The very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo, it is said. The NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 (the Kosovo war) killed more animals than people. "Smart" weapons, such the Tomahawk missile is supposed to hit a postage stamp at 300km or more (200 miles or more). But only two out of thirteen actually hit the target. One skimmed over the house of a small farmer a few kilometres (miles) off target, straight up a track, through bushes, and exploded in the farmer's field, killing seven sheep, one cow and a goat. The farmer kept the missile nosecone as a souvenir.

To err is human. To really mess things up you need a computer
On 5 October 1960 an early-warning system warned the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) of a massive Soviet nuclear missile strike approaching the United States. What happened is that a fault in a computer system had removed two zeros from the radar's ranging components, detecting the missile attack at 4 000km (2,500 miles) away. The radar was actually detecting a reflection from the moon, located 400 000km (250,000 miles) away.
Nuclear explosion
Nuclear bomb - man's worst invention

On 3 June 1980 a massive Soviet missile attack was again registered by computers. 100 nuclear-armed B-52s were immediately put on alert. A computer fault was detected in time, but three days later the same error occurred and again the bombers were put on alert. The problem was later traced to the failure of an integrated circuit in a computer, which was producing random digits representing the number of missiles detected.

On 10 January 1984, Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, recorded a message that one of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles was about to launch from its silo due to a computer malfunction. To prevent the possible launch, an armoured car was parked on top of the silo.

The history of nuclear weapon accidents is as old as their introduction
The US Department of Defence (DoD) first published a list of nuclear weapon accidents in 1968 which detailed 13 serious nuclear weapon accidents between 1950-1968. An updated list released in 1980 catalogued 32 accidents. At the same time, documents released by the Navy under the Freedom of Information Act cited 381 nuclear weapon incidents between 1965 and 1977.

A number of nuclear cases involve ships or submarines colliding at sea or, in some cases, submarine nuclear power units becoming unstable and the subs having to be abandoned. According to Greenpeace No Nukes there have been more than 120 submarine accidents since 1956. The most recent incident, in August 2000, was the loss of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea. The Kursk is the seventh nuclear submarine lost, five of them Russian, two American. There are 92 known cases of nuclear bombs lost at sea.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was established in 1968, yet there are more than 23,000 nuclear weapons ready for firing.
Nuclear terms

Nuceflash: any accidental or unauthorised incident involving a possible detonation of a nuclear weapon.

Broken Arrow: the seizure, theft, loss or accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon or component other than war risk.

Bent Spear: any significant nuclear weapon incidents other than accidents or war risk detonations.

Dull Sword: a nuclear weapon incident other than "significant" incidents.

Faded Giant: any nuclear reactor or radiological accidents involving equipment used or in custody of the Navy.

When bombs started falling in Belgrade in 1999, most of the pregnant animals in the zoo aborted their young or delivered prematurely. The bombs hit out power and water supplies, leaving the sea lions and polar bears to suffer from exposure. Prince, a 300kg (660 lb) Bengal tiger was so disturbed that he began chewing off his own paws.a
 
 
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1. The film “Psycho” was the first movie to show a toilet flushing – the scene caused an inpouring of complaints about indecency

2. Pomegranates studded with cloves were used as the first attempt at making toilet air-freshner

3. Hermann Goering refused to use regulation toilet paper – instead he bought soft white handkerchiefs in bulk and used them

4. Over $100,000 US dollars was spent on a study to determine whether most people put their toilet paper on the holder with the flap in front or behind; the answer: three out of four people have the flap in the front

5. King George II of Great Britain died falling off a toilet on the 25th of October 1760


2  Facts 6 – 10


6. The average person spends three whole years of their life sitting on the toilet

7. The first toilet cubicle in a row is the least used (and consequently cleanest)


8. An estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toilet facilities, particularly in rural areas of China and India.

9. The Roman army didn’t have toilet paper so they used a water soaked sponge on the end of a stick instead!

10. The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any time during the year.

3  Facts 11 – 15


11. 90% of pharmaceuticals taken by people are excreted through urination. Therefore our sewer systems contain heavy doses of drugs. A recent study by the EPA has found fish containing trace amounts of estrogen, cholesterol-lowering drugs, pain relievers, antibiotics, caffeine and even anti-depressants.

12. Lack of suitable toilets and sanitation kills approximately 1.8 million people a year, many of them children.

13. The toilet handle in a public restroom can have up to 40,000 germs per square inch.

14. While he didn’t invent the toilet, Thomas Crapper perfected the siphon flush system we use today. He was born in the village of Thorne – which is an anagram of throne.

15. In a 1992 survey, British public toilets were voted the worst in the world. Following quickly behind were Thailand, Greece, and France.
 
 
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This is a list of facts and anecdotes that have a science-related slant. They are items of trivia that people all seem to know and share whenever the opportunity arises. But, at the List Universe we like to get our facts straight – and the items on this list are all dead wrong! Enjoy our thorough debunking of some of the silliest facts attributed to science.

10 Peenuts

False Fact: A scientific study on peanuts in bars found traces of over 100 unique specimens of urine.

After rigorous searching for more information, it turns out that no scientific study (or non-scientific study for that matter) has ever been conducted in to peanuts at bars. However, there was a study in ice-cubes in UK bars in 2003 which discovered that 44% of ice cubes tested contained coliform bacteria – bacteria that comes from human poop. Even more shockingly, 5% were infected with the potentially deadly E. Coli bacteria. I guess that proves that they aren’t making their ice cubes from bottled water. So, next time you are in London, pass on the ice and enjoy some peanuts instead.

9  Elevator Freefall

False Fact: Elevators have killed or can kill when their cable snapped

There is a small element of truth to this “fact” – but we will get to that soon. Firstly, elevators usually have a minimum of four operating cables, as well as an inbuilt braking system and a backup braking system in the shaft which forces a wedge into the shaft to prevent too rapid a drop. If the cables were all to snap (and believe me, elevator cables are strong), the cars braking system would detect the free fall and automatically apply. If that also fails, the shaft’s braking system takes over. Now, the small element of truth I mentioned earlier is that there has been one recorded account of a complete elevator free fall; it was caused by an airplane which crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. The crash caused the cables in the elevator to be weakened – ultimately leading to them breaking. The person riding the lift (Betty Lou Oliver) survived the 75 floor free fall because of air pressure beneath the car.

8  Folding Paper

False Fact: You can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times

This is one we all hear regularly – and we believe it because it is true when we tried it. But, in 2002 a US high school student Britney Gallivan proved it wrong by folding a piece of thing gold leaf more than 7 times with the use of tweezers. To further prove that it could be done, she bought a giant roll of toilet paper on the internet and her and her family took it to the local mall where they attempted to fold it more than 7 times. Seven hours of folding later, they had it folded into 12 folds.

7  Jumping Elephants

False Fact: Elephants are the only mammal that can’t jump

First of all, just so you know, it is true that adult elephants can’t jump – if by jumping we mean the state of having no feet on the ground at the same time after propelling oneself from a stationary position. But contrary to the popular myth that it is is the only mammal that can’t, it is joined by a few others. Firstly, the sloth is unable to jump which suits its lazy lifestyle rather well. Also, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses also cannot jump, though unlike elephants, when they run it is possible for them to have all four feet off the ground.

6  Old Dogs

False Fact: One dog year is equal to seven human years

This bogus fact is usually worked out so that a dog life is equal to a human life in total years, but the numbers just don’t add up. The average human life expectancy is 78, while the average dog life expectancy (in false dog years) would equal around 90 years. Furthermore, different dog breeds have dramatically different life expectancies, ranging from a short 6 years to 13 or more years (in general, the smaller the dog, the longer its life expectancy). Furthermore, dogs have a very short “childhood” and a very long middle-age, making the comparison completely invalid.

Just paying the bills...

5 Offer To Buy

False Fact: If someone wrongly advertises goods for the wrong price, they have to sell it to you at that price

This is a very popular misconception and I have even seen people arguing about it in a shop. But the reality is a little more bland. A shop price is an “invitation to bargain” not an “invitation to buy”. This is true in the United States, United Kingdom, Commonwealth nations, and probably the rest of the Western world. If a shop makes a mistake, they can simply continue to sell the goods at the normal price. Attempts to defraud by advertising lower prices are caught in other consumer laws. However, it should be noted that if an electronic transaction is completed you may be eligible to keep the goods if a mistake is made.
4  Space Dust

False Fact: NASA invented the DustBuster

First of all, how do you vacuum in a vacuum? You don’t, so why would NASA need a vacuum cleaner for its space missions? It didn’t, but what it did need was a small battery powered drill, so they teemed up with Black and Decker to come up with the perfect device. Once the device had been realized, Black and Decker were left with great technology from which they eventually developed the DustBuster and other useful home devices.

3 Polar Bears

False Fact: Polar Bears are left handed

Where this myth came from is now lost in the dark recesses of history. The widespread of this misnomer is quite extraordinary with more google results announcing it as gospel than not. But in reality, scientists who have spent their working lives studying polar bears have found that they are actually ambidextrous (they use both hands equally well). It is possible that the myth was started when people observed the bears working well with their left hands, but they neglected to notice that they also worked well with their right.

2 McDonald’s Wars

False Fact: No two countries with McDonald’s franchises have ever gone to war.

This theory was proposed by Thomas Friedman and became massively popular all around the world. It was used to show that countries loving democracy (those most likely to have a McDonald’s franchise) have lived peacefully together due to the merits of that political system (this is also called the Democratic Peace Theory and the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Resolution). Friedman proposed it in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree. So, is it true? No. Georgia and Russia were recently at war with each other and both have McDonald’s. Furthermore, Israel and Lebanon also defy the theory for their conflict in 2006, and right after the book was published, NATO bombed Serbia – again disproving the idea.

1  The Great Wall

False Fact: The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from space.

Well this is wrong on many levels. Firstly, while you are still close enough to earth to actually see the great wall, you can also see road networks, and other large objects created by man. There is, in fact, no distance from earth in which you can only see the great wall. By the time you get a few thousand miles away, you can see nothing manmade. Astronaut Alan Bean said:

    “The only thing you can see from the moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white (clouds), some blue (ocean), patches of yellow (deserts), and every once in a while some green vegetation. No man-made object is visible on this scale. In fact, when first leaving earth’s orbit and only a few thousand miles away, no man-made object is visible at that point either.”
 
 
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In February 1948, distress calls were picked up by numerous ships near Indonesia. The SOS calls came from the Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan. The signals claimed, "All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead." This message was followed by indecipherable Morse code then, "I die."

Within hours of the first distress signals, the first rescue ship arrived on the scene. Upon arrival, the rescue vessel tried to hail the Ourang Medan but there was no response to their hand and whistle signals. A boarding party was sent to the ship and what they found was astonishing. All the crew and officers of the Ourang Medan were dead, their eyes open, faces looking towards the sun, arms outstretched and a look of terror on their faces. Even the ship's dog was dead, found snarling at some unseen enemy. When nearing the bodies in the boiler room, the rescue crew felt a chill though the temperature was near 110°F.

The decision was made to tow the ship back to port. As the ship was prepared to be towed, smoke began rolling up from the hull. The rescue crew left the ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the Ourang Medan exploded and sank.

What happened the the crew of the Ourang Medan? Was it a UFO? Some other paranormal event that scared everyone to death? There is some speculation that the Ourang Medan was carrying illegal chemical weapons (this was post WWII). Could something they were secretly transporting leaked, killing everyone aboard?
 
 
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The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still survives. Can you name the other six?

They are:

1) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II.

2) The gigantic gold statue of Zeus was built by the sculptor Pheidias at Olympia.

3) The temple of Artemis was erected in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature.

4) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a huge tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria.

5) The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue erected by the Greeks in honour of Helios the sun-god.

6) The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built near the ancient city of Memphis for Pharaoh Khufu in the period of the Fourth Dynasty, between 2613 and 2494BC. The Greeks refered to it as the Pyramid of Cheops. A true wonder, it is immense: according to Mysteries of the Unknown, it covers a ground area of 13.1 acres (32,4 hectares), composed of some 2.3 million limestone blocks average two-and-a-half tonnes each, enough stone to build a wall of foot-square cubes two-thirds around the globe at the equator, a distance of 16,600 miles (26 500km).

The oldest statue in the world is the Great Sphinx of Egypt. Carved out of limestone, it stands 19,8 metres (65 ft) high and is 73 metres (240 ft) long.

Modern Wonders A list of the seven wonders of the modern world was compiled after World War One (after 1918). The motorcar was omitted from the list, instead naming: (1) the radio; (2) the telephone; (3) the aeroplane; (4) radium; (5) anaesthetics and antitoxins; (6) spectrum analysis; and (7) X rays. An updated list undoubtedly will include the car, television, computer, nuclear energy and nanotechnology.

New Seven Wonders At a decleration on 07/07/07 in Lisbon, Portugal, after worldwide online polling, SMS and telephone voting the New Seven Wonders were declared as being:

1) The Great Wall, China

2) Petra, Jordan

3) Christ Redeemer, Brazil

4) Machu Picchu, Peru

5) Chichén Itzá, Mexico

6) The Roman Colloseum, Italy

7) The Taj Mahal, India
 
 
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Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world, with 220 million people. The 300 ethnic groups speak 365 different languages. Bahasa Indonesia is the official language. Other languages include Acehnese, Ambonese, Batak, Buginese, Ceramese, Dayak, Halmahera, Javanese, Minahasa, Sundanese, Sasak, Tetum, and Toraja.

Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. It covers 2 million square km, an area the size of Australia, but only 20% is land, the rest is water. There are five major islands and about 30 smaller island groups. The main islands are: Sumatra, Java/Madura, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya. In total, Indonesia comprises of 13,667 islands, of which about 6,000 are inhabited. The capital is Jakarta.

In the 1600's, the Indonesian Moluccas islands were called the Spice Islands. Trade in spices promised great wealth to early Europeans, and it is the search for a route to these spices that led to the great voyages of Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus and others.

Some of the most interesting animals are found in the Indonesian tropical climate. The Komodo dragon (varanus komodoensis), the world's largest lizard, grows to 3 metres (9,8 ft) long. The dwarf buffalo is one of the rarest animals in the world, and the Badak Jawa is a one-horned rhino. Indonesia is known worldwide for ornamental fish species and the Rafflesia arnoldi, the largest flower in the world, found only in certain parts of Sumatra.

Indonesia falls in the tropical zone, and has an average humidity of between 70% and 90%. The country is predominantly mountainous with some 400 volcanoes, of which 100 are active.

East Timor won independence from Indonesia in 1999, becoming an independent nation on 20 May 2002. It is a narrow, mountainous island covering 34,20 sq km (13,200 sq m), inhabited by about 4 million people who are of Papuan and Malay descent.
 
 
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During a trip to Asia in the early 1800s, a German merchant - it is said - noticed that the nomadic Tartars softened their meat by keeping it under their saddles. The motion of the horse pounded the meat to bits. The Tartars would then scrape it together and season it for eating. The idea of pounded beef found its way back to the merchant's home town of Hamburg where cooks broiled the meat and referred to it as it as Hamburg meat.

German immigrants introduced the recipe to the US. The term "hamburger" is believed to have appeared in 1834 on the menu from Delmonico's restaurant in New York but there is no surviving recipe for the meal. The first mention in print of "Hamburg steak" was made in 1884 in the Boston Evening Journal.

The honor of producing the first proper hamburger goes to Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin, USA. In 1885 Nagreen introduced the American hamburger at the Outgamie County Fair in Seymour. (Seymour is recognised as the hamburger capital of the world.)

However, there is another claim to that throne. There is an account of Frank and Charles Menches who, also in 1885, went to the Hamburg, New York county fair to prepare their famous pork sausage sandwiches. But since the local meat market was out of pork sausage, they used ground beef instead. Alas, another hamburger.

The first account of serving ground meat patties on buns - taking on the look of the hamburger as we know it today - took place in 1904 at the St. Louis World Fair. But it was many years later, in 1921, that an enterprising cook from Wichita, Kansas, Walt Anderson, introduced the concept of the hamburger restaurant. He convinced financier Billy Ingram to invest $700 to create The White Castle hamburger chain. It was an instant success. The rest of the history, we might say, belongs to McDonald's.

And, no, a hamburger does not have any ham in it. Well, it's not supposed to. Hamburger meat usually is made of 70-80% beef and fat and spices.
 
 
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Sometimes, bad things happen to great cars. The exhilarating Pontiac G8, for example, came along just as parent company General Motors decided to kill the entire Pontiac division. The 2009 retirement of the Honda S2000 roadster caused remorse even at Honda.


But most discontinued cars are killed off for good reason, and with a dramatic plunge in auto sales over the past two years, automakers are aggressively thinning the herd. GM is winding down its Pontiac and Saturn divisions, and Saab may disappear as well. Chrysler is killing several duds as it tries to build a thriftier, more exciting lineup. All told, automakers plan to retire nearly 50 models over the next two years, which will turn many showrooms into automotive versions of the clearance rack.


A few discontinued models will be great buys. Others may be deeply discounted—but still not worth the money. To determine which discontinued models are the weakest, I asked the analysts at car-research site KBB.com to first identify models likely to be discontinued over the next couple of years. For some of these models, the manufacturers have confirmed that the car is being axed; others made the list because of strong indicators that they're being discontinued, such as manufacturing changes or declining shipments to dealers. KBB then predicted the residual value of each of those models in five years—the amount it's likely to be worth, expressed as a percentage of its original list price. The median vehicle on this list has a predicted residual value of 22 percent in five years. The highest residual value is 35 percent; the lowest, 15 percent.

Residuals generally reflect the quality and reliability of the car, and the reputation of the automaker. So cars with high residual values tend to be the best-rated and most popular cars, while those with the lowest residuals are often rental-fleet staples or neglected money-losers. Residual values don't really matter if you're likely to own a new car for, say, 10 years, or the car's entire life span. But if you think you'll sell the car or trade it in within a few years, or you might want to buy a leased car after the contract expires, then residual values should be a key part of your purchase decision.

Smart buyers should weigh price and residual value together. A deep discount on a discontinued model might seem like a great deal, but fire-sale cars tend to have the lowest residuals. A modest discount on a car with higher residuals could be a smarter buy.

Getting a good price depends on how much research you do and how effectively you negotiate. Car shoppers should start by researching the fair market value of a car they're interested in at sites like KBB.com, U.S. News's car-ranking site, Edmunds.com , or Intellichoice.com, then try to push the dealer below that price. Meanwhile, here are 10 discontinued cars that buyers should be most leery of if they care about the vehicle's value down the road:

Kia Spectra. (Starting price: About $14,000; discontinuation date: 2009; five-year residual value: 15 percent.) The dynamic Honda Fit has outclassed all other subcompacts and highlighted the weak handling, soulless design, and other flaws of poseurs like the Spectra. No wonder Kia is replacing its entry-level model with the Forte, a more promising venture.

Saab 9-7x. (About $40,000; 2010; five-year residual value: 16 to 18 percent, depending on trim line.) It seemed like a good idea back when everybody wanted an SUV, but adding a few refinements to a Chevy Trailblazer and calling it the Saab 9-7x turned out to be a hokey "badge job." The vehicle never felt like a Saab, failed to match competing vehicles from Lexus, Acura, BMW, and Volvo, and was overpriced for a glorified Chevy.

Chrysler PT Cruiser. (About $19,000; 2010; 16 percent.) This funky wagon was a huge hit when it debuted about 75 years ago, but Chrysler, starved for money, never updated the design. So now it's familiar and boring, with performance to match. Ailing Chrysler had planned to kill the PT Cruiser this year but has such a weak product line that it decided to wring one more year out of this moribund wagon.

Mercury Grand Marquis. (About $30,000; 2011; 16 percent.) Parent-company Ford kept this model going well past its prime, to appease old-timers still wanting a sedan they can play shuffleboard in. But the land-yacht era is finally ending. Luckily, most dealers no longer offer the Grand Marquis, although die -hards can special-order one. Don't!

Hyundai Azera. (About $25,000; discontinuation date unconfirmed; 16 percent.) This midpriced sedan follows Hyundai's formula, offering a generous set of features for a couple of thousand less than you'd pay in a competing model. But blasé performance dims the luster. And the Azera, introduced in 2006, predates Hyundai's ascent to the top tier of automakers, which lowers the car's resale value.

Dodge Durango. (About $28,000; 2009; 17 percent.) During the SUV heyday, Durangos were everywhere. But this hulking SUV hasn't been updated in years, and newer crossovers carry nearly as much stuff with a smoother ride and better mileage. Prior to declaring bankruptcy in 2009, parent company Chrysler shut the assembly line that built the Durango and its upscale sibling, the Chrysler Aspen, so any models still on dealer lots have been sitting in inventory for months.

Lincoln Town Car. (About $48,000; 2011; 17 percent.) It's big and cushy, but this throwback can't match the taut handling, modern features, or sharp design of competitors from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and half a dozen other manufacturers. This once luxurious nameplate now appeals mainly to limo companies looking for a workhorse they can drive into oblivion.

Pontiac G6. (About $21,000; 2010; 18 to 19 percent, depending on trim line.) The G6 is no G8. Unlike its blistering big brother, the G6 has earned middling reviews, at best, with no distinguishing features. Once Pontiac shuts down, other GM dealerships will continue to honor Pontiac warranties and service the cars, but you'll need a better reason than that to commit to this also-ran.


Saturn Vue. (About $24,000; 2010; 18 to 19 percent, depending on trim line.) The Vue's sister vehicle, the Chevy Equinox, got a well-regarded redesign recently, but since Saturn is going out of business, the Vue didn't. The older version, still on sale, earned decent reviews in its day but fell short on reliability.

Cadillac STS. (About $46,000; unconfirmed; 17 to 19 percent, depending on trim line.). GM's luxury division has had a few hits, but the STS isn't one of them. This large sedan earns decent marks for performance but dings for a mediocre cabin and subpar reliability. And it ranks last among large luxury cars in U.S. News's new car ratings. That's awfully weak, considering that Cadillac is one division GM is actually keeping around.
 
 
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  10) Fabio Grosso’s Fall – Italy vs Australia 2006

Ask your average Australian football fan (those without Italian heritage) who their most hated individual is, and Fabio Grosso will be high up on the list.

This all revolves around a controversial incident during the 2006 World Cup second round clash in Kaiserslautern. The Azzurri were in a very precarious position as they were down to 10 men, had used their three substitutes, and were starting to tire as the game moved towards inevitable extra time.

Then, deep into injury time, left back Grosso pounced on a mistake, cut into the area before going down under the challenge of Lucas Neill. The referee pointed to the spot, and Francesco Totti buried his penalty with the last kick. Italy would go on to win their first World Cup in 24 years, but Australia still argue to this day that Grosso dived.

While Neill was naïve in going to ground, and there was definitely contact – at the same time it is clear that Grosso was looking for the penalty. Nevertheless, Italy fans often point out that they had been dominating the game until the 50th minute when defender Marco Materazzi was straight red carded for an offence that wasn’t worth any more than a yellow.

9) Schande von Gijón (The Shame of Gijón) – West Germany vs Austria 1982

Next summer Algeria will make their first World Cup appearance for 24 years, and if there is one team they will be dying to face it will be Germany. Back in 1982, the North Africans caused a sensation when they defeated the European Champions West Germany 2-1 in the opening game of Group 2 thanks to goals from the legendary Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi.

Algeria attained four points from their three games (two wins and a defeat), and would be guaranteed a place in the next round providing West Germany didn’t defeat Austria by one or two goals in the final game of the pool.

The West Germans launched wave after wave of early attacks, taking a 10th minute lead through Horst Hrubesch. For the following 80 minutes both sides, knowing that the current scoreline would qualify them both, made virtually no attempt to attack with the ball almost continuously being passed sideways.

The crowd in Gijón were disgusted by what they saw. Algerian fans waved banknotes and white handkerchiefs, while Spaniards chanted "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out"). One German supporter was so ashamed that he burnt his national flag. Algeria complained to FIFA, but their protest was rejected. This game did result in one important change to the rules as from Euro ’84 onwards the last games of a group in international tournaments always took place at the same time so that teams didn’t know in advance what result they required.

8) Peru Pummelling – Argentina vs Peru 1978

Argentina have been involved in numerous World Cup controversies over the years – some going for them, and others against. In their own edition of 1978, they were involved in a hugely notorious affair that saw them qualify for the final where they would beat the Netherlands 3-1.

In the second group stage, Argentina needed to beat Copa America holders Peru by four clear goals to reach the final ahead of bitter rivals Brazil. They won 6-0 but there were dark rumours that Peru, who had an Argentine-born goalkeeper, had thrown the game. Certainly the ease in which the Peruvians capitulated raised eyebrows, especially as this was a fine team that contained stars such as Teofilo Cubillas.

7) Spain vs Yugoslavia 1982

Spain’s performance at their own World Cup in 1982 was a really miserable one. They won just once in five games, scoring only four goals – of which two were controversial penalties.

Indeed the Spaniards wouldn’t have even made it out of the groups but for refereeing favours. They trailed 1-0 to outsiders Honduras in their opening match and only earned a 1-1 draw thanks to a disputed Roberto Ufarte penalty, while they were humiliatingly defeated 1-0 by Northern Ireland in their final match of Group 5.

Only a 2-1 win over Yugoslavia saw them qualify for the second group phase, but this was secured in infamous fashion. Trailing 1-0, Spain were awarded a penalty for a Yugoslavian foul that occurred clearly two yards outside the area. Ufarte struck his penalty wide, but the referee then demanded a retake which Juanito made no mistake from. Spain went on to win 2-1, while Yugoslavia would eventually be eliminated despite going into the tournament as one of the favourites.

Yugoslavia would earn their revenge eight years later at Italia ’90 when they defeated Spain 2-1 in the second phase, thanks to two brilliant goals from the legendary Dragan Stojkovic.

6) From Russia With Two Offsides – USSR vs Belgium 1986

Believe it or not, there are some people who believe that Argentina vs England was not the most controversial game of the 1986 World Cup. The alternative is the round of 16 clash between the USSR and Belgium in Leon.

The match ended in a thrilling 4-3 extra time win for the Belgians, but it would not be unfair to declare that the USSR were cheated out of the tournament. The Soviets, who contained many of the exceptional Dynamo Kiev team that had won the Cup Winners’ Cup just a month earlier (including star man Igor Belanov below who scored a hat-trick and won the Ballon d'Or that year), were clearly the superior team and created chance after chance throughout the 120 minutes.

But they were denied by a referee and two linesmen seemingly wearing Belgian shirts. The USSR twice led in normal time, but twice Belgium equalised through clearly offside goals, the second from Jan Ceulemans on 77 minutes in which he was an incredible five yards ahead of play.

5) Antonio Rattin’s ‘Violence of the tongue’ – Argentina vs England 1966

For many people in Argentina, Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ in 1986 was revenge on England for another World Cup quarter final between the two countries twenty years earlier where the South Americans felt they were cheated.

Hosts England won the game 1-0 through a 78th minute Geoff Hurst goal, but not before Argentina had had captain Antonio Rattin controversially sent off in the 35th minute for arguing with the referee. Rattin initially refused to leave the field, believing that the ref wanted England to win, and when he did finally walk the 29-year-old insulted the Queen.

Three Lions manager Sir Alf Ramsey let rip at the opposition with comments that were viewed as racist in Argentina. “We have still to produce our best, and this is not possible until we meet the right sort of opponents, and that is a team that comes out to play football and not act as animals,” sniped Ramsey.

Post match statistics showed that Argentina had committed only 19 fouls in the game, to England’s 33, while the referee spoke no Spanish so could not have understood what Rattin said to him. Back in Argentina, it was pointed out that the referee in the England game was German, while the official in Germany’s quarter final was English.

4) Rudi Voller’s dive – West Germany vs Argentina 1990

For many it was poetic justice after a painfully negative Argentina side had somehow scraped through all the way to the final, winning two penalty shootouts along the way.

In the Rome showpiece against West Germany, the holders had again ridden their luck in arguably the dullest final of all time. But they were then undone by the referee in the closing stages. First Pedro Monzon became the first player in history to be red carded in a World Cup final after a clear dive by Jurgen Klinsmann on his challenge. Then, with five minutes remaining, the Germans were awarded a penalty when Rudi Voller went down far too easily in the box. Andreas Brehme converted the spot-kick and Germany were champions. Argentina cried foul, claiming that no one wanted them to win after they had knocked out hosts Italy in the semis.

3) Korea 2002 – Italy, Spain & Portugal cry conspiracy

The 2002 World Cup has gone down in infamy due to the huge number of refereeing mistakes that helped eliminate a string of top nations, and also ensured that co-hosts Korea made it all the way to the semi-finals.

During their final two group games against Croatia and Mexico, Italy had four perfectly good goals disallowed, but somehow managed to scrape through to the second round where they met South Korea. Against Guus Hiddink’s men, Italy again had a valid goal chalked off, a golden goal from Damiano Tomassi which would have taken them to the next round. Francesco Totti was sent off for diving when replays showed he had lost his footing, while the Koreans were awarded a controversial penalty for a Christian Panucci tugging offence. Italy eventually lost after Ahn Jung-Hwan’s golden winner, but the match and Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno have gone down in Italian football notoriety.

The Italian nation cried that there had been a conspiracy against them, and they were soon joined by the Spanish, who in the very next game against Korea had two perfectly good goals disallowed as they were eliminated on penalties. At the end of the game, Ivan Helguera had to be held back by team-mates as he attempted to attack the referee.

Italy and Spain were not the only team to be apparently wronged by Korea during the 2002 World Cup. In their final group game against Portugal, the co-hosts continually appeared to win favours from the referee as they won 1-0, thus eliminating the Europeans. Portugal had both Joao Pinto and Beto red carded, the latter after a clear dive from a Korean player, while the former was suspended for six months by FIFA after he hit official Angel Sanchez as he made his way off the pitch. Luis Figo also booted the ball straight into the crowd from the kick-off following Park Ji Sung’s winner to signal his disgust.

2) ‘Phantom Goal’ – Geoff Hurst vs West Germany 1966

Was it over the line or not? This is a question that raged for years around the world following England’s controversial third goal against West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley. With the scores tied at 2-2 eight minutes into extra time, Geoff Hurst span in the area only to see his shot crash off the underside of the crossbar, bounce down on or over the line, before being cleared.

England players appealed for a goal, West Germans wagged their fingers, but the goal was eventually given after Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst had consulted with USSR linesman Tofik Bakhramov. England went onto win the game 4-2 and lift their one World Cup to date.

However, improvements in technology have recently proved that the ball did not cross the line. When asked on his deathbed why he told the referee that Hurst had scored, linesman Bakhramov is alleged to have replied, “Stalingrad”, referring to the infamous battle between the Soviets and the Nazis in World War II where more than two million people were killed or wounded – the bloodiest in the history of warfare.

1) ‘Hand of God’ – Diego Maradona vs England 1986

The most infamous goal in World Cup history occurred during the quarter final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico between Argentina and England. With the score locked at 0-0 six minutes into the second half, Maradona chased a miss-hit clearance by England midfielder Steve Hodge, jumped above goalkeeper Peter Shilton before flicking it past the veteran with the outside of his left fist. The referee failed to spot the infringement and Argentina took a one-goal lead. Minutes later, Maradona would score the ‘Goal of the Century’ after dribbling past half of the England team – Argentina would win 2-1 and go on to lift the World Cup.

After the quarter final Maradona said that the goal had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God,” also saying it was revenge for the Falklands War between England and Argentina four years earlier. The current Albiceleste boss became enemy No.1 on English shores following this incident and 23 years on he is still very much a hated figure.
 
 
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Bobby Charlton

England's record goalscorer puffed away on a cigarette at half-time in the World Cup final. His brother Jack and striker Jimmy Greaves were also smokers while 1966 captain Bobby Moore fronted an ad campaign to drop in at your local pub.

And England still wonder why they haven't won the tournament since. Someone tell Wayne Rooney to smuggle his Bensons along with his flip-flops past Don Fabio pronto.

Johan Cruyff

The Dutch master was a 20-a-day man during his playing career and continued to light up on the Barca bench until he had a double heart bypass in 1991. After his surgery Cruyff literally kicked the habit for a TV anti-smoking campaign where he juggled a pack of ciggies with trademark skill.

Rumours that he boycotted the World Cup in 1978 because Argentina coach César Luis Menotti wouldn't share his ciggies have yet to be denied.

Socrates

A star performer in Brazil's brilliant 1982 side, the bearded ace puffed his way through two packs a day and continued to light up after quitting the game. Now a medical doctor and member of the Workers' Party he suggested in a masters thesis that football should be reduced to nine a side to improve skill levels. In other words, so Brazil would win all the time.

Gianluca Vialli

If you grow up in a 60-room 15th century castle you feel like you can get away with pretty much anything. Vialli famously lit up on the bench after being substituted during Italia '90 and kept smoking away when he managed Chelsea at the start of decade. Quite how he got past the ID checks wearing his schoolboy jumper is anybody's guess.

Robert Prosinecki

Talented beyond doubt, he played for Barcelona and Real Madrid while concealing a habit rumoured to be 50-a-day at its peak. Starred at France '98 alongside another smoker Slaven Bilic, he cut to 20 a day when he joined Portsmouth in 2001.

Was all set to form a smoking superteam with Paul Merson before Harry Redknapp perhaps wisely sold him after one season.

Preben Elkjaer

The great Dane sparkled during Mexico '86 and remains an icon in Verona where he played a key role in their only Scudetto title. Amazed coaches with his fitness levels while continuing to smoke at half-time and according to Danish legend, smoked during a penalty shoot out, flicking his fag away just before burying his spot kick home.

Now prefers restrained fare as a Champions League pundit on Danish TV.

Zinedine Zidane

After making a fool of Ronaldinho during Germany '06 the hero in Les Bleus' 1998 World Cup glory prepared for France's semi-final with Portugal by puffing on a ciggie. Perhaps the nicotine had caused amnesia as Zizou had fronted an anti-smoking campaign four years earlier. Merde!

Osvaldo Ardiles

Inspired by their chain-smoking manager César Luis Menotti, Ardiles was a solid 40-a-day man during the Argentineans' home triumph in 1978. At least that's according to his former Spurs team-mate Glenn Hoddle who revealed this nugget when defending Paul Gascoigne's smoking habit prior to France '98.

"It didn't bother Ossie and it doesn't bother me," said the then coach.

Something did bother Hod as he soon dropped Gazza from the World Cup squad and England were home before the postcards.

Trifon Ivanov

Bulgaria's hairy defender loved a Davidoff before kick-off, half-time and er, anytime at all. The dead ball specialist wasn't the only member of Bulgaria's squad who enjoyed the good life as the team were spotted in public drinking and smoking in their run to the semi-finals at USA '94.

After being beaten by Italy in the semi-finals the Bulgarians lost interest and got trashed off the pitch before doing the same on it against Sweden in the third place play off.

Fabien Barthez

Les Blues' victorious squad from 1998 boasted at least three smokers with Zidane, Franck Lebeouf and Fabien Barthez between the sticks.

Enraged Southampton's then-manager Gordon Strachan by leaving several cigarette butts stubbed out in the health conscious manager's office after he was taken off injured while playing for Manchester United in 2003. After making the discovery Strachan quipped the balded one must have been taken off for a smoker's cough!

Barthez was recently quoted as charging €70 a minute for his goalkeeping coaching services which should pay for his habit quite nicely. Cough, cough...