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9 History Facts so Weird They Seem Fake (But Aren’t)

facts, weird
photo by Kaca Skokanova from Shutterstock

9. Laws In Longyearbyen, Norway include an “alcohol quota, a cat ban, and no burials”

Around the Svalbard archipelago, there is a small town called Longyearbyen. Even though we said it was small, this neighborhood is home to more than 1,000 people. Apparently, this settlement was discovered in 1906 by an American named John Munro Longyear. Because of its unusual laws that are rarely broken, it has risen to the top ten of the world’s most unusual locations.

Residents are obliged to carry and be proficient with a high-powered rifle whenever they leave the village due to the area’s large population of polar bears. Guns are not permitted indoors, though. Another rule prohibits keeping cats as pets on Svalbard in order to safeguard the island’s population of Arctic birds.

If you’re a Norwegian citizen and you want to have a beer or a drink somewhere in the town, well, bad luck! You won’t be able to. In fact, there is only one store from which you can buy your alcoholic drinks, but be aware that you have a monthly limit on them, and the prices are not, let’s say, “friendly” either.

To conclude our list with weird facts, this settlement doesn’t allow people to be buried here. Apparently, the local authorities banned everybody who wanted to buy a place there because the soil was “permafrost” and it couldn’t help the corpse decompose. This cemetery hasn’t been used since more than 70 years ago.

If you liked reading this article, you may also be interested in: The Great Depression: 8 Interesting Things About Life During This Time.

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  1. At the beginning of World War I, observation balloons were so important that enemy forces tried to shoot them down. An Italian biplane pilot was harassing and shooting his revolver at an unarmed balloon observer when the man grew frustrated and threw his map case at the pilot. It hit and briefly stunned the pilot, who lost control of his plane and crashed. The incident remains the only time a balloon defeated an airplane in combat.

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