Have Your Say So

A little known fact about the UK voting reforms after World War I, in which women were first given the vote, is that a number of other societal groups were also awarded the right to vote for the first time. Men whose earlobes were longer than half an inch had previously been denied the ability to vote, on the grounds that Philip II of Spain, who led the Armada against the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, had strikingly long earlobes himself. Similarly, men who had been diagnosed with any sort of skin condition were not allowed to vote until this time, as skin blemishes were widely believed to be a sign of demonic possession.