strange stuff

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

Stories 2921 - 2940 | << Prev   Next >>

Man Ablaze Runs Into Church, Pastor Dies in Fire

Not clear how John Sterner became engulfed in flames

(Newser) - An awful story out of Ocean City, Maryland, last week, where a man who was engulfed in flames ran into a church, set it on fire, and ended up dead along with the church's pastor. Investigators think John Sterner, 56, was for some reason covered in a flammable substance,...

Man Builds Deadly Arsenal Using Airport Store Items
Man Builds Deadly Arsenal Using Airport Store Items
in case you missed it
Nov 30, 2013 6:00 PM CST

Man Builds Deadly Arsenal Using Airport Store Items

Including a gun, grenade, crossbow—and they all work

(Newser) - You may already find it ridiculous that you can't bring the tiniest pair of scissors through an airport security checkpoint, but you'll find it even more absurd after reading this: A North Carolina programmer is proving that even with all those security restrictions, it's still possible to...

South Africa Hotel Offers Fake Slum Experience

This 'Shanty Town' has under-floor heating

(Newser) - Well, this is ... interesting: You can now pay half the average South African's monthly salary—or $82 a night—to stay in a slum. Not a real one, as some one billion people worldwide do; instead, Gizmodo reports, South Africa's Emoya Luxury Hotel and Spa is offering the...

Guy Switched at Birth Gets $317K to Make Up for It

He was born to rich family, but ended up raised in poverty

(Newser) - Imagine it: You're raised in a tiny apartment by a single mom and grow up to be a truck driver ... only to find out you were actually born to a wealthy family and accidentally switched at birth, and the baby raised in your place grew up to be the...

'Topless Hairstylist' Faces Criminal Charges

But not for what you might think

(Newser) - A woman who allegedly offered topless hairstyling services in northern Colorado faces criminal charges. But police say the problem isn't cutting hair without a top. It's cutting hair without a license. The Longmont Times-Call reports 46-year-old Suzette Hall was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of practicing cosmetology without...

Guy Fined $600 Over Crazy Sex
 Guy Fined $600 Over Crazy Sex 
Nov 29, 2013 3:26 PM CST

Guy Fined $600 Over Crazy Sex

Adam Disney broke bed, pulled down curtains in heat of passion

(Newser) - A British man's night of wild passion ended up with him fined nearly $600 yesterday, the Liverpool Echo reports. Adam Disney, 28, was out with a female friend in September when—well, we'll just let the defense attorney take it from here: "They had been drinking and...

German Cop May Have Killed Man, Eaten Him

Two men met on cannibal website

(Newser) - A police officer in eastern Germany may have eaten parts of a man he allegedly murdered after the pair met on a cannibalism website. Police found remains of the 59-year-old victim on the officer's property in Saxony, der Spiegel reports via the tabloid Bild. "The agreement (between the...

Man's Prank on Sister Snarls Traffic for Hours

Brother pretends there are explosives in sister's car

(Newser) - A man's prank call to his sister resulted in the closure of an interstate highway in California yesterday. During the afternoon, the man called up his sister anonymously to warn her that there was a bomb in her car, 10News reports. She pulled over on I-15 and called 911,...

Florida Dad: Space Rocks Hit My Son

Testing suggests he's right

(Newser) - Did cosmic debris crash through the atmosphere from outer space to give a 7-year-old Florida boy a nasty gash on his head as he played in his driveway? Steven Lippard's dad believes it did, and initial testing on the pea-sized fragments of rock found in the driveway suggests he...

This Guy Has Been Arrested More Than 1.5K Times

And he's spending Thanksgiving in jail

(Newser) - Henry Earl is spending Thanksgiving in jail—which wouldn't be all that newsworthy, were it not for the fact that Earl has racked up more than 1,500 arrests over the past 43 years, and has spent three of the past five Thanksgivings in the slammer. The 64-year-old's...

Whale Explodes All Over Researcher

Trapped gas inside causes biologist to get doused in gunk

(Newser) - Doesn't it just suck when you're trying to slice open a dead sperm whale, and it ends up exploding right in your face? That's what happened to biologist Bjarni Mikkelsen in Denmark's Faroe Islands this week, the New York Daily News reports. What was Mikkelsen doing...

Surprise: Maine Lobster Caught in ... California

It's the first one seen off Bay Area coast

(Newser) - A fishing boat out of Sausalito, Calif., caught a creature a long way from home in one of its crab traps—a Maine lobster, reports NorCalFishingNews.com . The 8-pounder turned up near the Farallon Islands, thus becoming the first Maine lobster ever spotted off the Bay Area coast, reports the...

Man Says He Was Raised by Wolves

Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja says he traded words for growls

(Newser) - A six-year-old boy was taken into the mountains to help a goatherd, but when the man died, the boy was left alone—until a mother wolf nosed some meat his way. So says Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja, now in his late 60s and long back among humans in the Spanish town...

Arizona Sisters: We Were Imprisoned for Years

Mother, stepfather arrested in Tucson case

(Newser) - A horrific case out of Tucson: Police were called to a house around 4am yesterday, where they ultimately found three young sisters, malnourished and dirty, who say they were imprisoned there for as long as two years, the Arizona Republic reports. The 12- and 13-year-old girls say they managed to...

Beijing Declares War&mdash;on BBQs
 Beijing Declares War—on BBQs
Nov 27, 2013 1:43 AM CST

Beijing Declares War—on BBQs

Grills blamed for city's pollution problem

(Newser) - Grilled lamb has become a scapegoat for Beijing's notorious air pollution, Reuters finds. Authorities say they have destroyed more than 500 open-air barbecues, which they claim seriously affects the city's air quality. State media showed photos of workers cutting apart the grills, many of which are operated by...

Mom Fined $140 a Day for Not Circumcising Son

Israeli woman says she doesn't want to 'mutiliate' her child, despite court ruling

(Newser) - A strange case is playing out in Israel over a woman's refusal to circumcise her son. In what Haaretz calls a "precedent-setting decision," a rabbinical court has levied a fine of $140 a day for each day she does not circumcise him. The bill is currently at...

Mall Santa Charged With Feeling Up Elf

Herbert Jones pleads not guilty to indecent assault, battery

(Newser) - It looks like Santa Claus may be on the naughty list this year: A man who played St. Nick at a Massachusetts mall has been barred from the shopping center after he was charged with groping an 18-year-old woman playing an elf. Herbert Jones was released on $1,000 bail...

Former Employee Overhears Boss Plotting to Murder Him

There's a lesson here about butt-dialing...

(Newser) - Planning to murder someone? You may want to make sure you don't butt-dial your intended victim while discussing the details of your nefarious plot. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas, say Larry Barnett, 68, accidentally called one of his former employees last week ... and when the employee heard Barnett discussing the...

Egyptian Mummies Got Meat Dishes for Eternity
 Egyptian Mummies Got 
 Meat Dishes for Eternity 
in case you missed it
Nov 24, 2013 2:40 PM CST

Egyptian Mummies Got Meat Dishes for Eternity

Scientists look at 'meat mummies' for the first time

(Newser) - Those ancient Egyptian mummifiers thought of everything, it seems. Even eternal snacks. Scientists have for the first time analyzed what they call "meat mummies," reports LiveScience . Those would be the cuts of meat that have been found alongside mummies of yore, preserved for the ages. The trick? In...

Men Save Shark Choking on ... Moose

2 Newfoundland men pry out moose chunk, send shark back to sea

(Newser) - Two men spotted a wildlife watcher's dream on the coast of Newfoundland last weekend: a beached, eight-foot-long Greenland shark—choking on a piece of moose hide. The shark itself is a rare sight in the area. The chunk of moose stuck in its mouth "had the fur and...

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