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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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lists about skepticism
Follow this link:
9 ridiculous Wikipedia lists to waste away the work day - Memeburn
- Anna Delveys crusade against Wikipedia, and what it means for the First Amendment - Straight Arrow - August 18th, 2026 [August 18th, 2026]
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- 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]
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- Evidence of sneaky Shellrelated monitoring and editing of Wikipedia - Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com - August 12th, 2026 [August 12th, 2026]
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- 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]
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- After 3,000 Years, People Are Finally Reading The Odysseyat Least on Wikipedia | Hollywood - Hindustan Times - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
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- Sanger Banned by Wikipedia: Diagnosing a Disease - Science and Culture Today - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
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- 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]
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- 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]
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- 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]
- Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike - The Verge - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Cross-Platform and Cross-Lingual Dynamics of Wikipedia Sharing and Contribution - The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- 2026 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Women Photojournalists - National Museum of Women in the Arts - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Hundreds of Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike and the reason is these engineers - The Times of India - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- How Anonymous Wikipedia Editors Influence Global Narratives and AI Systems - Foundation for Defense of Democracies - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- 21 Extremely Creepy Wikipedia Pages That Are For Adults Only - BuzzFeed - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
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- Seeing Like an AI: How LLMs Apply (and Misapply) Wikipedia Neutrality Norms - The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
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- This Wikipedia clone is entirely generated by AI. Users are turning it into a cesspool - Fast Company - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
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- A Wikipedia Clone Built on AI Hallucinations Is Here to Hasten Along the Death of the Internet - Gizmodo - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- Left-Wing Wikipedia Editors Fight To Keep Democrat Adam Hamawys Ties to Blind Sheikh Offline Even Though House Candidate Testified to Their Friendship... - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- This bloody Wikipedia is 100% AI delusion and thats the point - Cybernews - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- Halupedia explained: Why AI Wikipedia clone is raising red flags - The News International - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- The Perfect Degenerate Time-Killer: Halupedia The Infinite Hallucinating Wikipedia - quasa.io - May 13th, 2026 [May 13th, 2026]
- 'A really bad idea': Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales on Australia's social media ban, trust and the truth - Crikey - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- The Wikipedia Play: Overlooked Reputation Lever for Law Firms in the AI Era - Law.com - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Indonesia, Wikimedia reach deal to keep Wikipedia accessible amid regulatory concerns - Indonesia Business Post - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Capacity Building: Beyond Article Writing Organizing Wikipedia in Your Language with Categories and Other Curation Tools - Wikimedia.org - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia has become a battlefield, and we are on the losing side - ynetnews - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- How to Find the Best and Cheapest Airfares Using Google Flights and Wikipedia (Yes, Wikipedia!) - AFAR - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- FAO expands free public access to agrifood knowledge through collaboration on Wikipedia - Food and Agriculture Organization - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Depth Of A Wikipedia Article: Michael Jackson Biopic Earns Negative Reviews, Here Are The Most Brutal - AOL.com - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Meta is logging employee keystrokes on Google LinkedIn and Wikipedia to feed its AI models - Startup Fortune - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Pat Kane: Wikipedia, encyclopaedias, and the dark art of 'wiki-laundering' - The National Scot - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- 25 years of Wikipedia - ucanews.com - April 19th, 2026 [April 19th, 2026]