26Sunscreen Ban
Wearing copious amounts of sunscreen during an outdoor water polo match is banned, as it can make players extra slippery and provide an unfair advantage during maneuvers.
27. Pillow fights were banned at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2015 after 30 people were injured in a pillow fight.
28. The South Korean baseball association banned players from placing a cabbage leaf under their hats during games, except with the provision of a doctor's note in advance. Presumably, this was copying the practice started by Babe Ruth, who used to keep cabbage leaves in the icebox and place them under his hat during a game to keep cool.
29. Although the Mormon Church has banned hot coffee, they do actually allow caffeinated soda. Medical marijuana is also acceptable if its used as prescribed by a doctor.
30. A Pokémon episode in 1997 sent 685 Japanese viewers to the hospital due to epileptic seizures because of a 6-second clip with red and blue lights flickering at 12Hz. The incident was labeled "Pokémon Shock". That episode was subsequently banned worldwide.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Book Ban
The USA first banned a book in 1637. It was the "New English Canaan". The author lampoons and criticizes the Puritans and compares their leadership to crustaceans because Puritans believed that Indians were wild men that needed to be suppressed (among other things). It's been sold at auction for $60,000.
32. In 1867 San Francisco banned people who were “diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed” from "appearing in streets or public spaces." Similar "ugly laws" were passed around the country. The last arrest under an ugly law was in 1974.
33. Due to their religious conviction, Puritan colonists of New England banned Christmas and ignored Easter. They also attempted to erase any cultural integrations rooted in European paganism.
34. In the early 20th century, Danes living under Prussian rule were banned from displaying the Danish flag. To protest this, they bred pigs with a red and white color pattern similar to their flag. The breed is now called “Danish Protest Pig.”
35. A base jumper named Jan Davis protested the banning of BASE jumping at national parks due to safety concerns, by BASE jumping off El Capitan. Her parachute failed to open and she died.
36Navel Ban
Female navels were banned from American television from 1951 to 1983.
37. The Japanese film Battle Royale (2000) is banned in South Korea and it took 11 years before it was released in the United States and Canada. The film was banned in Germany in 2013, but this was later overturned. Quentin Tarantino considers Battle Royale to be one of his favorite films.
38. Scotland banned Christmas for nearly 400 years. It didn’t become a public holiday until 1958.
39. The long-term ban on switchblades in the USA owes its origin to a 1950 article that appeared in ‘Women's Home Companion’, entitled; ‘The Toy That Kills’.
40. There are several countries in Africa that have banned the export of donkeys to China. This is due to unsustainable demand for their hide to produce medicinal gelatin called eijao. Populations of donkeys are also declining in North-East Brazil due to this.
