Every entry checked against the statute, or shown to have no statute behind it.
UNVERIFIED! The famous claim that a never-repealed Habsburg-era regulation obliges the Milanese to smile — with exemptions for funerals and hospital visits — has never been traced to any actual ordinance. Its earliest known source is a 2004 Telegraph listicle, and the usual 'Austro-Hungarian' framing is an anachronism.
REPEALED! Canada banned margarine from 1886 to 1948, apart from a wartime lapse from 1917 to 1923. After the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban, provinces prohibited yellow-coloured margarine to protect dairy farmers. Quebec was the last holdout until 2008.
TRUE! Social animals must be given "adequate social contact with animals of the same species." For guinea pigs, this means you cannot legally own just one.
MYTH! Historian Sophie Muffat researched every law from the First Empire (1804-1815) and Second Empire (1852-1870) and found no such statute.
TRUE! It is illegal to order food to be delivered to another person's residence without their consent, with the intent to harass.
CULTURAL BELIEF, NOT A LAW. While not illegal, some Korean fans are sold with automatic shut-off timers, and safety warnings have appeared on fan packaging.
REPEALED 2018! It was an offense to "pretend to exercise or use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration." This anti-fraud provision was repealed by Bill C-51.
LIKELY MYTH! Despite various sources claiming this (including a York Regional Police tweet from 2014), no one has been able to locate the actual statute or bylaw.
TRUE! No person shall bring or possess live snakes or reptiles within 200 yards of a Mardi Gras parade route, from 2 hours before until 1 hour after the parade.
TRUE! It is illegal to dye or color living baby fowl, rabbits, or chicks, or to sell them in lots of fewer than six.
TRUE! Idaho is unique in having a specific statute that names and defines cannibalism as its own crime. Other states would prosecute it under murder or abuse of corpse laws.
TRUE! No person shall undertake rain-making activities unless authorized to do so. This refers specifically to cloud seeding.