1980s
Pope performs a miracle
May 1984: Jan Lavric was wheeled forward in a wheelchair to receive a blessing from Pope John Paul II. Blessing received, he was wheeled back, at which point he promptly stood up, folded the chair, and carried it away. "It must be a miracle," someone in the crowd gasped.
Lavric later explained that it was no miracle. He was fully able-bodied. He had sat down in the wheelchair because it was the only seat left in the audience chamber, and he had been too embarrassed to say anything when a Swiss Guard unexpectedly wheeled him forward.
Southern Illinoisan - May 3, 1984
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 09, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Religion, 1980s
Death by Myopia
Click to embiggen.
Original story here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 07, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Law, 1980s, Eyes and Vision
Follies of the Madmen #290
Worst. Pun. Ever.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 05, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Music, 1980s, Puns and Other Wordplay
Chiquita Banana Olympics Stickers: 1980
The Brazilian Olympics are in big trouble, as recent news articles tell us. Surely they could use a boost from an athletic banana, like the ad campaign from Chiquita that the 1980 Winter Olympics got. And a tropical fruit is even more synonymous with Brazil than it was with Lake Placid.
Time to bring back Carmen Miranda!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 17, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Disasters, Food, Sports, 1980s, North America, South America, Bananas
Death by Dishwasher
This is disturbing, but also definitely weird. Of all the possible ways to off yourself, why choose a dishwasher? Evidently some psychiatric issues were involved.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - May 18, 1984
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A woman was found dead inside her dishwasher, and police say they believe that she committed suicide.
The body of Carolyn Matsumoto, 25, was found about 1 p.m. Wednesday by her mother, said police spokesman Michael Holland.
Holland said the dishwasher's interior trays had been neatly stacked along with some personal effects next to the machine. The top-loading machine was activated automatically when the door closed.
The Alameda County coroner's office was conducting an autopsy.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 29, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Suicide, 1980s
Skinny Suicides Survival Rate
I had this post in the queue before Alex did his story about the woman jumping yesterday. Maybe this is the explanation for her miracle.
Apparently, it's best to put on a few pounds before jumping from a high place, if you are serious about doing yourself in.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 27, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Suicide, 1980s, Women
Fetal Soap Addiction
June 1988: Australian researcher Peter Hepper reported in the medical journal The Lancet that fetuses often appeared to learn to recognize the theme tune of their mother's favorite soap opera. As a newborn baby, hearing this tune would then calm them down.He tested this hypothesis by playing the theme tune of the Australian soap "Neighbours" to a group of newborns whose mothers watched the show. Upon hearing it, he reported, six of the seven babies promptly adopted a "quiet alert state."
The Lancet - June 11, 1988
Des Moines Register - June 29, 1988
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 07, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Science, Experiments, Television, 1980s
Joel Slater, the Stateless Man
It's pretty common to hear people say that they're so disgusted with American politics that they're going to move to Canada and renounce their U.S. citizenship... especially if candidate X or Y wins the election. But people almost never follow through with this threat/promise.But Joel Slater did. Back in the Reagan era (1987), he became so angry at U.S. policies that he decided to renounce his American citizenship. The problem was that he did this without first arranging to acquire citizenship in another country. So he made himself stateless.
He was in Australia when he renounced his citizenship, and had assumed he would be able to stay there. But no, Australia promptly deported him to the U.S. Then, as a stateless person, he discovered that he was effectively trapped in the U.S. because he couldn't travel anywhere else without a passport. He managed to make it into Canada and Mexico a few times without a passport, but they both eventually shipped him back to the States. He also couldn't legally work without a social security number. So he became homeless, surviving on "odd jobs and the generosity of strangers."
After much begging and pleading, he was able to regain his U.S. citizenship in 1993.
More info: wikipedia
Slater showing off his "Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States"
Source: Arizona Republic - Mar 17, 1991
Indianapolis Star - Nov 27, 1992
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 04, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Politics, Reformers, Do-gooders, Agitators and SJWs, Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, 1980s
Half Fast
Here's one for the Completely Useless Forms of Political Protest file: Mildred Ruth Gordon and her every-other-day fast.According to wikipedia, "The effort to enforce Selective Service registration law was abandoned in 1986."
I wonder if she kept up her protest that long.
Los Angeles Times - Sep 7, 1982
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 07, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, 1980s
Adopt A Rat
1982: The short-lived Los Angeles "Adopt-a-Rat" program. It lasted about a week. Ended when one of the rats bit a reporter's finger.
(left) Pittsburgh Press - Sep 30, 1982; (right) Paris Texas News - Oct 6, 1982
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 03, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals, 1980s
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |