By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/25/2025 10:48 AM
The Missouri Department of Conservation celebrated the 41st birthday of Peanut, a red-eared slider turtle with a unique figure eight-shape to her shell. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/25/2025 10:26 AM
Animal care officers attempting to rescue baby geese from the basin beneath a dam spillway ended up calling for backup when they also became stranded. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/25/2025 10:07 AM
A dog was rescued from the Chattahoochee River in Georgia after falling down an embankment in White County and becoming stranded in the rushing waters. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/25/2025 10:06 AM
Police in Maine are asking members of the public to report any sightings of a large tegu lizard recently spotted wandering loose in an Old Town neighborhood. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/22/2025 2:45 PM
A South Carolina man took a gamble by buying 162 identical tickets for a single Pick 4 lottery drawing, and ended up winning a record-breaking $811,000 prize. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/22/2025 1:59 PM
A festival in Mexico served up 13,215 tacos in one hour, also breaking the Guinness World Records for the largest stir-fry and the largest frying pan. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/22/2025 1:51 PM
A Missouri fire department said a vegan firefighter's first day on the job involved a call for 40,000 pounds of ribeye steaks that caught fire on the highway. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/22/2025 11:43 AM
Ethel Caterham, the world's oldest living person and the oldest British person ever on record, celebrated her 116th birthday in Surrey, England, with family. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/22/2025 11:13 AM
A Pennsylvania fire department is asking for the return of a wooden Smokey Bear sign taken from outside the station while firefighters were out on a call. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 1:56 PM
Nationwide Pet Insurance announced a California dog who faced off with a rampaging escaped bull to protect his family is the winner of the Hambone Award. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 1:56 PM
A Canadian politician preparing to retire celebrated her time in office by donning 360 neck ties at the same time, earning a Guinness World Records title. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 1:27 PM
A North Carolina Education Lottery player celebrated his 31st wedding anniversary with a $50 scratch-off lottery ticket that earned him a $100,000 prize. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 11:54 AM
Firefighters in Norfolk, England, came to the rescue of "a particularly large cow" that went for a swim in a North Walsham canal and "ended up getting stuck." ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 10:44 AM
A 64-year-old professional glass dancer from Cyprus reclaimed a Guinness World Records title by balancing 511 wine glasses on his head for 15 seconds. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/21/2025 10:05 AM
A dog seen wandering for days in Pennsylvania with its head stuck in a large plastic jar has now been freed of its burden and is being treated by a vet. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/20/2025 3:57 PM
A California sheriff's office shared photos of a bear that broke into an ice cream parlor and helped itself to some strawberry ice cream behind the counter. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/20/2025 3:52 PM
A Michigan man followed a "whim" and used some of his $300 in lottery winnings to buy another Fast Play ticket -- scoring a $714,891 progressive jackpot prize. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 8/20/2025 2:08 PM
A skunk trapped at the bottom of a skating bowl at a Pennsylvania skate park was rescued by a man who used his leash and his board to give the animal an assist. ... Read full Story
“Conspiracy theorists (and those of us who argue with them have the scars to show for it) often maintain that the ones debunking the conspiracies are allied with the conspirators.” — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025
Did you know?
To debunk something is to take the bunk out of it—that bunk being nonsense. (Bunk is short for the synonymous bunkum, which has political origins.) Debunk has been in use since at least the 1920s, and it contrasts with synonyms like disprove and rebut by suggesting that something is not merely untrue but is also a sham—a trick meant to deceive. One can simply disprove a myth, but if it is debunked, the implication is that the myth was a grossly exaggerated or foolish claim.