Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

Price of hairless horse

How much would a naturally hairless horse cost? How much has one ever sold for? ―Howard • 🌽³³ 00:39, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Do you have any evidence that such a thing exists or has ever existed? -- Avocado (talk) 01:08, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

―Howard • 🌽³³ 01:11, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Your evidence is a page with the first statement being, "No true hairless horse breeds exist; historical accounts are rare and unverified." and also says, "Most truly hairless horses born today have Naked Foal Syndrome (NFS), a fatal genetic disorder." - Umm... --Onorem (talk) 01:20, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

that sounds terrible. perhaps i should have never asked this question ―Howard • 🌽³³ 01:23, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faktion symbol

There's no symbol here and neither some reference of it, do somebody know if they actually had a symbol, or don't? Istheendoftheworldasweknowit (talk) 14:13, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Here a symbol is given, said to be of the Facções Armadas Libanesas Revolucionárias, which is Portuguese for "Armed Lebanese Revolutionary Factions" or some permutation of these words. And here the same symbol is used, but now as the logo of a FaceBook page claiming to be of the Lebanese Communist Party. However, it is actually the symbol of the Lebanese National Resistance Front. The Arabic text over the wing of the dove reads جبهة المقاومة الوطنية اللبنانية, which means "Lebanese National Resistance Front". So these pages are misleading. Perhaps the LARF were too busy with the revolution to design a symbol.  ​‑‑Lambiam 21:46, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks very much, in facts the text presented as the name of the group is not the same of the one on the image.

I guess that yea I will take the hypothesis they didn't have a symbol althought it is kind of weird, or maybe not. Istheendoftheworldasweknowit (talk) 08:13, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

When did Sousa's Band play before the king?

It looks like John Philip Sousa traveled to Europe several times, and may have played before Edward VII and George V, but the sources are not very specific on this. The reason I'm trying to figure this out is because in August 1913, Musical America wrote that Sousa played "In a Clock Store" for King George, but I can't verify it, only that he may have played for Edward VII in 1900 instead. Any help? Did Sousa play for George V? Or did he play for both? Viriditas (talk) 22:02, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

A thought: the future George V, then Duke of York (and not yet Prince of Wales), was 35 in 1900. Is it possible that he was present with his father Edward VII at the 1900 performance, and that 'In a Clock Store' was played specifically for him (perhaps at his request) on that occasion?

I realise the US 1913 publication refers to him as King George, but given his recent ascent to the throne in 1911 that may have been a pardonable reference, and to the American readership 'King George' would have been more immediately in mind than the deceased 'King Edward'. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 17:25, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Good guess, as you’re right. Viriditas (talk) 00:54, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

Sousa played a command performance at Sandringham in 1901 for Queen Alexandra's birthday. I suggest we look into that performance. It led to the composition of Imperial Edward. He also played for the King at Windsor Castle in 1903. DuncanHill (talk) 17:36, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

@Viriditas: OK, here we go! On Saturday evening, 31 January 1903, Sousa played, amongst other numbers, "In a Clock Store" by Orth, in the Waterloo Gallery of Windsor Castle. The audience included The King, The Queen, Princess Charles of Denmark, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and other royalty and dignitaries. Servants of the Royal Household and the Band of the Scots Guards were also in the audience. Reports in various newspapers of the time, some without the programme. I found the programme in The Daily News (London) - Monday 02 February 1903, page 12, column 6, "Sousa At Windsor", in the British Newspaper Archive, available through the Wikipedia Library.

Sousa writes about it in his autobiography Marching Along, but misdates it to the 30th. See here on Archive.org. DuncanHill (talk) 20:26, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! Is it safe to say the reference to King George was a way of making the article timely, as technically the Prince heard the piece? Viriditas (talk) 22:45, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

@Viriditas: Oh I am sure it is, that would strike me as a very natural way for it to have been said at the time, especially by an American magazine. If you would like me to email a pdf of the page from The Daily News to you then just email me from my user page ("email this user") and I shall reply with it. I've greatly enjoyed looking it up - I've heard music that was new to me, and read Sousa's autobiography (or parts of it at least, and I'd never encountered it before), and added to my knowledge of the "soft power" of the Crown (promoting Anglo-American goodwill) in an era which particularly interests me. Please ask some more! DuncanHill (talk) 22:58, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, I've got the article now through TWL. With your help, I've found the full programme over here. It's reprinted in Figure 4. Viriditas (talk) 23:50, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

@DuncanHill: There is something I could use some help with. Fasshauer (2024) documents criticism of the song, particularly in Liverpool. This strange passage on p. 282 doesn't appear to have a footnote (unless I'm missing it), so I can't track it down. Here it is:

Eine Kritik von Sousas Konzert in Liverpool am 27. Februar 1903 ließ an diesem Stück kein gutes Haar, belegt aber auch, dass eine derart effektverliebte Musik für das englische Publikum tatsächlich eine Novität darstellte ("A review of Sousa's concert in Liverpool on February 27, 1903, did not leave a single good word to say about the piece, but it also demonstrates that such effect-laden music was in fact a novelty for English audiences"):

[T]he apotheosis of claptrap was reached in a so-called »Idyll« by Orth, descriptive of a clock store, in which sundry »effects« more childish than musical were introduced during a string of measures more or less commonplace. This kind of thing, however, seems to please a section of the public; but it is to be hoped that our regimental band-masters will not be permitted to imitate such puerile tricks.

Any thoughts on what music critic or publication Fasshauer is referring to here? Viriditas (talk) 00:33, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

Well, it wasn't the Liverpool Echo p. 4 the next day (NB! OCR only). "The band contributions were the Overture Symphonique, "Mysora" (Wettge); Suite, "From Foreign Lands" (Moskowski); "El Capitan" (Sousa); the Bouree and Gigue, "Much Ado About Nothing" ([Edward] German); Idyll, "In a Clock Store' (Orth); March Imperial (Sousa); and the Chorus from Faust (Gounod). Each of these was played with much skill, the Moskowski suite being a particularly dainty rendering, whilst in "In a Clock Store" there were introduced many novel effects eminently calculated to justify the title of a composition not musically remarkable." . The acerbic comments you quote are more likely to be from a reactionary publication like The Musical Times. MinorProphet (talk) 15:25, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Well, having had a look at the Musical Times notices for Liverpool eg March 1903 and April (via WM Library, you may need to be logged in), I suspect that such 'popular' concerts were beneath the musical horizon of that august organ. However, neither the Liverpool Daily Post - Saturday 28 February 1903 p. 8, nor the Liverpool Mercury - Saturday 28 February 1903 p. 9 (all links via WM Library, they may not work) seem not to be hugely negative compared to Faßhauer's extract. Having experienced musical criticism of this exact period in relation to the British Symphony Orchestra and its discography (mea culpa) I would say it would take a fairly forthright critic in a national journal to dispense such views, whereas local papers tended to be more circumspect in their approach. MinorProphet (talk) 17:31, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. What strikes me as weird is the lack of footnotes. I wonder if there is a footnote for this in the article, but I'm just missing it because of the citation style. Viriditas (talk) 00:52, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Like you, I hunted for a footnote, but there doesn't seem to be one for this particular quote. Annoying, because he does use them. None of the usual journals or repositories seem to give any hits at all. PS I finished Matter. MinorProphet (talk) 17:48, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Ballot of Florida presidential Electors

Looking at this ballot and others from Florida's presidential Electors, such as those from 2008 and 2012, aided by the voting certificates (I managed to find the one from 2012), I am inclined to think that the form of the names on the winning ticket was always the same. So, “Barack Obama and Joe Biden” in 2008 and 2012 and “George W. Bush and Dick Cheney” in 2000 (as seen in the image) and also in the 2004 vote? Thanks. ~2026-14207-64 (talk) 15:17, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I think that in all US states, for each presidential election, the ballots used by voters to cast their votes will show, for each ticket, the names of the candidates for the functions of president and vice-president, in that order. I am not sure what you mean by "the form of the names", and since the form designers cannot know which ticket will be the winning one, the form(s) chosen are not governed by whether a ticket will be winning. Are "Donald J. Trump / JD Vance" and "Kamala D. Harris / Tim Walz" the same forms as "Barack OBAMA / Joe BIDEN"? Why "Kamala D. Harris" and not "Joe R. Biden"?  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:05, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Candidates often have at least some say in how their names are presented, especially if they're not entirely conventional. "Jimmy" Carter and "Bill" Clinton, for example. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:42, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

A disclaimer that really should accompany most ballot‑related questions: the rules governing ballots and election procedures are primarily set at the state level. Each state writes its own election laws, and those laws can differ quite a bit.

The Federal government’s role is limited. It determines how many electors each state receives, enforces certain civil‑rights protections, and sets some broad constitutional requirements. But the mechanics of elections — including ballots, candidate name formatting, filing rules, and how electors are chosen — are left to the states.

These issues only become “federal” when a dispute is appealed into the federal courts, and historically the Supreme Court has often emphasized that elections are largely a state matter unless a constitutional question is involved.

A lot of the questions people ask seem to assume that Congress or federal agencies design the detailed rules for ballots and election procedures. In reality, state law governs almost all of it, and that’s why answers often begin with: “It depends on the state.” ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 13:48, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

A lot of questions about the US that I see from posters who are not US citizens fall under this same sort of thing. Outsiders are really quite surprised how much the states matter in how the US functions. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 16:56, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

This question is specifically about Florida.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:11, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Baby Globe

With Wikipedia's 25th birthday, I was wondering if there was a comprehensive list of all the pages, or page themes, with baby globe appearing. I understand if not, since this is a pretty niche feature, but it would be nice to know Bluefus (talk) 07:44, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Where have you seen a Wikipedia "baby globe"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:43, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Here. Long is the way (talk) 19:22, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm an old fart still using a decade old skin, so the birthday feature isn't available for me (AFAIK), but could you not activate the birthday feature, click on the baby globe image, and then use the "What links here" tool? Matt Deres (talk) 19:29, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Clicking on the image has no effect. It is a gif hosted on the website of the Wikimedia Foundation:

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/WP25_BabyGlobe_CELEBRATION_NEUTRAL_LOOP_transparent.gif.

You'll find some webpages with this image here.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:03, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

In discussions regarding whether to activate the baby globe on EnWP, I remember feeling some reticence on the part of WMF representatives to list exactly which pages would be affected. I think they wanted to retain the fun of keeping it a secret. ~2026-15228-45 (talk) 15:42, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Opening that page made my browser asplode. Doubtless it would go down well in certain countries and among certain sectors of the populace, but for me it is utterly infantile and does WP a major disservice. Personally, if I had anything to do with it, I would tie myself into a sack and throw myself down a well at midnight. MinorProphet (talk) 18:08, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear about your browser and hope it was not an expensive model. My condolences.  ​‑‑Lambiam 18:35, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Well actually, some Dubai-based Tik-Tok influencers persuaded me to take out a second mortgage on my house to upgrade said Firefox-fork browser running on Win XP, and then basically forced me to invest in what I now realize is a dark web AI-type crypto-Ponzi-style scam: I have since lost my job, my partner, and my home. I am now living under a hedge trying to fend off my creditors. I wish I had had the guts to try Librewolf. MinorProphet (talk) 23:04, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

NB This why your head a splode MinorProphet (talk) 04:26, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Something to cheer you up. fiveby(zero) 03:28, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Does this help? -- Avocado (talk) 12:02, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

No. I could use a vast and varied vocabulary to describe my innermost thoughts, but the use of the wholly scurrilous epithets which spring to mind would instantly void my continued existence here. MinorProphet (talk) 16:49, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

come on, it's so cute!! ltbdl (jump) 03:19, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I absolutely agree, but Wikipedia/Wikimedia/Foundation in its majestic entirety is absolutely NOT CUTE. Have you hung around WP:ANI for a while, or found out about the exalted panoply of WP:Bureaucrats etc.? Some people just want to be mini-bosses here, and I bet that a number of them have never contributed a useful single paragraph with fully-formed refs to a current article that expands the sum of current human knowledge. Changing a WP:Category does not count, in my opinion, although it increases your number of edits. There is now a huge layer of what I would call gnomes on steroids whose sole purpose is to control what we, as contributing editors, can actually do. The further up you go, the more likely you are to come into contact with horrendously unsympathetic managerial types with unacknowledged parental issues whose funerals I shall not be attending. At least there's WP:NOTDEMOCRACY, but it looks more and more like an autocracy or a kakistocracy every day. I look forward to WP:NOTCUTE, eh? MinorProphet (talk) 15:01, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

...what? ltbdl (operate) 01:55, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

To sum up: the image is cute, but Wikpedia is not. MinorProphet (talk) 17:24, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Question for Americans, Europeans and Canadians

This is not a discussion forum. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 18:03, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Is your city, town facing problems of fuel shortage, petrol, diesel, LPG gas, cooking gas shortage right now, due to recent Iran war? ~2026-15717-12 (talk) 06:23, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

In America we're seeing some price increases. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:51, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

There are no reports in the mainstream media of actual shortages. Assuming the news is not censored, the answer is therefore no. This may change if the unprovoked wars keep going on for a year or so.  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:58, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Europe: Price increases, but no actual shortage, and that wasn't expected anyway. The last tankers that passed the Straight of Hormuz before the war started haven't reached Europe yet. They need about a month, going around the Cape of Good Hope. There is a slight effect of tankers changing destination while already underway. Furthermore, there are strategic reserves and other sources of oil, like the US, Canada and Venezuela.

You see: by first taking over Venezuela, then starting a war in the Persian Gulf, then annexing Canada, Trump tries to monopolise the world oil supply. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:25, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

32 countries have agreed to release stocks from their emergency oil reserves to help offset disruption. Alansplodge (talk) 14:07, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I filled up with gas yesterday. No gas shortage. All pumps full. My total cost was $45 instead of the usual $40. So, I didn't go by McDonalds on the way into work and it all evened out. I'm sure that somewhere, someone is suffering. The news can always find someone, somewhere to push whatever narrative they require. ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 16:08, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Helppp

My friend who has never contributed to Wikipedia and only reads Wikipedia thinks editing wikipedia is a extremely long and tedious and hard thing and she thinks she has to be "approved" to be a writer on Wikipedia or something. How do I explain to her its actually not that hard? Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 19:54, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Why do you want to do that? It doesn't seem like your friend wants to contribute, which I would have thought was a prerequisite for being useful here. AndyTheGrump (talk) 19:56, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

no she really does want to contribute but she just thinks it's what I said above Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 20:00, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Don't tell her, show her. Find out what she wants to do. Show her how to do it. The 'really not that hard' things shouldn't be difficult to demonstrate, and you really shouldn't be encouraging anyone to do the hard things (e.g. starting a new article) until she has more experience, and has the commitment. AndyTheGrump (talk) 20:05, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay thank you so much! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 20:08, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Looking for a Wikipedia article about a woman

These are the things I remember:

1. Black woman born in West Africa but educated in the United States Northeastern area.
2. No longer alive, she flourished during 1800s or 1900s.
3. Doctor or nurse or something similar.
4. Possibly "first" something (for example first African woman who went to Hardvard med school etc).
5. She returned to Africa to practise medicine.
6. The article is quite short.
7. The article pageview count is very low.
8. The article has a black and white image of her in medical attire with a white hat looking away from the camera to the viewer's left. In the image she is youngish and her legs are not visible.

Forgive me for being too vague. There might even be mistakes! It's the photo that stuck with me. I'd call it epic. Aloysius Jr (talk) 23:40, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Edit: It was silly of me to ask this. It was out of desperation. Barely anyone knows that the article even exists. I don't know how I stumbled upon it. I did a ridiculous amount of searches and found nothing. Don't waste your time with this. Aloysius Jr (talk) 13:29, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I found Anna DeCosta Banks, the photo and some other aspects of your description match but other aspects don't (she wasn't born in Africa or returned there). You could try looking through the linked articles at List of African-American women in medicine, although the list is quite long. --Viennese Waltz 09:02, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. I checked all the names but I did not come across her. Aloysius Jr (talk) 11:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Alice Woodby McKane? She wasn't born in West Africa, but was the "only black female physician in Georgia in 1892". She graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, which is sorta northeastish. She and her husband (also a physician) opened a hospital and "a nurse training school" in Monrovia, Liberia. (She did not go to Hardvard, or even Easyvard.) Clarityfiend (talk) 11:59, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Also, it seems highly unlikely that a woman would have come from West Africa to study at an institution of higher learning in the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was very difficult for native-born American women to do so at that time, much less foreigners. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

No luck. I might be imagining some parts but I'm certain this article exists with that image. I will update this post if I find her. Aloysius Jr (talk) 11:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Avram Grant date of birth (2)

To be precise, the first two sources, those relating to personal information, both in the template and in the biography, where the real name and place of birth (which are certainly accurate) are listed, however, give inaccurate dates. The first is May 4, 1955, and the second is May 6, 1955... ~2026-15905-96 (talk) 18:58, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Is there a question hiding in here?  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:12, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

No, I didn't actually ask a question. I just wanted to point out that the dates are incorrect. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-16200-74 (talk) 12:54, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Where are you seeing that? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:11, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Humans eating cat food

I just saw an episode of the Swedish version of the original British TV show Taskmaster. The competitors had to eat a delicacy of their choosing. The options included, among others, chocolate, durian and cat food.

One of the competitors chose cat food. She smothered the food with whipped cream and fruits, and still had to fight to keep from gagging at the end.

Now I've obviously never eaten cat food. What makes it so difficult for humans to eat it?

I'm just asking out of curiosity. I'm not going to try this out for myself. JIP | Talk 23:53, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Not having dined on cat cuisine either, I think it's just the idea of eating pet food that made her gag. People can eat cat food, just not for prolonged periods. Similar reaction for me to the prospect of eating haggis (the gagging part, not the safe part). Clarityfiend (talk) 01:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Also, whipped cream and fruits with meat and gravy??? Maybe that's the reason. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:11, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Agreed. That combo sounds like it would be nearly as foul if it were filet mignon in the place of the cat food. Very weird choice.

Well, that and also cat food in the first place. Why choose cat food when you could choose chocolate?

As an aside, there are stories -- don't know how true they are -- of elderly people in poverty on fixed incomes eating cat food (usually the nicer brands, at least) because they can't afford meat intended for humans. -- Avocado (talk) 02:00, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

PKD famously said that he was so poor as a science fiction writer starting out that he could only afford to eat horse meat. Viriditas (talk) 02:05, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Keep in mind there are different grades of cat food. I used to buy human grade cat food for my pet from a company in Canada until they changed their recipe. It was basically edible and looked and smelled good. Now, the average kind of cat food you buy in the store is not that. It uses rendered meat and the smell is incredibly bad, enough to make people vomit. Being curious, I once put a can of both side by side to see which they preferred over a period of a week. It seemed to vary depending on their mood, but the sense I got was that the cat preferred fast food over heathy food. Viriditas (talk) 02:03, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

In the EU, wet cat food is generally safe for (occasional) human consumption, due to strict and strictly enforced regulations. I don't know if the same can be said about North-American cat food (but if it was allowed to be imported to the EU, it should be safe). Whether it is also palatable to humans is a different issue; this will depend on the consumer's taste. Some people gag at the smell of liver while others' mouths start watering. Chicken-based cat food is the most likely not to be offending to human palates. Did the episode of the TV show give some information about the specific cat food formula?  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)