9 ridiculous Wikipedia lists to waste away the work day – Memeburn
By Julia Breakey on 9 March, 2017 Share
For the last six years of my life, I have had teachers, lecturers and tutors drill into my brain: Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.
And for six whole years I have steered clear of the tomes of knowledge Wikipedia offers me.
No longer.
Wikipedia has a knack for distracting me from the anxieties of daily life, and there is no better distraction than its carefully curated lists.
So, for your consideration, here are the nine best lists on Wikipedia right now.
This list mostly looks at albums and songs that critics have declared the worst ever written. On it youll find classics like Justin BiebersBabyand Black Eyed PeasMy Humps.And while critics are definitely wrong about 4 Non BlondesWhats Up, the rest of the list is pretty spot on, and the critiques are hilarious.
Favourite quote:
The lyrics, most notably F**king magnets, how do they work? And I dont wanna talk to a scientist / Yall motherf**kers lying, and getting me pissed have been noted as the worst lyrics of all time
Image: brewbooks via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)
Wikipedia is spilling hottea withthis list, outing all popes who havetaken their rogers out for an unholy swim. And if you think its just wives and women the dear popes of yore were into, think again. A few popes have been embroiled in scandals of the homosexual nature, and its all on Wikipedia for you to see.
Favourite quote:
thought to have diedof indigestion from eating a melon, though detractors insisted he died while engaging in sodomy with a page
Former US President George W. Bush was notorious for his difficulty withthe English language,but one thing he seemed to be very good at was doling out nicknames. Whether it was nicknamingAssistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Promotion Altoid Boy or the Prime Minister of Italy Shoes, Bush really had a knack for not taking the most important job in the world seriously.
Favourite Quote:
Pootie-Poot, Ostrich Legs Vladimir Putin, Presidentand Prime Minister of Russia
Yip, thats right. There are people who sat down and recorded absolutely nothing and got noted for it. Follow your dreams, kids!
Pieces listed here include works from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, The All-American Rejects and Korn. Whod have thought those three acts would be listed in one sentence together?
Favourite quote:
The band was going through all the motions: the swart, longish-haired leader led away; the brasses, the saxophones, the clarinets made a great show of fingering and blowing, but the only sound from the stage was a rhythmic swish-swish from the trap-drummer, a froggy slap-slap from the bull-fiddler, a soft plunk-plunk from the pianist.
Image: Ergsap via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)
You may think you know stuff I know I did but this list will have you feeling like Jon Snow in no time. How sure are you that Adam and Eves forbidden fruit was an apple? Orthat evolution explains the origin of life? Or that humans only have five senses?If you answered anything stronger than relatively sure, you world is about to change forever.
Favourite quote:
The term Immaculate Conception was not coined to refer to the virgin birth of Jesus,nor does it reference a supposed belief in the virgin birth of Mary, his mother. Instead, it denotes a Roman Catholic belief that Mary was not in a state of original sin from the moment of her own conception.
Talkabout being a good boy! Some of these animals have done tremendous things with their lives, despite being born into a society that told them they couldnt. And, sure, maybe the degrees arelegallyfraudulent, but these badassanimals prefer not to let semantics get them down.
Favourite quote:
Ben Goldacre, a UK-based physician and science journalist, wrote in 2004 that his cat, Henrietta, had obtained a diploma in nutrition from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants; Goldacre had been investigating allegations about the qualifications claimed by Gillian McKeith.Goldacre said, its a particular honour since dear, sweet, little Hettie died about a year ago.
If a dead cat can reach its dreams, so too can the rest of us.
While erroneous reporting of famous deaths are more common in the internet age (how often have Betty White and Rowan Atkinson died?), there are some great stories on this list predating the world wide web of lies.
Favourite quote:
On 2 October 1571, a pallbearer dropped his coffin on the way to the funeral, waking him up. His resurrection is still celebrated each year in Braughing, Hertfordshire.
Stiglers Law refers to scientific discoveries named after people who didnt discover them. Alison Bechdel didnt invent the Bechdel test, Indians discovered the Fibonacci sequence before him and not even Sir Isaac Newton discovered his first two laws. Who can we even trust anymore?
Favourite quote:
Stiglers Law, attributed by Stephen Stigler himself to Robert K. Merton
Exactly what it says on the tin. All links here take you to another list. Endless procrastination abounds. Youre welcome.
Favourite quote:
lists about skepticism
Follow this link:
9 ridiculous Wikipedia lists to waste away the work day - Memeburn
- Rogue AI Agents Have Gone Too Far Now That Theyve Infiltrated Wikipedia - Futurism - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- OpenAI agents tried to hack Wikipedia tools and flooded it with traffic - Ars Technica - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikipedia operator says OpenAI's rogue agents possibly tied to data service disruption in May - Reuters - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikipedia operator says OpenAIs rogue bots may be linked to a May outage - The Verge - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Six people are building the first Wikipedia in Baoul Cte dIvoires most widely spoken indigenous language - WikiMedia.org - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- AI and the End of Wikipedia, Socialists Strike Back - Bloomberg.com - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- The Social Reckoning Reaches The Thrilling Depths of a Big-Budget Wikipedia Entry - DIASPORA | Substack - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikipedia says rogue OpenAI agents attacked its platforms and hammered its servers - Digital Trends - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikipedia blames rogue OpenAI bots for rare outage and says AI firms must do more to protect public from harm - The Independent - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikipedia accuses OpenAI's agents of crashing its servers - Korben - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- OpenAI agents allegedly tried to hack Wikipedia tools, flooded its systems - Gulf News - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Wikimedia accuses OpenAI's AI of illegally editing the Wikipedia system. - Vietnam.vn - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Prolific photographers can get cash from Wikipedia for taking pictures of these sites - KTLA - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Fans Worry the Site Is Getting a Bad Deal From Its Streetwear Brand Collab - Gizmodo - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Wikipedia says Notre Dame has 19 football rivalries. Lets rank them, from fake to real - The Athletic - The New York Times - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Old Mosul on Wikipedia 2026: Documenting the Heritage of Mosul through Wikimedia Projects - WikiMedia.org - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Wikipedia, Podcasts & Reddit Now Drive AI Citations, Ask Your PR Team How They Did It - Search Engine Journal - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Wikipedia loses 8% of visits and its CEO tells AI firms to pay - pasqualepillitteri.it - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Is 25. The Island Of Tawi-tawi Just Met It - WikiMedia.org - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- First line of Wikipedia Oct. 7 entry says Hamas terrorists came from blockaded Gaza, seeming to justify attacks - JNS.org - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- Revealed - the five most Wikipedia searched celebrities from Romford in 2026 - Southend Echo - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- WWE Star Karmen Petrovic Reacts to False Reports of Her Death on Wikipedia and Google - Yahoo Sports - October 4th, 2026 [October 4th, 2026]
- 25 Years of Wikipedia - History Today - September 26th, 2026 [September 26th, 2026]
- From Armenia to Tunisia: The Story of Wikipedia Camp Tunisia 2026 - Wikimedia.org - September 6th, 2026 [September 6th, 2026]
- Runyankole to go live on Wikipedia - monitor.co.ug - September 6th, 2026 [September 6th, 2026]
- Access Restored to Wikipedia in Russia After Overnight Outage - The Moscow Times - September 2nd, 2026 [September 2nd, 2026]
- You, too, can squeeze an offline Wikipedia onto an ESP32 CYD with this project - XDA - September 2nd, 2026 [September 2nd, 2026]
- Dolly Partons Wikipedia page vandalised with swastika hours after her death - The Jewish Chronicle - September 2nd, 2026 [September 2nd, 2026]
- African science innovation is growing exponentially, but it's almost entirely absent from Wikipedia. Why that's a problem. - Genetic Literacy Project - September 2nd, 2026 [September 2nd, 2026]
- Anna Delveys crusade against Wikipedia, and what it means for the First Amendment - Straight Arrow - August 18th, 2026 [August 18th, 2026]
- Toast, boners, and margarine haters all come together on Wikipedia - A.V. Club - August 18th, 2026 [August 18th, 2026]
- Depths of Wikipedia (Annie Rauwerda) Underbelly Cowbarn, Bristo Square | Review by Avery Mitchell - theatrescotland.co.uk - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Hes edited six million Wikipedia articles for free and almost no one knows his name - News24 - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Poet Kyle Flemmer zooms in on Wikipedia as a bastion of collective knowledge in new collection - Yahoo News Canada - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Google Search Briefly Showed False 'Sam Altman Dead' Result Amid Wikipedia Vandalism - finance.biggo.com - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Poet Kyle Flemmer zooms in on Wikipedia as a bastion of collective knowledge in new collection - Calgary Herald - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Wikipedia has become compromised by intelligence agencies and ideological capture - thevibes.com - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Evidence of sneaky Shellrelated monitoring and editing of Wikipedia - Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com - August 12th, 2026 [August 12th, 2026]
- From Should we? to How do we?: A community weekend on AI and Wikipedia - WikiMedia.org - August 12th, 2026 [August 12th, 2026]
- A Wikipedia-Loving but Wikipedian-Intimidated Dork Explores the Minnesota Wiknic - Racket MN - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- After 3,000 Years, People Are Finally Reading The Odysseyat Least on Wikipedia - WSJ - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Welcome to the high-stakes universe of World Cup Wikipedia editing - The New York Times - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Does Israel Control the World Cup Wikipedia? - The Times of Israel - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- After 3,000 Years, People Are Finally Reading The Odysseyat Least on Wikipedia | Hollywood - Hindustan Times - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- There's a way to have the entire Wikipedia offline, and it's smaller than you'd expect - MakeUseOf - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Sanger Banned by Wikipedia: Diagnosing a Disease - Science and Culture Today - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- How Wikipedia Turned a World Cup Controversy into an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory - The Free Press - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- PeaZip 11.2 Releases With Offline Wikipedia Support And Upgraded Drag-and-Drop - Open Source For You - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- EduWiki Workshop: Combining PETScan and Generative AI for Smarter Wikipedia Editing - Wikimedia.org - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- I co-founded Wikipedia, but an anonymous mob runs the show and now Im banned - Washington Examiner - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger says he was banned from editing articles on the site - Storyboard18 - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Whats new in The Wikipedia Library (April June 2026) - Wikimedia.org - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Hurry: Wikipedia pays up to R$ 2,500 for those who write about Minas Gerais, contest entries end on July 10, 2026, and even beginners can... - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Someone changed this World Cup referees Wikipedia page to say he was Jewish. Enraged soccer fans believed it. - The Forward - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Is Battling for the Soul of the Internet - The New York Times - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Taylor Swifts surname on Wikipedia changes swiftly after Kelce wedding mix-up - OregonLive.com - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Whats Going on With Wikipedia? - The Dispatch - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wikipedia is battling for the soul of the internet - The Mercury News - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wikipedia is under threat on every front. In response, the organization that supports the site, the Wikimedia Foundation, is increasing its lobbying... - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wiki Spy lets you explore 43,815 cut-out Wikipedia objects - Boing Boing - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- A Wikipedia Founder Is Barred From Editing Articles on the Site - The New York Times - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia Just Banned One of Its Co-Foundersand It Wasn't for His Constant Criticism of the Site - inc.com - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia ban on co-founder highlights disputes over alleged leftist, anti-Israel bias - The Times of Israel - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says trust is key in the age of AI - Axios - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Ageless Galaxy x Wikipedia Celebrates 25 Years of Shared Knowledge Through Community - stupidDOPE - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia x Ageless Galaxy Stitch 25 Years of Free Knowledge Into an Exclusive Jakarta Drop - Hypebeast - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Seven Years of Creating Financial Knowledge on Armenian Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia founder + Alabama-native Jimmy Wales shares advice for the next generation of innovators - The Bama Buzz - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- The Kremlin Creates Wikipedia Clones in Foreign Languages to Teach Neural Networks to Spread Its Propaganda - - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia Co-Founder Has Been Banned from Editing the Site - 80 Level - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia's What Came First? game arrives on iPhone: Here's how to access it - Moneycontrol.com - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia can be biased on disputed issues: Co-founder on bias against India, Hindus | 4 anonymous editors altered HAF's Wikipedia page | Inshorts -... - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Exposed: 12 cases that raise serious questions about Anti-Hindu bias and narrative manipulation - VSK Telangana - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Harry Souttar: Socceroos rock and newly appointed defence minister according to Wikipedia - LCANews - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia just launched its daily historical facts game on iPhone: Which came first? - 9to5Mac - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Has More Than 40 Million Entries But These 82 Are Weirder Than The Others - AOL.com - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Celebrating 25 Years of Wikipedia in Slovakia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Translating Baltics Naval History: Bringing the Royal Baltic Fleet to Spanish Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- I Chose to Preserve, Not Just Translate: Keeping Setswana Alive on Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- This retelling of Aztec history will lead you down some random Wikipedia pages - waterford-news.ie - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]