction was the answer to an unknown person who was inquiring as to whether it would be safe for him to join a military campaign; the answer was: 'Go, return not die in war,' which can have two entirely opposite meanings, depending on where a missing comma is supposed to be -- before or after the word 'not'." (That's how they get you.)

[Link to article]

7. List of common misconceptions

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Poinsettias are not highly toxic to humans or cats." (Not sure how common this one is.)

[Link to article]

8. List of people who have lived at airports

odt.co.nz

Favorite quote:

"[Heinz Müller] flew to Rio de Janeiro to meet with a woman he met online, but she did not show up. He ran out of money and ended up in Campinas [International Airport]." (Always have an exit strategy, guys.)

[Link to article]

9. List of works with the subtitle "Virtue Rewarded"

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"This list is a compilation of works whose full subtitle is 'Virtue Rewarded'. Thus The Crafty Chambermaid, or, Beauty and Virtue Rewarded (London, 1800) does not qualify, nor does Virtue Rewarded, or, The Faithful Lady (London, 1795)." (Bummer, The Craft Chambermaid is one of my favorites.)

[Link to article]

10. List of inventors killed by their own inventions

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Franz Reichelt (1879–1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance that he would test it first with a dummy." (And, in a way, he did.)

[Link to article]

11. List of common false etymologies

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"'sirloin': an equally apocryphal story features an English king (usually identified as Charles II) conferring knighthood on a beef roast, saying 'Rise, Sir Loin!'" (This is how I eat all my beef roasts.)

[Link to article]

12. List of wartime cross-dressers

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"Catalina de Erauso (1592–1650), the Nun Lieutenant, was a semilegendary Spanish adventurer." (Only semilegendary.)

[Link to article]

13. List of idioms of improbability

upload.wikimedia.org

Favorite quote:

"In Lombard (Milanese dialect) the expression for something never occurring is 'Quand pìssen i òch,' which literally translates 'When the geese will piss.' The idiom refers to the popular belief that a goose never urinates." (...)

[Link to article]