Weird Laws

I use to think that my secondary school is too strict for its own good, coming up with weird laws.
But I'm proven wrong. Even countries can make weird laws. Here are some...

Anti-modem laws restrict Internet access in the country of Burma. Illegal possession of a modem can lead to a prison term.

Theaters in Glendale, California can show horror films only on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

A slander case in Thailand was once settled by a witness who said nothing at all. According to the memoirs of Justice Gerald Sparrow, a 20th century British barrister who served as a judge in Bangkok, the case involved two rival Chinese merchants. Pu Lin and Swee Ho. Pu Lin had stated sneeringly at a party that Swee Ho's new wife, Li Bua, was merely a decoration to show how rich her husband was. Swee Ho, he said, could no longer "please the ladies." Swee Ho sued for slander, claiming Li Bua was his wife in every sense - and he won his case, along with substantial damages, without a word of evidence being taken. Swee Ho's lawyer simply put the blushing bride in the witness box. She had decorative, gold-painted fingernails, to be sure, but she was also quite obviously pregnant.

In New York State, it is still illegal to shoot a rabbit from a moving trolley car.

Women were banned by royal decree from using hotel swimming pools in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, in 1979.

In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee.

It's illegal in Alabama to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

In Utah, birds have the right of way on all highways.

Christmas was once illegal in England.

In Turkey, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death.

In Milan, Italy, when an operator dialed a wrong number, the phone company fined the operator.

Snoring is prohibited in Massachusetts unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. It is also illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.