Blog: About Urban Legends and Folklore
Update: 2010/7/29 10:36:17 (Update)
| Rate: 3/1896 ( 5 4 3 2 1 )
We sing the praises of Otto Titzling, whose revolutionary "chest halter" of a century ago paved the way for the mighty Wonder Bra of today. History tells us Titzling's achievement went unappreciated in his own time, thanks largely to the machinations of his arch rival, one Philippe de Brassiere.
Otto Titzling, Inventor of the Brassiere originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 10:36:17.
Today marks the 76th anniversary of the death of Prohibition-era gangster John Dillinger. Is it true that his private parts are on display in a jar of formaldehyde at the Smithsonian Institution?
Long story...
Pubic Enemy Number One originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 14:04:26.
According to an old wives' tale dating at least as far back as the 18th century, the small, pincered insect known as the earwig earned its name by crawling into people's ears and boring into their brains, causing madness and even death.
Earwigs originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 14:30:49.
Guaranteed to tickle your funnybone, 15 of the funniest urban legends we know. Start here...
Urban Legends with a Punch Line originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 12:23:37.
"Taliban Trains 'Monkey Terrorists' to Attack U.S. Troops" blared a June 28 headline on China's People's Daily Online website. Among the bizarre allegations in the story, which was attributed to a "report by British media" and purportedly "confirmed by a senior U.S. military source," were these:
Afghanistan's Taliban warlords have developed a bizarre way to deal with foreign forces: they have trained monkeys who love to eat bananas and peanuts to be killers.Taliban forces have taught monkeys how to use the Kalashnikov, Bren light machine gun and trench mortars. They also teach them how to identify and attack soldiers wearing U.S. military uniforms.
Ironically, the idea of training monkeys to fight was first invented by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA in the Vietnam War initiated a program that used the peanuts and bananas as prizes to train some "monkey soldiers" to kill Vietnamese in the jungle, according to a report by British media on June 27, 2010.
Stars and Stripes reporter Jeff "The Rumor Doctor" Schogol investigated the claims and found them wanting. "We have absolutely nothing that leads us to believe that this tale could be even remotely based in reality," NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale told Schogol. A primate expert cast doubt on grainy images purportedly showing a monkey firing a machine gun by pointing out that the animal is an African baboon, not any kind of monkey indigenous to the Middle East.
Another primate expert consulted for a video report on CNN dismissed the entire scenario in one word: "Absurd."
I have yet to see evidence of any kind, credible or incredible, that the CIA trained monkeys to do battle during the Vietnam War.
Read more:
• Taliban Trains 'Monkey Terrorists' to Attack U.S. Troops
• Video: Taliban Terrorist Monkeys (in Chinese)
• NY Post: Jihad Monkey!
• Are Taliban Training Monkeys to Kill U.S. Troops?
• Video: Taliban Training Monkeys to Fight?
Taliban Monkey Soldiers originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 14:18:17.
The Wikipedia entry for Lindsay Lohan was serially vandalized this morning, first stating that she had died on Tuesday, July 13, and later stating that she died earlier today.
The false claim quickly made the Twitter and YouTube rounds, launching the search phrase "lindsay lohan dead" to the top of Google Trends. A particularly odious variant of the rumor said the troubled actress died of a crack overdose.
CBS News says not a word of it is true.
Lindsay Lohan NOT Dead originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 12:40:13.
Various news outlets are reporting that a gang of pranksters stole a penguin from the Dublin Zoo early this morning and abandoned it on a city street a few miles away. Zoo workers located the stolen penguin by means of a microchip transmitter implanted under its skin. "Kelli" was reportedly retrieved unharmed and in good health, though zoo officials said the prank "is not frivolous and is certainly not something amusing." Police are investigating.
No explanation has been given for the penguin-napping, which some have noted is reminiscent of an urban legend about a youngster secreting a penguin in his backpack during a visit to the zoo and hiding it in a bathtub at home until the ruse is found out by his parents. In fact, an Internet rumor circulated in 2003 claiming that this exact series of events occurred in Dublin.
Read more:
• Gang 'Picks Up Penguin' from Dublin City Zoo
• Stolen Penguin Found on Dublin Street
• Police on the Hunt for Dublin Penguin-Nappers
• The Stolen Penguin (Urban Legend)
A Real-Life Case of Penguin-Napping originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 12:35:55.
Gather 'round the digital campfire to enjoy an unlucky 13 of the scariest urban legends we know. Start here...
Campfire Tales originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 13:59:15.
Our story begins with a segment aired last week on Malta's Favourite Channel News. Here's the summary:
Favourite Channel News is informed that a former employee of the Mater Dei mortuary had sexual intercourse with corpses in the mortuary and as a result a woman who also had a sexual relationship with the same man has reportedly suffered from a sexually-transmitted disease. The woman was in a serious condition and has been hospitalised.
Read more...
A Case of Necrophilia-Related STD in Malta originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 18:09:37.
As posted on Facebook five minutes ago:
Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers throw them away. The government is afraid that it may be another terrorist act.
As circulated via email nine years ago:
Seven women have died after smelling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc... throw it away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act.
Click here for a reality check.
Rumor: Terrorists Mailing Poisoned Perfume Samples originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 22:01:51.
Is it true, per the latest forwarded email attack on President Obama, that there were no American flags present at his May 27 press conference, and that, if so, that makes him the first U.S. president in history to hold a flagless press conference?
Obama's Flagless Press Conference originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 15:30:25.
This is what American politics has come to.
Sarah Palin Deflates Breast Implant Rumor originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 17:30:56.
Not necessarily in that order.
For weeks now, fans of Justin Bieber have been passing around rumors claiming the 16-year-old pop sensation died of a drug overdose, contracted syphilis, and/or broke his neck in a car accident.
None of the above is true, of course, but since when did the truth ever stand in the way of a good story?
Bieber was alive and well and tweeting just this morning.
Reliable sources:
• Who Will the Internet Kill Off Next?
• How Justin Bieber Caught a Contagious Syphilis Rumor
Justin Bieber Breaks Neck, Contracts Syphilis, Dies originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 14:47:55.
As tweeted very early this morning by Mr. Crowe himself:
Unable to answer tweets fell off a mountain in Austria, all over red rover. Don't know how i got there, but the media are never wrong. G'Bye.
Read more:
• Online Rumor: Russell Crowe Is Dead
Possibly a First: Actor Russell Crowe Confirms Own 'Death' via Twitter originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 15:08:19.
Over the past 24 hours my spam filter has quarantined at least a half-dozen emails from spoofed addresses with the header, "FIFA World Cup South Africa - bad news."
It turns out the messages are significantly worse than annoying spam, however. According to the email security firm MX Lab, each contains a link to malicious javascript that redirects the user to one or more websites capable of downloading malware to the user's computer.
Network security experts say cybercriminals are poised to exploit global interest in the 2010 World Cup through a variety of tactics, including phishing attacks, hoaxes, scams, and "drive-by downloads" of malicious software.
In addition to watching out for infected emails and other dirty tricks, experts say keeping Internet firewalls and virus protection software operational and up to date are critical to avoiding and combating such attacks.
Read more:
• Cybercriminals Tap into World Cup Fever with Malware and Infected Emails
• 'FIFA World Cup South Africa - bad news' Emails Lead Readers to Host with Malware
• F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen Gives World Cup Cybercriminals the Red Card
Cybercriminals Exploit World Cup Fervor originally appeared on About.com Urban Legends on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 14:06:09.