132-year-old message in a bottle uncovered at Scottish lighthouse
An engineer conducting an inspection at a 209-year-old Scottish lighthouse discovered a message in a bottle dating back 132 years.
Ross Russell, a Northern Lighthouse Board mechanical engineer, removed some panels in a cupboard at Corsewall Lighthouse, located at the northern tip of the Rhins of Galloway, and spotted a bottle hidden inside the wall.
Russell and his team used some rope and a broom handle to fish the bottle out of its hiding place and opened it with the current lighthouse keeper, Barry Miller.
The team said the cork was stuck in place and had to be carefully removed using a drill.
"We all swore ourselves to silence if it was a treasure map," Miller joked to The New York Times.
Inside was a note dated Sept. 4, 1892, bearing the names of three engineers who had installed a light at the top of the 100-foot lighthouse as well as the names of three lighthouse keepers.
"It was so exciting, it was like meeting our colleagues from the past. It was actually like them being there," Miller told BBC News Scotland. "It was like touching them. Like them being part of our team instead of just four of us being there, we were all there sharing what they had written because it was tangible and you could see the style of their handwriting."
"You knew what they had done. You knew they had hidden it in such a place it wouldn't be found for a long, long time," he said.
The note reads: "This lantern was erected by James Wells Engineer, John Westwood Millwright, James Brodie Engineer, David Scott Labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months from May to September and relighted on Thursday night 15th Sept 1892.
"The following being keepers at the station at this time, John Wilson Principal, John B Henderson 1st assistant, John Lockhart 2nd assistant.
"The lens and machine being supplied by James Dove &Co Engineers Greenside Edinburgh and erected by William Burness, John Harrower, James Dods. Engineers with the above firm."
Russell said he and his team would put the bottle back into its hiding place along with a message of their own.
"It was just a strange coincidence to find the note while working on the equipment described on the note," he said.
St. Louis Zoo announces birth of baby Asian elephant
Nov. 25 (UPI) — The St. Louis Zoo in Missouri announced the birth of a male baby Asian elephant, the first of his species to be conceived via artificial insemination at the facility.
The zoo said in a news release that 17-year-old Asian elephant Jade gave birth to the baby boy at 4:32 a.m. Saturday.
The baby, named Jet, marks the first successful case of artificial insemination for an Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo and is the fourth generation of his family to live at the facility.
"We are thrilled to welcome this calf, which starts the fourth generation of our Asian elephant family at the zoo," said Tim Thier, the zoo's curator of mammals/ungulates and River's Edge, as well as the director of the St. Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation. "Jade and baby are doing well and bonding."
The mother and new baby are being kept in an off-exhibit area and are expected to go on public display sometime in the spring.
Circus performer breaks two world records on the aerial hoop
An Australian circus performer put her endurance to the test by breaking two Guinness World Records with an aerial hoop in a single day.
Charlotte "Charli" Meath, 23, took on the records for the most aerial hoop somersaults in one minute (female) and the longest duration shoulder blade hang on aerial hoop at her gym in Geelong, Victoria.
"I saw on my Instagram feed that someone did the aerial hoop somersaults record and it's a skill that I've been doing for about seven or eight years now and they're pretty easy for me so I thought why not change up my training, give myself a bit of a challenge and see how many I could do," Meath told Guinness World Records. "In training I got about 45 and the existing record was 47 so I trained then went for it."
She said the somersaulting record involved the danger of cramps in her hamstrings, as well as one other major obstacle: "I definitely get dizzy, I could barely stand up after it."
Meath managed to take the record with 53 somersaults.
She said the shoulder blade hanging record was all about endurance. She claimed the second record with a time of 63.18 seconds.
"The hardest part about these records was probably training them in my own time before the attempt because I just had myself to motivate me, I didn't have anyone else yelling at me or cheering me on," she said.
Deer wearing high-visibility vest seen wandering British Columbia town
Nov. 26 (UPI) — Residents of a northern British Columbia community are trying to solve the mystery of a local deer seen wandering around wearing a high-visibility vest.
Andrea Arnold, a McBride resident who works as a reporter for the Rocky Mountain Goat newspaper, snapped photos when she spotted the deer walking around wearing the unusual garment.
"They're everywhere around town, but this one was wearing high-vis. I did a double, triple take like, 'Wait, what am I actually seeing here?'" Arnold told CTV News.
Local resident Joe Rich, who also spotted the deer, said the animal would not have been able to don the vest without help.
"It's zipped right up," he told CBC News.
Rich said someone "had to tackle this thing and put the jacket on it. At first I thought maybe it got tangled up in it, but on second glance, that's not the case."
Sgt. Eamonn McArthur with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said an investigation has been opened and officers are determining what, if anything, to do about the vest-wearing deer.
"I don't even want to speculate on how that might have happened. They're not predisposed to wearing clothes" he said. "Even if you can get close enough to the wildlife to put it in a sweater or a jacket or boots or what have you, we recommend highly against that."
'Walking Dead' superfan's collection earns Guinness World Record
A Saudi Arabia man earned a Guinness World Record for his collection of 3,053 different pieces of memorabilia related to comic book and TV franchise The Walking Dead.
Dammam resident Rashid Al-Olayan transformed part of his home into a The Walking Dead museum, featuring toys, books, games, statues and artwork stemming from the comic book series, the AMC series and its spin-offs.
"I believe The Walking Dead franchise is the best out there," Al-Olayan told Guinness World Records. "Who doesn't love a zombie show? It's the perfect show for me."
Al-Olayan's collection began in 2015 with a set of action figures depicting Michonne, played by Danai Gurira, and her pet zombies.
His collection now encompasses 3,053 items and even includes some screen-worn costume pieces from the franchise.
"I believe the characters in the show and comic books are relatable, you will cheer for them and want them to survive, but unfortunately in this show you lose a lot of the main characters," Al-Olayan said. "But that's part of the reason we love the show, because you don't know what's going to happen next."
Several of the pieces in his collection have been autographed by actors from the series, and Al-Olayan said he is hoping to one day get Robert Kirkman, the writer and co-creator of the comic book series, to sign some of his items.
"As long as there are some pieces that I don't have, I'm going to aim to get them all," he said. "My goal is to get every single thing and I won't stop until I achieve it."
World's largest iced latte served in 11-foot-high cup
Nov. 27 (UPI) — Social media star Nick DiGiovanni teamed up with Dunkin' to break the Guinness World Record for the largest iced latte.
DiGiovanni, a chef and social media influencer with multiple Guinness World Records titles, filled an 11-foot-high Dunkin' cup with ice, milk and espresso to take on the record.
Guinness World Records confirmed the resulting 276-gallon beverage was the world's largest iced latte.
The massive latte was then portioned out into smaller cups and served to more than 300 employees at Dunkin's corporate office in Massachusetts.
SAUDI ARABIA IS ALL SET TO CONSTRUCT THE WORLD’S LARGEST SPORTS STADIUM
Saudi Arabia has been unveiling quite a few impressive constructions and structures recently, and they don’t seem to be slowing down. They recently announced another project – a massive and impressive stadium that is supposed to be the world’s largest once constructed. It is designed to mimic a seed germinating in the desert. Populous unveiled the plans for the stadium called the King Salman Stadium and Masterplan. It will be located in Riyadh, near a big park area that is under construction at the moment.
The stadium will include a circular building consisting of segmented sections with green walls and green roof spaces. The roof will also include walking paths. It will be able to seat over 92,00o, making it the largest stadium in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the world. It will contain the main seating, a royal box, hospitality skyboxes, and lounges.
It will also hold 2,200 VIP seats and 300 “VVIP” seats. It will be integrated with internal screens, climbing walls, gardens, and an aquatics center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a small athletic stadium. The stadium will also include a running track. The structure is heavily inspired by Saudi Arabia’s natural landscapes, and it will resemble seeds emerging from the Earth, thereby showcasing the country’s initiative to encourage sports participation.
“Inspiration for the design is drawn from Saudi Arabia’s mesmerizing natural landscape, with the symbolic concept of each venue within the masterplan representing a seed that germinates, cracks the earth, and emerges as a dynamic yet seemingly natural intervention,” said Populous. “The planting of these ‘seeds’ symbolizes Saudi Arabia’s commitment to nurturing and growing sports participation across the country, from the grassroots to the elite level.”
The stadium is expected to be completed in late 2029, and it will function as the primary headquarters for the national soccer team. The King Salman Stadium and Masterplan is a part of a whole bunch of stadiums that are currently being constructed in Saudi Arabia – they’re being designed by Populous as well.
Officer crawls 50 yards through pipe to rescue kitten in Florida
Animal welfare officers in Florida came to the rescue of a kitten heard crying from inside a drainage pipe.
Escambia County Animal Welfare said an employee with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office heard the kitten's calls coming from inside a drainage pipe near the Escambia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Lead Animal Welfare Officer Sgt. Merideth Roberson responded to the location and initially tried to use videos of a mother cat to lure the feline closer to the opening.
"I played mama cat noises again, then I saw his beady little eyeballs way at the end of the tunnel," Roberson said in a news release.
The kitten declined to come any closer, so Roberson donned a headlamp and climbed into the drain. She said she had to crawl about 50 yards to reach the kitten.
"I was a little scared crawling down in there," she said. "I'm just super thankful that I've had the opportunity to do things like this and that I've received training to do my job the best that I can do."
The kitten, now named Pipes, was taken to a veterinarian for a check-up and will soon be available for adoption at the Escambia County Animal Shelter.
Kentucky man's lottery numbers hit big after 9 years
Nov. 27 (UPI) — A Kentucky man won a lottery jackpot worth $25,000 a year for life after using the same set of lucky numbers for nine years.
Lexington resident Billy Glenn told Kentucky Lottery officials he played the same set of numbers in the Lucky For Life drawing for nine years and seven months.
Glenn said the numbers represent anniversaries and jersey numbers from his favorite Major League Baseball players.
His numbers finally came up in the Nov. 19 drawing, earning him the second prize sum of $25,000 a year for life.
"I've just been waiting for the dream," Glenn told lottery officials.
He said his prize money will go toward paying off debt and doing some projects around the house.
USFWS equipment found covered in living 'blob of jelly'
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Midwest Fisheries Center shared photos of a telemetry receiver found covered in a living "blob of jelly."
The center said on social media that researchers hauled the receiver up to the surface and were surprised to see it covered in a "blob of jelly" comprised of "thousands of animals."
"Pectinatella magnifica, also known as the Magnificent Bryozoan (what a name!), forms large colonies, sometimes bigger than a basketball," the post said.
An individual creature, called a zooid, is smaller than a sesame seed and resembles "a tiny horseshoe with tentacles," researchers wrote. "These zooids live together in dense, jelly-like masses where they feed and reproduce."
The center conceded the animals "might look strange and maybe even a little gross," but they are a natural part of the underwater ecosystem and pose no danger to people.
"This blob will die and decompose over winter, but its offspring will float away and form new colonies elsewhere next summer," the post said.
Researchers said it was the first time that a telemetry receiver had been found covered in such a colony, although the devices have previously played host to animals including "insects, snails, mussels, crayfish and even the occasional madtom."
'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' coming to HBO, Max
Nov. 26 (UPI) — Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is coming to HBO and Max.
HBO announced in a press release Tuesday that the documentary film about late Superman actor Christopher Reeve will premiere Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. EST and also stream on Max.
Super/Man is directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. The film is presented by DC Studios in association with HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films, Words+Pictures, And a Passion Pictures, and Misfits Entertainment Production.
Reeve, who died at age 52 in 2004, was best-known for playing Clark Kent, aka Superman, in the Superman films released between 1978 and 1987. After the actor was paralyzed from the neck down in a near-fatal horseback riding accident in 1995, he became an advocate for spinal injury research.
"Following a life-altering accident, Christopher Reeve persevered, by using his fame to speak of hope and to change our perception of paralysis, all while remaining a dedicated activist, actor and filmmaker, devoted dad, and loving husband to Dana Reeve, the beating heart of the family," an official synopsis reads.
The film "uses Reeve's own words, as well as intimate input from his closest family members and friends, to paint a rich, nuanced portrait of a man who refused to be defined by his physicality and who proved that you don't need tights and a cape to be a hero."
Reeve's children Matthew Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens and Will Reeve, brother Kevin Johnson, his first wife, Gae Exton, and Hollywood friends Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels and Whoopi Goldberg give interviews.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and screened in theaters in September.
9-year-old boy finds 60,000-year-old axe at Shoreham Beach in England
A young boy from England found a shiny item on a beach that turned out to be a "rare" ancient item dating back to the late Middle Paleolithic era.
The boy — identified by Worthing Museum as Ben Witten, now 9 years old — discovered a shiny rock at Shoreham Beach in Sussex.
"I was looking around and I saw this shiny flint rock. I just thought it looked different [from] all the other different pebbles and stones," he told the BBC.
Over the next few years, Witten said he kept the shiny rock in his room.
He told the BBC he was constantly "losing it and finding it."
A trip to Worthing Museum changed everything for the boy.
While exploring exhibits at the museum, he stopped by the Stone Age exhibition and noticed similarities to the item that he had found, according to the BBC.
This led him to report his finding to the museum — where many more details were uncovered about the item that he had unearthed.
The item turned out to be a hand axe from the late Middle Paleolithic period, an era dating back between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago, according to a Nov. 21 Facebook post by Worthing Museum.
The museum said that the item was "almost certainly made by a Neanderthal."
"We regularly have visitors bring in their finds from the local area. Mostly these are other flint tools or Roman artifacts, but this is by far the oldest item shown to myself in 10-plus years," James Sainsbury, curator of archaeology at Worthing Museum, told Fox News Digital.
'Moana 2' tops North American weekend box office with $135.5M
Dec. 1 (UPI) — Animated adventure Moana 2 is the No. 1 movie in North America, earning $135.5 million in receipts this weekend, BoxOfficeMojo.com announced Sunday.
The Hollywood Reporter said the long-awaited sequel, which earned $221 million since Thanksgiving Eve on Wednesday, had the biggest five-day debut in history and the best-ever Thanksgiving holiday weekend haul.
The previous five-day record-holder was 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie with $204.6 million.
Coming in at No. 2 is Wicked with $80 million, followed by Gladiator II at No. 3 with $30.7 million, Red One at No. 4 with $12.9 million and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at No. 5 with $3.3 million.
Rounding out the top tier are Bonhoeffer at No. 6 with $2.4 million, Venom: The Last Dance at No. 7 with $2.4 million, Heretic at No. 8 with $960,000, The Wild Robot at No. 9 with $700,000 and A Real Pain at No. 10 with $670,000.
Man compensated $2.53 after unwrapping smooth Mars bar
A British man was awarded $2.53 in compensation from Mars Wrigley U.K. after he unwrapped a Mars bar — known as a Milky Way in the United States — and found it was missing its signature ripple.
Harry Seager, 34, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, posted a photo of his unusually smooth candy bar to the Dull Men's Club group on Facebook, and the post quickly went viral, garnering hundreds of shares and thousands of comments.
"It tasted the same," Seager told The Guardian. "It just was a lot thinner on top that's all — not quite as thick."
Seager, who bought the Mars bar from an Oxfordshire gas station while en route to a classic car show in Birmingham, reached out to the company the next day.
Seager said he wasn't seeking any compensation, but he was curious about what had caused the Mars bar's smoothness and wanted to inform the company in case there was a production problem that hadn't been caught.
Mars Wrigley U.K. did not offer Seager an explanation, but did award him a £2 voucher — worth $2.53 in U.S. currency.
"The only reason I emailed [Mars] was because I was interested in what might have caused it to happen. That is all I wanted to know and they kept side-lining that question," Seager told the BBC. "I think £2 is great, it will be two free Mars bars. Maybe they could have sent me more but I'm not being ungrateful. I think it's amazing after everything that's happened that I got the £2 voucher."
Commenters on the post who are familiar with the candy-making process said the bar most likely simply missed being blown by air in a machine called an enrober. The blowing process is what causes the chocolate on top to swirl.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson kills gang leader, escapes prison in 'Kraven the Hunter'
Dec. 2 (UPI) — Sony Pictures is previewing the beginning of Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Within the film's first eight minutes, Kraven (Taylor-Johnson) enters prison, gets into a fight, kills gang leader Seymon Chorney, escapes jail, and fakes his own death.
"The hunter is a myth," Chorney says after Kraven introduces himself as such. "Now you're trapped, hunter. What's your name? Who sent you?"
Kraven shares his name and then proceeds to attack everyone in the room.
"There's an ounce of truth in every myth," he tells Chorney before stabbing him several times.
Taylor-Johnson introduced the clip, which he said was first shared at New York Comic Con.
"It's the holiday season, and have I got a surprise gift for you," he said. "Right here, right now, you get to see the opening scenes of my new film, Kraven the Hunter."
Kraven the Hunter is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The film is part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola and Christopher Abbott also star. The movie opens in theaters Dec. 13.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson: awards, action roles and red carpets
German man attempts to break record for living underwater
A 59-year-old German man is more than 60 days into his attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest time spent living in an underwater fixed habitat.
Rüdiger Koch, an aerospace engineer, has been living and working for two months in an underwater capsule off the coast of Puerto Lindo, Panama, in the Caribbean Sea.
Koch's living space measures about 322 square feet and features a portable toilet, a TV, a computer, a bed, a stationary bike, solar power, satellite Internet and multiple fans.
He said the on-land luxury he misses the most is a shower.
"It's not particularly hard. I don't feel like I'm suffering down here at all, although the hardest part is that sometimes I want to go diving," he told CBS News.
He began his record attempt on Sept. 26 and plans to emerge Jan. 24, after spending 120 days underwater.
The current record for the longest time spent living in an underwater fixed habitat stands at 100 days and was set by Joseph Dituri off the Florida coast in 2023.
'Snow White' trailer: Rachel Zegler stars in Disney's live-action remake
Dec. 3 (UPI) — Disney is giving a glimpse of its live-action remake of Snow White.
The studio shared a trailer for the musical fantasy film Tuesday featuring Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes).
Snow White reimagines the 1937 animated Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale.
Zegler plays Snow White, a princess who flees deep into the woods after her beauty rouses the jealousy of her stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot).
Snow White is written by Greta Gerwig (Barbie) and Erin Cressida Wilson, and directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man).
The film features songs from the original film and new music by Pasek and Paul, including the ballad "Waiting on a Wish."
The classic story comes to life Experience Disney's #SnowWhite, only in theaters March 21, 2025. pic.twitter.com/Ry6vMk7OfW— Disney (@Disney) December 3, 2024
German man drinks liters of lemon juice, lime juice to reclaim world records
A serial world record-breaker from Germany reclaimed two of his former titles in a single day by drinking liters of lemon juice and lime juice.
Andre Ortolf, 30, previously held the records for the fastest time to drink a liter of lemon juice through a straw and the same record for drinking lime juice, but lost both this year to fellow serial record-breaker David Rush.
Ortolf's lemon juice time was 16 seconds, which Rush beat with a time of 13.53 seconds. Rush also beat Ortlof's lime juice time of 16.82 seconds, performing the feat in 13.99 seconds.
Ortolf has now reclaimed both titles, with a time of 13.3 seconds for the lemon juice and 13.51 seconds for the lime juice.
He said breaking both records in a single day had only minor consequences.
"In general, I usually don't have any problems with eating and drinking records," Ortolf told Guinness World Records. "And this time, too, my stomach felt relatively good, but I had a toothache. It only went away after a day."
Richard Curtis: 'That Christmas' for people sick of 'Love Actually'
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4 (UPI) — The British romantic-comedy, Love Actually, has become a Christmas perennial since its release in 2003. Its writer-director, Richard Curtis, said viewers who are sick of it after two decades might enjoy his latest, That Christmas, as an alternative.
Curtis, 68, co-wrote the animated Christmas film with Peter Souter, and it premieres Wednesday on Netflix. The film was adapted from Curtis' illustrated children's books.
"Instead of watching Love Actually, they can watch That Christmas," Curtis told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "I've written this film for them."
Love Actually tells the love stories of eight couples plus several other tangential subplots, and it appears in That Christmas.
A group of kids snowed-in on Christmas watch a live-action movie on TV, and the TV screen displays a famous scene with Keira Knightly — an idea of director Simon Otto and the animators.
"I'd written 'boring Christmas movie is on the screen,'" Curtis said. "I came in one day and they put Love Actually on it, and I think it's fair."
The snowed-in children star in one of several stories in That Christmas. Santa Claus (voice of Brian Cox) has trouble with a snowstorm and mixes up the gifts for a naughty and nice pair of grade school twin sisters.
Another grade schooler, Danny's (Jack Wisniewski) mother has to work on Christmas, so he spends the holiday with his teacher, Ms. Trapper (Fiona Shaw). Danny is also in love with one of the twins, and hopes his father will come to visit for Christmas.
The other parents in town become trapped in a snowstorm after a Christmas party, leaving the kids home alone. Curtis said That Christmas only had five stories to balance, which was a relief compared to Love Actually's 10.
"I did learn some lessons from Love Actually," Curtis said. "You can't just go from one to the other to the other. Sometimes you've got to bed down and focus on one of the stories."
Since the stories of That Christmas come from three different books, Curtis and Souter added connective tissue between the characters.
"If all these kids lived in the same place, how would they know each other?" Curtis asked. "Would one kid have a crush on another kid, and would they all go to the same school and therefore would they be in the same play?"
That childhood crush, like Thomas Brodie-Sangster's storyline in Love Actually, is autobiographical to Curtis.
"I can remember and tell you their names," he said. "There was one girl when I was 6, one girl when I was 8 and one girl when I was 10."
Curtis said he became friends with the first girl as an adult and is godfather to her daughter, but the other two lived in different countries. His romanticism led to a career writing romantic movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill.
The 90-minute adaptation of That Christmas still required embellishment of the 40 or so pages of each book. Curtis said he struggled more when adapting longer books like Bridget Jones's Diary and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
"The books are quite small," Curtis said. "It was a joy to add to it. The pain of adapting novels is all the stuff you've got to cut."
He said the Christmas setting allowed him to include more dramatic themes in the romance and comedy. For example, Danny's divorced parents and the teacher's loneliness are emphasized during the holidays.
"I felt like Christmas freed me up to say this is what it feels like to be sad, to be worried about your kids, to be a bit lonely," Curtis said. "I think it's a good time, almost, to be extreme rather than to be moderate."
Curtis joked about people having such an extreme aversion to Love Actually that they shudder when it comes on television. With good humor about his omnipresent film, Curtis said there is room for many Christmas movies in December.
"There's a lot of free time over Christmas," he said. "Maybe you can find time to watch both and squeeze in White Christmas, as well."
Philadelphia couple become world's oldest newlyweds
A 100-year-old man and a 102-year-old woman who met at their senior living home in Philadelphia ended up falling in love and getting married, earning them a Guinness World Record as the world's oldest newlyweds.
Guinness World Records confirmed Bernie Littman and Marjorie Fiterman broke the record for the oldest couple to marry (aggregate age) when they tied the knot at the senior living facility where they both reside on May 19.
Littman and Fiterman met at a costume party at the facility and later discovered they had both attended the University of Philadelphia at the same time, but never crossed paths as students.
Sarah Sicherman told the Jewish Chronicle the pair were "so lucky to have found each other and be a support to each other, especially during the pandemic."
She wrote on social media that Littman and Fiterman "both had 60-plus years of marriage to their first spouses and found love again at 100 years old!"
Rabbi Adam Wohlberg, who officiated the ceremony, told Fox News the couple had "eventually reached the point where being not just close friends — but husband and wife — felt like the right step to take."
Littman credited his long life to reading and staying up-to-date on world events, while Fiterman attributed her longevity to buttermilk.
"They both love each other's humor and intellect," Sicherman told Guinness World Records, "they keep each other young."
Tye Sheridan: Thriller 'The Order' ode to law-enforcement
NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (UPI) — Tye Sheridan says he wanted to star in the new film, The Order, because it is a thriller steeped in reality.
Opening in theaters Friday, the movie follows law-enforcement officers — Sheridan's Jamie Bowen, Jude Law's Terry Husk and Jurnee Smollett's Joanne Carney — as they try to bring down Nicholas Hoult's Bob Mathews, the leader of a White-supremacist group that robs banks to fund domestic terrorism in the Pacific Northwest.
"The movie has a lot of universal themes. It's based on a true story. It takes place in the mid-1980s about a group of guys who spun out of the Aryan Nation and started this White-supremacist group. They're trying to start a revolution and overthrow the government," Sheridan, 28, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"It's about the law-enforcement officers who are trying to stop the guys. It's kind of like classic 'good guys versus bad guys,'" the Mud, Ready Player One and X-Men alum said.
"The story feels like it's a propulsive thriller that feels cut from the same cloth as the movies that I absolutely love and grew up loving, which were made in the 1970s and '80s. It just felt like it's got something deeper resonating. It just felt like an amazing opportunity."
As the story unfolds, Jamie is a rookie police officer working in the small town in which he has lived all of his life when FBI Agent Terry Husk arrives to seek help with an investigation.
While Jamie's fellow cops have no interest in messing with the racist criminals who live on the outskirts of town, Jamie jumps at the chance to help Terry bring them to justice.
"He is a young deputy at the sheriff's department in this town he grew up in, and that's where all this is taking place," Sheridan said.
"So, all these guys that he knew growing up, that he went to high school with and played sports with, they have now joined the Aryan Nation and started this group," he added.
"The catalyst moment is Terry Husk, Jude's character, coming in and the two of them coming together and Jamie, my character, telling him everything that he knows."
On the personal side, young husband and father Jamie sees Terry, who is divorced and estranged from his kids, as a cautionary tale, while Terry sees Jamie himself in years past.
"It's like Terry is kind of looking in a mirror. He's looking back in time at himself 25 years ago," Sheridan said. "He's maybe the kind of person who's put his work before his life. I think he's starting to see that in Jamie toward the end of the film."
Sheridan said he thinks the film spotlights the dangers police and other investigators face whenever they go to work, as well as the personal toll the job takes on their home lives.
"It's an ode to law-enforcement officers everywhere and the sacrifices that they have to make, that their families have to make for them to serve law and order and protect our, not only communities, but our nation — especially in a case like this where it has to do with domestic terrorism," Sheridan said.
Given the subject matter, the film goes to some dark places, and Sheridan said he was was happy to have Law beside him to share the emotional heavy lifting.
"He's extremely talented, obviously, and somebody I have admired for many years," Sheridan said.
"Just to be able to work closely with him, to see his process, how much preparation and work goes into his craft and the dedication that he has to his craft, was really an honor," Sheridan added.
"I just completely admired that. He's a great collaborator. He's trying to make everyone else around him as best as they can be, and I absolutely loved working with him. I hope we get to do it again in the future."
Directed by Justin Kurzel, the film co-stars Alison Oliver and Marc Maron.
Michigan woman's lucky lottery streak culminates with $1.54M jackpot
A Michigan woman who had been "pretty lucky" playing lottery games recently saw her winning streak culminate with a $1.54 million progressive jackpot.
The 53-year-old Genesee County woman told Michigan Lottery officials she had already had some recent lottery luck when she bought her Jackpot Slots Fast Cash ticket from the Beacon & Bridge Market on West Thompson Road in Fenton.
"Jackpot Slots is my favorite Fast Cash game, and I play it regularly," the player said. "I looked the ticket over right after I bought it and saw I'd won, but I had to scan it on the lottery app to be sure I was seeing things right. When the winning amount of $1.54 million came up on the screen, I immediately called my husband to tell him the good news!"
The woman said she is a frequent lottery player — and, lately, a frequent winner.
"I have been pretty lucky playing Fast Cash and Club Keno lately, so winning this jackpot prize is the icing on the cake," she said.
The winner said her prize money will go toward buying a new car and investing.
'Day of the Fight' director Jack Huston 'completely honored' by showbiz family
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (UPI) — Actor Jack Huston's directorial debut, the boxing drama Day of the Fight, will be in theaters Friday. The great-grandson of actor Walter Huston and grandson of director-actor John Huston said he did not shy away from his family's legacy.
"I feel completely honored to be able to say, 'My God, that was my grandfather, that was my great grandfather, that was my aunt, that was my uncle, that was my father,'" Huston, 41, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "Thank God that I had some great footsteps to follow."
Huston cast his Boardwalk Empire co-star, Michael C. Pitt, as Mike Flanagan, an ex-con preparing for his first bout since release. Mike spends the day trying to reconnect with his ex-wife (Nicolette Robinson) and father (Joe Pesci) before entering the ring.
The actors remained friends even after Pitt's character was killed off the HBO series.
"Jack was still shooting Boardwalk Empire," Pitt said. "He used to come visit me because I lived in the neighborhood."
Pitt said he remembers Huston being introduced as "acting royalty" and found it refreshing that he did not try to downplay his connection to the Huston family. Huston said his uncle, actor Danny Huston, encouraged him to embrace the lineage.
"My uncle Danny said very early on, 'Don't be the [expletive] who denies your family,'" Huston said. "My family's never felt like a shadow. They've always felt like the light."
Huston cast his son, Cypress, as young Mike in the film.
"He's actually the fifth generation of my family on screen and I think there's something incredibly beautiful about that," Huston said. "It brought me to tears watching him on set so I'm very proud."
Huston did not have the Hollywood resources that had been available to his grandfather when he produced Day of the Fight. To make the most of his brief shooting schedule, he filmed Pitt with multiple cameras simultaneously during the fight scenes.
"I don't know when the camera was rolling and when it wasn't rolling," Pitt said, adding that Huston didn't call "action" or "cut," but rather just kept filming.
Pitt also suggested that instead of simulating the boxing match, he and his opponent could actually punch each other. With his co-star's permission, Pitt and Cameron Williamson landed blows to ensure the fight scene was completed in a day and one-half.
"We didn't have a lot of time," Pitt said. "It felt like a kind of risk that we could take as a smaller production that could make us competitive with bigger films."
Huston said Pitt's trust in allowing punches to land gave him the confidence to film the fight in that unorthodox way. The director said he saved hours by not having to coordinate angles to make it appear as if fake punches were hitting.
"Michael and Cameron felt each other out and I was like, 'Take it to that corner, take it to that corner,'" Huston said. "The big punches we took a lot of care with."
Huston took a similar approach to Pitt's training scenes. The film begins with Mike working out the morning of the fight.
"I was just like, 'Train, train, train, just go,'" Huston said. "I was moving the camera, getting pieces. Everything was done on the fly."
Huston said he knew his friend had boxing experience because he watched him work out between takes on Boardwalk. Pitt has boxed since he was 25.
"I love the discipline of it, also the music of a gym, just the stories," Pitt said. "You can literally lose every round up until the last moment, and you can win everything. I think that's why it's so exciting."
Music plays a major role in Day of the Fight, as well.. Ben MacDiarmid wrote the score, and the film features an original song performed by Robinson and Pesci and catalog songs by Rodriguez and more.
Huston called music "another character in the movie" and said he wrote to specific pieces of music, whether score or songs with lyrics. The director said he felt a sense of harmony when the film was working.
"Film is very musical," Huston said. "When you're watching a beautiful piece of opera, which is a wonderful scene between two wonderful actors or three wonderful actors, and it does feel like that."
A Florida family thought they were being pranked after an inflatable Grinch Christmas decoration vanished from their yard, but security camera footage showed the thief was a not-so-jolly bear.
Shanick Suarez said her family decorated their Golden Gate Estates home for Christmas in November, and on the day after Thanksgiving they discovered their inflatable Grinch had been stolen.
"We were just dumbfounded," Suarez told WBBH-TV. "We were like, where did it go?"
Suarez said she suspected the incident had been a prank when a neighbor texted her a few days later to say the Grinch had been found two houses away from her family's home.
The Dr. Seuss character was put back in place, but Suarez received an alert from her security camera on Wednesday and checked it to see a bear attacking the Grinch.
"I never expected it to be a bear." Suarez said. "I thought it was the funniest thing ever. I literally, like, text my husband. I'm like, 'What is going on?' We were texting back and forth, just rewatching the video, sending it to all of our family and friends at five in the morning."
The bear dragged the Grinch off into the nearby woods. Suarez said her family was able to find it later, but it was too damaged to make a return to the yard.
"It's a funny story to tell," she said.
Florida bears have been known to tamper with holiday decorations in the past — Longwood resident EJ Levin shared video last year of a bear attacking the light-up reindeer decorations in his family's yard.
Angelina Jolie says she wanted to be a funeral director on 'Tonight Show'
Dec. 6 (UPI) — Angelina Jolie may be a licensed pilot and an award-winning actress, but talk shows make her nervous, she told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
"I get very uncomfortable," she said. "And I haven't done one for like a decade."
Jolie, 49, confronted her fears to discuss her new film Maria, and her production of the Broadway show, The Outsiders, which won her a Tony Award.
"I was thinking what it is to be an outsider," she told Fallon. "And I think that's just, to be somebody who's comfortable with other people maybe not understanding who you are, or knowing what you do," she said. "Or you don't feel as understood or connected, but you know who you are, and you're okay with that."
Maria, which is now playing in theaters, presented a new challenge for Jolie.
"I'd never sung before," she said. "Everybody's got something that makes them, you know, this is not something I can do, and I was pretty sure that was one of the things, I can't sing."
But her performance has already earned her widespread recognition. She is set to be honored at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.
Jolie said, too, that before she found acting, she'd wanted to be a funeral director.
"My grandfather died, and I remembered thinking this is not how they should be," she told Fallon. "This should be a celebration of life, and since I'm not afraid of death, and I was comfortable with it, I thought this would be a great career path for me."
Size of Stegosaurus readily apparent in new NYC display to open this weekend
The 150 million-year-old fossil remains of a Stegosaurus dinosaur named "Apex" will be displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City starting Sunday.
The dinosaur's remains are considered by many to be the largest and most complete examples of the Stegosaurus ever discovered and are displayed in the museum's Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium.
The fossil measures 11.5 feet high and 27 feet in length and is mounted in a defensive pose with its spiked tail raised high.
It was discovered in the Morrison Formation near Dinosaur, Colo., in 2022 and contains more than 254 of its original 320 bone elements.
The missing bones were recreated using 3D printing and sculpted pieces to create a complete display of the dinosaur.
The museum chose the atrium to display it so that visitors can walk around the dinosaur's skeleton and appreciate its size.
Researchers with the museum's Paleontology Division will study the fossil to learn more about its growth, life history and variations compared to similar specimens at other natural history institutions.
The fossil is on loan from billionaire Kenneth Griffin, who purchased it in 2024 at auction from Sotheby's for $44.6 million.
The Stegosaurus is the most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold at auction.
Although it is named Apex, the Stegosaurus was a plant-eater that lived between 145 million and 152 million years ago and is found in the United States, according to the U.K. Natural History Museum in London.
The armored dinosaur used its spiked tail to defend against predators and had distinctive vertical bony plates along its back that were embedded into its skin but not attached to its skeleton.
Scientists are unsure what the purpose might be for the bony plates, with some suggesting they discouraged predators, enabled recognition of other Stegosaurus dinosaurs or helped regulate its body temperature.
The world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg at the estimated age of 74 on a North Pacific island, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
The wildlife service Pacific region said on social media that Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was seen nesting with a new partner and has laid an egg at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, located on the northwest edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago.
Researchers said it was Wisdom's first egg in four years, and the bird is estimated to have laid 50 to 60 eggs in her lifetime.
"Wisdom returns to the same nesting site each year to reunite with her mate and if able, lay one egg," the social media post said. "For decades, she did this with the same partner, Akeakamai, but that bird has not been seen for several years."
Jon Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll refuge, said researchers are "optimistic that the egg will hatch."
Wisdom was believed to be 5 years old when she was first banded and observed laying an egg in 1956.
'Joker: Folie a Deux' to start streaming Dec. 13 on Max
Dec. 6 (UPI) — Joker: Folie à Deux is coming to Max next week.
Max announced in a press release Friday that the film will start streaming on its service Dec. 13. The movie will also have its network premiere Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. EST on HBO.
Joker: Folie à Deux is a sequel to the 2019 film Joker. The movies are inspired by DC Comics characters and are both directed by Todd Phillips.
In the sequel, Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role of Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, now in custody at Arkham State Hospital as he awaits trial for his crimes.
"While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him," an official synopsis reads.
Lady Gaga also stars as Harleen "Lee" Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, a fellow patient at Arkham and Arthur's love interest.
Other cast members include Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Zazie Beetz.
Joker: Folie à Deux opened in theaters in October. Lady Gaga released the album Harlequin to coincide with the film's release.
Long Island, N.Y., man skateboards 3,162 miles from coast to coast
A New York man took a 3,162-mile trip on his skateboard over the course of 57 days, 6 hours, 56 minutes to cross the United States and set a Guinness World Record in the process.
Chad Caruso, outfitted only with his board, a small backpack and a single set of clothes, started his skateboarding trip in Venice Beach, Calif., and completed his journey at the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach.
The feat earned him the Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing of America on a skateboard (male).
"As I skated up to the finish line in Virginia Beach with hundreds of people cheering me on, police escorts, and local skaters pushing alongside me, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotion," Caruso told Guinness World Records.
"I kept thinking back to the teenage version of myself who dropped out of school to pursue skating and fought through all the voices telling him to quit over the years."
Caruso, who has been skating for 25 years, aimed to raise awareness of addiction and mental health problems. He said skateboarding helped him get sober nine years ago and he hopes his story will inspire others to do the same.
Caruso celebrated his arrival at the finish line by throwing his board into the ocean. Virginia Beach Mayor Robert M. Dyer then gave a speech declaring May 19 to be Chad Caruso Day.
"If you have a vision, believe in bringing it to life, and don't let the thoughts or opinions of others waver your resolve," Caruso said.
'Moana 2' tops North American box office for 2nd weekend
Dec. 8 (UPI) — Animated adventure Moana 2 is the No. 1 movie in North America for a second weekend, earning an additional $52 million in receipts, BoxOfficeMojo.com announced Sunday.
Coming in at No. 2 is Wicked with $34.9 million, Gladiator II at No. 3 with $12.5 million, Pushpa at No. 4 with $9.3 million and Red One at No. 5 with $7 million.
Rounding out the top tier are Interstellar at No. 6 with $4.4 million, Solo Leveling at No. 7 with $2.4 million, Y2K at No. 8 with $2.1 million, For King + Country: A Drummer Boy Christmas at No. 9 with $2 million and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at No. 10 with $1.5 million.
An Ontario, Canada, college student constructed what is believed to be the world's smallest arcade machine, measuring just 2.5 inches tall.
Victoria Korhonen, an electromechanical engineering student at Fanshawe College, unveiled her creation Tuesday: a machine measuring 2.5 inches tall, 1 inch wide and 1.3 inches long.
The working arcade machine runs the classic game Pong.
Korhonen's machine was officially measured by Fanshawe College civil engineering Professor Matt Carson in the hopes of capturing a Guinness World Record for the smallest arcade machine.
"I decided to look at smaller records that I could beat and found the arcade machine and completely fell in love with the design," Korhonen told CBC News. "Size is definitely something that is cool to me, to have the smallest something."
Korhonen was previously part of a high school team that broke the Guinness World Record for the longest selfie stick.
Evidence from Tuesday's official measuring must now be reviewed by the record-keeping organization to see if Korhonen has a second title to her name.
"I wanted one where I had the certificate in my name where I could frame it, so that was the goal," Korhonen said.
The current record is held by North Carolina man Jonathan Charles, whose Space Invaders game was measured in 2018 at 2.61 inches tall, 1.32 inches long and 1.17 inches wide.
British brothers amass world's largest collection of Pokémon cards
A pair of British brothers earned a Guinness World Record for their collection of 48,339 different Pokémon cards.
Pokémon Trading Card game superfans Owen and Conner Gray took the record for the largest collection of Pokémon cards from Benjamin DeGuire, whose collection was tallied at 34,310 in 2023.
"The slogan is 'gotta catch 'em all' and that's what we've tried to do," Owen Gray told Guinness World Records.
The Gray brothers' 48,339 cards come from several different countries and are printed in multiple different languages.
"We have all of them bar the Dutch language. That became impossible for us to find," Conner said.
"Anyone with any Dutch first edition, let us know," Owen added.
The siblings said one of their most fortuitous finds came when they bought some bags full of cards that had been found in an attic.
"There were probably about 3-4,000 cards just thrown into JD Sports bags and in that combination were two gold star Charizards, which today are worth anywhere between £5-25,000 [$6,350-$31,751] each," Owen said. "They weren't in bad condition at all."
Conner offered some tongue-in-cheek advice for other aspiring Pokémon collectors, urging them to "save their money."
The brothers are now taking their cards on a tour of U.S. collector shows scheduled for the next year.
510-pound black bear breaks state record in Mississippi
Wildlife officials in Mississippi said researchers trapped and tagged a 510-pound bear that is officially the largest ever documented in the state.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks said researchers with its Black Bear Program have been trapping bears in the state and outfitting them with GPS collars for tracking.
Anthony Ballard, the MDWFP Black Bear Program coordinator, trapped a bear known as M18 and was shocked when the bruin weighed in at a record-breaking 510 pounds.
"After it was all over, you got time to look at him and it was like, 'Man, this is a big bear,'" Ballard told the Clarion Ledger newspaper.
M18 was first collared in August 2022, when he weighed a comparatively petite 360 pounds. The MDWFP said the bear was able to slip out of his tracking collar shortly after his first capture.
The previous heaviest bear identified in the state was a 468-pound bear found dead at the side of a Wilkinson County road.
Driver stopped in Wyoming for covering car in Christmas lights
Police in Wyoming are reminding residents to decorate their homes for Christmas instead of their vehicles after a driver was pulled over with their car illuminated by festive lights.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol shared a photo on social media showing a Ford Mustang pulled over by a trooper who noticed the entire vehicle was decked out in colorful lights for the holidays.
"As the holiday season approaches, we would like to remind you of a Wyoming statute," the post said.
The statute in question states that "no person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device thereon capable of displaying a red or blue light visible from directly in front of the center thereof."
The post said that while decorating a car "might look cool and be festive, we would to remind you that it is illegal. Please remember to stay safe when celebrating this season!"
In an interview with Cowboy State Daily, WHP Trooper Jason Simmer explained that Christmas lights emblazoned on a vehicle are not only a distraction.
They also interfere with depth perception.
“If you have all those Christmas lights on, and you are braking because there’s some type of emergency in front of you, and other motorists can’t tell because of the amount of lights on the vehicle," Simmer said.
Zoo director dons ostrich costume for surprise escape drill
An Australian zoo shared video from a surprise animal escape drill featuring the zoo's director playing the part of a fugitive cassowary.
Rockhampton Councilor for Parks, Sport and Public Spaces Cherie Rutherford said the drill at Rockhampton Zoo was the first to take place during operating hours, with guests present.
"This year's training was the first live experience and an opportunity for staff to put their training into practice," Rutherford said in a news release. "The exercise was kept a complete surprise, with staff only realizing it was a drill after it began. It was also a surprise to zoo-goers on the day who were able to see the training in action, with some even getting to take part."
The drill featured Rockhampton Zoo Director Liz Bellward portraying the escaped animal in an ostrich costume.
"Unfortunately, you can't buy a cassowary Halloween costume," the zoo explained in a Facebook post.
"The team communicated effectively and worked well together to bring the cassowary safely back to its enclosure," the post said.
'Injured' falcon gets loose inside officer's patrol car in Arizona
A seemingly injured falcon was rescued by an animal control officer in Arizona, but regained some of its strength during transport and escaped onto the officer's dashboard.
The Mojave County Sheriff's Office said an animal control officer responded to a location in Littlefield where area workers had spotted a falcon they suspected to have a broken wing.
The officer "relocated the falcon to a cardboard box and placed the box on the passenger seat of his patrol unit," the sheriff's office wrote on social media. "A call was made to a local vet who informed officers it appeared the bird had a wing injury and SHOULDN'T be able to fly."
The post said the veterinarian's appraisal was "incorrect," as the bird demonstrated its ability to fly mere moments later.
"The bird flew out of the box and onto Officers Cobb's dash, where it paced back and forth hissing at poor Officer Cobb," the post said.
The raptor eventually "calmed down" and was taken to a rescue in Hurricane, Utah, for rehabilitation.
Lost lunchbox found at Virginia school after 42 years
A plumber working at a Virginia elementary school made a startling discovery: a Heathcliff lunchbox lost by a student more than 40 years earlier.
Roanoke City Public Schools said in a Facebook post that a plumber was doing maintenance at Fairview Elementary School and came across a metal lunchbox bearing images of the orange cartoon cat.
"Inside, we found a thermos that still smells like hot chocolate, an adorable drawing, and a tag with the student's name: Tracy Drain, who appears to have been in Mrs. Curry's class in Room 30," district officials wrote. "The lunchbox appears to have been made in the early 1980s."
The post eventually came to the attention of the correct Tracy Drain, who lost her lunchbox during her 4th grade year in 1982.
"I think it's amazing," Drain told WDBJ-TV. "If I would've been the person that found it, I would've put it on eBay, and it's finders keepers, losers weepers. But it's very interesting to be able to see it. As far as remembering it, I do not, but it has my mom's handwriting, which I'll treasure right here."
Jennifer Lopez earned 'Unstoppable' subject's trust
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) — Jennifer Lopez plays Judy Robles in Unstoppable, in theaters Friday, and inspired by the true story of her son, Anthony Robles, who was born without his right leg but nevertheless became a college wrestling champion.
"My main goal in the first meeting was to make her really comfortable," Lopez, 55, said at a Q&A after a screening of the film, adding that she wanted Robles to "know that she could trust me - that she could share things with me."
Lopez said she asked Robles about her son from the time she was born and their lives. She said she used many of those answers in her performance.
"I was only going to use things that, one, she felt comfortable with, but also that I thought would contribute to telling her part of the story," Lopez said.
Robles said it felt vulnerable and overwhelming to have a celebrity like Lopez play her, adding that the trust they built made it easier to watch her life on screen, and she found Lopez's portrayal authentic.
"The sadness was definitely there but there was also the joy and the bond that my son and I share," Robles said. "I saw the joy. Jennifer cared about that."
The Robleses struggle financially to pay for Anthony to attend Arizona State University, for whom he wrestles. They live with Robles' husband, Rick (Bobby Cannavale), who is abusive and gets them into further financial trouble before Judy and Rick ultimately divorced in real life.
"We found our strength in all that pain," Judy Robles said.
Anthony Robles, 36, credits his mother with teaching him that anything is possible despite life's setbacks. He appears in the film as the wrestling double for actor Jharrel Jerome, who plays him in the rest of the film.
"When I was born, immediately the world saw me for what I didn't have, for what would hold me back and for what I couldn't do," Anthony Robles said. "She didn't think that way. She taught me to focus on what I was capable of — on my strengths."
When Lopez saw Judy and Anthony Robles together, it further aided her performance. Lopez said she understood why Judy Robles presented her son with her most affirming side.
"We bonded on being moms obviously and wanting the best for our children," Lopez said. "Also struggling in our personal lives, the way that you have to hide that from your children sometimes, all the emotions that you have as a mom."
Anthony Robles helped train Jerome with his own coach, Brian Stith, for seven months. Jerome said working so closely with Anthony Robles helped his performance, too.
"It's impossible to spend so much time with Anthony and not adopt such a grit - the work ethic, unlimited mentality and the 'yes-I-can' attitude," Jerome, 27, said.
Anthony Robles' motivational coaching made an impact on Lopez, too. The megastar actor and recording artist found inspiration in Judy Robles' ability to pick herself back up from setbacks, she said.
"What unstoppable means to me is falling down and always getting back up," Lopez said. "There's not going to be a thing or life where you're not going to fall down. It's just do you stop or not?"
Judy Robles said she found the strength to keep going in her children and God. She has four other children with Rick Robles.
"Being married for 20 years, trying and trying and trying, feeling like a failure I guess when that ended, that doesn't define me," Judy Robles said. "We kept going together. We supported one another."
Watching Unstoppable for the first time at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere made Anthony Robles tear up, he said. Now, he feels the movie serves as a testament to his family's perseverance.
"It was all worth it to be here today," Anthony Robles said. "This is our family legacy right here."
Sky Elements Sets Guinness World Record with 5,000-Drone Gingerbread Village Holiday Show
Sky Elements, the largest drone show company in the U.S., has been racking up world records for some time now, but its most recent record comes with a big helping of holiday cheer.
Recently, the company set a new Guinness World Record title for the largest aerial display of a gingerbread village made out of drones. The festive display was part of a combined Thanksgiving/Christmas drone show the company presented on Nov. 27 in the skies over Mansfield, Texas.
The record-setting drone formation far exceeded the minimum number of 1,000 UAVs needed to establish the record, with the display encompassing a total of 4,981 drones, said Tyler Kubicz, Sky Elements production manager
“We wanted to bring in the holidays with a new drone light show. It starts off with a giant 5,000-drone turkey and kind of goes into a giant wintry village, and that turns into this giant gingerbread village,” Kubicz said.
Sky Elements’ graphics team began work several weeks in advance of the show on the preliminary job of designing the complex patterns that would result in the dazzling images in the sky. In order to stage a typical show — involving anywhere from 100 or 150 drones all the way up to 5,000 drones — would usually require the company to put in between 40 and 60 hours of prep work.
Once the mockups for the display were approved, they were handed off to Sky Elements’ in-house team of animators to create the programs to bring the images envisioned in the mockups to life.
The stars of the show were UVify’s high-performance IFO choreography swarm drones, equipped with quad-constellation navigation systems. Performing together, the UAVs are capable of flying the intricate flight patterns necessary to create a high-resolution drone show.
A Guinness World Record adjudicator was on hand to physically count every drone that was in the show to ensure that the show resulted in a legitimate world record. “With our software, it’s very easy for him to see what is working, what is not working, what takes off, what doesn’t take off.
The Mansfield show marked the company’s 11th world record performance.
Movie review: 'The Brutalist' an epic testament to work ethic
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) — At 3 hours, 35 minutes, The Brutalist, in theaters Friday, uses the historical epic genre to showcase the benefits and sacrifices of work and craft. Though centered around architecture, the themes are universal.
László Tóth (Adrien Brody) escapes Holocaust-era Budapest in the 1940s after being forcibly separated from wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy). Erzsébet writes letters to László until she can join him.
An acclaimed architect in Hungary, László gets work with his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola). Designing a library for Harry Van Buren's (Joe Alywn) father, Harrison (Guy Pearce), leads Lászlóto a major project that dominates the bulk of his life in the United States.
Whether designing furniture, a private library or the massive Van Buren Center, László approaches every project with a commitment to excellence. Good work begets more opportunities, proving there are no small projects.
The Van Buren Center requires more collaboration and supervision, which brings with it setbacks that require compromise. Ultimately, Harrison makes the decisions because he controls the money, no matter how much he respects László as an artist.
The film showcases what is great about László's designs. His library shelves unfold from the walls and his plans for the Van Buren Center are visionary in model form long before they are completed.
The Brutalist also shows the hardships independent businessmen face. László got Atilla more money for the library project, but is blamed when the client reneges on paying, something to which any freelancer can relate.
That specific setback foreshadows the sorts of issues with which László will have to deal on a grander scale in his larger projects.
The film also is honest that work is not enough for a complete life, no matter how great the masterpiece. László needs his family, a community and safety.
László remains loyal to Gordon (Isaach De Bankolé), whom he met in a food bank line upon his arrival in the United States. He pays his success forward by hiring Gordon on his projects, exemplifying yet another positive aspect of work ethic.
Anti-Semitism is an aspect of the United States of the '40s through '60s that The Brutalist covers. Director Brady Corbet, who wrote the script with Mona Fastvold, avoids obvious depictions of prejudice.
Instead, The Brutalist depicts anti-Semitism in its true subtle, insidious forms. It simmers throughout László's interactions so that it wears on him by the film's second half.
Sexual violence also is characteristic of the times. Corbet and Fastvold handle it without being graphic, but it is clear what the Tóths face.
The movie is filmed in 70mm, and screenings in this format showcase how glorious the period piece can look when using classic cinematic techniques. Though it will screen in modern digital theaters, too, the opportunity to see it in 70mm is worth seeking.
The image is bright and sharp. Lest viewers take it for granted, montages incorporate stock footage (and even one VHS sequence in a 1980-set epilogue), to ensure the 70mm stands out when the film returns to the newly filmed footage.
Don't let the specificity of the subject matter or its length be a deterrent to seeing The Brutalist. The film showcases the human experience as much as historical epics like Dances with Wolves or The Pianist, which also features Brody.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
'Shocking' report casts light on meat-eating habits of California ground squirrels
California ground squirrels that scientists thought ate only grains are eating voles, too, according to researchers at University of California-Davis and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
"We had never seen this behavior before. Squirrels are one of the most familiar animals to people," Jennifer E. Smith of UW-Eau Claire said in a UC Davis statement. "We see them right outside our windows; we interact with them regularly. Yet here's this never-before-encountered-in-science behavior that sheds light on the fact that there's so much more to learn about the natural history of the world around us."
Smith added it was "shocking."
According to a UC-Davis statement on the findings, "The squirrels' carnivorous summer behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with an explosion in vole numbers at the park reported by citizen scientists on iNaturalist. This suggests that the squirrels' hunting behavior emerged alongside a temporary increase in the availability of prey, the study said.
Smith and other scientists observed the squirrel's meat-eating behavior June 10 to July 30.
UC Davis Sonja Wild postdoctoral research fellow said in a statement, "I could barely believe my eyes."
She added once they started looking the researchers saw that behavior nearly every day.
"Voles (have come to) recognize the squirrels as predators," said John Koprowski, dean of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, who wasn't involved in then the study. "There's likely some really neat interplay between the two species because being eaten is usually not a great way to continue passing on your genes."
The scientists never say the squirrels eating other mammals, only the voles.
According to Smith California ground squirrels are "incredible opportunists."
The research team wants to know more about the squirrel behavior and plans to go back into the field next summer to try to see how widespread the hunting behavior is and how it is passed down from parent to pup.
Tyler Perry: 'The Six Triple Eight' honors unsung Black female soldiers
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) — Director Tyler Perry said his latest film, The Six Triple Eight, premiering Friday on Netflix, showcases a Black female World War II army unit that even the soldiers did not discuss after the war.
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the Women's Army Corps' only unit of color. Its job was to sort and deliver 17 million pieces of mail between servicemen and their loved ones accumulated over three years.
"A lot of them didn't even talk about what had happened because there was a stigma about women in the military," Perry told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "There was a lot of shame when a lot of the women came home, so they didn't even talk about it."
One source of shame that Perry did not include in the film, but acknowledged, was that the Black community believed Black women were only being deployed as concubines to Black soldiers.
"At the time, white soldiers were really angry that Black men were dating European women," Perry said. "So they thought these 855 women were sent over there to basically be prostitutes for them, which was not the case at all."
Perry met 6888th Cpl. Lena Derriecott King, whom Ebony Obsidian plays in the film, and incorporated many of her stories in the script. King died in January at age 100.
King told Perry about her boyfriend, Abram, whom she did not know died in the war until his dog tags were found in the mail. King's post-Abram romance with a man she met abroad was also true.
"She and that man were married for 50 years," Perry said.
Obsidian attended King's 100th birthday party and observed that King still felt like part of a unit even in her final year of life.
"She never spoke of herself," she said. "Whenever speaking of that time period, it was the battalion, all of us."
The film shows King's superior officer, Maj. Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), requesting deployment from the Army. Adams recognizes that the Army assigned them the mail task, expecting it cannot be done.
So, Adams mobilizes the effort to prove the military wrong and deliver news to both soldiers and families awaiting word. Adams gives a speech to Gen. Halt (Dean Norris) when he chastises them for not sorting three years' worth of mail fast enough.
"In Charity Adams' book, she talks about saying that to the general and being court-martialed," Perry said, adding that Adams successfully defended herself for defying orders.
Halt is openly racist toward the Black soldiers, and Perry said he encouraged Norris to surrender to the nature of the role.
"What I tell all the actors who work with me is don't judge the characters," Perry said. "He just went in and did what was necessary to create this real-life moment."
The film shows how the unit identified symbols on envelopes and even traced scents sprayed on paper.
"They had to bring in their skillset from their everyday life back home," Obsidian said. "There's perfumers. There's people who knew a lot about stamps because they had maybe worked for the mail back home."
Perry had the set for the mail warehouse built at his Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The set was based on black and white photographs and King's first-hand descriptions and employed hundreds of extras to sort mail behind the leads.
"It was really making these black-and-white photos come to life in living color," Perry said. "I think the photos and the historical references themselves dictated how that all turned out."
The historical scale of The Six Triple Eight also gave Perry an opportunity to apply a reignited passion for filmmaking. He said his 2022 film, A Jazzman's Blues, reinvigorated his approach to filmmaking.
"I didn't realize and understand the camera is there to not only tell the story, but draw the audience into these beautiful worlds," Perry said. "It was Jazzman that really laid into that for me."
Between meeting with King at 100 and listening to interviews she gave in her '90s, Obsidian studied King's dialect. She and her co-stars also learned military marching and posture.
"It was knowing how to hold yourself and how women held themselves during that time even outside of being a soldier," she said. "You didn't have room to slouch."
A "one-in-a-billion" spherical egg that a man spontaneously bought after a few pints has sold at auction for £200.
Ed Pownell, from Lambourn in Berkshire, shelled out £150 for the oddity and donated it to the Iuventas Foundation - a charity that provides mentoring, life coaching and mental health support to young people across Oxfordshire.
The charity thought the donation "was a joke" at first before putting it up for sale.
Roz Rapp, from the foundation, said: "We're delighted and thrilled the egg sold as it means we can continue to do what we are doing."
Ms Rapp explained the hen's egg was just one item in the auction for the charity and the total funds raised were £5,000.
The round rarity was originally discovered by a woman who found it in a box from her local supermarket in Ayr, Scotland.
Mr Pownell described buying it as "money well spent".
David Miller, who works for Thomson Roddick Callan auction house where it was previously sold, said round eggs were thought to be a "one-in-a-billion" occurrence.
Ms Rapp added: "The money raised will help... 13-25-year-olds struggling with their mental health.
"It will enable us to reach more youths who are needing support or are on long waiting lists."
Movie review: 'Unstoppable' beset with movie cliches
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) — Anthony Robles is an inspiring real-life figure. Unfortunately, not all historically-based sports dramas turn out as well as Rudy and A League of Their Own, so Unstoppable, in theaters now, cannot overcome the cliches to do his story justice.
In this real-life story, Anthony (Jharrel Jerome) was born without a right leg. He is introduced as he competes in a high school wrestling match during which he makes some spectators eat their words after they had mocked him.
In his senior year of high school, he dreams of going to Iowa State to join its wrestling team which has produced the most college champions.
Iowa State does not accept him, and Anthony rejects a full scholarship from Drexel to attend Arizona State, paying part of his own way just to be a walk-on for a more competitive team.
Any biographical movie necessarily has to condense and consolidate the complexities of a life to fit into two hours. The machinations of Unstoppable seem distractingly intent on creating feel-good, redemptive moments that obscure the real story.
Anthony's mother, Judy (Jennifer Lopez), supports him unwaveringly, but his stepfather, Rick (Bobby Cannavale), thinks Anthony should take the Drexel offer and continues to provoke him.
Anthony's stepfather is an important figure to overcome, but Rick is written one-dimensionally, though performed accurately. It's obvious Rick's aggressive parenting is masking insecurity before the film reveals he is indeed abusive and delinquent.
Director William Goldenberg and cinematographer Salvatore Totino film scenes in the Robles home handheld, unable to hold still for no reason. It is a superficial way to assign tension to scenes that should be tense enough, but this parlor trick only highlights their shortcomings.
It should be noted that ASU training and wrestling scenes are filmed more gracefully and are stronger for it.
Judy points out a gangster neighbor with whom she warns Anthony should not to get involved. Were that character to ever appear again in the film, he could be a subplot, but as such he is stereotypical shorthand for the criminal temptations of Anthony's neighborhood.
ASU coach Sean Charles (Don Cheadle) and his teammates challenge Anthony to keep up with the regimen the wrestling team endures. The film depicts him participating in rigorous exercises, often coming up with inventive solutions to compensate for his crutches.
Whether the most intense training scenes depicted were actually part of ASU curriculum, they are geared toward the Rocky moments of proving the skeptics wrong. In fact, when competing in Philadelphia, Anthony visits the art museum steps shown in Rocky and has a Rocky poster in his room, just in case that connection wasn't obvious.
One of Anthony's younger brothers says he prays to have one leg so he can be like his brother. It was already clear Anthony was an inspiration without treacly sentiment.
Budget cuts force Anthony's teammates to make a collective decision like the one Rudy Ruettiger's team made in Rudy. Perhaps ASU really did cut the wrestling budget that year, but at least Rudy built it up for the entire movie. Here, it's just one more thing dumped on Anthony.
The biggest issue with Unstoppable is simply that there is not enough wrestling. When it shows Anthony competing, he has real grace.
That is also the work of the real Robles, doubling for Jharrell when seen from behind. The film highlights Anthony's junior year match and senior year rematch with the same opponent, which seem to come out of nowhere after long stretches of administrative and family issues.
All of the sports cliches from movies and real-life athletics are present. The toughest opponent Anthony faces is himself and what he has is more powerful than what he lacks.
The cast commits to sincere portrayals of real-life subjects. The film's greatest accomplishment could simply be encouraging viewers to look into the real Robles story.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
Google Doodle video spotlights most searched-for topics of 2024
Friday's Google Doodle included a 4-minute video revealing some of the website's most searched-for topics of 2024.
Subjects included the rise of country music, Canadian singer-songwriter Celine Dion's triumphant return after a health scare, the 2024 summer Olympics, the accomplishments of basketball greats Caitlin Clark and Steph Curry, gymnast Simone Biles, K-pop band Stray Kids, pop star Sabrina Carpenter, Moo Deng, Thailand's adorable baby hippo, Inside Out 2, the solar eclipse and Northern lights and the re-election of Donald Trump, artificial intelligence and Hurricane Helene.
"This animated Doodle celebrates some of 2024's Breakout Searches — the moments that truly defined the year and had the whole world searching for more," Google said.
"From major breakthroughs in science and technology to unforgettable performances that captivated the world, these Breakouts reveal what captured our collective imagination. They tell stories of triumph, surprise, and innovation, like the awe-inspiring Northern Lights displays, the rare cicada emergence, and the breathtaking eclipse that united skywatchers everywhere."
'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'Dirty Dancing' included on National Film Registry
Dec. 17 (UPI) — The U.S. Library of Congress announced Tuesday that Dirty Dancing, Beverly Hills Cop and The Social Network have been enshrined on the National Film Registry.
Also among the movies selected for preservation are Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spy Kids, Mi Familia, My Own Private Idaho, Uptown Saturday Night, Up in Smoke, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, No Country for Old Men and Angels with Dirty Faces.
"Films reflect our nation's history and culture and must be preserved in our national library for generations to come. We're honored by the responsibility to add 25 diverse new films to the National Film Registry each year as we work to preserve our cultural heritage," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a press release.
"This is a collective effort in the film community to preserve our cinematic heritage, and we are grateful to our partners, including the National Film Preservation Board."
Turner Classic Movies is slated to air a television special Wednesday showcasing a selection of films named to the registry this year.
Hayden will appear alongside TCM host and film historian Jacqueline Stewart, chair of the National Film Preservation Board, and talk about the movies.
Twenty-five films are chosen for inclusion on the registry each year.
Overdue book returned to U.K. library after 30 years
A library book that has been overdue for more than three decades was finally returned to the U.K. library where it belongs.
The Crediton Library posted about the late return on their Facebook page Thursday.
"We are very grateful to anonymous borrower who posted us back our copy of Thomas's ABC this week," the post says. "We checked the date label and note that this book was slightly overdue by 31.5 years."
The library included two photos with their post. One showed the book's cover, and an envelope with no return address.
The other image shows the borrowing card, with the last stamp dated Mar. 25, 1993.
"Fortunately, Libraries Unlimited no longer issue fines on children's books so we have cancelled our trip to the Bahamas over the Christmas holiday on this occasion," the post continues.
"It's a Christmas miracle!" wrote one Facebook user in the comments.
This wasn't the only severely overdue book returned this holiday season.
Chuck Hildebrandt found a book that he'd unintentionally kept for 50 years, but when he tried to bring it back to the library, they wouldn't take it.
'Karate Kid: Legends' trailer: Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio team up in new sequel
Dec. 17 (UPI) — Sony Pictures is teasing the new film Karate Kid: Legends.
The studio shared a trailer for the movie Tuesday featuring Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio.
Karate Kid: Legends is a new sequel in the Karate Kid franchise. Macchio plays an adult Daniel LaRusso, who teams up with Chan's Mr. Han to teach martial arts to a new protogé, Li Fong (Ben Wang).
The trailer includes a nod to Daniel's mentor Mr. Miyagi, played by late actor Pat Morita in the original films.
"In Karate Kid: Legends, after a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Wang) is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. Li struggles to let go of his past as he tries to fit in with his new classmates, and although he doesn't want to fight, trouble seems to find him everywhere," an official synopsis reads.
"When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition — but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han (Chan) enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown."
The cast also includes Joshua Jackson, Ming-Na Wen and Shaunette Renée Wilson.
Karate Kid: Legends is directed by Jonathan Entwistle and opens in theaters May 30.
The film's release will follow the conclusion of Cobra Kai, the Netflix series based on the Karate Kid movies.
Monopoly superfan's collection breaks own Guinness World Record
A British board game fanatic broke his own Guinness World Record when his collection of Monopoly board game memorabilia was tallied at 4,379.
Neil Scallan, whose collection is largely composed of different Monopoly editions, set the record with 1,677 sets in 2016, and broke his record with 1,999 in 2017 and 2,249 in 2018.
His collection stands at 4,379, cementing his position as the world record holder for the largest collection of Monopoly board game memorabilia.
"I started with the standard set. Then I'd get them from different countries as I was traveling," Scallan told Guinness World Records.
"On the sets, when you'd go abroad, would be places that you'd visited, so it was a nice double whammy. It was nice to have something which was a memento of your trip and all the places you'd been in a collectible."
Scallan said there is one "holy grail" still missing from his collection: a rare edition of the game created for the Cronulla Sharks, an Australian rugby team.
"The set that everyone is after, and even myself, is Cronulla Sharks from Australia," he said. "I was in the [game board company] Winning Moves headquarters in Sydney, and they had one on the shelf, and I was looking at it saying, 'Please can I have it?' But he said, 'It's my own personal edition.'"
Trapped cat rescued from inside chimney in Wyoming
Police in Wyoming said a "cat-astrophe" was averted when a feline decided to play Santa Claws and became stuck inside a chimney.
The Powell Police Department said officers were summoned to Northwest College Foundation's Nelson House, where staff had heard a cat crying from inside the chimney but were unable to reach the animal.
Sgt. Dustin DelBiaggio and Officer Isaac Gutierrez responded to the scene, but the cat fled further up the chimney.
The officers said they dropped objects into the chimney from the roof in an attempt to spook the cat into climbing lower.
"The two of us tried to squeeze into the fireplace together, and kind of were able to hold on to it, onto both sides, until [Gutierrez] was able to get the good grasp on it and pull it out of there," DelBiaggio told the Powell Tribune.
The cat was dirty and thirsty, but uninjured.
The pet's owners said the cat had been wandering outside for longer and longer periods of time lately. They said it had been missing for about a week when it turned up in the chimney.
The family is currently out of town for Christmas, but will be reunited with the cat at the local animal shelter when they return.
Santa Hoo? Owl Flies Down Chimney and Perches on Top of Family's Christmas Tree
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington responded to a call about the unexpected visitor, who has been safely returned to the wild
One lucky family got a hoot of a tree topper this Christmas!
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) revealed on social media that one of their officers was recently called in to carefully remove an owl that made itself at home on top of a Christmas tree.
“Twas the week before Christmas, and perched on the tree was an unexpected visitor as majestic as can be!,” the AWLA wrote alongside a pair of photos of the bird.
The organization jokingly noted that the creature — which they identified as a barred owl — “decided to play Santa” and dropped in through the chimney of a “local home” in Arlington, Va. The bird then flew over to the top of the tree, knocked over the existing star and “declared himself the newest star on top of their Christmas tree.”
An AWLA officer went to the home and “gently” captured the owl before safely releasing it back into the wild.
The Instagram post also served as a reminder for homeowners to keep their chimneys “capped” during the winter season to “prevent curious critters from coming to visit," the organization noted.
The Barred Owl can be found in the middle, northern eastern and U.S. states and parts of Canada and often live in forests and woodlands, according to AllAboutBirds.org. They often nest in large trees — which is why they probably feel so at home in Christmas trees.
UK Woman Eats Huge Pile Of Cotton Candy In One Minute, Sets New Record
'Serial speed eater' Leah Shutkever has set another Guinness World Record by eating a large quantity of sweet and sticky cotton candy within 60 seconds.
Leah Shutkever from the UK has set a new Guinness World Record for eating the "most cotton candy (candy floss) in one minute," devouring 49 grams (1.72 oz) in 60 seconds. Known for holding multiple food record titles, Shutkever achieved this latest feat just in time for Christmas. The Guinness World Records shared a video of her attempt on Instagram. Staying festive, Shutkever chose green candy floss, representing the Grinch. Candy floss, a sugary treat made by heating and spinning sugar, is often associated with fairs and carnivals. After completing the challenge, Shutkever described the experience as "absolutely delicious."
"Merry cotton candy Grinchmas to one and all," Guinness World Records commented on the video.
The speed eating record garnered a range of reactions in the comments section:
"I feel like I could beat that record easily," an Instagram user wrote. Another added, "I could do that in 20 seconds."
Enjoying this challenge, a viewer said, "Grinch Candy Floss 10/10." One suggested, "You can just roll the Cotten candy into a ball and eat that in 5 seconds."
"Oh the hot dog girl," a user commented, remembering Shutkever's 2021 record for the fastest time to eat a hot dog with no hands. The "serial speed eater" achieved the feat in just 18.15 seconds.
A life underwater: Germany aims for world record for longest time spent in an underwater wonder
A man in Germany is trying to set a world record for the longest time spent living in an underwater habitat.
Rudiger Koch has spent more than 60 days so far in an underwater capsule off the coast of Puerto Lindo, Panama, in the Caribbean Sea.
He is halfway to his goal.
"Last time I checked, I was still married," he joked.
Koch, 59, began his underwater life on September 26 and plans to return to land on January 24 – 120 days later.
It is known that the current record for the longest time spent in an underwater habitat is 100 days, held by American Joseph Dituri off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, from March to June 2023, the Telegraph reports.
Koch lived and worked underwater in his 322 square meter living space, complete with a portable toilet, TV, computer, stationary bike, satellite internet and solar power.
The aerospace engineer admitted he misses a real shower - saying it's the first thing he'll do when he's back on earth.
Reportedly, the underwater home has a vertical tube that connects it to another room above the water, which houses the other members of his team and is how food is delivered to him.
People can also go down the tube to take a tour.
Apart from reporters and the media, Koch's only visitors have been his doctor, wife and children.
He is monitored by four cameras that provide evidence that he stays underwater at all times and is in good health.
"I don't feel like I'm suffering down here, not at all," Koch said.
The German wants to do more than break a record – he believes life in the ocean is something the human species "should" do.
"What we're trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a stable environment for human expansion," he explained.
Parker Solar Probe successfully completes closest-ever approach to sun
The Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed a historic close encounter with the sun, passing through its blazing corona in mankind's nearest approach to the star, NASA announced Friday.
The probe, which was launched in 2018, passed within 3.8 million miles of the sun's surface as it swung around the celestial body at a speed of 430,000 mph, which is faster than any human-made object has ever moved, the agency said in a blog post.
Scientists were anxiously awaiting the reappearance of the probe after it entered the sun's upper atmosphere on Christmas Eve and then orbited around it. When it emerged on the other side unharmed on Friday, they celebrated their success and readied to delve into the unique data it will provide on solar winds and other long-hidden secrets of the solar system.
"Flying this close to the sun is a historic moment in humanity's first mission to a star," said Nicky Fox of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "By studying the sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet."
Panic alarm at South African home triggered by remote-stealing monkey
A South African security firm said teams were dispatched to a home where a panic alarm turned out to have been triggered by a thieving monkey.
Security company Mi7 National Group said on social media that its control room received multiple panic alarm signals from a home in Northdale on the day after Christmas.
"Under the impression that the client must have been under distress, several units were immediately dispatched to the home," the post said. "Upon the first team's arrival, the client informed them that a monkey had gotten into the home and nabbed a remote containing the panic button."
The monkey fled with the remote, and the company continued to receive panic signals until the primate was out of range of the receiver.
"In an unusual turn of events, the client opted not to have our teams chase down the culprit, and let him get away with the loot," officials wrote.
“A great laugh was had, and a new panic button is currently on the way,” the firm added.
Fisherman finds Lego shark lost into the ocean in 1997
Treasure hunters dedicated to recovering millions of Lego pieces that fell into the ocean in 1997 said hundreds of pieces were found this year, including the first reported discovery of a sunken Lego shark.
The Lego Lost at Sea project is dedicated to finding and chronicling the discovery of the pieces lost into the water when a wave swept 62 shipping containers off the Tokio Express cargo ship about 20 miles off the coast of Land's End, England, on Feb. 13, 1997.
One of the containers was loaded with 4,756,940 Lego pieces.
Tracey Williams, founder of Lego Lost at Sea, said hundreds of the lost Lego toys were found during 2024, including the first discovery of a Lego shark.
Plymouth fisherman Richard West, 35, found the shark on one of his nets about 20 miles south of Penzance.
"I could tell straight away what it was because I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set when I was little," West told the BBC. "It's priceless — it's treasure!"
Williams said the shark was one of 51,800 lost in the shipment, but West's discovery marked the first one known to have been recovered.
"Interestingly, after Richard's find, another Lego shark came to light — found not by a fisherman or fisherwoman in their nets but by Andrea Hunt from a beach in St. Ives," Williams said. "The sharks sink, which explains why so few have been found. There are probably some 50,000-plus still lying on the seabed, some making their way ashore, others heading into deeper waters."
Williams said many of the lost Lego pieces turn up on beaches, but some have traveled as far away as Norway.
"The aim of the Lego Lost At Sea Project is primarily to raise awareness of the problem of plastic in the ocean — how it gets there, what sinks, what floats, how long it lasts, how far it drifts — both on the surface of the ocean and along the seabed — and what happens to it over time and as it breaks apart," she said.
2024's worst movies: Franchises adrift, original nonsense
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 (UPI) — The worst movies of 2024 include seven unacceptable franchise entries that either forgot what their series were about or didn't understand why they were starting one.
The three so-called "originals" had no sense of humanity or narrative to qualify them as truly original, and one of those was still a baffling interpretation of a pre-existing product.
Of course, it is impossible to be completely comprehensive and some worse films may have slipped under the radar. Links go to UPI's full reviews, but many of this year's worst movies snuck out into theaters without reviews. Nevertheless, once released they earned their spots on this list.
This list also sticks to movies released to theaters or on prominent streaming services. They had every resource available and in many cases their indulgences sank them.
10. 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence forgot who their characters were in Bad Boys II. Now they're just making sequels to the worst sequel.
9. 'Rebel Moon - Part 2'
Part 1 of Zack Snyder's sci-fi saga may have been derivative but it moved. Part 2 slows down so much to reveal backstories that are just basic tragedies. Now you've got a derivative story with a full hour before action resumes.
8. 'Moana 2'
Die Hard 2 got grief for putting Bruce Willis in the exact same situation (he even joked about it), but like Moana 2 it didn't hurt that sequel financially either. Since this was supposed to be a Disney+ streaming series, it is so rushed in movie form that it's hard to keep track of all of Moana's new missions. If Disney had only known fans and families would accept this, they could have made just as much money releasing straight-to-video sequels like Return of Jafar or Lion King 1 1/2 in theaters.
7. 'Argylle'
For whatever appeal the action comedy could have, Argylle ruins all the action. CGI is a fact of life in modern visual effects, but when it doesn't even look like actors are in a real hallway, what is the point? Big ideas like skating through an oil spill or a car straddling two rooftops don't look like real humans or vehicles, so there's no excitement. The CGI cat looks fake too and Captain Marvel got that right before Argylle. The story of an author caught up in a real adventure is overly convoluted. Actually, a post-credits scene tries to connect this to director Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman franchise, so it can't even commit to being an original.
6. 'Borderlands'
Video games continue to confound screenwriters, as in this loud, obnoxious video game movie that's all exposition about finding three keys to a space vault. The plot wouldn't matter if the adventure was fun, but it's not either.
5. 'The Crow'
This remake may make more sense than Borderlands but it's boring. What it tries to add to the Crow legend just makes it take longer. In trying to make different choices it loses the simple poignancy of the comic and its first tragic adaptation.
4. 'IF'
A movie about imaginary friends sounds fun, but IF never creates a logical mythology for its imaginary creatures. Worse, it contains outright harmful messages about families coping with health crises. The film encourages its young heroine not to worry about having lost one parent and having another in the hospital. This is toxic positivity. Hospitalizations and mourning are appropriate times for people of any age to feel sad or anxious. Denial only does more damage.
3. 'Unfrosted'
Writer/director Jerry Seinfeld was interested in what led Kellogg's to create Pop-Tarts, but not so interested that he told the true story. If the actual story wasn't interesting enough to be a biopic like Air or Flamin' Hot, then Seinfeld's farcical historical fiction does not make a case for the alternative. In many cases, Unfrosted relies on outdated stereotypes, the opposite of his perceptive observational comedy.
2. 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire'
There was a perfectly funny Ghostbusters movie in 2016 but a bunch of trolls freaked out that it was women being funny. Now they've got two joyless legacy sequels so hopefully, they're happy.
1. 'Madame Web'
This is probably the most incompetence you're likely to see in a studio movie. Dialogue that doesn't sound real, spurious connections to Spider-Man, lack of character relationships, boring action and losing sight of Madame Web's power are among this film's offenses.
Drone operator helps rescue dog stranded on thin ice
A concerned neighbor with a drone helped rescue a dog that spent nearly a full day stranded on the thin ice covering a New Jersey lake.
The 20-month-old pooch, named Brooklyn, was spotted on the thin ice covering Lake Parsippany and appeared to be too afraid of strangers to venture off the ice.
Neighbor Kishan Patel attached some chicken to his drone and attempted to lure Brooklyn to shore, and it initially appeared to be working, but Brooklyn fled back out onto the lake when she spotted the rescuers on shore.
Once the sun went down, Patel used his drone to pinpoint Brooklyn's location for a police officer who went out onto the ice.
The officer was able to find the canine, who fled to shore — and kept on fleeing.
Brooklyn was safely found the next morning on a local resident's porch.
"As a dog owner myself, I can sympathize with what the owner must have been feeling during this ordeal," Patel told Good Morning America. "I am really happy the dog is off the ice now, warm and back home."
'Person-shaped' object rescued by British Coastguard was a training dummy
A maritime rescue team in Britain was dispatched on a report of a "person-shaped" object in the water, but members arrived to find it was merely a training dummy.
HM Coastguard Fleetwood said a crew was called out to Cove Cafe in Cleveleys, Lancashire, where a witness reported seeing something human-like in the water.
The team arrived at Cove Cafe, where the witness told them the object "was suspiciously person-shaped, but clearly not a person," the Coastguard said on social media.
"Upon closer inspection of a video taken by the informant, we immediately recognized it as the type of dummy used for 'man overboard' drills by maritime organizations and training schools," the post said.
The team decided to retrieve the faux-victim "to prevent the dummy causing more concern and confusion as it drifted up the shoreline."
"After we had safely recovered our casualty to the promenade and made sure they didn't require any further assistance, we handed them over to Wyre Council for disposal," officials wrote.
Coastguard officials said the witness did the right thing in contacting the organization, as "from a distance this made for a very concerning sight in the water."
California surfer catches possible world record wave
A California surfer may have broken a world record when he shredded a wave estimated to be 108 feet tall.
Alessandro "Alo" Slebir, 23, was surfing with friends on Dec. 23 at Mavericks, near Half Moon Bay, when he caught the enormous wave.
"You're going so fast on those surfboards — you're probably going 30, 40, 50 miles an hour — and that wave was so tall that it was sucking so much water coming back at you that it was a weird feeling, feeling the friction of the water underneath the surfboard. I've never felt that on really any other wave that I've ever caught," Slebir told KSBW-TV.
If the wave's height is confirmed by Guinness World Records and the World Surf League, Slebir will hold the record for the largest wave surfed — a title currently held by Sebastian Steudtner, who rode an 86-foot wave off the coast of Portugal in 2020.
Newborn right whale calves make rare visit to Florida coast
Wildlife officials in Florida said a group of endangered right whales made a rare appearance off the coast of Ponte Bedra Beach, and they included two new calves.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said two females named Caterpillar and Blackheart were spotted near the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve on Dec. 30.
Each whale was accompanied by a newborn calf.
Researchers said both whale moms are 20 years old. Caterpillar is a first-time mother, while Blackheart had one calf previously.
"Right whales have been sighted all along the Eastern Seaboard in recent weeks," researchers wrote. "Low visibility and windy conditions can hamper research efforts locally, sometimes for extended periods of time."
Montana man unofficially breaks world record for kettleball swings
A Montana man unofficially broke a Guinness World Record by completing 5,148 pounds worth of kettleball swings in one minute.
Ray Hibnes, of Butte, selected a 132-pound kettleball at his local gym, Kinetic Fitness, and completed 38 swings in 60 seconds to attempt the world record for the most weight lifted by kettlebell swing in one minute.
Hibnes lifted the equivalent of 5,148 pounds, smashing the previous record of 4,815 pounds set by Swiss man Stefan Schwitter in 2023.
His attempt must now be reviewed by Guinness World Records to become official.
Hibnes said he foresees more world record attempts in his future.
"This is part of a bigger goal that hopefully I can use something that I am relatively good at to work with people who know how to raise money for charitable events and tie that in and hopefully we can do more than just swing a piece of steel around," he told KXLF-TV.
Chinese man throws playing cards to slice cucumbers, light matches
A Chinese man with a unique skill set broke a pair of Guinness World Records by using hand-thrown playing cards to slice cucumbers and light matches.
Zhang Yazhou, aka NengLiangJun on social media, told Guinness World Records he cultivated his marksmanship skills by playing with slingshots and skipping stones as a child.
He started throwing cards in college, and soon the videos he posted of his skills online became his full-time career.
Yazhou spent months training to take his skills to the next level and become a Guinness World Record-holder.
He broke his first record by using his playing cards to slice through 41 cucumbers in 60 seconds. Moments later, he earned his second title by lighting 29 matches with his thrown cards.
Yazhou said he is experimenting with new techniques to increase the distance of his throws and is hoping to take on more challenging records in the future.
Cow traverses highway, river before being caught on railroad tracks
A cow that escaped by vaulting over a 5-foot fence was captured on the railroad tracks near an Oregon highway after fleeing pursuit for several days and crossing a river.
The Oregon State Police said the 4-H cow had jumped over a 5-foot fence and a 3-foot barbed wire fence to escape a property in Washington and headed toward Oregon.
The cow eluded pursuit for several days, and was spotted emerging from the Columbia River on Jan. 1.
The bovine ended up on Interstate 84, near Hood River, where an OSP trooper joined in the pursuit.
"Unfortunately, the cow jumped the median into the eastbound lane of I-84. It continued heading west along the eastbound shoulder before heading toward railroad tracks. The cow walked several miles along the tracks and through a tunnel," the OSP said on social media.
The chase came to an unusual end when a young woman attempted to block the cow's path on the railroad tracks.
"The cow stopped, stared at the young woman, and then collapsed from exhaustion. The cow was loaded into a horse trailer for transport to a nearby property until he could be reunited with his owners," the post said.
Christmas gift from 1978 found behind wall of Illinois home
Christmas came about 46 years late for an Illinois man who was performing renovations at his childhood home when he found a present that had fallen behind a wall in 1978.
Tim King, 53, owner of T.King Construction Services in Lombard, said he was renovating the bathroom at his parents' house when he found something inside the wall.
"We took out a medicine cabinet before we drywalled and I thought, 'I'd better just look in there to make sure nothing's back there,'" King told People.com. "And then there it was!"
King discovered a wrapped Christmas gift that had been intended for him to open on Christmas in 1978. He said his parents used to hide gifts in the home's attic, and this one must have fallen into a crawlspace without anyone noticing.
King opened the gift in front of his parents, revealing a set of now-vintage Matchbox toy airplanes that his mother had no memory of buying.
"So I have one sister, and my mom has always been very picky about getting us the exact same amount of gifts," he said, "So we've been joking that I've been screwed out of one present for 46 years."
Snowstorm helps red pandas escape from zoo enclosure
A zoo in Switzerland said winter storms allowed two red pandas to escape their enclosure and one of the animals wandered all the way into nearby woodlands.
The Walter Zoo in Gossau said heavy snowfall caused branches to break in the red panda enclosure, giving a path for female red pandas Li and Yen to climb to freedom.
Li traveled only a few yards away and was found munching on branches with the zoo's vicuñas — South American relatives of camels — but Yen "was more adventurous," the zoo said on social media.
"Her tracks led us outside the zoo into the forest," the post said.
Zookeepers, aided by a helpful pedestrian and a tracking K9, located Yen "taking a leisurely stroll in the forest."
"After a short sprint, our animal keepers were able to catch her safely with a net and bring her back to the zoo," officials wrote.
The red pandas were checked over by a veterinarian and determined to be uninjured. They were returned to their enclosure once their escape path was cleared.
Diver walks 370 feet underwater on a single breath
An Australian freediver went for a 370-foot, 2-inch stroll at the bottom of a pool to break the Guinness World Record for the longest underwater walk with one breath (female).
Amber Bourke, 35, who has been freediving for over 10 years, spent weeks training in and out of the pool to break her own personal record of 334 feet, 7 inches, as well as the Guinness World Record of 357 feet, 7 inches.
"I wanted to do this both for my own sense of achievement — it has always been a dream of mine to hold a Guinness World Records title — and also to raise money for the Australian Marine Conservation Society in the process," Bourke told Guinness World Records.
Bourke's underwater walking technique involved bending at her hips so her torso was at a 90-degree angle, in a swimming-like position, while her feet were planted on the floor of the pool.
Bourke already holds 17 Australian freediving records and one International Association for the Development of Apnea world record for swimming underwater.
Designer creates world's largest sandal in Nigeria
A British-Nigerian fashion designer took aim at a Guinness World Record by creating a massive sandal measuring 10 feet, 4.2 inches wide and 26 feet, 8.8 inches long.
Liz Sanya spent 72 hours constructing the giant clog-style sandal at Pixel Park in Lekki, Lagos, finishing her shoe on Jan. 4.
Sanya's finished clog has been submitted to Guinness World Records as the world's largest sandal.
The record is currently held by a team of artisans from Municipio De Sahauyo, Mexico, who created a traditional sandal measuring 10 feet, 1.65 inches wide and 24 feet, 5.31 inches long.
Police in Saskatchewan, Canada, released a list of the "top ten reasons not to call 911" based on incidents from 2024, including a person who didn't want to clean their room and a resident's "mean" cat.
The Saskatchewan RCMP posted a video to Facebook featuring operators from its Divisional Operational Communications Center giving a rundown of the top 10 most unusual non-emergency calls that came in through the 911 emergency number in 2024.
The No. 10 spot on the list had to do with a not-so-tech-savvy individual who "called 911 to advise that they didn't recognize someone on their social media friend list."
Another caller told operators their parents were forcing them to clean their room, and the No. 8 caller reported a fox was "wandering the neighborhood and scaring a local cat."
The No. 7 caller reported bees inside their house, the No. 6 caller asked for police help to unlock their cellphone and the No. 5 caller told operators someone had thrown their ice cream on the ground.
The No. 4 call involved an individual who reported their cat was being "mean" and asked for a police officer to "come and help with the situation."
Caller No. 3 asked for help with a malfunctioning washing machine and the No. 2 caller requested help with a math problem, "as they didn't want to fail their test in the morning."
The No. 1 call on the list came from a resident who reported someone had apparently taken their tambourine during a party.
"Whether you're frustrated with your washing machine, trying to unlock your phone or suspicious of a fox — calling 911 must be reserved for emergencies and crimes in progress," the RCMP said.
Misuse of 911 can carry a fine of up to $1,400 in Saskatchewan.
Florida museum gathers 468 people in dinosaur costumes
A Florida museum gathered 468 people in dinosaur costumes to break a Guinness World Record.
The Cox Science Center and Aquarium teamed up with the City of West Palm Beach to take on the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as dinosaurs at West Palm Beach's Screen on the Green.
The record to beat stood at 252 people, and was set in Los Angeles in 2019.
A Guinness World Records adjudicator confirmed the Florida attempt took the title with 468 participants.
"WE DID IT," the museum said on social media. "Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this possible. Especially the City of West Palm Beach and each one of you who came out to make history with us! We couldn't have done it without you all."
Swedish stunt rider performs handlebar wheelie at 125 mph
A Swedish stunt rider broke a Guinness World Record when he reached a speed of 125.93 mph while leaning on his handlebars and doing a wheelie.
Magnus Carlsson, 51, performed the stunt on his KTM 1290 Super Duke motorcycle at Skövde Airport in Sweden and broke the record for the fastest motorcycle handlebar wheelie.
Carlsson reached a top speed of 125.93 mph, or 202.67 kilometers per hour, becoming the first holder of the record to break 200 kmph. The previous record stood at 109.228 mph, or 175.785 kmph, and was set in 2020.
"The handlebar wheelie is my absolute favorite stunt of all, and one of the stunts that took the most attention during my career as a stunt rider," Carlsson told Guinness World Records.
"The first time I did a handlebar wheelie was in 1992," he said. "Three years later I made a record attempt at Skövde Airport in Sweden. Since a few handlebar wheelie record runs over the years have been made and documented by Guinness World Records, I wanted to make a record attempt while I still have the bike and the knowledge and try to break the 200 kmph handlebar wheelie."
Minnesota Ice Festival boasts world's largest ice maze
The Minnesota Ice Festival's 18,148.88-square-foot ice maze has been officially certified as the largest in the world by Guinness World Records.
The festival's maze, which features 8-foot-high walls and multiple twists and turns, took the record from a Buffalo, N.Y., ice maze that covered an area of 13,000 square feet in 2010.
Robbie Harrell, founder and CEO of festival organizer Minnesota Ice, said construction on the maze at Tco Stadium in Eagan began Dec. 1, and gravel and plywood were spread out across the field to protect the turf.
The maze was then constructed from 3,452 blocks of ice, each weighing about 425 pounds.
The maze was completed Jan. 4, and ice sculptures and lights were then installed prior to a visit by a Guinness World Records adjudicator.
Harrell said the festival will hopefully run through Feb. 16, depending on weather conditions.
Swedish duo breaks record for 13-hour table tennis rally
Swedish table tennis enthusiasts Emil Ohlsson and Fredrik Nilsson, known as the Spin Duo, have set a new record for the longest table tennis rally, lasting 13 hours, 37 minutes and 6 seconds.
The marathon match occurred on July 20, 2024, at Slice Malmö, a ping-pong bar in Malmö, Sweden.
Over four months of intense physical and mental training paid off as the duo lobbed the ball back and forth without a single break, cheered on by friends and family who celebrated with champagne at the finish.
The record-breaking rally required unwavering focus, even as the players multitasked, such as eating while keeping the ball in play. Technical support monitored the rally, which had to be continuous with no breaks between passes.
When they surpassed the previous record, held by two players from the U.K. since June, the Spin Duo cheered.
In March, a table tennis club in Northern Ireland completed for a Guinness World Record for most consecutive opponents in a table tennis rally.
Turkish woman establishes world record for watermelons crushed with thighs
A Turkish woman who squashed five watermelons within a 60-second timeframe, using only her thighs, has set a world record.
Guiness World Records shared a video Friday of Gozde Dogan completing the challenge.
The clip shows Dogan sitting between two rows of watermelons, grabbing them one at a time, crushing them, and then cleaning the mess before continuing.
She is handed a plaque and told she is "officially amazing," becoming the first person to earn the distinction of using the thighs to smash the most watermelons in 60 seconds, in the female category.
Dogan broke the record in February.
In 2017, an Iranian man made history for smashing three watermelons quicker than anyone ever had.
In 2023, the same man, Ashkan Rohollah Doshmanziari set a record for stacking four watermelons on top of one another.
Rangers rescue goose 10,000 feet up a California mountain
The U.S. Forest Service said rangers stationed in the California mountains came to the rescue of "a particularly unprepared Mount Shasta climber" — a goose.
The Forest Service's Shasta-Trinity National Forest team said on social media that rangers stationed at the Mount Shasta Avalanche Center were on a routine patrol when they came across a goose that somehow ended up at Old Ski Bowl at an elevation of 10,000 feet.
"Upon our rangers' arrival, the climber (flyer?) had on only one layer of down and was neither prepared for the temperature nor overnight camping," the post said.
Rangers Nick Meyers and Eric Falconer "were able to offer the goose a quick descent to a local pond at lower elevations before returning to regular duties," officials wrote.
Coyote makes 'a mistake,' winds up in Aldi refrigerated shelf
A confused coyote was removed from a grocery store's refrigerated shelf Monday morning.
The incident occurred at a Chicago-area Aldi store, where the animal apparently sought refuge in the store's produce aisle.
"It picked an odd location. They do this sometimes. They make a mistake," Cook County Coyote Project's Stan Gehrt told ABC7 Chicago. "They're trying to avoid us. They're trying to hide from us."
He added that the animals that typically find themselves in this situation are the ones that haven't yet settled down with a mate.
The coyote was removed from the store without injury.
A video posted to social media shows a police officer using the back end of a broom to prod the coyote before pulling it out by the tail.
The post accumulated nearly 8 million views and over 1,000 comments.
Clerk's pick lands customer $500K lotto win in South Carolina
Sometimes, a little trust goes a long way — especially at the Carolina Pantry #8 on Sumter Highway in Manning, South Carolina.
A customer walked into the convenience store looking for a lottery ticket and let the store clerk choose for them. That $10 Shimmering Riches scratch-off turned out to be a life-changing decision, winning the customer $500,000.
The anonymous winner recalled thinking, "Let it be the big one." Moments later, their wish came true.
"I fell to my knees," the winner said when claiming the next-to-last top prize in the game. "This has changed my life."
The odds of winning half-a-million dollars in the Shimmering Riches game is one in 1,128,000. The Manning store earned a $5,000 commission for selling the winning ticket.
In December, a Kalamazoo County, Mich., man hit the jackpot with a $626,575 Fantasy 5 win, thanks to a set of numbers made up of special dates. He had played those same numbers for 25 years.
Police find reported iguana on highway shoulder was stuffed toy
Police in British Columbia responded to a report of a 4-foot-long "live iguana" on the shoulder of a busy highway, but arrived to find the alleged lizard was a stuffed toy.
Mission RCMP said on social media that a caller reported seeing the "large live iguana" on the shoulder of Lougheed Highway, near Shook Street.
"Although some people may have immediately thought that such a report could not be true, any experienced officer will tell you that there are many times in this job that we encounter all sorts of peculiar situations, so this report could not be completely dismissed," the post said.
Officials wrote that officers "have extensive training to deal with a variety of situations, but iguana-wrangling is not one of them."
"Fortunately, the officers that were dispatched to the call had three necessary tools at their disposal: a dog-catching pole, a large crate, and extraordinary bravery."
The officers slowly approached the iguana's location "until they were close enough to confirm it was anatomically incorrect, and it was, in fact, a stuffed iguana, designed to look very realistic," the RCMP said.
Police shared an image of the offending toy, reminding social media users to "keep in mind that motorists saw it while traveling at highway speeds."
Mission RCMP urged residents to contact police "if you are missing your stuffed lizard."
Mysterious green light over Ontario 'most likely' a meteor
A mysterious green light caught on camera in the night sky over Ontario was "most likely" a meteor, one expert said.
A Stittsville resident's doorbell camera captured footage of the green light appearing to fall out of the sky about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The International Meteor Organization logged numerous reports of a fireball sighting at the same time in Ontario, Quebec, and New York.
Gary Boyle, aka The Backyard Astronomer, told CTV News the object could have been a meteor or "even space junk, but most likely a small piece of the leftover material that created the solar system."
Puzzle prodigy breaks Guinness World Record in Kentucky
A Kentucky teenager with a talent for solving a type of puzzle known as a 15 puzzle broke a Guinness World Record by solving 10 of them in 1 minute, 16.13 seconds.
John Bradley, a senior at Sayre School in Lexington, said he started solving 15 puzzles in the middle school. The puzzles feature sliding tiles numbered 1-15 and the solver has to arrange them into numerical order.
Bradley said he started out on a digital version of the puzzle that was installed on the computers he used in middle school, and soon developed a talent for solving them, even participating in competitions as a "speedslider."
"Through my searches, through my competitions and stuff like that, I figured out that this Guinness World Record actually kind of seems breakable," Bradley told LEX 18 news. "I started practicing for like four months straight. I was just doing a few of these every single day."
The record to beat for speed-solving 10 puzzles was 1 minute, 23 seconds. Bradley smashed the record with a time of 1 minute, 16.13 seconds.
"Honestly, it's unbelievable. It's kind of crazy. When I was younger I never thought that this would happen. This is kind of insane," Bradley said.
Hemingway book returned to Connecticut library after 56 years
A copy of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises was returned to a Connecticut library 56 years late, along with a note explaining the delay and a check to cover the cost of the book.
The Greenwich Library said on social media that the tome might be the facility's "most overdue book of all time."
The returned book was accompanied by a note, reading: "I was born and raised in Greenwich — my family moved to upstate New York in 1980. I was recently going through some old boxes and found this book. I re-read it and am now returning it — 56 years late. I am enclosing a check that I hope will cover the cost of replacing the book. Many thanks."
Library officials thanked the former patron in the social media post.
"Luckily we no longer have overdue fines," they wrote. "Thanks to the former patron that mailed this book to us, including a check to replace it with a newer copy."
'Drug-addicted rats' destroying evidence in Houston police lockers
Police and city officials in Houston said evidence in storage lockers is being destroyed by "drug-addicted rats."
Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference that drugs being stored in evidence lockers are attracting rats that feast on the illicit narcotics and cause damage to other evidence in the process.
"We got 400,000 pounds of marijuana in storage that the rats are the only ones enjoying," Whitmire said.
The mayor announced the start of an initiative in partnership with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to organize the 1.2 million pieces of evidence stored by the city and discard any drugs stored since before 2015.
"So much evidence is kept and stored that is no longer needed, that has no impact on the resolution of that charge, that conviction or even that innocence," Whitmire said.
Peter Stout, head of the Houston Forensic Science Center, said at the same news conference that the large amounts of narcotics evidence stored by the city is putting other, unrelated evidence in danger.
"They're edible, they're tasty, they're all kinds of things. You can't store large quantities of drugs without expecting some of these things to happen," Stout said.
He said police have hired exterminators, but the rodent problem has proven persistent.
"They're drug-addicted rats. They're tough to deal with," he said.
Officials said only one active case has been affected by the rat problem. They said rodents managed to get into a bag containing hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The problem is not limited to the city of Houston. New Orleans Police Department officials said in March 2024 that drug evidence was under assault from pests including rats and cockroaches.
"The rats eating our marijuana, they're all high," Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a meeting of the City Council's Criminal Justice Committee.
An Australian surfer got into "a bit of a tussle" with a bronze whaler shark and was able to walk away uninjured — but his board wasn't quite so lucky.
Dale Kittow, 37, was surfing off Cheynes Beach in West Australia when he spotted the face of a shark in an oncoming wave.
"I just sat on my board and it circled me a few times before it charged at me," Kittow told 9 News' Today. "I jumped off the back and shoved the board in its face and had a bit of a tussle with it."
Kittow said he was lucky to escape without being bitten.
"I swung my board around and it took a bite out of the back. I jumped off the back of the surfboard," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "I didn't swim off, I didn't want to splash too much. I got back on my board and caught the next wave in."
Kittow discovered once he returned to shore that the shark had taken a big bite out of his surfboard.
"It was a bit of a miracle, really, I was lucky to see it when I did so I could keep my eyes on it and move when I had to," he said.
Rare corpse flower greets the public with putrid bloom in New York
New Yorkers lined up for hours outside the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to catch a glimpse — and a whiff — of the facility's rare blooming corpse flower.
The Amorphophallus gigas plant, better known as a corpse flower, was obtained as a seedling from a nursery in Malaysia seven years ago and started its first bloom Thursday night.
The plant, famous for the foul odor it emits while blooming, is one of only four Amorphophallus gigas plants known to be kept in the United States. They are smaller, but more rare, than their cousins, Amorphophallus titanum, which are also commonly referred to as corpse flowers due to their similar stench.
"Amorphophallus gigas is a close relative of the more common in cultivation Amorphophallus titanum, the corpse flower that often makes the news," BBG gardener Chris Sprindis said on social media as the plant began its bloom. "I think this is an equally impressive species, though less known in cultivation. Like the titanum, it will smell like rotting flesh."
Crowds lined up Friday and Saturday to experience the sights and smells of the plant, dubbed "Smelliot" by the garden's social media followers.
Sprindis said he noted a change in the smell from Friday to Saturday.
"Yesterday at least was dead rat with a little garlic, a little burnt plastic. Today's been a little fainter, but it's still coming in waves, and I'm getting more of a stinky cheese, foot smell," Sprindis said.
London man visits 42 museums in 24 hours to break world record
A London man took an educational tour of his home city and broke a Guinness World Record by visiting 42 museums in 24 hours.
Ben Melham, 42, said his kids, Matilde and Henrik, inspired him to attempt the record for the most museums visited in 24 hours.
"This record began as a conversation with my children about how hard it could be to break a world record while we were reading their Guinness World Records book together," he told Guinness World Records.
Melham's kids joined him on some of his museum visits during his whirlwind record attempt. He said London is an ideal city for such a project.
"London was an obvious choice for this attempt. With over 200 registered museums, it is one of the world's great museum cities, offering a unique diversity — from renowned institutions like the British Museum and the V&A to smaller gems like the Bank of England Museum and the Bow Street Police Museum," he said.
Melham visited 42 museums during his 24-hour attempt, breaking the record of 33 museums set by Sujoy Kumar Mitra and Swaroop Dawrani in Delhi, India, in 2024.
Two daredevils walk slackline suspended between hot air balloons
A pair of German daredevils took a walk across a slackline suspended between two hot air balloons and earned a world record for their stroll at an altitude of 8,202 feet.
Friedi Kühne and Lukas Irmler took to the skies over Riedering and walked across a slackline 8,202 feet over the ground, breaking the Guinness World Record for highest slackline walk in the process.
They broke the previous record of 6,236 feet, which was set in 2021.
"The main attempt of breaking the world record was pretty difficult for me," Irmler, who took the first walk, told Guinness World Records. "The pressure was really high. It was a great relief of pressure, and it was glorious moment."
Kühne then followed in his friend's high-altitude footsteps.
"Watching Lukas struggle on the slackline was also very intimidating for me," Kühne said.
"Not only did the balloons spin the entire time, they also went up and down," he said. "At one point we were walking kind of downhill — the next minute uphill. The tension of the line was going up and down."
Kühne celebrated the successful record attempt by parachuting off the slackline.
Report suggests $50 garage sale find is a long-lost van Gogh
A New York-based art firm announced its experts have verified that a painting bought for $50 from a Minnesota garage sale is a long-lost work by Vincent van Gogh.
The painting, titled Elimar, was previously analyzed by the Netherlands' Van Gogh Museum, which determined the artwork was not created by the famed painter, who died in 1890.
The museum said its determination was based on "stylistic features."
The painting was purchased for $50 from a garage sale in Minnetonka and was sold to LMI Group International, a New York-based art research firm, in 2019.
LMI Group released a 450-page report this week arguing in favor of the previously-unknown painting's authenticity as the work of van Gogh.
The report posits that van Gogh painted Elimar in 1889 while confined to a French psychiatric asylum, the same place he created other famous paintings such as Starry Night.
LMI Group said its team included art experts and historians, scientists and data analysis. Their evidence includes an analysis of the writing in the word "Elimar" in the corner of the painting, an analysis of the materials used to create the painting and a DNA analysis of a red hair found in the painting that was determined to have come from a human male.
The report also states the painting contains several stylistic elements consistent with van Gogh's known works.
LMI Group said it plans to present the report's findings to a group of van Gogh scholars and dealers. If authenticated, the painting would be worth an estimated $15 million, the firm said.
A Turkish man used his powerful throwing arm to lob an ax a distance of 183 feet, 8.72 inches — earning his eighth Guinness World Records title in the process.
Osman Gürcü, 43, broke the record for the farthest distance ax throw when he struck his target from a distance further than the length of an Olympic swimming pool, which is 164 feet long.
The previous record of 143 feet was set by American Jesse Rood.
"It was an incredible feeling to break the record, because the distance is very far and you have to be able to get far and at the same time the ax has to get stuck in the target board," Gürcü told Guinness World Records. "I hit it many times but it didn't get stuck and I never gave up."
Gürcü's previous Guinness World Records titles include the farthest basketball hook shot (82.02 feet), the longest cornhole shot (85 feet, 3.6 inches) and the farthest throw of a rubber chicken (114 feet, 9 inches).
A North Carolina woman decided to buy her first-ever Powerball ticket and ended up winning $150,000.
Hurdle Mills resident Sydney Davis told North Carolina Education Lottery officials she went to the Country Store on Hurdle Mills Road and bought her first-ever Powerball ticket.
The ticket matched four white balls and the red Powerball in Wednesday's drawing, earning her a $50,000 prize that was tripled to $150,000 thanks to her choosing the Power Play option and the 3X multiplier hitting.
"I couldn't believe it," she recalled. "I had never even done that before."
Davis said she was especially shocked because it was her first time playing Powerball.
"Something like this just doesn't happen," Davis said. "We all hardly slept that night after that."
The first-time player said her prize money will go into savings.
NOAA study ranks groundhogs for weather-predicting accuracy
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a study analyzing the annual prognostications of weather-predicting groundhogs and found the most famous, Punxsutawney Phil, didn't even crack the top 10.
NOAA released the study ahead of Groundhog Day, which falls on Sunday, to analyze which groundhogs — along with one prairie dog statue and a tortoise — were the most accurate in predicting whether spring would come early or late.
Only groundhogs who have been predicting the weather for at least 20 years were included in the study, and each had to still be active as of Feb. 2, 2024.
The most accurate weather predictor of the bunch was found to be Staten Island Chuck, who accurately predicted the arrival of spring 85% of the time.
The rest of the top five were Georgia's General Beauregard Lee, at 80%; a Wyoming Prairie Dog statue named Lander Lil, with 75%; a mythical West Virginia groundhog named Concord Charlie, at 65%; and Illinois' Gertie the Groundhog, with 65 percent.
The most famous weather-predicting groundhog, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, was all the way down at 17th place, having predicted the weather accurately 35% of the time.
"A beloved national celebrity, legend has it that he has been prophesying when spring would arrive from his burrow on Gobbler's Knob since 1887," NOAA said. "How has he lived for so long? The answer is simple... the 'groundhog nog' fed to him each fall at Punxsutawney's annual Groundhog Picnic!"
Mysterious shark pup hatches in aquarium tank with no males
Officials at a Louisiana aquarium are investigating the mystery of a swell shark baby that hatched despite its mother having no contact with male sharks for at least three years.
The Shreveport Aquarium said members of its husbandry team were shocked when they spotted an egg in the swell shark tank about eight months ago.
Officials said the tank holds only two female sharks, and neither has had any contact with a male shark in at least three years.
The female pup hatched Jan. 3 and was dubbed Yoko by keepers.
Experts have posited two potential theories for the unusual hatching: parthenogenesis or delayed fertilization.
Parthenogenesis occurs when a female animal reproduces asexually, essentially creating an exact duplicate of itself. This is what was determined to have happened when a female zebra shark at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium hatched an egg without any male contact in 2022.
Delayed fertilization has also been documented in sharks before, and refers to when an egg becomes fertilized an unusually long time after mating.
The aquarium said DNA testing will be performed once Yoko is large enough for a blood draw and will determine whether parthenogenesis or delayed fertilization occurred.
"This situation is incredible and shows the resilience of this species," Greg Barrick, curator of live animals at Shreveport Aquarium, said in a news release. "We are very excited in the coming months to confirm whether this was indeed a case of parthenogenesis or if it was delayed fertilization. It really proves that 'life, uh... finds a way.'"
Idaho man bounces table tennis balls with his mouth to break record
The Idaho man who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records titles added another record to his name by using his mouth to bounce a table tennis ball off a wall 47 times in 30 seconds.
David "Record Breaker" Rush took on the bouncing challenge during a visit to Guinness World Records headquarters in London.
Rush had previously broken the record with 43 bounces, defeating the original record of 34.
He smashed his own record in his most recent attempt, managing 47 bounces in the allotted 30 seconds.
Scotland has 'no intention' to ban cats, despite online rumors
Scotland's first minister reassured the public that the country had no plans to ban pet cats after a report sparked rumors online.
A report by the independent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission contained numerous proposals for curbing the problem of domestic cats killing about 27 million birds across Britain each year.
The proposals included vaccinations and neutering, but the most controversial online was the suggestion that cat ownership be limited in certain areas that are home to endangered species of birds.
Rumors circulated online that Scotland was planning to ban pet cats, leading Scottish First Minister John Swinney to clarify there were no such plans.
"Let me just clear this up today. The government's not going to be banning cats or restricting cats. We have no intention of doing so and we'll not be doing it," Swinney told Bauer Radio.
Zoo will send pooping elephant video to your ex for Valentine's
The Memphis Zoo in Tennessee is celebrating Valentine's Day by giving fans the chance to send a cute red panda video to their sweethearts — or a video of an elephant pooping to their exes.
The zoo announced its "Dating or Dumping" promotion allows followers to exchange a donation of $10 for a video to pass along as a Valentine's Day gift.
The options are "an adorable video of a red panda munching on a grape" or "a stinky video of an elephant poop hitting the pile."
"Got an ex that deserves a stinkin' surprise? This Valentine's, let an elephant do the talking. Or maybe you've found the one and want to send them something adorable? Our red pandas have you covered," the zoo said on its website.
The zoo said on social media that the elephant poop videos are good for more than just exes.
"Maybe it's your annoying neighbor, overbearing mother-in-law, your ex, or that coworker who still gives you nightmares. This Valentine's, let an elephant do the talking and name a turd after a turd," the post said.
Each video comes with a digital card.
"At the end of the campaign, we'll announce the most popular names of daters and dumpers — so make your move," officials wrote.
The Valentine's video purchases are available until Feb. 12.
Skateboarding dog breaks human tunnel world record
A talented dog rode his skateboard through a tunnel made up of 40 people standing with their legs apart to break a Guinness World Record.
Coda, a cocker spaniel belonging to Japanese dog trainer Satomi Asano, broke the record for the longest human tunnel traveled through by a dog on a skateboard on the set of Italian TV series Lo Show Dei Record.
The previous record, 33 people, was set by a Japanese dog named Dai Chun in 2017.
Asano, a professional dog trainer, said she aims to train canines through use of positive reinforcement and discourage dog owners from punishment and other forms of negative reinforcement.
Airport uses social media to find 6-year-old owner of lost stuffy
A stuffed rabbit found at Pittsburgh International Airport's baggage claim is on its way back to its owner after a social media appeal.
The airport posted a video to Instagram showing employees taking the well-loved stuffy on a tour of the hub's facilities after being found abandoned Monday.
"We found a bunny in our baggage claim area. We showed them LOTS of love, but want them to be warm and cuddled in their own home," the video's caption reads.
A follow-up post revealed the toy's family had been found. The bunny, aptly named Bunny, belongs to a 6-year-old girl named Waylynn.
"Her great grandparents picked up the special stuffy for her earlier today," the Wednesday post said. "We're so happy to reunite lost items with their owners and it is ESPECIALLY joyful to reunite sentimental lost items like Bunny!"
Circus performer juggles while doing headstand to set world record
An experienced circus performer from Colombia broke a Guinness World Record when he juggled five balls for 45 minutes while doing a headstand.
José Valencia, 34, said he spent years practicing the trick before making an official attempt at the Guinness World Records title for longest duration juggling five balls while performing a headstand.
"I had worked so hard so many years, and this is the time that my work paid off," Valencia told Guinness World Records.
Valencia performs with the Lumous circus, which is currently touring Europe.
Serial Guinness World Record-breaker David Rush took his juggling skills — and his snacking prowess — to the extreme by taking 198 bites out of three apples while juggling the fruits for one minute.
Rush, who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records titles, previously set the record for most bites taken out of three apples while juggling at 164 during the 2018 MIT Juggling Convention.
He took aim at his own title during a visit to Guinness World Records headquarters in London.
"The rules are strict so each bite has to be small, precise, and fast," Rush wrote online. "There's no time to swallow (even though swallowing is allowed), so I had to spit out the bites while keeping the apples in motion (but only after my mouth couldn't hold anymore to be efficient)."
Rush successfully broke the record with 198 bites — a rate of more than three bites per second.
Minnesota man plays world's fastest round of disc golf
A Minnesota man who considers himself a "recreational" disc golf player broke a world record in the sport by completing a full 18-hole round of disc golf in 4 minutes and 58.76 seconds.
Jonathan Wolfrath, 30, said the record attempt combined two of his favorite recreational sports: disc golf and running.
"If running and disc golf had a baby it would be me," Wolfrath told Guinness World Records. "So, the universe whispered to me to do this record."
He went to a course in Fridley and broke the record for the fastest round of disc golf (individual) in 4 minutes, 58.76 seconds, besting the previous record of 7 minutes, 29.87 seconds.
Despite his apparent skills at the sport, Wolfrath said he only considers himself to be a "recreational" player.
"In the United States, it's a very social sport, where everyone just hangs out with their friends, drinking and playing disc golf," he said.
Wolfrath said he isn't finished attempting world records in the realm of disc golf.
"Look out for most disc golf holes played in 24 hours. That's mine," he said.
Opossum eats entire Costco chocolate cake in Nebraska yard
An opossum was treated at a Nebraska animal hospital after wandering into a family's back yard and gorging itself on an entire chocolate mousse cake from Costco.
Kim Doggett said the cake had been placed on a table in her Gretna back yard because she ran out of room in the fridge.
"I always have a house full and we cook a lot and when you run out of room in the fridge you just sit it on the table outside in the winter," Doggett told Forbes.
She said her son took some fresh-made peanut butter balls outside to cool and discovered an opossum was curled up on the outdoor sectional, which was covered in chocolate paw prints.
"The cake had been knocked off the table and was sitting on the floor in front of where she was," Doggett told the Omaha World-Herald. "The cover was off, and it was almost gone."
The opossum was not moving, and appeared to be panting.
"The opossum looked a little distressed," she said. "We thought we better call the Humane Society and get this guy checked out."
Doggett said she couldn't find any information online on whether chocolate is dangerous to opossums, but she knew the treat was toxic to dogs, so she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
A Nebraska Humane Society animal control officer took the opossum to Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, which posted a photo of the animal to social media along with an intake note reading: "Opossum was brought in due to having eaten an entire Costco chocolate cake."
"Everybody was posting that this was their spirit animal," Doggett said.
Veterinarians treated the opossum with activated charcoal to neutralize any potential toxicity from the chocolate. She was also found to have a high level of lead, likely from eating local insects.
The opossum is now being treated for the lead in her system and will be released in a few weeks, rehab officials said.
"With some time in rehab (and a diet reset), this choco-holic should be stabilized enough to return to the wild but until then, she is definitely a little cranky about our strict 'zero chocolate' policy," the rehab said on social media.
Cat, sheep win 'Couple of the Year' award at Ukraine zoo
The Odessa Zoo in Ukraine announced an unusual duo won its annual "Couple of the Year" contest: a cat and a sheep.
The zoo said on social media that Masazhik the cat and Bagel the lamb were chosen as this year's Couple of the Year, beating several same-species pairs including lemurs, tigers and porcupines.
The finalists were revealed in a YouTube video earlier in the week, and the winning pair were unveiled Thursday on Facebook.
Masazhik, whose name translates to "massage therapist," can often be seen perched on Bagel's back.
The duo will be officially presented with their Couple of the Year title at a public ceremony on Valentine's Day.
The Couple of the Year award is an annual tradition at the zoo. Last year's winners were a pair of mated sheep.
14-year-old 'human calculator' breaks 6 world records in one day
A 14-year-old "human calculator" from India put his mental math to the test and broke six Guinness World Records in a single day.
Aaryan Shukla, 14, of Maharashtra, set his first Guinness World Record about a year ago, when he took on the record for the fastest time to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers on the set of Italian TV series Lo Sho Dei Record.
Shukla, who accomplished the feat in a time of only 25.19 seconds, was invited to Dubai by Guinness World Records and now has six more titles to his name.
In a single day, Shukla broke the records for the fastest time to mentally add 100 four-digit numbers (30.9 seconds), fastest time to mentally add 200 four-digit numbers (1 minute, 9.68 seconds), fastest time to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers (18.71 seconds), fastest time to mentally divide a 20-digit number by a ten-digit number (5 minutes, 42 seconds), fastest time to mentally multiply two five-digit numbers (51.69 seconds) and fastest time to mentally multiply two eight-digit numbers (2 minutes, 35.41 seconds).
Shukla, nicknamed the "Human Calculator" by Guinness World Records, said he practices math for five to six hours a day to keep his mind sharp for competitions.
Shukla's father said his family doesn't know where the boy's skills come from.
"We are a normal family. Aaryan is a one in a billion kind of person, but I don't think that we are a family of mental calculators," he said.
Zoo holding auction for paintings made by penguins, giraffes
A New York Zoo offered a sneak preview of some of the artwork that will be available at its upcoming gala auction: creations by animals including penguins, giraffes, sloths, capybaras and others.
The Animal Adventure Park and Preserve in Harpursville announced the Dream Big Gala: Night Out on the Town, scheduled for March 15, will feature a silent auction for works of art created by several of the species that call the zoo home.
Zookeepers said they use various methods to encourage the animals to paint as a fun enrichment activity.
"With our penguins as well, the easiest way for me to get them to paint is with food," Zookeeper Mikayla Conway told WBNG-TV. "They are very food motivated, and if some days they don't feel like using food, they will chase around a cat laser."
The zoo offered some sneak previews on social media, sharing photos of animals including penguins, capybaras, sloths and giraffes painting.
"Our artists are hard at work putting the finishing touches on their masterpieces for the Animal Art Auction," the post said.
Animal art aficionados who won't be in attendance at the gala will have the opportunity to place bids online, the zoo said.
Police in Eugene, Ore., responded to a residential neighborhood where a cow that fell from a passing trailer was found wandering loose.
The Eugene Police Department said a community service officer responded to the neighborhood in the area of 36th Avenue and Willamette Street following a report of a loose cow.
"Reports stated the cow was spotted falling out of a trailer, and the driver did not realize it," the department said on social media.
A pair of residents named Sarah and Amira were able to coax the cow into a yard, but the bovine fled when the community service officer arrived with an officer for backup.
The officers pursued the cow until they were able to corner it in another home's back yard.
Lane County Animal Welfare arrived on the scene and helped transport the cow to a safe facility in Greenhill.
The cow's owner eventually realized the animal was missing and contacted police, who were able to facilitate a reunion.
Police nicknamed the cow Houdini, saying the animal "is definitely a master escape artist."
Oklahoma man boasts world's largest collection of bricks
An Oklahoma man's family surprised him with a Guinness World Record for his collection of 8,882 different bricks.
Clem Reinkemeyer, 87, was out of town when his daughter, Celia, and son-in-law, Dan Bisett, gathered a group of friends to count and document each item in his Tulsa brick barn.
Reinkemeyer returned home and was surprised with an official certificate for the world's largest collection of bricks.
"I got back in town and it was a big surprise, and I'm very happy to have this certificate," he told Guinness World Records.
Reinkemeyer's collection, which he has been amassing for 40 years, includes a Roman brick from A.D. 100, but most date from the last few hundred years.
"The break tide for making the bricks was about maybe 1870 to 1910," he said. "A special kind of brick like this has a certain clay that withstands heat, and everybody needed a fireplace."
He said some of his most valuable bricks are those with misspellings, such as one that reads "Tulsa" with a backward "s."
"I think Oklahoma has a history for the most misspelled bricks," he said. "I don't know why."
The collector said one of his favorites is a sidewalk brick made at a Washington facility located where the Pentagon now stands.
"There may be some of these under the Pentagon," he said. "But I think that this is one of a kind."
He said bricks interest him because of the history they hold.
"What appealed to me about bricks is, they have names and you can trace them back historically to places, and that always intrigued me. Its unusual, but I like it," he said.
Wayward seal found wandering streets of Connecticut city
A young gray seal was found wandering the streets of New Haven, Conn., and police said no one knows how the animal ended up in the city.
The New Haven Police Department posted a photo to social media showing the seal crawling along a city street with a patrol vehicle pulled up next to it.
"Meet the newest addition to the department," police joked.
The department said investigators do not know how the seal ended up in the city.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment was contacted and the seal ended up in the care of the Mystic Aquarium's Animal Rescue Program.
The aquarium said the seal appears to be only a few weeks old and an assessment found it to be lethargic, dehydrated and underweight.
The seal is now being given a special diet to help it recover so it can be released back into the ocean.
Pennsylvania man's slide chart collection earns world record
A Pennsylvania man earned a Guinness World Records title for his collection of some unusual curiosities: slide charts.
Harrisburg resident Dale Rupert said he started collecting slide charts — handheld paper or plastic items that help with common calculations — when he found a box of them for sale at a used bookstore in 2002.
"I pulled one up. I thought, 'Oh, that's sort of cool. I think I'll get that.' And as I thought further, I realized, 'Oh, I can get this whole box for under 10 bucks.' And that's when the collection began," he told WGAL-TV.
Rupert said his collection of slide charts — and their similar cousins, wheel charts — now numbers 3,117.
He earned the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of slide charts by submitting 1,111 eligible charts to be counted.
Rupert's collection includes charts designed to convert measurements, track NFL football schedules and even a 1970 Miss Clairol chart for determining the proper formulas for hair coloring.
"Somebody did all the math, did all the pre-calculations, printed it on this, and now I have those answers right here in my hand," he said.
Chinese 'snow village' apologizes for using fake snow
A "snow village" attraction in China temporarily shut down and apologized to visitors for using fake snow made from cotton and soapy water.
The Chengdu Snow Village in Sichuan province issued an apology on social media after facing online criticism from visitors who arrived to find the "snow" was an unconvincing mixture of cotton and soapy water.
The attraction's operators said the recent unusually warm weather forced them to use fake snow.
"It did not achieve the result we had anticipated, but left a bad impression among tourists," the statement said. "We are sincerely sorry for not being able to exhibit a real snow scene and making visitors change their travel plans."
The tourist attraction has been temporary shut down while officials look into other options.
Micro-artist creates Lego sculpture the size of a blood cell
An artist from England broke a Guinness World Record when he created a sculpture of a Lego brick roughly the same size as a human white blood cell.
Bournemouth resident David A. Lindon's Lego brick sculpture measures just .02517 millimeters (.00099 inches) by .02184 millimeters (.00086 inches), about four times smaller than the previous record-holder for the smallest handmade sculpture.
The sculpture — along with two slightly larger Lego bricks he made at the same time — had to be officially measured by a light microscope by a team at Evident Scientific.
"The challenge to create tiny objects that can't be seen without a microscope is demanding both physically and mentally," Lindon told Guinness World Records. "I have trained myself to slow my breathing and work between the beats of my heart. Even the pulse of my heart beating through my fingers creates too much movement."
He said he does all of his work at night so the vibrations from daytime traffic don't interfere with his work.
'Remarkably rotund' Chicago beaver becomes an online celebrity
A Chicago nonprofit is asking social media users to help name a "remarkably rotund" beaver caught on camera in the city.
Urban Rivers, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring Chicago's waterways and protecting the native wildlife, shared a video to Reddit showing the "huge" beaver caught on camera in the city.
"She lives, eats, and knocks down trees in Pilsen, Bridgeport, and McKinley Park, so really she's at the intersection of the south, southwest, and west sides of the city," the post said. "She's gotten especially large the last few weeks, probably due to pregnancy, but she's been remarkably rotund for longer than a beaver pregnancy lasts."
The group said the beaver also has a reputation for being "tough."
"The spots she hangs out at are absolutely filled with coyotes, and we can't figure out how she hasn't been eaten," officials wrote.
Urban Rivers is asking members of the public to suggest names for the "remarkably rotund" resident.
Some names that have already been suggested include "Lori Heavyfoot," "Beav Irvin," "Sigourney Beaver" and "Dam Ryan."
Sammie Clark, beaver researcher with Urban Rivers, said officials are hoping the rodent's size is indeed evidence of pregnancy.
"Seeing this individual looking so plump, especially this time of year, gives us hope that it could be the female pregnant again," Clark told WGN-TV.
A French cheese company set a world record — and bested an unofficial record set by a Swiss rival — by cooking up 4,800 pounds of cheese fondue.
The Juraflore company took on the Guinness World Record for the largest cheese fondue at Fort des Rousses in the village of Les Rousses.
The massive copper cauldron used for the attempt was filled with 40 wheels of comté cheese variously matured for 9, 15 and 21 months. The fondue chefs then added Chardonnay and Savagnin white wines, 4.4 pounds of garlic, 3.3 pounds of white pepper and about 121 pounds of cornstarch.
The company's chefs used a giant food processor to mix the ingredients and ensure a smooth result.
The finished fondue weighed in at 4,800 pounds, surpassing their goal of 4,495 pounds. A Guinness World Records adjudicator was on hand to certify it was a new world record for the largest cheese fondue.
Juraflore also bested an unofficial record set by Switzerland's La Chaux-de-Fonds, which cooked up a 3,175-pound serving of cheese fondue in 2009.
Omaha grad's lost ring turns up in Missouri garden 44 years later
A Missouri man tending to his garden found a high school class ring from Nebraska that turned out to have been missing since around 1981.
Neal Lansdown said he was working in his garden near Rock Port when he spotted something glistening in the dirt.
He cleaned the object and discovered it was an Omaha Northwest High School Class of 1978 ring, with the name Cary Crocker inscribed on the inside.
Lansdown said he was fascinated by how the ring came to be in his garden, about 70 miles south of Omaha.
"I don't want a reward, I just want the satisfaction of knowing where he lost it and giving him the ring back," Lansdown told WOWT-TV.
The Omaha Northwest Foundation sparked a search for Crocker on social media, but the efforts of online sleuths failed to turn up any solid leads until Crocker spotted his ring on a TV news report.
Crocker, who now lives in Florida, said he believes the ring went missing around 1981.
"I have no clue how it got away from me," he said. "Whether I lost it or misplaced it or someone stole it, I don't know."
Crocker said he has never been to Rock Port, but his family did run an Omaha flower shop around the time he lost the ring, so it might have ended up in soil that eventually made its way to Lansdown's garden.
"We sold potted plants and all that for many years and I'd be down there from time to time to work, so I don't know, that could be a possibility," he said.
Man breaks juggling world record with a bowling ball, balance board
An Idaho man with multiple Guinness World Records titles for juggling brought his muscles into the mix by involving a 10-pound bowling ball — and a balance board.
David Rush, who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records titles, put his strength and coordination to the ultimate test when he attempted the record for the most juggling catches of a bowling ball and two balls on a balance board in one minute.
He attempted the record during a visit to Guinness World Records headquarters in London.
"The hardest part wasn't just the juggling or the balancing — it was the combination of both, along with the added challenge of the bowling ball's weight and the board's instability," Rush wrote online.
Rush said there was an added challenge of not being able to use the balance board he practiced with, as it was too large for easy travel.
"Every time I caught the bowling ball, the board would slide across the rolling rock or the floor, creating a super slippery surface. It felt like I was juggling on ice," he said.
Despite the challenges, Rush managed to set the record with 243 catches.
"My biceps were screaming by the end of the attempt, but the real pain came from the outside of my wrists. I was dealing with tendinitis, which made every catch even more painful," he said.
Single strawberry raises controversy over $19 price tag
A piece of pricey produce is causing controversy on social media after an influencer posted a TikTok video where she taste-tested a single strawberry with a $19 price tag.
The strawberry, which comes from company Elly Amai and is sold at Los Angeles-area luxury grocery chain Erewhon, carries a $19 price for a single fruit.
The big-budget berry became the source of online discourse when influencer Alyssa Antoci, whose aunt and uncle own the grocery chain, posted a video to TikTok.
"OK, this is a $19 strawberry from Erewhon, so we're gonna eat it," Antoci says in the video. "Apparently it's like the best-tasting strawberry in the entire world."
The influencer declares the snack to be the "best strawberry I've ever had in my life."
The video quickly racked up millions of views, and garnered multiple comments and response videos from fellow influencers describing the $19 strawberry as "dystopian," "a new low" and a potential "social experiment to see what some people will spend on."
The controversy even led late night host Jimmy Kimmel and guest Mindy Kaling to sample the strawberries on Wednesday night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
"The strawberries are picked at their prime and hits the shelves at Erewhon within 24-48 hrs," an Erewhon representative told TODAY.com. "Faster than broccoli growing in [California] getting to markets in [New York]."
An Elly Amai spokesperson added the strawberries have a very short shelf life.
"If you think logistics-wise, getting it here and being able to try it fresh from Japan, it's very understandable why the price is what it is," the spokesperson said. "Don't hate on it until you try it."
Michigan dad gets $1.1 million lottery ticket as a birthday gift
A Michigan man bought his father a lottery ticket as a birthday gift and it turned out to be a $1.1 million winner.
The Macomb County man told Michigan Lottery officials he bought a ticket for the Dec. 14 Lotto 47 drawing at Liquor Land on East 9 Mile Road in Eastpointe, a store with special significance.
"I bought the ticket for my father as a birthday gift," he said. "I don't buy tickets often, but when I do I always buy them at Liquor Land because I remember my father always bought tickets there when I was a kid."
The man presented his father with the ticket for his birthday.
"When my dad checked the ticket after the drawing, he had to look at it more than a few times to believe what he was seeing," the son recalled.
The father and son said they plan to use the winnings to pay bills and invest in a business.
"What a memorable birthday gift for a son to give to his father," Michigan Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said. "Topping this gift will be nearly impossible, but sharing such a wonderful memory — and a jackpot win — with your family is priceless!"
Japanese park covering just 2 1/2 square feet is officially world's smallest
A park in Nagaizumi, Japan, has been officially named the worl's smallest park, covering an area of just 2 1/2 square feet.
The park near Nagaizumi Town Hall, about an hour's drive from Tokyo, was created in 1988 after a worker at the construction management division of Nagaizumi Town returned from a trip to the United States.
The worker had encountered Mill Ends Park in Portland, Ore., which previously held the record at 3.1 square feet.
"So, they wanted to create an even smaller park," Shuji Koyama, a team leader at the construction management division, told Guinness World Records.
The park was completed in 1988, but the city didn't bring in a Guinness World Records adjudicator to officially measure it until December.
The Nagaizumi park has now been certified as the smallest in the world.
"We want to continue maintaining the park with the community, as well as creating a landscape that is more social media friendly, so that even more people will find attractions of our town," Koyama said.
Advice from friend's uncle leads man to $100,000 lottery prize
A Maryland man took some advice from a friend's uncle and ended up winning a $100,000 lottery prize.
The Baltimore man told Maryland Lottery officials he was at Omega Grocery & Market in Baltimore with a group of friends when a friend's uncle encouraged him to buy a scratch-off ticket.
The man said he initially replied that he doesn't play lottery games.
"He told me to play anyway," the player said. "I didn't even know how to play it."
The man ended up selecting a $100,000 Crossword scratch-off ticket.
The player said he decided to simply scan the ticket right away instead of going through the process of revealing and playing letters, but the scanner came up with an error message.
He ended up scratching the ticket and showing it to his friend and the friend's uncle to see if he had won anything.
"They said, 'You have 10 words,'" the winner recalled, "and when I looked at the game, it said 10 words is $100,000!"
The man took his ticket to another store and confirmed his $100,000 prize using a working scanner.
"I had to step outside for a minute," he said. "I don't normally freak out, but I did this time."
The winner said his prize money will go into savings for the time being.
'Megalodon' goldfish found in Pennsylvania waterway
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is reminding pet owners not to release their goldfish into waterways after researchers in Pennsylvania found a massive "megalodon."
The USFWS said researchers conducting an electrofishing survey in Presque Isle, Erie County, found a gigantic goldfish larger than researcher Corey Ketchum's hand.
"Your pet store goldfish after two years in the wild: 'Call me Megalodon,'" the USFWS said on social media.
The service said goldfish are an invasive species.
"They can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish and wreck water quality," the post said.
Officials wrote that goldfish may start out small, but they can become a big problem very quickly.
"One goldfish might not seem like a big deal, but they multiply fast," the USFWS said. "Goldfish spawn several times a season, and because they have no natural predators in most North American waters, their populations explode."
Ballet dancer balances on moving ATVs while doing the splits
A Syrian ballet dancer got into the split position and balanced on a pair of ATVs for a ride lasting 1,541 feet, 11 inches to break a Guinness World Record.
Yara Khdair, 26, broke the record for the longest distance covered while performing a split on two moving ATVs, a record that required her to not touch anything with her arms while each of her legs balanced on a different vehicle.
The attempt in the United Arab Emirates also involved ATV drivers Mohamed Alblooshi and Abdulla Alhattawi.
"We actually didn't know each other beforehand but we met to make this record and they were really great partners," Khdair told Guinness World Records. "Of course, confidence was important and it was already there because I saw their performance and I was confident that we could achieve the number successfully."
The ATVs were required to maintain a speed of at least 3.1 mph for the duration of the attempt. Khdair successfully took the record with a distance of 1,541 feet, 11 inches.
Mexico’s “lost” rabbit resurfaces after more than a century
If we're being honest, the Omiltemi cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus insonus) is not much to look at. It's a fairly conventional bunny: long ears, strong hind legs, short tail, a little chubby. Except that this particular rabbit had not been seen by scientists for more than 120 years – until now. A five-year-long expedition led by José Alberto Almazán-Catalán, ecologist and president of Instituto para el Manejo y Conservación de la Biodiversidad (INMACOB) turned up conclusive camera-trap evidence that the elusive lagomorphs are still hiding out in the conifer forests of Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur mountains.
The research team began their search in the forested areas around Chilpancingo, the capital city of Guerrero, where the Omiltemi cottontail rabbit was first documented by Edward William Nelson in 1904. However, they turned up rabbit-less. A year or so later, they shifted their focus to high-elevation conifer forests where they were more confident they would be successful, especially after locals in the area told the team that they regularly hunt Omiltemi cottontail rabbits before handing over several carcasses.
When the hunted rabbits were compared to museum specimens and Nelson's original description, the fur colour, body measurements and cranial characteristics were a match. All that was left to do was strategically set up remote camera traps to confirm the find. The area's Omiltemi cottontail rabbits came to the party. They hopped into frame in seven of the ten areas that the expedition team surveyed. The find marks the 13th species rediscovered as part of Re:wild’s Search for Lost Species – a global effort to find and protect species that have not had a scientifically documented sighting in at least 10 years, but are not considered extinct.
Vienna's Vegetable Orchestra earns world record by playing with food
The world's first — and possibly only — orchestra to exclusively make music from vegetable instruments was awarded a Guinness World Record after playing 344 concerts over the course of 27 years.
The 11-piece Vegetable Orchestra formed in Vienna, Austria, in 1999, when musicians of various backgrounds came together with the idea of carving veggies into instruments.
"It all started as a joke," founding member Matthias Meinharter told the BBC in 2019.
He said the founding four members had been signed up for a performance art festival in Vienna.
"We were brainstorming what we could do, and we thought: 'What is the most difficult thing to play music on?'" he said. "We were making soup together at the time, and one idea led to another."
The performers have now perfected the art of playing with their food. Their instruments include carrots carved into recorders and leeks into mandolins.
The orchestra was awarded the Guinness World Record for the most concerts by a vegetable orchestra after playing their 344th show.
The musicians said they carve fresh vegetables before every performance, as their instruments only last for about 6 hours before starting to rot or losing their shape.
Any unused vegetables are made into a soup to be served at the concert, and the spent instruments are turned into organic waste to keep the concerts eco-friendly.
The orchestra told Guinness World Records that only one subject is off-limits during their concerts: asking whether the musicians are vegetarians.
"No we are not. Don't ask again," they said. "We've heard this question 3 million times."
Canadian man eats 25 Carolina reaper peppers in under 5 minutes
An iron-stomached speed eater broke a Guinness World Record by eating 25 Carolina reaper chili peppers in 4 minutes and 36.26 seconds.
Mike Jack, a Canadian YouTuber famous for his high tolerance for spicy food, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to eat 25 Carolina reaper chili peppers at Goatfest in Kitchener, Ontario.
Carolina reapers have a Scoville Heat Units measurement of about 1,641,183, compared to about 4,000-8,500 for the average jalapeno pepper. Reapers were considered the hottest chili peppers in the world until the debut of "Pepper X" last year.
"I might make it look a little easier than it is but I'm burning up here, I really feel it," Jack told Guinness World Records. "The peppers, they really hurt a lot."
Jack holds multiple Guinness World Records titles, but not all of them are spice related — he broke a record last year by drinking a Capri Sun juice pouch in 21.71 seconds using a paper straw.
Multiple agencies responded in Michigan's Kent County after 15 horses absconded from a barn and went out for a run, with some of them making their way onto a highway.
The Kent County Sheriff's Office said on social media that deputies "found themselves in an unexpected roundup" Wednesday morning when the horses escaped from a barn at a boarding facility.
"What we're hearing from the owner is that one of the smaller horses got one of the doors open somehow, which let all 15 of them out of this barn and then they just started running from there," Sgt. Scott Dietrich told WZZM-TV.
The sheriff's office said the equines escaped near Wilson Avenue and 76th Street, near Byron Center, and some of them ended up spreading out over several miles of the M6 highway.
Michigan State Police, Kent County Animal Control and members of the community joined in the chase, which lasted for about an hour and a half.
Multiple roads were temporarily closed.
"We want to make sure that those horses are not going to cause an accident, so we're shutting down roadways if needed. We're getting as many deputies out there as we can that are available to try to get these horses off the roadway, and make sure they're out of the public's way," Dietrich said.
The horses were all safely returned to the barn and the roads were reopened.
Toddler playing with old cellphone calls 911 for 'emergency doughnuts'
An Oklahoma toddler called 911 with a report of "emergency doughnuts" and local police sprang into action to deliver.
The Moore Police Department shared the audio of a 911 call involving a toddler who was allowed to play with an old cellphone and discovered it still had emergency calling enabled.
The boy requested "emergency doughnuts" before telling the dispatcher to "have a good day."
"Old cell phones may be unable to use high-speed data networks, take photos or play music, but they can still call 911 in an emergency," the department said. "As long as an old cell phone is functional, it can be used in an emergency."
In the case of the toddler, named Bennett, his request for "emergency doughnuts" did not go unheeded, as police visited his home to deliver some snacks from Dunkin'.
Brothers become youngest to earn 171 NPS Junior Ranger badges
A pair of Idaho brothers are believed to be the youngest people to earn Junior Ranger badges at all 63 U.S. national parks — as well as 108 other National Park Service Sites.
David Rush, the man who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records, said he and his family visited their first national park, Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border, in February 2020, when his sons Jeremy and Peter were 3 years old and 1 year old, respectively.
The boys, now aged 8 and 6, have now completed the Junior Ranger program at all 63 national parks, as well as 108 other NPS sites.
"Interested youth complete a series of activities during a park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger patch and Junior Ranger certificate," the NPS' Junior Ranger website explains. "Junior Rangers are typically between the ages of 5 to 13, although people of all ages can participate."
Rush said Jeremy and Peter are believed to be the youngest brothers to complete the Junior Ranger program at every national park.
"When we visited our first national park 5 years ago as a family, we didn't imagine we'd make it to all of them, let alone in just 5 years. But the joy it brought us and our family, and the joy that the national parks bring with over 300 million visitors per year, justify them as America's best idea," Rush said.
The father said he has submitted information to the NPS as well as Guinness World Records to see if Jeremy and Peter can get an official record for being the youngest brothers to earn 171 Junior Ranger badges, and if Peter can get recognized as the youngest overall to complete the feat.
Wedge-shaped 'pie house' sells for $350,000 in Chicago suburb
An unusual Illinois home dubbed the "pie house" due to its wedge shape sold for $350,000 shortly after being put on the market.
The home in Deerfield, a northern suburb of Chicago, was built in 2003, and initially drew the ire of neighbors who complained about its unusual appearance.
The house, which boasts 1,600 square feet of living space despite being only 3 feet wide on its short end, has since become a point of local pride for neighbors who have grown to appreciate its uniqueness.
The pie house includes two bedrooms, one upstairs and one in the basement, as well as 2 1/2 bathrooms, a paver brick walkway, a storage shed and a parking pad with room for up to four vehicles.
The listing included a set of brand-new stainless steel kitchen appliances.
The house previously sold for $300,000 in 2004, $284,500 in 2007, $260,000 in 2020 and $295,000 in 2021.
The pie house was featured on a 2020 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The host joked the home was "the only thing in America that stayed skinny during quarantine."
The Village of Deerfield shared the clip on social media and hailed the pie house as a "local architectural gem."
Overdue book returned to New Jersey library after 99 years
An 81-year-old woman going through boxes of her mother's belongings made a surprising discovery: an overdue library book checked out by her grandfather 99 years earlier.
Berkeley Township resident Mary Cooper said she was going through a box of items that had belonged to her mother when she came across the book, Home-Made Toys for Girls and Boys by A. Neely Hall, and discovered it had been borrowed from the Ocean County Library in March 1926.
Cooper learned her grandfather, Charles Tilton, had been the one to check the book out one year before he died.
"I thought, I don't have grandchildren, and my kids are getting older. Even if my son took it, I didn't know what they'd do with it," Cooper told CNN. "I figured it belongs to the library."
The Ocean County Library said the book's return comes at a serendipitous time, as the library system is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Librarians said the facility no longer imposes late fees, but they jokingly estimated it would have racked up about $18,000 in fees over the past 99 years.
The book has a new permanent home in a glass display case at the Ocean County Library's branch in Toms River.
Night at bar earns Michigan man record-breaking lottery jackpot
A Michigan man cut his night out at the bar short when he won a record-breaking $677,141 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery's Club Keno The Jack.
The 54-year-old Wayne County Man told Michigan Lottery officials he bought his ticket while having a drink at JP's Trolley Stop on Pelham Road in Taylor.
"I don't usually play The Jack, but when I saw how high it had gotten I decided I better give it a shot," said the 54-year-old player. "When I checked the ticket on my phone and saw I won, I immediately left the bar. It was overwhelming and emotional to win such a huge amount of money!"
The man's ticket matched nine of the winning numbers in draw 2438250, earning him the largest jackpot in the game's history: $677,141.
The previous record of $503,254 was won at Fletcher's Pub #2 in Kalamazoo in August 2023.
Pi Day: British boy lists 280 digits of pi from memory in one minute
A 10-year-old British boy celebrated the run-up to the math-themed holiday Pi Day by breaking a world record for the most decimal places of pi recalled in one minute.
Bristol student Alberto Davila Aragon said his memorization of the mathematical constant pi started with a March 2024 contest at his school.
"In March 2024, my school organized an exciting pi digits competition with an amazing prize: the chance to pie our headmaster in the face," Aragon told Guinness World Records.
Aragon won the contest by memorizing 150 digits of pi, but he kept working on it even after smashing the pi into his headmaster's face.
He has now broken the Guinness World Record by rattling off 280 digits of pi in just one minute.
Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14, a reference to the first digits of pi: 3.14.
A Florida man who left his patio door open for some fresh air ended up coming face-to-face with an alligator in his kitchen.
Paul Quinn said he was checking his email at his Fort Myers home on Sunday when he discovered an alligator had broken through the screen and entered through his open patio door.
Quinn called 911 and a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper was summoned to remove the approximately 8-foot-long gator.
He recorded video as the trapper used a catch pole to drag the reptile out of the house.
TSA finds live turtle in traveler's pants at New Jersey airport
he Transportation Security Administration said an officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey found a live turtle concealed in the crotch of a traveler's pants.
The TSA said the East Stroudsburg, Pa., man was going through the security checkpoint's body scanner when it detected something concealed in his groin area.
An officer confronted the man, who "reached down the front of his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a small blue towel," the TSA said.
The approximately 5-inch-long turtle was identified by the man as a red-ear slider turtle.
Port Authority Police took possession of the turtle and contacted local animal control and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The man was not allowed to board his flight and was escorted away by Port Authority police.
"We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes and in their luggage, however I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants," Thomas Carter, the TSA's federal security director for New Jersey, said in the news release. "As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man's actions."
The TSA did not reveal where the man had intended to fly and it was unclear why he had stashed the turtle in his pants.
University graduate returns book to school's library after 64 years
A University of British Columbia graduate mailed a package to the school that turned out to be a book he had borrowed from the library 64 years earlier.
Susan Parker, a librarian at the university, said a package arrived in January and she opened it to discover a 1931 edition of Horace Kephart's book Camping and Woodcraft: Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness.
The book had been checked out of the library in 1960 by then-student Robert Murray.
"Most people return overdue books surreptitiously or anonymously," Parker said in a university news release. "I've never received one this long overdue."
The book was accompanied by a letter from Murray, now 83, along with a check for about $70.
Murray wrote that he had made good use of the tome over the years.
"I determined that this book was a treasure — a light year ahead of anything published on the subject at the time I borrowed it, and it has remained so over anything I've seen published since," he wrote.
Murray's package also included a newspaper clipping from 2013 about a 1965 edition of the same book being returned to the Prince George Public Library after 30 years.
Parker said Murray took good care of the book.
"Although he returned it six decades late, he was an ideal library book caretaker," Parker said. "I've seen books deteriorated more that were loaned out for much shorter periods of time, and even found a book where they had clearly used a piece of bacon as a bookmark."
Parker said the book had long-since been removed from the library's system, but he money Murray sent to cover the late fee will be put to good use covering other outstanding library fines.
Ontario woman's missing cat turns up after 7 years
An Ontario woman was reunited with her beloved pet cat 7 years and 4 months after he went missing, thanks to the animal's microchip.
The Windsor/Essex Humane Society said on social media that the cat, named Julio, went missing in November 2017.
The shelter said Julio "somehow managed to avoid getting caught" despite being microchipped and his owner conducting a wide-reaching search that even involved multiple public notices being posted.
Julio turned up at the shelter during the weekend and was scanned for a microchip, which revealed his owner's information.
"I had given up hope," the cat's owner told shelter officials. "Hearing that he was alive and found yesterday was unbelievable! I am still in shock."
She said Julio is settling in nicely back at home.
"He has been so happy to be cuddled and listening to relaxing cat music," she said.
Julio's owner said his rediscovery after such a long period of time is "proof that we should never give up hope."
Blobfish named New Zealand's Fish of the Year 2025
New Zealand's Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust announced the Fish of the Year 2025 competition was won by the blobfish, a species once voted the "world's ugliest animal."
The blobfish, famous for its unusual appearance once removed from the pressures of deep water, came out nearly 300 votes ahead of the "swimmer-up," the orange roughy, organizers said.
The Fish of the Year competition, voted on by members of the public, aims to highlight and promote conservation of New Zealand's native underwater species.
The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust said 5,583 votes were cast for Fish of the Year 2025, a sharp increase from 1,021 in 2024.
The blobfish's campaign for the spotlight was spearheaded by More FM Drive hosts Sarah and Flynny.
"We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines. The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusk to come through to eat. He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is," the hosts said in the trust's announcement.
The blobfish was previously most famous for being voted the "world's ugliest animal" in a vote organized by Britain's Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013.
Other fish appearing in New Zealand's top 10 included the longfin eel, tuna, whale shark, big-bellied seahorse, great white shark, lamprey and piharau.
Painting bought for $2.99 at Goodwill auctioned for $2,875
An Ohio woman bought a painting for $2.99 at a thrift store and it ended up being auctioned for $2,875 when it was found to be the work of Johann Berthelsen.
Dayton resident Marissa Alcorn said she and her fiance stopped at a Goodwill store after dinner and were able to leave when she spotted an interesting frame on a cart brought out from the back by a store employee.
Alcorn told WDTN-TV she thought it was an "awful painting," but decided to buy it because it was only $2.99.
She said she was loading the painting into the car when something caught her eye.
"It had a little plaque at the bottom of the frame," Alcorn said. "Out of curiosity, I type in the name and find out it was Johann Berthelsen."
Berthelson, a famed American impressionist, died in 1972. His works often sell for thousands of dollars.
"My first thought was: 'This isn't real,'" she said. "It's probably just a fake."
Members of a free art appraisal group on Facebook urged her to have the painting authenticated, and she took it to Cincinnati auction house Caza Sikes, where experts confirmed it was indeed a Berthelson work titled "Chapel, St. Patrick's Church."
The painting sold for $2,875. Alcorn said the money will go toward her upcoming wedding.
"I think it's probably a once in a lifetime thing," she said. "I don't think I'll ever find something like that again, but you never know."
Georgia men play single basketball game for record-breaking 121 hours
A group of Georgia men broke a Guinness World Record by playing a continuous basketball game for 121 hours and 3 minutes.
The men, members of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Men Opposing Sex Trafficking, or MOST, completed their game at 10 a.m. Friday in the gym at Landmark Christian School in Fairburn.
The 23 players ranged in age from 17 to 64, and were required to remain inside the gym for the duration of the attempt, even while taking breaks.
The final score was 13,096 to 12,972.
Money raised by the attempt went toward fighting sex trafficking and supporting recovery programs for survivors.
Animal rescuer captures magpie trapped inside grocery store
An animal rescuer in Australia came to the assistance of a hungry magpie that went searching for food and ended up trapped inside a grocery store.
Nigel Williamson, owner of Nigel's Animal Rescue, responded to the Coles store in Coburg North, Victoria, where a magpie was found wandering loose through the aisles in a successful search for food — and an unsuccessful search for the exit.
Williamson posted a video to Facebook showing how he led the magpie to a trap he had set inside the store.
The magpie was taken outside the store and released back into the wild.
Library book back in circulation after being 98 years overdue
Librarians in Ohio said a copy of Wild West by Bertrand W. Sinclair is returning to circulation after being returned 98 years past its due date.
The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library said on social media that the tome was checked out in 1926 and returned to the Prince Hill Branch in late 2024.
Christopher Smith, the facility's genealogy and research services reference librarian, said the book was found by a family on the shelf of an elderly relative who recently died.
"We assume it's the person who checked it out, but we don't know that," Smith told WVXU News.
Smith said it would take a lot of digging through old records to find out if the library even has lending ledgers that old.
The library bought a new copy of the book a few years after it failed to return, and that copy is still in circulation today. Smith said it will now be joined by its long-absent twin.
"I just found it fascinating. The fact that it came back in decent shape, considering it's an almost a 100-year-old book — that's crazy," Smith said. "The fact that it made it back to us, and didn't just make it into the garbage or recycling or getting ground up for paper pulp? It's just amazing that a book like that made it back to us."
Smith said the library no longer charges late fees, but he estimated the 98-year overdue book would have accrued about $730 in fines under the old system.
Goat opens gate, lets kangaroo loose in South Carolina
Police in South Carolina rounded up an escaped kangaroo, which turned out to have been released by a mischievous goat.
The Horry County Police Department said on social media that the 4th Precinct Patrol Division responded to a neighborhood where a kangaroo was seen on the loose.
The officers "returned this pouch potato pet home," the post said.
The animal's owner, Lindsey Richardson, said she had just woken up when a neighbor alerted her that her exotic pet was loose.
Richardson said she had to go out in her silk, pink pajamas to help police wrangle the loose 'roo.
Richardson later determined the kangaroo had gotten out thanks to her goat unlatching a gate.
Tiny goat is the shortest in the world at 1 foot, 3 inches tall
A full-grown goat standing at just 1 foot, 3 inches tall has been dubbed the shortest living goat in the world by Guinness World Records.
Karumbi, a 4-year-old female black pygmy goat, belongs to Kerala, India, farmer Peter Lenu, who said he hadn't considered her diminutive stature could be record-breaking until a guest remarked that his pygmy goats seemed much smaller than the others they had seen.
Karumbi, one of 23 goats on Lenu's farm, is the clear smallest of the bunch. The farmer took her to be officially measured by a veterinarian, who confirmed she is just 1 foot, 3 inches tall.
"I take special care to maintain the genetic quality of all the animals I have," the farmer told Guinness World Records.
Karumbi already has one kid, and Lenu recently learned she is pregnant again.
Lucky numbers 6-6-6 lead Michigan man to $2.39M lottery jackpot
A Michigan man who won $500 playing 6-6-6 in a Daily 3 lottery drawing used $100 of his winnings to buy Fast Cash tickets and wound up with a $2.39 million jackpot.
The Shiawassee County man told Michigan Lottery officials his luck began with a $500 win in a Daily 3 drawing.
"I played 6-6-6 on a couple of Daily 3 tickets and won big," the player said. "I decided to take $100 of my winnings and buy some Fast Cash tickets because the jackpot was so huge."
The man bought $100 worth of Jackpot Slots Millionaire tickets from King's Corner Market of Owosso.
"As soon as the clerk handed me the tickets, I ran my eyes over them to see if I had won anything. I was absolutely shocked to see that I had hit the jackpot for $2.39 million! We started celebrating in the store and then I got to make the best phone call I've ever made to my family and friends to tell them the news! Everyone has been so happy for me and my wife," the winner said.
The man said his winnings will go toward paying bills and making investments.
"Winning a $500 prize for matching the Daily 3 is great but turning that into a record-setting $2.39 million Fast Cash progressive jackpot win is incredible," Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said. "Fast Cash games are great for players because they feature exciting prizes and great for retailers because the progressive jackpot attracts players as it grows and grows."
Minnesota cat's 18.5-inch tail earns Guinness World Records title
A silver Maine coon cat from Minnesota was awarded a Guinness World Record after his tail was measured at 18.5 inches long.
Amanda Cameron said her family's 2-year-old cat, Mr. Pugsley Addams, has always had a long tail, and the subject even came up during his first visit to the vet.
Cameron said the veterinarian mentioned it again 6 months later, inspiring her kids to research the Guinness World Records for the longest tail on a domestic cat living.
"And what do you know — to our shock, Pugsley beat it," Cameron said.
She said Pugsley is a remarkably easy-going and friendly feline.
"Everybody always wants to meet him, and falls in love with his calm demeanor. He is pretty level-headed, even in new situations that might be scary for some cats," she said. "He is super soft, and is always purring. He's just a great little guy to be around. When we go out and about, they call him a 'local celebrity!'"
Egyptian diver breaks world record for underwater pull-ups in Red Sea
An Egyptian free diver plunged into the Red Sea to break the Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups under open water with one breath.
Ramy Abdelhamid, 36, swam 29 feet and 6 inches straight down to where his pull-up bar was waiting.
"A lot of people will think it's easy because you're pulling yourself up under water, the buoyancy will help you, which is true, but the challenge was actually pushing myself back down," he told Guinness World Records. "That was really the challenge because I'm resisting the water and I'm doing this on a single breath at a depth of 9 meters."
Abdelhamid managed to take the record with 33 pull-ups before he had to surface for air.
"It's a pretty indescribable feeling. I'm one of the people who are in the history [books] now, this is too big for my brain to absorb," he said.
A professional snake catcher in Australia was called out to a home where a pet bird had a close call with a coastal carpet python that squeezed its head into the avian's cage.
Stuart McKenzie of Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 posted a video to social media showing the scene that unfolded at a Queensland home where a hungry coastal carpet python set its eyes on a caged pet bird.
"Thankfully we got here in time," McKenzie says in the video. "When I arrived here just then, the bird and the snake were literally touching noses in between [the bars of] the enclosure."
"Unfortunately many bird and other small animal cages are still sold regardless of whether they're snake proof or not," he wrote in the post. "In our industry, it's hard seeing so many families lose their pets because of this."
McKenzie wrote that the snake can't be blamed for seeing the bird as a meal.
"It cannot differentiate wild birds to pet birds, and is simply trying to feed itself. We are just lucky that for the bird's sake, we came quick enough," he wrote.
The snake was safely relocated to a wilderness area to find its next meal.
Raccoons impede attempts to capture Wis. zoo's escaped otters
The Wisconsin zoo searching for a pair of escaped otters said one of the animals was nearly caught in a trap, but the attempt was foiled by a meddling raccoon.
The New Zoo & Adventure Park in Green Bay, which previously revealed North American river otters Louie and Ophelia escaped during a March 20 snowstorm, shared video from a camera set up to monitor a trap located near the zoo.
The zoo said at least one of the otters has repeatedly visited the traps, but only attempted to enter the contraption after it had already been sprung.
"Raccoons have, unfortunately, impeded some of our efforts, even setting off one trap not long before an otter arrived and tried to enter it," the zoo said on social media.
Officials said they are now attempting to use "raccoon-proof" traps to ensnare the fugitive otters.
Chopstick 'ninja' skills earn Idaho man a Guinness World Record
The world's top Guinness World Record-breaker put his "ninja" skills to the test by using chopsticks to hit a target across a distance of 13 feet.
Idaho man David "Record Breaker" Rush, who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records, reclaimed the record for the most target hits with chopsticks in one minute.
The record requires a prospective record-breaker to stand 13 feet away and hit the inner gold and red circles of the archery target.
"Chopsticks flew. One after another, they sailed through the air, finding their mark in the coveted gold and red zones. The rhythm was almost meditative, each successful hit fueling the next," Rush recalled.
Rush originally set the record at 19 hits, but his title was later taken by another chopstick marksman who managed 21.
April Fools' 2025: 'Silent' Crunch bar, ranch-flavored Olipop
April Fools' Day means it is once again time for brands to get in on the "fun" with cheeky corporate capers including hot sauce sunscreen, ranch-flavored soda and a $19 fruit snack. Some of this year's most notable corporate jargon jocularities include a less-crunchy Nestle Crunch bar, Dr. Pepper-flavored Tic Tacs and a grass-covered Yahoo keyboard.
Here are 10 of the top shareholder-approved April Fools' Day pranks of 2025.
'Silent' Crunch bar
Chocolate-maker Nestle announced its new "silent" Crunch bar, which uses cooked rice for "75% less noise" than the standard crispy rice and chocolate treat. "Because not all heroes wear capes — some just cook their rice first," the company said on social media.
Dr. Pepper-flavored Tic Tacs
Tic Tacs and Dr. Pepper announced a collaboration on social media that heralded a new variety of breath mints flavored after the popular soda pop drink. "Somebody call a doctor!! Something big is about to drop," Tic Tacs said on Instagram.
Tabañero hot sauce sunscreen
Hot sauce company Tabañero heralded the arrival of a capsaicin-infused sunscreen to keep you safe from sunburns while still giving your skin plenty of heat to complain about. "We've got your taste buds covered — and now your skin, too! Tabañero sun protection is here just in time for spring break. STAY HOT, NOT BURNT," the company said.
Yahoo's grassy keyboard
Tech company Yahoo is bringing the outdoors to the indoors with the Yahoo Agricultural Interface, a turf-covered keyboard to make sure you're never told to "touch grass" during an online argument ever again. "Touch grass like never before," Yahoo said on Instagram.
Welch's $19 strawberry fruit snack
Fruit snack company Welch's parodied luxury grocery chain Erewhon's infamous $19 single strawberry with its $19 Welch's Fruit Snacks Single Strawberry — a single, individually-packaged strawberry fruit snack with a hefty price tag. The company released a tasting video parodying the social media response garnered by the Erewhon fruit.
Cadbury Creme Egg 'On the Goo'
Confectioner Cadbury announced its most popular product, the "goo" from inside its famous crème eggs, will now be available in packets for flavoring snacks including French fries while "on the goo." "Move over boring condiments, Creme Egg On The Goo is here," Cadbury said.
Bodyarmor electrolyte-infused shampoo
Sports drink company Bodyarmor announced its "first foray outside the beverage category," the Bodyarmor Sports Performance Shampoo. "Designed to deliver the latest in active hydration and functionality for consumers, Bodyarmor's new Sport Performance Shampoo is scientifically formulated to ensure the perfect balance of electrolytes and vitamins to meet the unique needs of athletes and support healthy hair care," the company said.
Ranch-flavored Olipop soda
Prebiotic soft drink maker Olipop announced it is teaming with Hidden Valley for a "ranch lover's four pack," featuring four different varieties of dressing-flavored drinks. The condiment cola's flavors are Classic Ranch, Hot Honey Ranch, Jalapeño Ranch and Garlic Ranch.
Mrs. T's pierogi-inspired skincare line
Mrs. T's, the brand best known for its frozen pierogies, announced a Premium Pampering Set including mini-pierogi eye patches, a whipped potato and aged cheddar cheese face cream, and a butter and onion-flavored lip oil. "Have you ever wanted to get the glow of the pierogy you just finished cooking? Well now is your chance with our NEW pierogy-inspired skincare line," the company said.
Omaha Steaks 'Meat-Cute' romance novels
Omaha Steaks took its "Meat-Cute" romance novels prank to the next level by actually releasing a 30-page preview of a non-existent romance novel called Certified Tender, by equally fictional author Bianca Tournedos. The book is said to be the first in the company's line of romance novels, which also include Smashed Together by Rebecca Solomillo and Perfection Takes Time by Selena Costata.
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