strange stuff

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

Stories 1201 - 1220 | << Prev   Next >>

Escaped Yaks Charge Massachusetts Hiker

Cops manage to corral the 3 animals

(Newser) - A hiker in western Massachusetts encountered a hazard more commonly associated with the Himalayas: aggressive yaks. Police say the three animals, who had escaped from a private owner a few days earlier, charged and chased the hiker Wednesday in the Bear Hole Reservoir hiking area near West Springfield, the New ...

They Said He Died Naturally. The Funeral Home Said Otherwise

Georgia man was actually stabbed to death

(Newser) - "It was too much blood." That was the initial assessment of Michelle Smalls, the sister of Ray Neal, a 61-year-old Georgia man found dead over the weekend. A Gwinnett County medical examiner's investigator determined he died of natural causes. But it turns out the suspicions of Smalls...

Circus Wants Its Electric Chair, Bed of Nails Back

Thief made off with trailer full of props

(Newser) - If somebody you know recently came into possession of a bed of nails, a coffin, an electric chair, and assorted other strange items, they didn't get them at the Addams Family's garage sale. The props, used for acts of daring, were in a black Homestead Challenger trailer stolen...

Men's Anti-Vegan Stunt Had Them Eating Raw Squirrels

They have been convicted and fined over the London incident

(Newser) - There were the vegans who "terrorized" the butchers . Now, the meat eaters who tried to terrorize the vegans. The BBC reports a macabre scene in London on March 30 earned two men disorderly conduct convictions and fines on Monday. Gatis Lagzdins, 29; and Deonisy Khlebnikov, 22, stationed themselves in...

Sushi Ingredient Is Spontaneously Combusting
Sushi Ingredient Is
Spontaneously Combusting
in case you missed it
Jul 21, 2019 11:44 AM CDT

Sushi Ingredient Is Spontaneously Combusting

Restaurant fires blamed on tempura flakes

(Newser) - The same phenomenon that causes overheated compost piles to spontaneously combust has been causing fires in sushi restaurants. The culprit is deep-fried tempura flakes, also known as agedama or tenkasu, which have been linked to five restaurant fires in Wisconsin alone, the New York Times reports. Fire investigator Kara Nelson...

Cops: It's Too Hot to Commit Crime

Police in Braintree, Mass., would appreciate it if you would break the law when it's cooler outside

(Newser) - Baby, it's hot outside and the fine officers at the police department in Braintree, Mass., really do not feel like dealing with your criminal shenanigans until "Monday when it's cooler." CNN reports on the department's cheeky Facebook post, which encouraged "anyone thinking of doing...

Man's Shock: Amputated Leg on Cigarette Packs Is His Own

But the 60-year-old didn't lose his limb to smoking, didn't give permission for photo use

(Newser) - The images are meant to be jarring deterrents. Consider one 60-year-old sufficiently jarred. The unnamed Albanian man who now lives in France says he was alerted to the fact that some EU cigarette packets feature a photo of his amputated leg. (See the image here .) The accompanying message is...

Ousted Iowa Official Really Had a Thing for Tupac Shakur

Jerry Foxhoven was told to resign day after he sent Shakur-themed email to 4,300 workers

(Newser) - The director of Iowa's social services agency was a huge fan of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, and he frequently let his subordinates know it. Emails obtained by the AP show that Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven routinely sent messages to employees lauding Shakur's music...

They Heard a Cry for Help, Found Man Impaled by Stump

2 groups of runners stopped to help Michigan man

(Newser) - Four women running on a trail on the Michigan State University campus Saturday morning heard someone yelling for help from the woods but were hesitant to leave the trail for the unseen person—not knowing if they were about to walk into a trap. So they called 911, and "...

Guy Sits on Toilet for 5 Days
Guy Sits
on Toilet
for 5 Days
Jul 15, 2019 3:47 PM CDT

Guy Sits on Toilet for 5 Days

In bid for record

(Newser) - A Belgian man sat on the toilet for five straight days last week. No, he's not ill; he was attempting to set a world record. Jimmy De Frenne, 48, was aiming to stay on the toilet for 165 hours but only made it to 116, Reuters reports. The toilet...

City Workers Hurt in 'Absolute Embarrassment' of a Prank

2 Detroit municipal employees injured after someone put firecrackers under toilet seats

(Newser) - "Two things that don't mix—firecrackers and toilets." That's an understatement from FOX 2 after an apparent prank gone awry in Detroit resulted in injuries to two municipal employees. The Metro Times reports the General Services Department workers were hurt Wednesday after they used toilets in...

Gator Turns Up in Most Unlikely of Places

Officials attempting to trap reptile in popular Chicago park

(Newser) - An alligator has made a home in one of Chicago's most popular parks. A crowd gathered around Humboldt Park Lagoon on the city's West Side Tuesday as officials responded to a 911 call about a Facebook post showing an alligator in the area, reports the Chicago Tribune . A...

This Car Burned Up, but at Least They Know They&#39;re Having a Boy
Gender Reveal Goes
Horribly Awry 
Jul 10, 2019 9:07 AM CDT

Gender Reveal Goes Horribly Awry

Things didn't go quite as planned in Australia 'burnout'

(Newser) - It's natural to wonder about your baby's sex before the birth, and increasingly common to hold gender reveal parties. But as a story from Down Under shows, some of these revelations are getting out of hand, even downright dangerous. The Washington Post reports on a stunt in Australia'...

Best Way to Get a Pothole Fixed? Break Out the Birthday Cake

It worked for Frank Sereno of Kansas City

(Newser) - "My gosh, if this is what it takes to get potholes fixed, we'll never get anything done." So says Frank Sereno of Kansas City, Mo., who threw a birthday party for a 2-foot-wide depression outside his home after it went unfixed for three months. "I got...

Florida Urges Homeowners to Kill Iguanas When They Can

'The FWC encourages homeowners to kill green iguanas on their own property'

(Newser) - Green iguanas love Florida's consistently warm weather, so much so that the invasive species is a massive problem in the state. "Iguanas have proliferated with such intensity in Southern Florida that they are now a common sight," a zoologist tells ABC News . And as a wildlife scientist...

Serial Toilet Clogger Sentenced to 150 Days

Patrick Beeman, 26, said he got 'very strong urges'

(Newser) - The "curious commode caper" of Sheboygan, Wis., has been solved. In March 2018, police there announced that over an 18-month period, someone had occasionally been clogging the women's toilet at the Deland Community Center with a 20-ounce soda bottle. On Monday, Patrick Beeman was sentenced to 150 days...

Man Was Late for Work, Could End Up in Prison

Not for the tardiness, but for how he tried to get excused for it

(Newser) - A man accused of forging a police report to back up his bogus story that he used as an excuse to his boss is facing real charges in New Hampshire. The Caledonian-Record reports that 51-year-old Paul Neilson was charged last week with forgery, a felony punishable by up to seven...

Animal Rescue Group: We Need Your Old Bras

Rescue group in North Carolina says the fasteners can help mend broken turtle shells

(Newser) - A North Carolina animal rescue group is appealing to women not to throw out their old bras, but instead to send them—or at least the bra clasps—to their agency to help turtles with broken shells. Carolina Waterfowl Rescue of Charlotte is asking women through social media to remove...

Talk About a Fish Tale: This One's a Doozy

Divorced man attaches wedding ring to fish, and it's re-caught at a tournment

(Newser) - "I didn't know steelhead get married," a fisherman quipped Friday after a fish was pulled from Lake Michigan with a wedding band fixed to its tail with a zip-tie. The Chicago Sun-Times unravels the mystery: Four years after his divorce, fishing guide Jason Rose felt his wedding...

11-Year-Old Lets Intruder &#39;Have It&#39; With a Machete
11-Year-Old Lets
Intruder 'Have It'
With a Machete
in case you missed it
Jun 22, 2019 10:30 AM CDT

11-Year-Old Lets Intruder 'Have It' With a Machete

Police say Braydon Smith struck the suspect in the head with the weapon

(Newser) - It's an incredible story that took an incredulous turn: An 11-year-old North Carolina boy went after a home intruder with a machete, wounding him in the head—but after being treated for his injury, the suspect escaped. ABC11 has the timeline, which began last week in Mebane. Braydon Smith...

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