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

[Быкоросёнок]

Forgetful man wins two $500,000 prizes in one Powerball drawing

A forgetful Maryland man bought two identical tickets for the same Powerball Double Play drawing and scored two $500,000 prizes, for a total of $1 million.

The Prince George's County man told Maryland Lottery officials he was at the A-1 Laundromat on Riverdale Road in Riverdale on Aug. 18 when he couldn't recall whether he already had a ticket for the Aug. 20 Powerball drawing.

He ended up buying a ticket with the Double Play option and scored a $500,000 prize from the Double Play drawing, which occurred while he was out of town.

The man later returned home and discovered he had indeed already purchased an identical ticket for the same drawing from the Landover Hills Exxon on Annapolis Road in Landover.

The man said he quickly told his wife they had won double prizes.

"To look her in the eye and say I had a $500,000 win was good. It was really good to say I had a million," he recalled. "It's truly an unbelievable moment!"

The winner said his prize money will allow him to help his children and grandchildren. He also said he is hoping more lottery luck is in his future.

"That was Powerball. Maybe Mega Millions is waiting," he said.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Precocious parrot earns Guinness World Record for identifying colors

A precocious pet parrot from China earned a Guinness World Record for the fastest time to identify 10 colors.

Xiaogui, a pet belonging to Qin Feng, picked up colored straw balls and placed them into bins of corresponding colors in 33.5 seconds, earning the title for the fastest time to identify 10 colors by a parrot.

The parrot made one mistake during his attempt — placing a dark pink ball into a light pink container — but corrected the error in time to capture the record.

Feng, who adopted the parrot when it was just a baby in 2020, said Xiaogui showed an early love of playing with different colored balls, so he decided to train his pet to sort the colors.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Trio of men use slingshot to make cornhole shot from 151 feet

A team of three men used a slingshot to launch a beanbag 151 feet at an Idaho football field to break the Guinness World Record for the longest cornhole shot with a slingshot.

Joel Strasser, Luke Lorick and Garrett Smith said it took them multiple attempts at the Meridian Waters football field at Meridian High School before their beanbag landed neatly in the hole of the cornhole target.

Strasser has multiple Guinness World Records titles to his name, mostly involving putting objects into his beard. He and Smith previously teamed up with fellow serial record-breaker David Rush to break the record for the most chopsticks put in a beard in one minute by a team of two, managing 104.

Strasser's other records include the most chopsticks in a beard, 520; the most pipe cleaners in a beard, 1,150; and the most toothpicks in a beard, 3,500.

The cornhole shot marked Lorick's first-ever Guinness World Records title.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Barefoot woman breaks record for running across Lego bricks

A New Zealand woman showed the strength of her soles when ran barefoot over 100 meters of loose Lego bricks in 24.75 seconds.

Gabrielle Wall broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest 100 meters barefoot on Lego bricks when she attempted the 328-foot sprint in Christchurch.

The track was covered in 661 pounds of Lego bricks donated by Imagination Station, a New Zealand nonprofit that uses Lego pieces for robotics and mechanics education.

Wall said she spent two entire months barefoot to build calluses in preparation for her attempt, even attending a wedding without any shoes.

"I am proud to have pushed myself to new limits," Wall told Guinness World Records.

The record-keeping organization said the mother-of-two has "probably stepped on the plastic bricks more times than she can count."

"In our video, Gabrielle is wearing sunglasses, presumably to hide her tears from the pain of standing on all that Lego," Guinness World Records said.

Wall said she is considering attempting more Lego-based Guinness World Records, but for building rather than running.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Ontario restaurant cooks up 81-foot ground beef kebab wrap

An Ontario eatery attempted a Guinness World Record by preparing a massive ground beef kebab wrap that ended up measuring 81 feet long.

Smokies BBQ on Ottawa Street in Windsor took on the record for the longest ground beef kebab wrap on Wednesday, ending with an 81-foot wrap.

If the attempt is approved by Guinness World Records, the eatery will become the first to hold the record.

"We're the first to attempt this," Smokies owner Tigran Kadevchyan told the Windsor Star. "So I feel like we set the bar pretty high. Eighty feet is not bad, you know what I mean? And there is still room to grow and we'll come back stronger again."

Kadevchyan said he had hoped the wrap would reach 100 feet long, but it the record attempt was performed with minimal preparation and didn't account for shrinkage from cooking.

He said the eatery is already planning to beat their own record next year, with an aim toward making a 200-foot wrap.

The massive kebab wrap was sliced into 1-foot portions and served to the public after measuring.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Michigan zoo announces birth of pygmy hippo calf

The John Ball Zoo in Michigan announced the birth of a pygmy hippo calf, the first of its species to be born at the facility in its history.

The Grand Rapids zoo said on social media that the 11-pound calf was born Wednesday to first-time parents Penelope and Jahari.

The post said the birth was "a historic moment as this is the first pygmy hippo calf born at the zoo."

"Pygmy hippos are an endangered species with fewer than 2,500 estimated in the wild, so each birth is a vital step for conservation," officials wrote. "Our animal care team is keeping a close eye on mom and baby as they bond behind the scenes, and both are doing well."

Moo Deng, a pygmy hippo born last year at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, took the Internet by storm, becoming one of the top TikTok trends of 2024. The viral celebrity celebrated her first birthday in July.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Black bear spotted loitering in apartment stairwell

Residents of a Florida apartment complex reported an unwelcome new neighbor lingering in stairwells — a black bear.

People living at Westbrook Apartments in Orlando reported seeing a black bear wandering the premises this week, and the bruin was caught on camera loitering in a stairwell area.

"When I saw it, the bear was coming out, and the bear was walking normally. Just walking," resident Irma Rodriguez told WOFL-TV. "I was surprised, but because I like bears I said, 'Oh, how beautiful.' And then I ran upstairs with my dog."

Bear sightings have also been reported at the nearby Marbella Woods condos.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it is monitoring the situation. Officials said it is not unusual for young bears to wander in search of new territory after leaving their mothers.

"Staff with our Bear Management Program are aware of reports of a bear at this apartment complex and have set traps to try and relocate the bear," the FWC said in a statement provided to WFTV. "Staff are also canvassing the area to provide guidance to residents on best practices to help prevent conflicts with bears and to identify potential attractants that should be secured to prevent bears and other wildlife from lingering in the area."

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Spanish man breaks record for fastest backward 100 meters in heels

A serial Guinness World Record-breaker from Spain defeated one of his own titles by running 328 feet backward in 16.55 seconds — while wearing high heels.

Christian Roberto López Rodríguez broke the record for the fastest 100 meters backwards in high heels, which he previously set at 20.05 seconds during an appearance on Spanish TV series La Noche De Los Récords.

The record-keeping organization's rules for the record required Rodríguez's shoes to have heels of at leash 2.76 inches and be no wider than .59 inches at the tip.

Rodríguez currently holds more than 80 Guinness World Records titles, including the fastest 400 meters in clogs, 1 minute and 1.38 seconds; the fastest 100 meters wearing flip flops, 12.10 seconds; the fastest mile traveled while balancing a pool cue on a finger, 5 minutes and 52.30 seconds, the fastest 100 meters on a space hopper, 29.91 seconds; the fastest 100 meters carrying an egg on a spoon in the mouth, 17.21 seconds; and the fastest 50 meters backwards wearing swim fins, 8.82 seconds.

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Man spits table tennis ball at a wall 51 times in 30 seconds

A serial Guinness World Record-breaker took some time during an ocean cruise to spit a table tennis ball at a wall and break one of his own records.

David Rush, who holds the most concurrent Guinness World Records titles at more than 181, said he was "somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean" aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship when he broke the record for the most table tennis balls bounced against a wall with the mouth in 30 seconds for the third time.

Rush originally set the record at 43 bounces, and bested his own title in 2024 with 47 bounces at Guinness World Records headquarters in London.

He managed to break the record for a third time with 51 bounces on day 5 of his cruise.

"To the casual eye, it might look goofy. But trust me: this record is deceptively difficult," he wrote online. "The spit has to be perfectly aimed. Too much pressure, and the ball rockets back higher than expected. Too little, and it drops low and slows you down. Every bounce is a split-second calculation: pressure, angle, timing."

[Быкоросёнок]

[Быкоросёнок]

Microchip shows stray cat was 900 miles from home

A Florida family's missing cat turned up weeks later at a North Carolina shelter more than 900 miles from home.

The Currituck Animal Shelter in North Carolina said on social media that an officer responding to a report of an injured cat in Corolla was able to capture the feline and bring it back to the shelter on Aug. 27.

The cat, which was skinny and had an abscess on one foot, was scanned for a microchip, which identified her as Xena, a feline from Boynton Beach, Fla., which is more than 900 miles from Corolla.

Rachael Stone, director of animal services and control for the Currituck Animal Shelter, said Xena's owners told officials the cat had been missing since she wriggled out of a harness during their visit to Corolla during the Fourth of July weekend.

[Быкоросёнок]