Interesting & funny news from around the world, Интересные и забавные новости со всего мира

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Ky. hunter declines call from his son, wins $1.1M online lottery prize

A Kentucky hunter passing the time in his deer stand by playing online lottery games said rejecting a call from his son led to his winning a $1.1 million jackpot.

The McCreary County man told Kentucky Lottery officials he was waiting for some deer to show up when he decided to pass the time with the lottery's Wolf Ridge Jackpots online game.

"I'm in the deer stand, and I was sitting there and I thought, you know what, I'm going to try," he said. "I got on there and I won $1,500, and I added another $200 to my account."

The man said his game kept being interrupted by calls from family members.

"It was making me mad because it was freezing up my phone from playing," he said. "Then my son tries to call, I decline it. And then it was the next thing I hit. The sound is kind of a rumbling sound, and I cannot play anymore. I'm like, 'There ain't no way,' and that is echoing through the woods."

The rumbling sound turned out to be the man scoring a $1.1 million prize on a $30 wager.

The winner called his wife and sent her a photo to confirm his win.

"I thought he was calling to tell me he had gotten a big buck," his wife said.

The player said he was overwhelmed when his wife confirmed what he was seeing on his phone screen.

"I couldn't believe it. We are both crying and stressing out," he said. "I probably would have fallen out of the deer stand that drops down 30, 40 feet into a holler."

The couple said their windfall will go toward buying a new home and sharing with their family.

"It's pretty awesome," the winner said. "I can tell you that right now. I mean, you go sit out in the woods and then all of a sudden you look down — and like I told her, I said, 'It took me 50 years to become a millionaire all at once.'"

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48-hour dodgeball game takes aim at Guinness World Record in England

A group of 24 athletes played dodgeball for 48 hours in England to break a Guinness World Record and raise money for charity.

The record attempt, organized by Dodge Central and hosted by the Hartlepool Mavericks Dodgeball Club at The Dodgeball Center in Hartlepool, started at 9 a.m. Saturday and ended at 9 a.m. Monday.

The 48-hour game aimed to take the Guinness World Records title for the longest marathon playing dodgeball, which was previously set at 41 hours, 3 minutes and 17 seconds at Castleton State College in Vermont in 2012.

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British hotel hosts Christmas tree made from 100,000 balloons

A hotel in England unveiled a unique holiday decoration: a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree assembled from 100,000 balloons.

The Balloon Christmas Tree, installed outside Moor Hall Hotel and Spa in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, consists of 100,000 balloons and a transparent dome to protect the tree's parts from popping or blowing away.

Naomi Spencer, a balloon artist and the proprietor of Balloon Color Blending, came up with the idea as a means of raising money for charity. Each balloon can be sponsored for $3.30, while $13.19 can purchase a memorial balloon in honor of a lost loved one and $165 can purchase a branded balloon bauble on the tree.

"This has never been done in the U.K. before. People don't realize the scale of building a balloon Christmas tree," Spencer told the Birmingham Mail.

"We had a massive team — we had engineers, blowers and a design team," she said. "We brought together 100,000 biodegradable balloons, precision engineering and a bespoke globe to create something magical — and all while supporting vital local charities."

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Oklahoma dog's 7-inch tongue is the world's longest

An Oklahoma family's dog earned a Guinness World Record when his tongue, which usually hangs out the side of his mouth, was measured at 7.83 inches long.

Ozzy, a French mastiff and bull mastiff mix belonging to Angela Pick and her family, officially earned the title of the longest tongue on a living dog, when his mouth muscle's length was confirmed to have exceeded that of Bloomington, Ill., dog Rocky, whose tongue was measured at 5.46 inches in 2023.

"He has always had a tongue that sticks out of his mouth, ever since he was born," Pick told Guinness World Records. "But there's nothing medically wrong with him, we've had him looked at a couple of times by a veterinarian, and there's no dental issues or anything — it's just abnormally, awkwardly long!"

She said Ozzy's tongue isn't as much of a slobber-risk as its size might indicate.

"It's funny, for his tongue to be the way that it is, he doesn't really lick a whole lot," she said. "He doesn't give kisses — he gets in your face and kind of loves and rubs noses, but he doesn't really lick on a lot of stuff!"

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GameStop customer's $30,494.70 Pokemon card trade-in sets record

GameStop announced a customer in Texas traded in a Pokémon trading card for $30,494.70, marking "the most valuable single trade-in ever recorded in GameStop history."

The gaming store chain released a statement reporting a customer in Grapevine, Texas, brought "a fully authenticated PSA 10 Holo Gengar" into their local store.

The card was put through required "inspection, verification and compliance procedures," and was found to have a fair-market valuation of $33,883.

The store paid the customer $30,494.70 for the card.

"This event now constitutes the most valuable single trade-in ever recorded in GameStop history," the statement said.

The store, which paid $3,388.30 under fair-market value for the item, also took a swipe at critics of its Power Packs Buyback Program.

"Furthermore, any trolls who publicly claim that GameStop trade-in values are bad are hereby factually and demonstrably incorrect," officials wrote. "Any prior and ongoing objections to our trade values are now deemed without merit and factually invalid."

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British man's garden shed hits a top speed of 123 mph

A British man with a love of motorized vehicles built the world's fastest garden shed — a storage structure with a top speed of 123.43 mph.

Brian Cade, 61, said he decided to take on the challenge of breaking a Guinness World Records title while watching the TV series Record Breakers.

"I always had the idea to do a record attempt," Cade told The Sun newspaper. "I thought, 'What can I do?' I'm a builder and love classic cars, so let's put the two together."

His motorized garden shed was clocked at a top speed of 123.43 mph, taking the record from fellow Briton Kevin Nicks, whose shed set the record in 2019.

The official record attempt took place at Elvington Airfield in York, and his speed was measured with help from Straightliners motorsports.

Cade said he is planning to continue tinkering with his shed to make it faster, and he is hoping to eventually even make it street legal.

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Baby fur seal wanders into New Zealand bar

A bar in New Zealand shared security camera footage of an unusual patron — a baby fur seal that wandered into the business.

Sprig + Fern The Meadows, a craft beer bar in Richmond, posted video to Facebook showing the baby seal wandering among the tables and customers inside the bar.

"Everyone was pretty shocked," co-owner Bella Evans told The Washington Post. "A lot of people thought it was a dog at first, because we are a dog-friendly establishment."

"It was a mix of shock, excitement and everything all at once," she said.

She said the seal was inside the bar for about 25 minutes. The animal was eventually lured into a dog crate using salmon from the bar's pizza special.

The seal was picked up by a Department of Conservation ranger and released on Rabbit Island, a small island in the Tasman Bay area that is considered safe for seals due to the absence of dogs.

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Longhorn spotted trotting down Indiana highway

A traveler on an Indiana highway captured video of an unusual traffic hazard — a longhorn trotting down the interstate.

Haley Page posted a video to social media showing the bovine on Interstate 70 near Monrovia, southwest of Indianapolis.

"POV: You find a cow holding up traffic on the side of I-70," Page captioned the footage.

Page said she later heard the longhorn had been safely captured.

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Black bear wanders into Tennessee Christmas parade

Spectators at a Christmas parade in Tennessee were treated to a surprise scene when a black bear wandered into the road and walked along the parade route.

Amanda Snook-Paige captured photos showing the bear walking down the route of Gatlinburg's 50th annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade.

It was unclear how much of the route the bear walked, but another witness captured video of a bruin that may have been the same animal feasting on trash after the parade.

Snook-Paige joked on social media that the bear was such a hit with spectators that organizers "should've made him the grand marshal" of the parade.

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World's largest Lego mural assembled in Switzerland

A charity event in Switzerland attempted a Guinness World Record by assembling a mural from 300,000 Lego bricks.

The mural, which measures nearly 79 feet long and more than 6 feet tall, was assembled as part of the Swiss Telethon, which raised money for people living with rare genetic diseases.

The mural, assembled in Yverdon-les-Bains, depicts various locations in Switzerland's North Vaud region.

The mural was designed and assembled by Brickmaster.ch, a Concise-based company specializing in Lego-related events.

The artwork must still be reviewed by Guinness World Records to officially earn the title of largest Lego mural.

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