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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He Took Out 262 Library Books a Month —and Was Fictional

Library scheme sought to 'save' books

(Newser) - Sorrento, Fla., is not home to the country's most avid reader, though it would appear that way based on the East Lake County Library's records. They show that a man by the name of Chuck Finley checked out 2,361 books over a nine-month period last year, including...

Professor Orders Used Book, Gets Copy She Lost Years Prior

There's a reason it's particularly 'uncanny'

(Newser) - An associate professor of English at an Ontario university lent her copy of a textbook to one of her students five years ago and never saw it again. That is, until she recently ordered a replacement copy on Amazon ... and her old copy arrived, complete with her name and the...

Guy Gets A+ for Effort to Conceal His DWI Arrest

Joseph Talbot tried to squelch report by buying up copies of local paper

(Newser) - The owner of a weekly Western New York newspaper says a man bought hundreds of copies in an unsuccessful effort to keep people from reading about his drunken-driving arrest. State police arrested Joseph Talbot on Dec. 29 in Wayne County and charged him with driving while intoxicated, reports the AP...

Guy Goes to Jail Over Kitty Litter Mistaken for Meth

Ross LeBeau of Texas wants an apology

(Newser) - A December traffic stop in Texas led to deputies discovering what they thought was nearly half a pound of methamphetamine. Houston 24-year-old Ross LeBeau was arrested and spent three days in jail ... at which time he was promptly released, and the case against him dismissed, because a forensic lab showed...

9 Notable New Laws in 2017
9 Notable New
Laws in 2017
Jan 4, 2017 1:04 PM CST

9 Notable New Laws in 2017

They involve sky lanterns, catfish, and tampons

(Newser) - If you plan to hunt catfish in Illinois this year, be sure to bring your pitchfork. Using pitchforks, spear guns, and arrows to catch the fish is now legal under one of several new state and city laws that came into effect with the New Year. Some of the more...

Mad Conductor's Bizarre Frozen Ending Leaves Kids in Tears

He says Santa doesn't exist, leaves the stage

(Newser) - An orchestral performance of Disney's Frozen in Rome last week ended with angry parents and weeping children, Italy's ANSA news agency reports. Orchestra conductor Giacomo Loprieno asked for a microphone at the end of the show, announced into said mic that Santa Claus isn't real, and then...

Ohio Family Cleaning Out Home Finds Live Grenade

Relative had recently died, left behind WWII-era grenade

(Newser) - A family cleaning out a home in the Toledo, Ohio-area home of a relative who recently died stumbled across a live hand grenade from the World War II era, the AP reports. Toledo authorities say such finds are becoming more common. A police spokesman says the bomb squad retrieves old...

Artists' Feud Over 'Blackest Black' Escalates

The guy hoarding it somehow got his hands on 'pinkest pink'

(Newser) - Ever since British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor was granted exclusive rights to the color "Vantablack," the world's blackest black that was developed by tech firm Nanosystems and can absorb more than 99% of light, other artists have been up in arms. One paint fight actually broke out between...

The Weirdest News of 2016
The Weirdest News of 2016
Dec 31, 2016 11:17 AM CST

The Weirdest News of 2016

Kangaroo terror and falling catfish

(Newser) - Strange days, indeed: Every year has its oddities and 2016—a year in which it snowed in the Sahara , the Chicago Cubs won the World Series , and Donald Trump was elected president —was certainly no exception. Some of the year's weirdest stories:
  • This was an unlucky year for
...

After Bizarre Scene, Rwandan Soccer Bans Witchcraft

Player tries to disrupt goalie's 'juju'

(Newser) - Rwandan soccer officials have added a new rule to the game: no witchcraft. The move comes after a bizarre turn of events at a match between teams Mukura Victory and Rayon Sports on Dec. 16. After hitting the crossbar, Rayon's Moussa Camara can be seen in video footage dashing...

Woman Upset Postal Service Crushed Her Canaries

The dead birds were supposed to be alive when they arrived

(Newser) - US Postal Service officials say they've apologized to an Alabama woman who says her package of six live canaries arrived, but the birds were crushed and dead. Rhonda King tells Al.com that the box containing the birds was marked with tire tracks when it arrived from Texas earlier...

This Ancient Vial of Blood Suggests 2017 Is Cursed

Saint's blood failed to liquefy, just like in 1939

(Newser) - And you thought 2016 was a rough year. Humanity is apparently in for a disaster equal to World War II or a cholera epidemic, based on an ancient vial of blood. According to legend, a woman collected the blood of Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro—the once pious bishop of...

Man's New Car Starts Rattling for Very Illegal Reason

A cautionary tale on buying drug-smuggling cars seized by cops

(Newser) - A northern Kentucky man bothered by a rattle in a car he'd recently bought at an Ohio auto auction has found 2 pounds—or about $130,000—of heroin in a secret compartment inside the vehicle, reports the AP . "We went out to dinner one night and the...

Woman Swipes Nativity Jesus, Reports Neglect: Cops

Woman in Bethlehem (Pa.) reports 'Joseph and Mary Christ' in joke

(Newser) - Police say a woman stole baby Jesus from a Nativity scene in Bethlehem, Pa., and dropped the figurine off at a hospital with a note explaining that the baby had been "neglected" by his parents, "Joseph and Mary Christ," reports the AP. "I did it. I...

Move Over, Pastafarians: Guy Wears Goat Horns to DMV

Pagan Phelan Moonsong wins argument with Maine that they're 'religious attire'

(Newser) - Phelan Moonsong has worn a pair of goat horns since 2009, and he's not about to take them off for you or for the Maine DMV—a religious attire argument he's recently won, reports the Washington Post . "As a practicing Pagan minister and a priest of Pan,...

Government Issues a Most Canadian Warning

Beware of moose who lick cars, warns the Alberta government

(Newser) - Oh, Canada! The Alberta government is warning motorists to beware of moose that lick. That is, don't physically try to stop them. The Peter Lougheed Provincial Park west of Calgary has experienced an influx of moose who enjoy sampling the salt caked to the windows and doors of parked...

Austria's Word of the Year Has 51 Letters

And it was born of a messy presidential election

(Newser) - For all those who don't speak German—and indeed for those who do—here is Austria's word of the year, adding to the challenges of reading and speaking the language. It's "Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung," or "postponement of the repeat of the runoff of the presidential election....

$85 for a Rock? Maker Explains Cost of Weird Nordstrom Gift

It's all about that leather pouch

(Newser) - It's not a lump of coal, but one of Nordstrom's stocking-stuffer possibilities this holiday season is in the same ballpark—it's a rock in a leather pouch. And many are confused, per People , which reports on the $85 "Los Angeles-area stone" clothed in "rich, vegetable-tanned...

Moose Tries to Move Onto Vermont Farm, Fails

'Molly' tried to befriend 2 cows, bemused owners eventually shoo her off

(Newser) - A Vermont couple has chased off a moose that appeared to be bonding with their two cows on a Sheldon farm because they didn't want it to get injured, stuck in their barn, or damage their fences, reports the AP . Sharyn Abbott and her husband Tim returned to their...

Retiring Manager Gives 2,000+ Employees a Piece of His Mind

'They asked for an honest exit interview...'

(Newser) - A retiring Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission manager filled out the exit survey workers are given when they leave the job—and sent his less-than-pleased answers to the questionnaire to all 2,000+ employees at the Commission. "When they asked for an honest exit interview, I gave them one," a...

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