Here are a few more amusing laws and customs of old:
- In July 1981, a poor tortoise was sentenced to death for murder. Tribal elders in a village in Kenya believed the tortoise had caused six deaths by way of magic. The outcome? Not one of the villagers was prepared to risk the tortoise performing magic on them, so it was tied to a tree, but later freed. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a tortoise with a magic wand.
- Apparently it’s illegal to have sex in a butcher’s shop meat freezer in Newcastle, Wyoming. Well, you don’t want to catch a chill…
- The citizens of Bhutan used to share the same birthday, all of them ageing by one year every New Year’s Day. That’s one big birthday cake!
Esther Chilton 
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