7 weird Wikipedia articles you’d probably miss

Americans might feel a pang of fear if they head to this page. It tells us about the US government conducting very unethical mind experiments on their own people. In the 50s, 60s, and 70s the CIA engaged in activities, often totally illegal, which used human guinea pigs to test if people’s minds could be controlled.

They were identical twins that were born in 1963 and grew up in Wales. They took their closeness to heart and decided that they would never communicate with anyone but themselves. That’s why they became known as “the Silent Twins”.

Therapists were trying to make them speak to others, but the girls simply refused. After school, they got into crime and were eventually committed to Broadmoor mental health hospital. They spent 12 years there. The twins made a pact, that the only way that one of them could start speaking to other people, was if the other gave up her life. After that one of the twins called Jennifer suddenly got very sick and died. It’s a mystery how she died, but it’s thought she killed herself.

For more information about June and Jennifer Gibbons twins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_and_Jennifer_Gibbons

This one is just downright sad, but also strange. Joyce was a British woman who died in 2003 in her small flat in London. The sad thing is that she wasn’t found until 2006 when all that remained of her were the bones. It’s said that she distanced herself from her family. She had a job and had a relationship, but it’s said her partner beat her and so she left and didn’t want to be found. No one said anything about her disappearing. As she lied on her sofa dead, the TV played and played. Housing officials went around to see what was going on and found her skeletal remains.

This event took place in central London in July and August 1858. While tons of raw, unfiltered sewage was probably the most noticeable thing being pumped into the river, the Thames was also where wastewater from breweries and paper mills, and tons of ordinary household waste ended up. The resulting smell was so bad that it was reported at the time to cause people miles away to throw up when the wind changed.

Extreme ironing is the weirdest extreme sport that probably won't make the next Olympics. This sport was invented in England, however, extreme ironing has spread across the world. The idea is pretty simple: basically it’s ironing in remote locations. It even boasts an annual world championship.

This is the worst Harry Potter-based fan fiction. It was first published on FanFiction.net between 2006 and 2007 by Rose Christo. “My Immortal” became famous because of its poor writing and bizarre plot. It follows a vampire who falls in love with Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts.

Ruth Belville was known as the Greenwich Time Lady because she, her mother Maria Elizabeth, and her father John Henry, sold people the time from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. No, they didn’t sell an endless life to people. They just set the clocks correctly for over 200 clients subscribed to the service. By the way, this is the earliest known instances of the subscription business model which is so prevalent today.