Viral Glasgow Plaque Tells Fake Story About Absolute Zero Discovery

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 11:47:26 +0000

What Happened

The plaque, photographed and shared on Atlas Obscura, tells an absurd tale: On a cold winter night in 1845, young William Thomson was returning from drinking at a local pub when he tripped and fell into the river. According to the fictional account, this mishap made him “the coldest thing in the entire universe,” inspiring him to create the Kelvin temperature scale to quantify his frigid experience.

The satirical monument claims to mark the “180th anniversary of this fortuitous event” and credits the non-existent Lord Kelvin Appreciation Society for its installation in 2025.

Lord Kelvin on Snackable Yarn

Viral Glasgow Plaque Tells Fake Story About Absolute Zero Discovery

What Happened