strange stuff

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

Stories 2101 - 2120 | << Prev   Next >>

Woman, 87, Convinces New York She's Not Dead

Her Medicaid benefits were cut off due to computer error

(Newser) - The New York City Bureau of Fraud Investigation sent a letter last week announcing that Medicaid health benefits for Selma Cohen had been cut off because the woman had been declared dead. So you can imagine the surprise Cohen, 87, felt when she received the letter. "I couldn’t...

Lost Emu Recognizes Owner—in Another State

Beatrice went missing in Vermont, was found in New Hampshire

(Newser) - An emu famous for running wild through New Hampshire for more than a week has been reunited with its owner and returned home to Vermont, perhaps after recognizing the man's jacket. The Concord Monitor reports Kermit Blackwood figured it was a long shot that the emu loose in New...

Inmate Escapes Jail, Then Sues Over Lax Security

A court admires the 'chutzpah' but tosses the suit

(Newser) - An inmate who escaped from a high-rise federal jail in Chicago has an unusual theory on who's to blame: He says the government was negligent in enabling the breakout, so he sued for $10 million for damages. The 7th US Court of Appeals said in a ruling yesterday that...

Runaway Tarantula Grounds Plane

Passengers had to board another flight

(Newser) - Weirdest flight snafu in a while: A tarantula that escaped in the cargo hold of a passenger flight from Maryland's BWI airport to Atlanta grounded the plane before it could take off and sent passengers onto another flight. A spokesman for Delta Air Lines tells the Baltimore Sun that...

Weird Dog Neutering Lawsuit Has Been Settled

Dog's owner says breeder neutered dog without permission

(Newser) - A Minnesota dog owner has reached a legal settlement with a breeder whom he accused of vengefully neutering his champion bichon frise without permission, the two sides said today. John Wangsness sued Vickie Halstead, from whom he had originally bought the dog, Beau Lemon, for more than $50,000 in...

Naked Joggers Left Toddler on Beach for Hours: Cops

Sheriff says they were 'high on something'

(Newser) - Police in Holly Beach, La., say the parents of a 20-month-old girl left her on a beach for two hours yesterday while they went streaking miles down the shore. WWL.com reports a man found the thirsty child covered in bug bites shortly after 10am. Minutes later, officers found a...

Roger Federer Fan Wakes From Coma After 11 Years...

...to find his tennis idol still at top of his game

(Newser) - When Jesus Aparicio was left in a coma by a car crash on Dec. 12, 2004, his favorite tennis player, Roger Federer, had just risen to No. 1 in the world rankings. The Spanish man woke up from his coma last month—and when his speech finally recovered, one of...

Sheriff: OK, Lawyers Can Keep Bras On in Jail Visits

Deputies say they were worried that wire would set off metal detectors

(Newser) - Jail workers went too far in telling female lawyers they'd have to remove their underwire bras if they wanted to meet with clients, a sheriff said. At least two attorneys say they were told they'd have to remove their bras when entering the Cumberland County Jail in Maine...

Book: UK PM Did Something Disturbing With Pig's Head

Biographer also links Cameron to coke, pot, Supertramp

(Newser) - It's an allegation you may not want to read over breakfast—especially if you're having bacon. According to a new biography of British Prime Minister David Cameron being serialized in the Daily Mail , Cameron belonged to a club known for "bizarre rituals and sexual excess" when he...

Amnesia Took His Name; 11 Years Later, He Got It Back
Amnesia Took His Name;
11 Years Later, He Got It Back
in case you missed it
Sep 20, 2015 7:00 PM CDT

Amnesia Took His Name; 11 Years Later, He Got It Back

Relatives say 'Benjamin Kyle' left Indiana in 1976

(Newser) - In August 2004, a naked man was found semi-conscious outside a Burger King in south Georgia. An EMS report cited by 11Alive noted his "total body [was] covered in sores and rash," and he awoke in a hospital with no idea who he was. Eleven years after he...

Professor Bans 'God Bless You'

Quickly changes course when syllabus goes viral

(Newser) - Teachers and professors have long banned students from talking, chewing gum, using their phones, or doing other "disruptive" things in class, but students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley thought one professor went too far by banning the act of blessing a person after a sneeze. "...

Aggressive Goats Get Idaho Trail Closed

It seems they expect food from humans

(Newser) - The US Forest Service has temporarily closed a northern Idaho hiking trail over concerns about aggressive mountain goats after one animal bit a hiker and others reportedly tried to head-butt or charge visitors. Scotchman Peak Trail, which leads to the summit of Bonner County's tallest mountain, was closed Friday,...

IRS: We No Longer Accept Checks Over $99,999,999

Super-rich will just have to pay electronically

(Newser) - Owe the tax man $100 million or more? Your check is no good at the IRS. Starting next year, the IRS says it will reject all checks for more than $99,999,999. That's because check-processing equipment at the nation's Federal Reserve banks can't handle checks that...

Cops Recover Stolen Diamond —in Woman's Intestine

Nature and laxatives failed to get it out

(Newser) - A police investigation in Thailand has literally gotten to the bottom of the theft of a $278,000 diamond last week. Police Col. Mana Tienmaungpak said today that a doctor wielding a colonosope and the medical equivalent of pliers pulled the 6-carat gemstone from the large intestine of the Chinese...

How a Man Has Gone 12 Years Without Bathing
 How a Man Has 
 Gone 12 Years 
 Without Bathing 
in case you missed it
Sep 12, 2015 12:45 PM CDT

How a Man Has Gone 12 Years Without Bathing

David Whitlock apparently smells just fine

(Newser) - A live bacteria spray meant to restore skin with healthy microbes erased by obsessive cleaning has at least one weighty endorsement: It's used daily by a guy who hasn't showered in more than 12 years, per CBS Boston . David Whitlock—a chemical engineer who manages not to scare...

5 of the Craziest New Guinness World Records

Including the world's largest ... hot dog cart?

(Newser) - The Guinness World Records 2016 Edition was released this week, and some of the new record-breaking achievements included in it are pretty crazy. A sampling:
  • Biggest feet on a live male: Jeison Orlando Rodriguez Hernandez of Venezuela boasts a 1-foot, 3.79-inch right foot and a 1-foot, 3.59-inch left
...

Drunk Guy Arrested for Assaulting Robot

Because he was angry at store clerk, apparently

(Newser) - A drunk guy in a SoftBank cellphone store in Japan was unhappy with a clerk's attitude ... so he kicked a robot, he admitted to cops. Not just any robot, but a four-foot-high Pepper "humanoid" robot, whose development SoftBank funded, Gizmodo reports. The robot is designed to detect human...

Marching Band Fined for 'Obscene' Formation

Band claims what many saw as a phallus was actually the USS Enterprise

(Newser) - Kansas State University will pay a $5,000 fine after its marching band's halftime show on Saturday was "misinterpreted" as showing the mascot of the rival University of Kansas Jayhawks performing oral sex. According to KCTV5 , the band defended itself from charges that its formation was "obscene,...

Canadians Are Cutting $20s in Half, Spending Them

 Canadians Are 
 Cutting $20s in Half, 
 Spending Them 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 6, 2015 9:50 AM CDT

Canadians Are Cutting $20s in Half, Spending Them

'We can always put them back together,' says user of 'demi'

(Newser) - Did they run out of change? Nobody's quite sure how it began, but people in a Canadian region have been cutting their money in half before they spend it, the CBC reports. In Quebec's Gaspe region—an area the size of South Carolina, with around 140,000 residents—...

NYC Cockatiels Inherit $100K
 NYC Cockatiels Inherit $100K 
Sep 5, 2015 5:30 PM CDT

NYC Cockatiels Inherit $100K

The deceased millionaire's birds are set

(Newser) - Look out, high society: 32 cockatiels currently living in a private New York City aviary just came into quite a bit of money. The New York Post reports millionaire Leslie Mandel, who died in June, left $100,000 to her 32 pet cockatiels with explicit instructions on how to care...

Stories 2101 - 2120 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser