strange stuff

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

Stories 1781 - 1800 | << Prev   Next >>

Sweden's Flammable Christmas Goat Has Birthday, No Candles

Officials hope no one tries to torch the yule goat again this year

(Newser) - Sweden's Christmas Goat—a giant decorative goat made of straw and wood—is celebrating its 50th birthday, but revelers are being asked to keep the candles away, reports the AP . Every Christmas season since 1966, the city of Gavle in central Sweden builds a giant version of the straw...

And Now ... a Hipster Nativity Scene

All yours for $130

(Newser) - It's that time of year when stories about Nativity scenes begin making headlines, and in this case, it involves an oh-so-modern twist. It seems the website Modern Nativity is selling a "Hipster Nativity Set" for $129.99, and it's drawing some attention. Think "Joseph" taking a...

Lawmaker Railed Against Squirrels. One Fought Back

'It was like a suicide bomber, getting revenge'

(Newser) - At a city council meeting in October, Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. gave a heated speech about "aggressive squirrels" chewing through garbage bins at a big expense to the city, reported the Chicago Sun-Times —and perhaps the animals caught wind of it. On Nov. 13, Brookins was riding...

Motorist Stops to Help, Gets Dumped Into Icy River

Suffered broken leg, but survived

(Newser) - Steven Arrasmith stopped to help a driver who had spun out on an icy bridge in Oregon in the pre-dawn hours of Monday. As thanks from the universe for his good deed, he got out of his car to help and another car that also lost control on the black...

Man Gets Bit by Snake. Man Recovers. Man Gets Bit Again

Sigh

(Newser) - Australian kids today probably don't hear much late-'80s glam rock anymore, which may explain why Great White's "once bitten, twice shy" mantra didn't come into play in this story out of Queensland. Per the Brisbane Times and the AP , an 18-year-old contractor was clearing away...

A Storm Hit, Then 800 People Couldn't Breathe

4 deaths blamed on 'thunderstorm asthma' in Australia

(Newser) - Four people are dead after an intense thunderstorm in Australia—but flooding or even lightning aren't to blame, reports the Age . In a rare case of "thunderstorm asthma," strong winds near Melbourne on Monday sent massive amounts of rye grass pollen into the air, making it difficult...

Whoops: Deer Not as Dead as Motorist Thought

Wakes up in trunk, to driver's surprise

(Newser) - A 59-year-old Wisconsin man hit a deer with his car last week and put it in his trunk, thinking he'd soon be enjoying some venison for dinner. Instead, he was surprised to hear the deer moving around when he got home, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. He called the...

Kansas Guy Is Pimping Cold War-Era Sub

Scott Waters is rehabbing Pisces VI submarine he found in Wisconsin

(Newser) - A Kansas man and 10 experts are refurbishing a Cold War-era submarine to put it back into the deep seas for exploration. Scott Waters, 29, of Salina, has a team that gathers a few times a year north of Salina to tear apart and modernize a submarine that is one...

After 6 Weeks, Cops Arrest Guy for Driving Neighbors Crazy

No one likes getting woken up by an air horn—least of all residents in El Segundo, Calif.

(Newser) - It may seem there's more fighting than rejoicing on Facebook lately, but for the residents of El Segundo, Calif., it's time to celebrate. "They found the air horn guy!" one local crowed online, per the Los Angeles Times , applauding a somewhat anticlimactic ending to the early-morning...

Why Cubans Fish With Condoms
Why Cubans Fish
With Condoms
Nov 16, 2016 11:12 AM CST

Why Cubans Fish With Condoms

The inventive practice makes use of limited resources

(Newser) - Juan Luis Rosello sat for three hours on Havana's Malecon esplanade as the wind blew in from the Florida Straits, pushing the waves hard against the seawall of Havana's coastal boulevard. As darkness settled and the wind switched direction, Rosello pulled four condoms from a satchel and began...

Crazy Quake Aftermath: 3 Stranded Cows

They're stuck in New Zealand

(Newser) - It's one of the strangest post-earthquake images you'll see: three cows stranded on a small patch of grass after the earth all around them has fallen away. The scene is out of New Zealand, where a 7.8 magnitude quake has left at least two people dead and...

Thousands of Perfect Snowballs Turn Up on Arctic Beach

And they're all natural

(Newser) - It looks for all the world like an epic winter battle is in the making, but it turns out that thousands of perfectly shaped snowballs that showed up on a beach in Siberia are the result of a natural phenomenon. The strange sight emerged on the shore of the Gulf...

Cops Find Baby Koala in Woman's Backpack

Alfred will now get a proper home

(Newser) - A woman was arrested "on outstanding matters" during a traffic stop in Brisbane on Sunday with a rather cute companion. Asked if she had anything to declare, the 50-year-old woman handed officers a canvas backpack, claiming a baby koala was inside, reports the BBC . "Not quite believing their...

Woman Falls From NYC Roof Trying to Retrieve Her Drone

Was trying to rappel to a lower roof using a tarp

(Newser) - A 55-year-old woman is in critical condition after falling three stories from an NYC roof while trying to retrieve her lost drone, the New York Daily News reports. The woman was piloting a drone from the roof of her building in the East Village Friday when she lost control and...

82-Year-Old Finds Wedding Ring in Carrot Harvest

Just as his late wife told him he would

(Newser) - A retiree in Germany has struck gold in his garden, reports the AP , finding the wedding band he lost three years ago wrapped around a carrot. German public broadcaster WDR reports that the 82-year-old lost the ring while gardening in the western town of Bad Muenstereifel. The incident happened shortly...

Sexy, Tiny, 'Mighty' Device First of Its Kind on Kickstarter

Dame's Fin is crowdfunding site's first official vibrator—and it was completely funded in 2 days

(Newser) - "Crowdfunded vibrator" is a term absolutely no one would have predicted 20 years ago—and yet here we are, 2016. The Dame Fin is that vibrator, the first sex toy ever to premiere on Kickstarter , and it surpassed its $50,000 funding goal in its first two days, the...

Why This 2-Faced Calf Has the Perfect Name

Lucky walks in circles a lot, but she's the first two-headed calf to live past 40 days

(Newser) - For 40 days and nights, Noah's ark was said to have housed all variety of creatures—but probably not one like this, who just became the first of its kind to live past a similar 40-day mark, per National Geographic . Lucky the two-faced calf, who lives on a Campbellsville,...

New Theory Deflates 'Alaska Ice Monster'

It's probably just rope

(Newser) - Sadly, it's beginning to look like the Loch Ness Monster does not have a cousin in Alaska, but a video shot by a Bureau of Land Management worker was fun all the same. In the original Facebook post , the BLM said the video "captured this strange 'thing'...

Jack-o'-Lantern Lighting Sends Girl to Burn Center

But family says she's OK

(Newser) - Authorities say a 7-year-old girl ended up at a north Florida burn center after her grandmother attempted to light their jack-o'-lantern with green flames using household chemicals, the AP reports. The Florida Times-Union reports that 62-year-old Wanda Michelle Reyna called 911 Sunday evening, saying that fire had splattered on...

Hospital Report Blames Patient's Fart for Surgical Fire

Laser evidently ignited gas during operation at Tokyo Medical Center

(Newser) - An operating room snafu out of Japan is generating headlines because of its bizarre nature: It seems a patient's fart ignited a fire that left her with serious burns. The incident took place at Tokyo Medical Center, reports the Asahi Shimbun . A laser was being used on the cervix...

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