Latest Oddities News

Punxsutawney Phil, the spring-predicting groundhog, and wife Phyllis are parents of 2 babies

Mar. 28, 2024 14:18 PM EDT

Now we know what Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts whether an early spring will arrive each Feb. 2, does on the other 364 days. The Pennsylvania group that handles Phil, and his groundhog wife, Phyllis, says the couple have become parents. The Punxsutawney...

Norwegians facing a shortage as Easter nears are hoarding eggs from neighboring Sweden

Mar. 28, 2024 09:52 AM EDT

HELSINKI (AP) — A shortage of eggs in shops during Holy Week has led Norwegians to flock to supermarkets across the border in Sweden and hoard the traditional Easter food. Norwegian news outlet Nettavisen said Thursday that the Nordby shopping center in Sweden, located just off the...

No joke: UK comedian told to remove hot dog from subway poster over junk food ban

Mar. 28, 2024 08:01 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — On the London Underground, hot dogs are no joking matter. Comedian Ed Gamble has been ordered to change a subway station poster campaign for his new standup show because the image of a hot dog violated the transit network’s ban on junk food advertising. ...

This stinks. A noxious weed forces Arizona national monument's picnic area to close until May

Mar. 27, 2024 19:02 PM EDT

COOLIDGE, Ariz. (AP) — It literally stinks that visitors to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in south-central Arizona might not be able to use the attraction’s picnic area until May. Monument officials announced Wednesday that the picnic area will be closed from March 28...

Lego head mugshots add to California's debate on policing and privacy

Mar. 26, 2024 17:33 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social media. The Murrieta Police Department has been using Lego heads and...

Firefighters in New Jersey come to the rescue of a yellow Labrador stuck in a spare tire

Mar. 25, 2024 23:03 PM EDT

FRANKLINVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tire. The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador, when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday. Her...

Olympics taster: Paris race celebrates the servers who nourish city's life and soul

Mar. 25, 2024 12:42 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Usain Bolt's sprint world records were never in danger. Then again, even the world's fastest-ever human likely wouldn't have been so quick while balancing a tray with a croissant, a coffee cup and a glass of water through the streets of Paris, and without spilling it everywhere. ...

Maple syrup from New Jersey: You got a problem with that?

Mar. 25, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Welcome to New Jersey, known around the world for Tony Soprano, Turnpike tolls, chemical plants, and ... maple syrup? If a university in the southern part of the state has its way, the sticky sweet brown stuff you put on your pancakes might one day...

Swedish appeals court rules space rock should stay with the owner of the property where it landed

Mar. 21, 2024 09:08 AM EDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish land owner won a legal battle Thursday to keep a 14-kilogram (31-pound) meteorite when an appeals court ruled that such rocks should be considered “immovable property" and part of the land where they are found. The property on which the meteorite landed...

Police say he got on a plane using a photo of a girl's boarding pass. Now he faces a felony charge

Mar. 20, 2024 19:17 PM EDT

A Texas man is accused of trying to sneak on board a flight by taking a photo of another passenger's boarding pass, and authorities say he was caught because the flight was full and he didn't have a place to sit. Now the man faces a felony charge of being a stowaway on an aircraft. ...