Even though smoking has been banned on aeroplanes, ashtrays are mandatory on every plane. This is for safe disposal in case someone breaks the law.
100 Mind-Blowing Banned Facts
When he was President, George H.W. Bush banned broccoli from Air Force One and the White House.
China banned Back to the Future because it contained time travel.
In the early 1900s, when Jewish people were banned from visiting beaches and certain hotels near New York City, they settled in New York’s Catskills Mountains and built a thriving resort region in what was dubbed “The Borscht Belt” or “Yiddish Alps.”
Irish bars used to be closed on Saint Patrick’s Day. You might associate Saint Patrick’s Day with wearing green and drinking so much you think you see leprechauns. But until 1961, there were laws in Ireland that banned bars from opening on March 17. Since the holiday falls during the period of Lent in the heavily Catholic country, the idea of binge drinking seemed a bit immoral.
Adolf Hitler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Don’t worry, the Swedish politician who sent the letter of nomination in 1939 meant it ironically and withdrew his nomination. In an even more ironic twist, Hitler had banned Germans from accepting the awards four years before his name was thrown in the ring.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are banned in China. Anyone caught using these platforms while inside the country can and will be arrested. Over 8,000 other domains are also blocked within the country. This rule is also implemented for visiting foreigners.
The father of Computer Science committed suicide. Alan Turning committed the act after being forced to undergo hormonal treatment for his homosexuality. He was also banned from continuing his research unless he went through the treatments.
Hugging trees is forbidden in China. Here’s one of our weirder did you know facts. Hugging trees was forbidden after the mass tree hugging that occurred outside of China’s imperial garden. The Chinese government speculated that the tree huggers were part of a suspicious cult and banned the activity in the country.
The inventor of the television banned TV from his home. When Philo Farnsworth invented the television in 1927, he intended for it to be a learning instrument that could end wars. However, once TV was commercialized, he came to regret his invention. As a result, he did not allow his household to watch television. One of the ironic yet interesting facts.
Dogs are banned from Antarctica. In 1994, Antarctica banned all non-native species (except humans) from the continent. This was to prevent diseases from spreading to seals.
Tug of war, live pigeon shooting, and pistol duelling used to be in the Olympics. In the early 1900s, tug-of-war, pigeon shooting, and pistol duelling were the Olympics. However, by 1920, all of these events were excluded. Tug of war was no longer considered athletics, and the animal rights movement had live pigeon shooting banned.
In 2005, Australia banned the word “mate.” Due to complaints, the Australian Parliament once banned the use of “mate” at work. However, it didn’t last too long, and the ruling was withdrawn in 24 hours.
An episode of Peppa Pig was banned from Australian television. Their offense? The episode taught children not to fear spiders. Given how many venomous spiders live in Australia, it’s only natural to ban them for the safety of the kids watching.
You can’t bring a Furby to the Pentagon. Since its release in 1998, Furbies have been a staple in the toy industry. You may find them adorable or creepy, but one thing for sure is that the American government doesn’t trust them. If you’ve ever encountered conspiracy theories about satanic Furbies, you’d be surprised that Furbies are banned from the Pentagon. One of Furby’s main features is speech imitation. Since most (if not all) of the communications in the Pentagon are confidential, they can’t risk a rogue Furby leaking everything to the public. As of 1999, the National Security Agency has banned Furbies from the Pentagon. See for yourself if a Furby would give away all of your secrets.
Dogs have been banned from Antarctica since April 1994 out of concern that dogs might spread diseases to seals.
Under Joseph Stalin’s regime, “Hamlet” was banned. The official reason: Hamlet’s indecisiveness and depression were incompatible with the new Soviet spirit of optimism, fortitude, and clarity.
Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.
There’s a mountain in Greece that women are prohibited from visiting. It’s not just the mountain, but an entire peninsula called Mount Athos. You see, Mount Athos has been home to a collection of monasteries since at least the 4th Century AD. For more than a thousand years, if not longer, the presence of women has been banned not just from the monasteries but from the whole peninsula. Mount Athos is an autonomous region of Greece controlled by the Greek Orthodox Church. According to the Church, the Virgin Mary blessed the peninsula and made it her holy garden, so no other women were allowed to be there. Other than wild animals and a few cats, the animals there are also all male.
All dogs are banned from Antarctica since April 1994. This ban was made because of the concern that dogs might spread diseases to seals.
Import of haggis to the US has been banned since the 70s: Scottish haggis is a sheep’s stomach filled with the sheep’s liver, heart and lungs, as well as oatmeal, suet, stock, onions and various spices. This dish has been forbidden in the United States of America since 1971. The reason for this is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture believes that lungs should not be saved for use as human food. The lungs of a sheep can contain bacteria, so the ban is in place with food safety in mind.
In 1647, the Puritan Government banned Christmas Celebrations because it promoted gambling, promiscuity and other forms of excesses. The ban was lifted in 1660 after the restoration of the Monarchy.
Feeding pigeons is banned in Trafalgar Square, London.
Aside from the US, most YouTube views come from Saudi Arabia. This is because TV, Facebook, and Twitter are banned in Saudi Arabia, but YouTube is unrestricted.
Based on a 2013 study, 60% of the 1,000 most viewed YouTube videos are banned in Germany.
YouTube is banned in 23 countries, including China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan, to name a few.
ChatGPT is banned in at least five countries, such as China, Russia, and Venezuela. Italy also banned the chatbot temporarily after GPT-4 was released.