strange stuff

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

Stories 2201 - 2220 | << Prev   Next >>

Truck Crash's Odd Victim: a Shark

4 sandbar sharks were being transported from Florida to Coney Island

(Newser) - One died, three survived. That was the outcome for four sandbar sharks being hauled from Marathon, Fla., to an aquarium in Coney Island, NY, after the truck they were in crashed during a storm on Interstate 95 yesterday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol tells Florida Today . The semitrailer blew a...

Here's One (Risky) Way to Get Out of Jury Duty

James Lowe could have spent some time in the real deal for his jail jumpsuit

(Newser) - A Vermont man has escaped jury duty—by getting dismissed for wearing a prisoner costume. James Lowe of Barnet says he was released from jury duty yesterday when he showed up to court wearing a black-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie. The Caledonian Record reports that Lowe showed up on...

Hundreds of Islanders Worship ... Prince Philip

He's believed, by some on Tanna, to be the son of ancestral God

(Newser) - Standing under his sacred banyan tree, Albi Nagia sings as he cracks open a coconut with a few deft strikes from his bush machete. He chews the meat inside and spits it out in a shower, to the delight of the gathering chickens. He is praying ... to Prince Philip. Yes,...

91-Year-Old Checks Off Bizarre Bucket List Item
91-Year-Old Checks Off
Bizarre Bucket-List Item
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 7, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

91-Year-Old Checks Off Bizarre Bucket-List Item

Accident reconstruction officer made dream a reality

(Newser) - Thanks to a dedicated grandson, Illinois man Walter Thomas finally has an answer to a question that he has pondered for many of his 91 years. He "told me a long time ago that he always wanted to back a car through the garage door," granddaughter Becky Goers...

Woman Sues eBay, Claims to Own the Sun

A Spanish court will hear her case

(Newser) - Next month, a Spanish court will hear arguments in a most unusual case: A woman who claims to own the sun has sued eBay for blocking her extraterrestrial real estate sales. Though it sounds a little nuts, a court in Madrid has ruled that 54-year-old Maria Angeles Duran has the...

Man Changes Name to Avoid Airline Fee

Adam 'West' won't give in to Ryanair

(Newser) - This might be the best story about an airline fee in the history of airline fees, and not only because it involves Batman. A 19-year-old from Manchester, England, has legally changed his name rather than pay a $336 fee to Ryanair, reports the Guardian . The tale of how Adam Armstrong...

Oregon's Fake Orca Goes Belly-Up

Solution to Astoria's sea-lion problem doesn't go as planned

(Newser) - An effort to use a fake, life-sized orca to scare off hundreds of sea lions crowding docks off the Oregon coast ended, at least temporarily, with the fiberglass creature belly-up after it was swamped by a passing ship. Still, Jim Knight of the Port of Astoria says the sea lions...

Woman Erects 60-Foot Screen to Block Neighbor

And she's fined $15K for it, with more tacked on each day

(Newser) - A former Vermont gubernatorial candidate says she had a 60-foot by 24-foot "screen" built so she wouldn't have to see her neighbor's home. Ruth Dwyer tells WPTZ-TV she's lived on her farm in rural Thetford for more than 40 years. Two years ago, a new home...

Texas Teen Survives Bizarre Lightning Strike

She got hit in her own kitchen while opening the fridge

(Newser) - Lightning strikes people often enough, but usually not when they're opening the fridge for a snack. Such is the plight of Texas high school student Macie Martinez, who was home with her parents on Memorial Day when a storm blew in. She was opening the fridge to grab some...

Sex-Ed Teacher's Field Trip Angers Parents

Minnesota instructor took her students to a sex shop

(Newser) - A sex education teacher has drawn the ire of parents after taking middle school and high school students on a field trip to an adult novelty store in Minneapolis. Gaia Democratic School Director Starri Hedges took about a dozen students to the Smitten Kitten last week. Hedges tells the Star ...

Burglary Suspect's Downfall: His Red Boxers

Officer spots teen wearing them, a match for those seen at crime

(Newser) - The strangest burglary arrest in a while: Newsday reports that a Long Island teenager got busted because of his red underwear. Police say that after Taykim Ross, 18, broke into an apartment, he made the mistake of stopping outside to try on a pair of stolen sneakers. As he did...

German Teen Makes Left Turn—Into Tank Convoy

Look left, right, left again

(Newser) - Police in western Germany say a novice driver escaped unharmed but her car was crushed after she inadvertently turned into the path of a convoy of British tanks. Lippe police spokesman Lars Risserbusch said today the 18-year-old had apparently not seen the convoy when she made a left turn in...

Cops Called on Armed Mob Find Asparagus Pickers

"10 to 15 people armed with knives" turns out to be less ominous

(Newser) - Police in rural northeastern Germany rushed out to track down a reported mob of up to 15 people armed with knives and sticks. Instead, they found a group of asparagus harvesters. Police in the town of Ludwigslust said a man called their emergency number yesterday to report having seen "...

Cat Lick Blamed for Woman's Blindness

Ohio pet owner loses vision in one eye to 'cat scratch disease'

(Newser) - An Ohio woman who suddenly lost vision in one of her eyes has learned that her own cat is to blame, reports WTOL . Doctors at the University of Toledo diagnosed cat scratch disease as the culprit. "Anything that is exposed to the cat's mouth, including if you have...

Council Bans Pot Smell, Guy Asks It to Ban Farts

Way to tackle the important issues, says Oregon man

(Newser) - Earlier this month, the city of Pendleton, Ore., decided to tweak its nuisance ordinance to include a $500 fine for excessive marijuana smoke emanating from a property—though the New York Daily News notes that marijuana itself becomes legal in Oregon in July. "With great relief," Peter Walters...

Township Orders Teen to Tear Down Treehouse

She built it as part of a class project

(Newser) - A two-story treehouse sounds pretty cool, right? Apparently not so for a certain resident of a neighborhood in Leet Township, Pa., who complained about the treehouse 14-year-old Elisa Truchan built in her front yard in February as part of an eighth-grade class project. The Township Council has since ordered the...

Dead Man Wakes Up Before Trip to Morgue
Dead Man Wakes Up
Before Trip to Morgue
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 24, 2015 7:00 PM CDT

Dead Man Wakes Up Before Trip to Morgue

His family was notified of his 'death' before he started moving

(Newser) - Another entry for the not-dead-yet files: A man who had been pronounced dead in Milwaukee began moving around as a medical team was preparing to take him to the morgue, reports WISN . The strange tale of 46-year-old Thomas Sancomb began earlier this week when his worried girlfriend called 911 because...

Czechs to Give Back 1.42 Square Miles to Poland

Wall Street Journal reports on weird border issue

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal relays progress on one of the strangest and slowest-moving border issues you'll ever encounter. It seems that the Czech Republic owes Poland 909 acres, or 1.42 square miles, and plans to pay up. The land debt goes back to the late 1950s, when the...

Guy Rescued After 4 Days in a Storm Drain

Not really clear what he was doing in there

(Newser) - A man has been rescued after getting stuck for four days in a Nashville storm drain. Media outlets report firefighters dug into the ground and broke into a concrete pipe to free the unidentified man yesterday. Firefighters were called to the scene after another man heard the victim calling for...

Mystery Find in Ohio Dorm: 19th-Century Gravestone

'We would really love to find where it belongs,' says local cop

(Newser) - Workers cleaning out a Denison University dorm in central Ohio found a more than the usual assortment of notebooks and pencils left over from the semester. The cleaning crew found part of a 19th century gravestone Wednesday. The 12-by-8-inch fragment apparently marked the grave of a child who died in...

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