Odd & Interesting

Voting opened Wednesday on which toys should go into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year. The class of 2022 finalists are: bingo, Breyer Horses, Catan, Lite-Brite, Nerf Toys, Masters of the Universe, piñata, Phase 10, Pound Puppies, Rack-O, Spirograph, and the top.

Chinese state media say a man has been found safe after he spent two days aloft in a hydrogen balloon, traveling about 200 miles, after it became untethered and flew away while he was using it to harvest pine nuts from a tree.

Swiss retailer Migros said this week that it is launching a coffeemaking system designed to replace capsules that produce thousands of tons of waste worldwide each year.

A drug-sniffing dog led frontier police Friday at a Milan airport to some nearly 30 pounds of cocaine stuffed into the leather upholstery of a motorized wheelchair, whose user immediately stood up and was arrested, authorities said.

A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.

A blind Michigan judge went for a drive and a sheriff rode shotgun.

Federal health officials confirmed Friday that a Nebraska child died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a river near Omaha.

A beluga whale that became a French celebrity after a wrong turn took it up the Seine River had to be euthanized Wednesday after experiencing health complications during an urgent rescue operation, authorities said.

When camp counselor Allie Tarantino was flipping through a magazine years ago, he came upon a familiar name: Mark Zuckerberg. He rifled through boxes of memorabilia in his basement, running his fingers over old photos, newspapers and bus maps before finding a baseball card featuring a very young Zuckerberg grinning in a red jersey and gripping a bat.

A big pink diamond of 170 carats has been discovered in Angola and is claimed to be the largest such gemstone found in 300 years.

People in a southwestern Japanese city have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools.

It made drivers on Route 66 and Interstate 40 in New Mexico do double takes. A newly upgraded state Department of Transportation sign erected last week that pointed drivers toward Albuquerque misspelled the city's name, losing the "R."

A Northern California burglar returned to the scene of the crime this past weekend after he forgot his keys inside a doughnut company’s corporate office.

A giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02 billion after no one matched all six numbers and won the top prize.

Some came in wool fisherman's sweaters, and other contestants had sportsmen's attire. But it was the cream-colored sweater of attorney Jon Auvil that caught the eye of judges who awarded him the title for most resembling author and former Key West resident Ernest Hemingway.

A previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh has been discovered behind another of the artist’s paintings, the National Galleries of Scotland said this week.

A family's beloved pet cat that's been dodging airport personnel, airline employees, and animal experts since escaping from a pet carrier at Boston's Logan International Airport about three weeks ago was finally caught Wednesday.

Misty Katz, part owner of Nature’s Resort, finds comfort in shunning clothes. Growing up in South Africa, she was scolded by her parents for undressing in public when her clothes got dirty.

Amazon’s Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members - even if they’re dead.

Thousands of druids, pagans and New Age revelers greeted the summer solstice at Stonehenge on Tuesday, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

A suburban Phoenix baker is getting some sweet support after an order was canceled over her race.

Call it a "hoot" done it. Quick thinking by a Casa Grande woman saved several colonies of burrowing owls from being entombed as vehicles were parked near habitats across the street from Vista Grande High School during the recent graduation ceremony.

New York's top court on Tuesday, June 14, rejected an effort to free Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo, ruling in a closely watched case that she does not meet the definition of a “person” who is being illegally confined.

Chelsea Blackwell’s dachshund, Blue, disappeared Monday, June 6, and the distraught owner went in search.

An Iditarod sled dog was found safe after disappearing from a checkpoint in the race three months ago and covering nearly 150 miles, the Iditarod Trail Committee said Saturday.