Best of Wikipedia

A twice-daily updated collection of some of the best reading on Wikipedia. Follow @bestofwikipedia to get the links pushed directly to your Twitter client and to submit articles. Logo by @a_lo. Created by @avinashv and maintained by @knitmeapony.

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Little Wars is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by H. G. Wells in 1913. Its full title is Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys’ games and books. Little Wars is considered by some to be the first modern table top war game. It included fairly simple rules for infantry, cavalry, and artillery in the form of a toy 4.7 inch naval gun that launched projectiles, usually small wooden dowels to knock down enemy soldiers. In addition to it being a war game, the book hints at several philosophical aspects of war. (via yeslikethemotorcycle )

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Little Wars is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by H. G. Wells in 1913. Its full title is Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys’ games and books. Little Wars is considered by some to be the first modern table top war game. It included fairly simple rules for infantry, cavalry, and artillery in the form of a toy 4.7 inch naval gun that launched projectiles, usually small wooden dowels to knock down enemy soldiers. In addition to it being a war game, the book hints at several philosophical aspects of war. (via yeslikethemotorcycle )

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Sensational spelling is the deliberate spelling of a word in an incorrect or non-standard way for special effects. (via Ken Herman)

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A Roman dodecahedron is a small hollow object made of bronze or stone, with a dodecahedral shape: twelve flat pentagonal faces, each having a circular hole in the middle which connects to the hollowed-out center. Roman dodecahedra date from the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD. The function or use of the dodecahedra remains a mystery; no mention of them has been found in contemporary accounts or pictures of the time. (via werttrew)

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Tools are used by some animals, particularly primates, to perform simple tasks such as getting food or grooming. Originally thought to be a skill only possessed by humans, tool use requires some level of intelligence. Primates have been observed exploiting sticks and stones to accomplish tasks. Numerous bird species have also been noted as capable of using tools. The behaviour has also been observed in dolphins, elephants, otters, birds and octopuses. Tools may be used by animals for construction. (via Matt)

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Involuntary celibacy is the absence in human sexuality of intimate relationships or sexual intercourse for reasons other than voluntary celibacy, asexuality, antisexualism, or sexual abstinence. The term (which is sometimes shortened to incel) describes those who, despite being open to sexual in timacy and potential romance with someone and also making active, repeated efforts towards such an end, cannot cause any such end(s) to occur with any significant degree of regularity—or even at all. (via theionking)

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Seed bombing or aerial reforestation is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation. Often, seed bombing projects are done with arid or off-limits (for example, privately-owned) land. (via defrost)

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A traffic park or children's traffic park is a park in which children can learn the rules of the road. A traffic park is also called a transportation park or traffic garden or safety village depending on locale. (via sleevia)

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A suicide door is a car door hinged on the trailing edge, the edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. Such doors are rarely used on vehicles in modern times because of their disadvantages. (via defrost)

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The politician's syllogism, also known as the politician's logic or the politician's fallacy, is a logical fallacy of the form:

We must do something

This is something

Therefore, we must do this.

(via @werttrew)

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Rhaphanidosis is the act of inserting the root of a plant of the raphanus genus (commonly known as horseradish) into the anus. It is reported to have been a punishment for adultery in ancient Athens of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. (via awantonwonton)

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The tolerance paradox arises from a problem that a tolerant person might be antagonistic toward intolerance, hence intolerant of it. The tolerant individual would then be by definition intolerant of intolerance. This problem is at the heart of the dilemma faced by pluralist societies who wish to embrace diversity, but in doing so ostensibly exclude those who do not embrace diversity, which includes a large portion of the world's population. (via boringben )

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Trichotillomania, which is classified as an impulse control disorder by DSM-IV, is the compulsive urge to pull out one's own hair leading to noticeable hair loss, distress, and social or functional impairment. It is often chronic and difficult to treat.

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The butter lamb, also known as a buttered lamb, is a traditional butter sculpture accompanying the Easter meal for many Slovenian and Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mould. Frequently the eyes are represented by peppercorns and a white banner with a red cross on a toothpick is placed on its back. (via [jokestress](http://jokestress.tumblr.com))

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A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion (usually military), bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members. They are given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale. (via [pbmaxwell](http://pbmaxwell.tumblr.com))

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Knismesis and gargalesis are the scientific terms, coined in 1897 by psychologists G. Stanley Hall and Arthur Allin, used to describe the two types of tickling. Knismesis refers to the light, feather-like type of tickling. This type of tickling generally does not induce laughter and is often accompanied by an itching sensation. Gargalesis refers to harder, laughter-inducing tickling, and involves the repeated application of high pressure to sensitive areas. (via [sleevia](http://sleevia.tumblr.com))

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Beat Up a White Kid Day refers to a custom among some minority children in the city of Cleveland, Ohio of beating up white children on May 1. The only incident of this resulting in a court case or media attention occurred in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2003. The attackers explained the attack as being motivated by "May Day" or "beat up a white kid day," and many readers wrote in to The Plain Dealer to report similar experiences. (via [sleevia](http://sleevia.tumblr.com))