strange stuff

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

Stories 1521 - 1540 | << Prev   Next >>

London Officials Battling 'Total Monster' in Sewer

A 143-ton 'fatberg' isn't proving easy to deconstruct

(Newser) - British engineers say they've launched a "sewer war" against a giant blob clogging London's sewers, reports the AP . Thames Water officials said Tuesday it will likely take three weeks to dissolve the outsize "fatberg." They caution against expecting quick results as the fatberg is 275...

Meet Harry Potter and the Philosophy Class

St. Cloud University offering class focused on the boy wizard

(Newser) - A Minnesota university is mixing the magical world of Harry Potter into philosophy teachings. St. Cloud State University professor Carolyn Hartz is applying Aristotle's work on friendship to character relationships in JK Rowling's books about the boy wizard, the St. Cloud Times reports. The class discusses ethics, logic,...

Oregon Town Has Seen the Enemy, and They Are Turkeys

Pilot Rock is being overrun and seeks advice from the state

(Newser) - A small Oregon municipality is asking the state for advice on how to handle a flock of wild turkeys that are ruining gardens and leaving droppings just about everywhere, per the AP . Officials in Pilot Rock, a city of 1,500 people about 230 miles east of Portland, say dozens...

7 Bizarre New Guinness Records
7 Bizarre New
Guinness Records
Sep 8, 2017 9:40 AM CDT

7 Bizarre New Guinness Records

One involves 17,994 coats of paint on a baseball

(Newser) - Ekaterina Lisina's legs are as long as some people are tall. They've also propelled the model to newfound fame. Lisina has nabbed not one but two new Guinness World Records as the world's tallest professional model (at 6 feet, 8.77 inches) and woman with the longest...

'There Is a Tiger Walking Down the Exit Ramp'

Escaped circus tiger had to be shot in Georgia

(Newser) - "There is a tiger walking down the exit ramp onto the interstate," 911 operators in Georgia heard Wednesday, prompting a feverish response from police and plenty of speculation on how the animal got there. That mystery is now solved. A microchip implanted in the female Bengal tiger, shot...

Library: No, We Don't Take Chuck E. Cheese Tokens

Massachusetts residents are apparently trying to pay fines with them

(Newser) - A Massachusetts library is having to issue the rather obvious reminder to patrons that Chuck E. Cheese tokens are not an acceptable form of payment for overdue book fines, reports the AP . "This summer we’ve had a surge of folks attempting to pay fines and printing fees with...

Owner 'Stunned' After Stolen Car Is Found 38 Years Later

Blue Peugeot 104 was recovered from French pond

(Newser) - It's the car coming back from a watery grave. A blue Peugeot 104 stolen in the heart of France's Champagne country in 1979 is being reunited with its owner—38 years later—after French police pulled it, in surprisingly good shape but crawling with crayfish, from a murky...

New Boston Wax Museum's Likenesses Are ... Something

Tom Brady looks like someone who 'would murder you and hide the body'

(Newser) - A good roasting hasn't caused a meltdown at Boston's new wax museum. Officials at the Dreamland Wax Museum say they're embracing the extra attention brought by waves of online hecklers who have lampooned some of its less-than-flattering likenesses. Photos of the museum's life-sized wax figures have...

Parents Say They Spotted Jesus in Daughter's Sonogram

Pa. couple marvel at ultrasound photo that shows image that looks like son of God

(Newser) - We've seen Jesus on an apple , Jesus on a power utility pole , and now, out of Pennsylvania ... Jesus in a sonogram. WPMT reports that a couple there whose older two children were born with birth defects found comfort in the ultrasound for their third, which showed not only the...

For Woman Stuck in Pool, Facebook to the Rescue

Ladder broke when NH woman, 61, went to get out, but she had an iPad nearby

(Newser) - A New Hampshire woman who became stuck in her swimming pool after the ladder broke turned to the loving arms of Facebook to ask for help getting out. "I had one foot on (the ladder), and when I put my other foot on it, it went down. And I...

Indie Band Leaves Drummer Behind During Walmart Stop

Seriously

(Newser) - Belle & Sebastian managed to leave its drummer in a North Dakota Walmart this week, and the rest of the band apparently didn't notice until about seven hours later. "S---, we left Richard in North Dakota. Anyone want to be a hero and get him to St Paul,...

Animals Being Stolen From Venezuela Zoos —for Food

Country is in a hunger crisis

(Newser) - In a disturbing case out of Venezuela, authorities say animals have been stolen from a zoo—to be used as food. "What we presume is that they (were taken) with the intention of eating them," a police official says, per the Guardian . The two collared peccaries that were...

Silent Song Is a Hit on iTunes
Silent Song Is a Hit on iTunes
Aug 17, 2017 1:03 AM CDT

Silent Song Is a Hit on iTunes

'A a a a a Very Good Song' has a role to play

(Newser) - No, the volume is just fine. It's the song. An unusual tune has found its way onto the top 50 on the iTunes charts, alongside Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban hits, the AP reports. The song is completely silent. "A a a a a Very Good Song" costs...

She Lost Her Ring in 2004. It Just Showed Up on a Carrot

Canada's Mary Grams says it still fits

(Newser) - Mary Grams pulled a weed on her family farm in Alberta, Canada, in 2004 and lost her engagement ring in the process. All these years later, the ring has turned up, incredibly, on a carrot, reports the CBC . It seems her daughter-in-law plucked the lucky carrot from the ground, and...

'I Could See the Nail Moving With My Heartbeat'

Wisconsin's Doug Bergeson is OK after shooting himself in the heart with nail gun

(Newser) - A Wisconsin man who doctors say came perilously close to death after accidentally shooting a nail into his heart calmly drove himself to the hospital and even parked his pickup truck in the lot before walking into the emergency room, reports the AP . Doug Bergeson is ready to get back...

Smokers Transporting Propane Grill Make Big Mistake

Pro tip: Maybe don't light up near one that's open

(Newser) - A Florida woman lit a cigarette, sparking an explosion of a propane barbeque grill being transported in her SUV, the AP reports. Orlando police Lt. Cindy Lane tells news outlets that the grill was turned on and the propane tank was open in the back of the red Kia Sorento...

The Cheetos Restaurant You Didn't Know You Wanted Is Here

Just for 3 days in New York City, starting next Tuesday

(Newser) - Frito-Lay is getting in on New York City's "Restaurant Week" (which is really more like "Restaurant Month") by opening a pop-up eatery with a menu full of Cheetos-themed cuisine. The Spotted Cheetah opens its doors in lower Manhattan for just three days next week, starting on...

2 Friends Died While Eating Dinner. Now Mystery Is Solved

And it turns out they were 'stupid' deaths

(Newser) - Olivier Boudin and Lucien Perot were close friends, almost like "father and son," according to one person who knew them. So locals were baffled when the two French men were found dead over a backyard garden dinner at Perot's home last Thursday, 69-year-old Perot sitting at the...

A Virginia Driver Is Masquerading as a Car Seat

It's part of a Virginia Tech study of autonomous cars

(Newser) - It's still a couple of months until Halloween, but some in Arlington, Va., are already dressing up—as car seats. An NBC Washington reporter spotted a seemingly autonomous van driving around Arlington on Monday. On closer inspection, he realized there actually was a driver—the man was just disguised...

Irish MP's Explanation for Road Problems: Fairies

Someone disturbed a fairy fort and this was the result, he insists

(Newser) - An Irish member of parliament has an interesting hypothesis for damage to a road in the country. Danny Healy-Rae said during an interview with the Irish Times that a dip on one of the country's roads, which was repaired but then reappeared, could be blamed on "fairy forts....

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