9 of the most memorable Wikipedia edits to celebrate the site's birthday

10 months ago

As Wikipedia turns 15, the open-source site has been talking about its power for good as a free space on the internet where anyone can contribute.

The other side of this coin is that anyone, anywhere has the ability to edit any page on Wikipedia to say absolutely anything – an option that has led to some memorable moments of creativity.

Here’s a round-up of the more notable changes that have been submitted.

1. Alexis Tsipras: ‘author of Greek tragedies’

The Greek prime minister was briefly named alongside the likes of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides following Greece’s no vote in a referendum asking if the country should accept more austerity as a condition of a bailout.

2. Grant Shapps and the Contribsx account

The former Conservative party co-chairman was accused on several occasions of editing his own Wikipedia page, as well as those of other politicians, using a pseudonym and a “sockpuppet” account called Contribsx.

3. Eric Pickles as a Doctor Who villain

The Tory MP had the first line of his Wikipedia page edited to suggest he was a Sontaran, a race of aliens that are one of The Doctor’s most arch enemies.

4. Thermodynamics club

In tribute to Brad Pitt classic Fight Club, a line on the article explaining the scientific speciality was edited to read:”The first law of thermodynamics is you do NOT talk about thermodynamics.”

5. Batman needs little explaining

Probably the work of a superfan, the information on Gotham’s dark knight was altered to simply spell out how to sing the famous TV theme tune.

6. Plato was a weather man

The ancient Greek philosopher was in fact a “Hawaiian weather man” and a student of Barney the purple dinosaur according to an edit made to his Wikipedia page.

7. Snoop Dogg’s Gin & Juice is a masterpiece

One of the most iconic edits of the Wikipedia age is the full, flowing and frankly beautifully written synopsis of Snoop’s 90s hit Gin & Juice.

8. Spot the Dog and Hemingway

The classic children’s book was given a re-jig in its description, suggesting it had been written by Ernest Hemingway under a pseudonym, and dealt with Spot’s “alcoholism and a shattered sense of masculinity”.

9. So Solid Crew’s membership list

The garage group of the early 2000s were notorious for having quite a few members, but one Wikipedia editor took this idea and ran with it. Quite far.