It took 32 years to officially clear the parents in the famous βdingo took my baby caseβ. The mother spent three years in jail until evidence supporting their defense was found by chance. They ultimately received $1.3M for wrongful imprisonment, less than 1/3 of their legal fees. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaβ¦
Since 1994, possession of 1 gram of cocaine has been legal for personal use in Colombia. Sale remains illegal, but personal production or gifts of cocaine are permitted. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legβ¦
There are no legal ways to be buried in Longyearbyen (Norway). In 1950 they discovered bodies of residents from the 1918 flu pandemic which had not begun to decompose in the cold. Scientists fear the corpses, preserved in permafrost, could still contain live strains of the virus. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonβ¦
Paul Revere III, the great-great-great-great-grandson of the American Revolutionary War hero of the same name, currently serves as legal counsel for a copper manufacturing company which was founded by the original Paul Revere in 1801. romesentinel.com/stories/β¦
Some Breyers ice cream had to be renamed in 2013 to "frozen dairy dessert" because it didn't meet the legal definition to still be called "ice cream". mouseprint.org/2013/01/21β¦
Today I learned about Alberta Jones. She was a pioneering black female attorney and civil rights icon. She rose to national recognition as the legal representation for Cassius Clay's first professional fighting contract. In 1965, Ms. Jones was assassinated at the age of 34, and the crime remains unsolved today. blackpast.org/african-ameβ¦
Due to hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe, 8 foreign currencies were used as legal tender: US $, British Β£, Japanese Β₯, Chinese Β₯, Indian βΉ, Australian $, South African rand, and Botswana pula. Due to the scarcity of small change, shops often gave change in sweets, cellphone airtime, and even condoms bbc.com/news/world-africaβ¦
The president of France is also the Co-Prince of Andorra, a sovereign microstate on the border of France and Spain. Currently, it is a legal diarchy ruled by the Bishop of Urgell and the President of the French Republic. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andβ¦
The song βWhere Are You, Christmas?β in How The Grinch Stole Christmas was originally recorded by Mariah Carey, but because of a legal case between her and Tommy Mottola, it wasnβt released. It was eventually re-recorded by country singer Faith Hill. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheβ¦
Today I learned about William Marotta who donated sperm to a lesbian couple via an ad on Craigslist and subsequently fought an over four year legal battle with the state of OK to avoid paying child support. fox4kc.com/news/kansas-juβ¦
In the US states of Rhode Island, New York and the US territory of the American Virgin Islands, life-term inmates are submitted to "civil death": they no longer have any legal personhood as if they were dead and cannot sue nor own property criminallegalnews.org/newβ¦
In 2011, a Florida man tried to make Dwarf tossing legal. It was made illegal in 1989 due to a series of Dwarf tossing events. He claims it prevents dwarfs from "gainful employment" and would help the economy. It failed. npr.org/sections/thetwo-wβ¦
An "Act of God" is a legal term concerning liability, where an unforeseen event like an earthquake, flood, lightning strike, etc., can diminish liability on damages, delays, or expenses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actβ¦
Duke Nukem was temporarily called Duke Nukum to avoid legal trouble with the producers of the cartoon show Captain Planet, which featured a villain of the same name. They changed it back when they realized the character's name was not copyrighted. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukβ¦
MythBusters made an episode in which they tested credit card security. Discovery was forced not to air the episode, after a conference call with chief Legal Counsels representing the major companies, demanded the episode not be aired β which would expose major flaws in credit card security. youtube.com/watch?v=9IOMLβ¦
Frances Glessner Lee created 19 intricately designed dollhouse style dioramas called the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and set up a department of legal medicine at Harvard University with her inheritance. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutβ¦
William Jennens, a reclusive financier who was described at the time as the wealthiest man in Britain, died unmarried and intestate because he forgot to sign his will. He died in 1798 and his estate wasn't settled until 1915 when legal fees had consumed the entire estate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilβ¦
After failing to elect a new Pope for 2 years, a hermit monk wrote an angry letter threatening divine punishment if one was not elected soon. They chose to elect him as Pope Celestine V. He initially refused, but after serving for 5 months, he made it legal for Popes to resign and resined. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popβ¦
In the Philippines, the legal term for car-theft is "carnapping." This is because when cars used to be very rare in the country and were prized status-items, thieves would steal and hold them for ransom like in a kidnapping. Now the term is used for both car-theft and carjacking cases. manilatimes.net/2010/08/0β¦
Today I learned of a currency that was printed, but never used as legal tender - the Ural franc was supposed to be used in the Ural Republic when the USSR collapsed, but the new country's creation was unsuccessful. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraβ¦
HTTP error code 451 = "Unavailable For Legal Reasons". Displayed when the user requests an resource which cannot be served a web page that is censored by a government. The number 451 is a reference to Ray Bradbury's 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, in which books are outlawed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTβ¦
As late as 2018 an 26 year old American missionary illegally attempted to christianize an isolated tribe living on an island of the indian ocean, and was killed shortly after landing. His body was not retrieved and no legal charges were pursued. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johβ¦
In China there is a legal punishment called Death sentence with reprieve in which death row inmates are freed under supervision. After two years, the criminal will either be executed if they committed more crimes, given a life sentence or a fixed term sentence if they behaved lawfully. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaβ¦
Bail Bondsmen, who pay someone else's bail and ensure their appearance in court, are legal in only 2 countries in the entire world, the United States and the Philippines. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiβ¦
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the actor of Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat movies, is a legal citizen of Japan, America, Russia, and is fluent in English, Japanese, Spanish, Hawaiian, and Korean. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carβ¦
Today I learned about 'baby hatches', places where mothers can safely and anonymously abandon their newborns (usually in hospitals or churches). In Germany, babies abandoned in this way are looked after for 8 weeks, during which time, the mother can 'reclaim' her child without legal repercussions. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babβ¦
NFL player Todd Marinovich used to disguise his drug use by using his friends' urine samples at drug tests. The strategy backfired when he used a sample from a man who had four times the legal blood alcohol content, and Marinovich was forced into rehab for 45 days. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todβ¦
Sovereign immunity means that as head of the state Queen Elizabeth 'cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution'. As well as this, the Queen also benefits from diplomatic immunity. britishheritage.com/can-qβ¦
In 2002, a Marvel comics writer based an alternate version of Nick Fury on Samuel L Jackson, using his image without permission. Jackson discovered this and nearly took legal action. Marvel offered to cast him as Fury if the character was ever in a movie. Jackson took the deal. time.com/5533325/nick-furβ¦
After a long legal battle between Apple and The Beatlesβ Apple Records, an Apple employee created the iconic Mac start up sound, which bears a significant resemblance to the last cord in βA day in the lifeβ by the Beatles, and he called it Sosumi, taunting the Beatles, saying βSo sue meβ reekes.net/sosumi-story-mβ¦
There's a legal strategy called the "Shaggy Defence", where in the face of direct evidence of guilt, the defendant simply claims that it wasn't them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaβ¦
Today I learned about "Boy's Town", (or La Zona as it is known in Spanish), a commercial district in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, serving primarily as a "zone of tolerance" in the city for legal prostitution, and also a variety of other nocturnal entertainment. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyβ¦
Niue an associated island state of New Zealand minted legal tender for 1 New Zealand dollar with Queen Elizabeth II on one side and Darth Vader on the other. Other notable coins feature Pikachu, Dr Who, Jesus and Simba. govmint.com/2017-niue-2-dβ¦
In 1933 that FDR ordered over 400,000 Double Eagle $20 gold coins melted down into bars to aid recovery from the Great Depression. None were made available as legal tender. Two are preserved at the Smithsonian. A single 1933 DE coin would be worth $10 million today. usmoneyreserve.com/blog/wβ¦
Today I learned of Canned Lions, who are taken from their mothers, sold to petting zoos and then ultimately to hunting events for tourists to shoot. Itβs legal in SA. cannedlion.org/#
The G1 Transformer "Jetfire" has been plagued with various legal issues, stemming from being lifted from the VF-1S Valkyrie from the "Macross" toyline, which would result to a complete model change, and a new name as "Skyfire"... tfwiki.net/wiki/Jetfire_(β¦
In Jamaica, homosexual activity is punishable with up to a decade in prison. However, this law only applies to men, so lesbian activity is legal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBβ¦
Singer Lady Miss Kier tried suing SEGA, claiming that in 2000 they asked to use her likeness for Space Channel 5 and after being refused, used it anyway. She didn't realize the game had already been out in Japan since 1999, and was forced to pay SEGA's legal fees in '06. legalreader.com/2006925laβ¦
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