15 Wikipedia Pages to Check Out Next Time You Want to Fall Down a Rabbit Hole

We've all had those days. When you don't feel like doing anything you're supposed to do. Instead, you zone out and scroll through social media, watch Netflix until it asks "are you still watching", and take mindless quizzes on the internet.

Or at least, we hope that we're not the only ones that have those kind of days.

In case you ever do something crazy, like cancel your Netflix, or are otherwise searching for alternate ways to waste hours upon hours of your life, you should definitely click on one of these insane Wikipedia pages.

wikipedia pages — Albert Einstein
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

There are a ton of things that people assume are true because they’ve heard or believed them their entire lives, and it’s fair to say that if you read through this pretty cool list, you’ll find at least one thing you totally thought was true–like the fact that Einstein was not, after all, bad at math as a child.

Several years ago when the Titanic artifacts were touring the country, you were assigned the name of a passenger as you “boarded” the exhibit. At the end, you could check the manifest to see whether you survived or perished in the disaster. But there was never quite enough information about all these people... until now.

There aren’t entries for everyone, but a lot of them are in there. The details of their lives prior to boarding the ill-fated ship can keep you entertained for days.

Climbing Everest may be on the bucket list for a lot of people, but not for us. Precisely because there seem to be quite a few people who have died trying–and now you can read about their attempts. Wikipedia’s list goes back to the 1920s and includes the climbers backstories until the time they died on the mountain.

This is exactly what it sounds like, and it’s totally weird–throughout history there have been reported incidents of flightless animals raining from the sky. Many of the claims are documented in this article, like the jellyfish rain of 1894 to the more common (???) occurrence of fish rain, most recently in 2016, and, just for fun, it forays into possible scientific explanations, too.

Whoever wrote Sharknado definitely read this Wikipedia page, is what I’m saying.

A brief entry, but a super weird one: in July of 1518, a woman started to dance frantically in the streets of Strasbourg, France. By the end of the month, 400 people were dancing with her, and no one has ever figured out why it started, or how it caught on.

This one is a must read. Luckily, it’s encapsulated enough for you to swallow it on a break at work—though your mind will be teasing it out much longer.

This unit of the Japanese Imperial Army experimented on human beings during WWII and called it chemical and biological “research.” The practice resulted (as you’d imagine) in torture, death, and (in many cases) the torturous deaths of up to 250,000 people. After the war, the US government let these “scientists” off the hook in exchange for their data.

You’ve all heard the story–in late 1978, almost a thousand people committed mass suicide by cyanide poisoning at the behest of cult leader Jim Jones–but you might not know every last, fascinating (and horrific) detail. They were living in a Guyana compound, and those who survived tell a tale of mass murder as opposed to suicide, since children and others weren’t ultimately given a choice.

You might not know about the conspiracy theories that surround the event: There's a Wikipedia page for those, too.

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Walt Disney World isn’t the happiest place on earth for everyone–there have been many incidents at the parks, and on just about every ride. Keep your hands and feet inside, indeed.

And if you want to continue down this rabbit hole (and end up with the definitive list on why you should never take your children to theme parks) you can check out similar pages for Six Flags, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios, as well.

In the 1930s, a guy in Australia decided the emu population was out of hand and declared war. We're not going to tell you who won or how it ended, because we're not into spoilers.

If you want a detailed history of one of New York City’s longest running, most famous crime families, you’re going to love this page on the Gambino family.

This is one of those cases that will probably never be officially solved, because we pretty much know who did it, and he’s been allowed to get away with it—and on more than one occasion.

In 2005, high school senior Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba. She was last seen with Deepak Kalpoe, Satish Kalpoe, and Joran van der Sloot, all of whom have been arrested (and released) in connection with her death.

It seems pretty damning that van der Sloot is doing time for murdering another young girl in Peru, but the courts don't seem to agree.

These stories of children raised without socialization or anything other than basic care are horrifying and so, so sad. They’re also a fascinating look into human behavior and child development. The articles and documentaries on these kids will keep you glued to your laptop like you’re watching a train wreck for hours.

This is the story of two seemingly normal brothers who, after inheriting their Fifth Avenue home from their mother, became the kind of recluse hoarders that have inspired plays, books, and television episodes. The depths of their descent weren’t discovered until 1947, when the police were called to investigate a smell and discovered their dead bodies—along with 140 tons of hoarded (boobytrapped!) refuse.

You’re probably familiar with the hysteria of the teenage girls in Salem, Massachusetts that led to the hunting and execution of supposed witches, but did you know there are other documented (and unsolved) case of mass hysteria from around the globe?

Let’s face it, a lot of us have a strange obsession with serial killers. Hollywood has taken advantage of it for years, as have authors and other creators of media who know we’ll lap it all up. So this page should peak the interest of ... pretty much everyone.

It’s a list of all the last meals requested by famous criminals before their executions. You can keep clicking for more details on any of the killers you might not be as familiar with, too.

As odd as it sounds, we wouldn’t suggest reading this on an empty stomach. Some of these guys have pretty good taste in food.