strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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62-Year-Old Albatross Has Chick

Scientists amazed by 'Wisdom'

(Newser) - Is 62 too old to be a mom? Not for Wisdom, the oldest known living wild bird in the world, whose latest healthy chick hatched Sunday. The Laysan albatross, who lives in the Pacific Ocean's Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and was tagged by scientists in 1956, is already...

Boy Chucks Imaginary Grenade, Gets Suspended

Alex Evans, 7, thought he was saving the planet during recess

(Newser) - The latest student to be suspended for wielding an imaginary weapon at school is a 7-year-old in Colorado. Alex Evans thought he had to save the planet during recess, so he pretended to throw a grenade at an imaginary box with something evil inside, according to the Reporter-Herald . There was...

Police: Mom Waved Gun in Chuck E. Cheese Feud

Tawana Bourne is arrested, was there with her kid

(Newser) - Bad: A spat at a Connecticut restaurant prompted a 30-year-old woman to whip out a semiautomatic handgun and load it, police say. Worse: The restaurant was Chuck E. Cheese. Worst: Tawana Bourne was there with her child, the Hartford Courant reports. She's out on $50,000 bail after allegedly...

Next King to Be Dug Up: Alfred the Great?

Archaeologists plan to look for him in unmarked grave

(Newser) - Now that Richard III's skeleton has been found in a parking lot , archaeologists are turning their attention to Alfred the Great. The Anglo-Saxon king, who ruled from 871 to 899, is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave at England's St. Bartholomew's Church, and researchers are...

Furniture Store Out $600K on Ravens' Super Bowl Return

Baltimore store owner had taken out an insurance policy, fortunately

(Newser) - When Jacoby Jones of the Baltimore Ravens returned a kickoff 108 yards to score the first touchdown of the Super Bowl's second half, he probably didn't realize he was causing a local furniture store to give away $600,000 in free furniture. Gary Mullaney, co-owner of Gardiners Furniture,...

Vanity Plate Critic Clearly Not a Spinal Tap Fan

Washington man finds 'GOES211' offensive

(Newser) - Of all the vanity-plate hullabaloo in the press lately, this story out of Washington state might be the best: Tony Cava was alerted to the fact that someone found his "GOES211" plate "vulgar, profane, or offensive to good taste and decency." As the Seattle Times reports, the...

Husband, Wife Win Lottery on Same Weekend

They take home more than $1M

(Newser) - An Arkansas man won $1 million in a scratch-card lottery this weekend; the next day, his wife won $50,000. "I just couldn't believe it. It's not possible," says Steve Weaver. When they prepared to claim the cash, "I thought we were going to have...

North Korea Posts Video Fantasy of US in Flames

Set to Michael Jackson's 'We Are the World'

(Newser) - If you think North Korea harbors a not-so-secret desire to obliterate the US—while backed by a Michael Jackson song—you'd be sort of correct. The country's official website uploaded a truly bizarre YouTube video on Saturday in which a slumbering man dreams of a rocket blasting a...

Skeet-Shooting Obama Now a Doll

Herobuilders releases its 4th Obama action figure

(Newser) - Paging the inevitability department: President Obama's newly released skeet-shooting photo has inspired an action figure of the prez hunting with a shotgun, reports the Huffington Post . The $19.95 doll includes a sweatshirt with "clay pigeons" written on it, a twisted smile, and muscles bulging à la Sylvester...

$30M Fun Park Planned for bin Laden's Old Town

Abbottabad center will include waterfalls and paragliding

(Newser) - Itching to jog, ski, and go paragliding in Osama bin Laden's old town? You're in luck: Pakistan has announced a $30 million amusement park in Abbottabad, best known as the site of bin Laden's assassination, the Telegraph reports. But officials insist they're not planning the park...

'Cookie Monster' Steals Century-Old Cookie Sculpture

And sends two ransom notes

(Newser) - A century-old, 44-pound cookie sculpture was stolen last month from outside a famous German bakery, and police have now received two "ransom" notes. Both included pictures of a person dressed as Cookie Monster putting the golden cookie in his or her mouth, Spiegel reports; the AP adds that the...

Yep: Skeleton in Parking Lot Is Richard III

DNA matches sister's descendant

(Newser) - Archeologists have shown "beyond a reasonable doubt" that human remains under a Leicester parking lot belong to a fabled king of England. Researchers had suspected the skeleton was Richard III's —and today they announced that DNA and other testing have confirmed it, the Guardian reports. The skeleton'...

NJ School Bans Cursing —If You're a Girl

Staff wants 'ladies to act like ladies'

(Newser) - New Jersey's Queen of Peace High School would like girls to stop cursing, saying it wants "ladies to act like ladies," a teacher tells the Record . So the Catholic school asked the girls, but not the boys, to take a pledge not to swear, NBC10 reports. The...

Town&#39;s Fundraiser Doubles as ... Squirrel Hunt?
 Town's 
 Fundraiser 
 Doubles as 
 ... Squirrel Hunt? 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 3, 2013 5:30 PM CST

Town's Fundraiser Doubles as ... Squirrel Hunt?

Fire department's tradition isn't sitting well with animal fans

(Newser) - A fire department in rural upstate New York has an unusual way of raising money to buy new gear—a "squirrel slam." Every year, the Holley department organizes a hunt, sells tickets, and hands out prizes for the best carcasses. ("Reds & grays only!!" says the...

Student: I Was Hospitalized for Calling My Prof a Bitch

Oren Ungerleider sues Columbia over forced hospitalization

(Newser) - A student is suing Columbia University after he was hospitalized against his will for 30 days—apparently for cussing out his Spanish professor, the Columbia Spectator reports. In his lawsuit , Oren Ungerleider admits to calling his professor a bitch in front of the class over a low grade. But he...

Nazi Goebbels' Descendants Are Secret Billionaires

Slave labor helped build a sprawling business empire

(Newser) - In the dying days of Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda killed their six children with cyanide in Hitler's underground bunker and committed suicide. Goebbels' step-son, Harald—then a prisoner of war in Benghazi—survived the war, and like his half-brother Herbert became one of the most...

Paris Women Now Legally Allowed to Wear Pants

Minister of women's rights revokes archaic law

(Newser) - No more skirting the issue: A French official announced Friday that women are legally allowed to wear pants in Paris, Global Post reports. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the minister of women's rights, revoked a little-noticed 200-year-old law banning the practice: "This law is incompatible with the principles of equality between...

A Man and His Dog Uncover Whale Vomit Worth $68K
A Man and His Dog Uncover Whale Vomit Worth $68K
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 3, 2013 7:03 AM CST

A Man and His Dog Uncover Whale Vomit Worth $68K

Ambergris actually isn't a smelly rock...

(Newser) - One British man is poised to become $68,000 richer thanks to his dog's interest in stinky garbage—which, in this case, turned out to be a soccer ball-sized lump of whale vomit, reports the AP . Ken Wilman was walking his dog Madge along a beach in northern England...

Missing Developer Found With 'Thief' Carved on Face

Kevin McGeever says he can't remember what happened

(Newser) - An Irish millionaire who vanished eight months ago has turned up disheveled on a country road saying kidnappers held him for ransom, the Guardian reports. Barefoot with the word "Thief" carved in his forehead, 68-year-old Kevin McGeever told Irish police that he couldn't remember what had happened or...

Guys Play Complex Game of Tag— for 23 Years

Old school buddies stay in touch ... literally

(Newser) - Imagine hiding in the trunk of your friend's car as part of a game of tag—and doing it as an adult. That's exactly what Sean Raftis, a priest, did in the 1990s to tag his old school buddy Joe Tombari. When the trunk opened, Raftis jumped out...

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