- Feeling sickly? Don’t hail a cab – According to the Public Health Act of 1985, it is illegal for a person with the plague to knowingly travel in a taxi or to try to ride on a bus.
- Handling a salmon in ‘suspicious circumstances’ was made illegal by the 1986 Salmon Act. Though what exactly constitutes such a situation remains unclear…
- Beating a carpet rug outdoors is still an offence in any street in the Metropolitan Police District. But don’t fret, early-rising neat freaks – the law says you can shake out a doormat before 8am.
- Housing more than one lunatic at a time was barred by the now-obsolete Madhouses Act of 1774, unless you had obtained a specific licence allowing you to do so.
- Gambling in a library is forbidden by the Libraries Offences Act of 1898, as is remaining on the promise after closing time.
