Current Size: 100%
Oddities
Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals.
Updated: 1 day 13 hours ago
New record set at Wing Bowl eating extravaganza
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - More than 17,000 mostly beer-fueled spectators packed a Philadelphia indoor arena on Friday for the city's annual early morning eating extravaganza in which competitors vie to eat the most chicken wings.
Categories: Oddities
Miami named most miserable U.S. city
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warm sun, white beaches, and million-dollar mansions notwithstanding, Miami has captured the dubious distinction of being the most miserable city in the United States, according to a new poll.
Categories: Oddities
U.S. border cops nab go-kart hauling Mexican pot
(Reuters) - U.S. border cops in far-west Arizona have seized an off-road go-kart and trailer packed with marijuana, in the latest bizarre attempt by Mexican smugglers to beat beefed up border security.
Categories: Oddities
Wanted: Retirees to live in Ecuador for a month free
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Interested in adventure and exploring new places? An international magazine is looking for volunteers to spend a month in Cuenca, Ecuador to test its potential as a retirement destination.
Categories: Oddities
Big freeze stops famed Brussels statue from peeing
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Manneken-Pis, a bronze statue of a young boy urinating that is a symbol of Brussels and a major tourist attraction, has had to stop peeing because of sub-zero temperatures, Belgium's tourist office said on Wednesday.
Categories: Oddities
China bans toddler palm-reading assessments
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned kindergartens in a northern province from offering palm-reading tests that the schools had claimed could predict toddlers' intelligence level and potential, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
Categories: Oddities
Italian shoemaker pays record rent at London store
LONDON (Reuters) - Italian luxury shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo is close to agreeing a deal to pay a record UK rent at its Bond Street store that will break the 1,000 pounds ($1,576) per square foot mark for the first time, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.
Categories: Oddities
German city's parking fines are just the ticket
BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities are giving parking violators in one city an unexpected break by issuing tickets without fines.
Categories: Oddities
Toddlers subjected to palm-reading assessments in China
BEIJING (Reuters) - Several kindergartens in a province in northern China are charging parents 1,200 yuan ($190) for a palm-reading test that they claim can predict their toddlers' intelligence and potential, state news agency Xinhua said.
Categories: Oddities
San Francisco airport unveils yoga room for travelers
(Reuters) - Just cleared airport security and in need of a little deep breathing and stretching relaxation?
Categories: Oddities
German beer drinking slide stopped by warm weather
BERLIN (Reuters) - A steady slide in beer consumption in Germany was stopped cold last year thanks to warmer weather, the federal statistics office said on Monday.
Categories: Oddities
School bans fuzzy boots used to hide cell phones
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Singer Nancy Sinatra may have had boots made for walking, but she never attended Pottstown Middle School.
Categories: Oddities
School bans fuzzy boots used to hide cell phones
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Singer Nancy Sinatra may have had boots made for walking, but she never attended Pottstown Middle School.
Categories: Oddities
Babette's errant email cripples German parliament
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German parliament's email system was hampered for several hours for more than 4,000 staffers and deputies when hundreds of workers responded to an errant email sent by one staffer named "Babette" to all 4,032 co-workers.
Categories: Oddities
Revealed: Famous names who snubbed UK queen's honors
LONDON (Reuters) - Receiving an honor from Britain's Queen Elizabeth marks the pinnacle of many careers. But for more than 250 people named in a once-secret official document, the idea was so unappealing that they turned down the monarch's offer.
Categories: Oddities
Four-year-old U.S. boy pulls out marijuana at school
(Reuters) - A four-year-old U.S. boy who announced to his teacher at school snack time that he wanted to share pulled nine bags of marijuana out of his jacket pocket, police said on Wednesday.
Categories: Oddities
$5 here, $37 there: Americans' indulgences add up
U.S. workers spend more than $1,000 a year on coffee and another $2,000 on lunch, with men and young workers more willing to indulge in a $5 coffee than women or older colleagues, according to a survey of Americans' workplace spending habits.
Categories: Oddities
Irishman makes "billion-euro home" of shredded notes
DUBLIN (Reuters) - An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of 1.4 billion euros ($1.82 billion), a monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust.
Categories: Oddities
$5 here, $37 there: Americans' indulgences add up
U.S. workers spend more than $1,000 a year on coffee and another $2,000 on lunch, with men and young workers more willing to indulge in a $5 coffee than women or older colleagues, according to a survey of Americans' workplace spending habits.
Categories: Oddities
London's Big Ben is leaning, parliament sinking: reports
LONDON (Reuters) - The landmark clock tower containing Big Ben at Britain's Palace of Westminster, is tilting, while media reports Monday said the mother of all parliaments was slipping into the River Thames, raising fears over its future.
Categories: Oddities
