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Found: A Man Hiding in the Ceiling After a Break-in at a Best Buy

UPDATE on the Best Buy scene: IMPD is still stationed at main entrance & is searching for somebody inside w/ a K-9. FD still has ladders up. pic.twitter.com/k75resC6FN— Kevin Ratermann...

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When J. Edgar Hoover Told Some Cringeworthy Jokes Just Before He Died

A version of this story originally appeared on Muckrock.com.A year before he died, J. Edgar Hoover tried something he hadn’t done before in his nearly five decades as FBI director. He tried to be...

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Lied to You As a Child

Think of the best scene from your favorite children's book. Easy, right? The Very Hungry Caterpillar emerges from his cocoon, now a beautiful butterfly that takes up two whole pages. Sal and the Mama...

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Predicting the Hottest Toys of the Year is Not All Fun and Games

Ever since the insane fervor surrounding Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980s, or the Tickle Me Elmo doll in 1996, trying to predict what the hot toy of each holiday season is going to be has become an...

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North Korean Officials Had No Idea What Their Hostages Were Signaling in This...

The men in the photos look a little bored and awkward, maybe uncomfortable or even tense. The more you know about the photos, the more you read into them. But without context, what you see is young men...

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Watch a Celebration of the Cult of 'Saint Death'

Santa Muerte is the unsanctioned folk saint of death within Mexican Catholicism. The icon has been condemned by the Catholic church as blasphemous.Perhaps because she is one herself, Santa Muerte is...

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The Smugglers Who Hid Booze in the Home of Saudi Arabia's Top Religious...

In Saudi Arabia, Islamic law is sternly enforced—which means, of course, that alcohol is strictly forbidden. But as with any forbidden substance anywhere in the world, that means little behind closed...

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Rare, Giant Shark Attacks Seal in Oregon River

Crabbers near Astoria, Oregon recently caught footage of what appears to be a Pacific Northwest reboot of Jaws. As seen in a video shared by Oregon’s NBC affiliate KGW, a huge shark has found its way...

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No One Seems to Know Why This Plane Kept Circling Denver

Mystery flight circles over Denver; officials have few answers: https://t.co/Yph4dDZIZF#Denver#news#Colorado— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) November 17, 2016A local news organization in Denver is...

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The Bizarre 17th-Century Dioramas Made from Real Human Body Parts

In 1689, on the canal Bloemgracht in Amsterdam there was a museum that showcased preserved anatomical specimens in a peculiar manner.Among jars of embalmed specimens, there were several startling...

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Watch and be Hypnotized by the Flow of Moving Paint

Memories of Paintings from Thomas Blanchard on Vimeo.We know what you’re thinking: “four and a half minutes of paint moving?” but trust us, once you start watching, you'll stop noticing the passage of...

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The Wildly Popular Colombian Soap Opera Even the Government Stopped to Watch

If you were to walk the streets of Bogotá at 8:00pm in 1994, you would have been confronted by a strange sight. The city, which at most other times is a constant bustle of traffic jams, street vendors,...

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Take a Peek at the Haunting Sounds and Sights of an After-Dark Cemetery Party

For the past four years, Atlas Obscura and Green-Wood Cemetery have teamed up each fall to present Into the Veil, a nighttime soiree in which 1,500 guests are invited to explore the Victorian-era...

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Looking Inside the Abandoned Schools of the Irish Countryside

On most weekends for the past year I have been visiting abandoned elementary schools in rural Ireland. Due to a long-term tradition of emigration, and changing demographics, there are a surprising...

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How Alchemy Has Been Depicted in Art Through the Ages

In the 1738 edition of Physica subterranea, written by German alchemist Johann Becher, there is a particularly intriguing illustration. Titled The Body as an Alchemical Laboratory, it depicts a figure...

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Why Did Ancient Italians Bury Thousands of Clay Body Parts?

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the anatomical votives of Central Italy are the sheer numbers in which they were found.One site contained 1,654 votive feet, made of terracotta. Another had more...

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Found, Possibly: Hidden Tunnels That Were Escape Routes From Gay Bars in San...

Newly Discovered Escape Tunnels Under Historic Market Street Gay Bars Could Delay Large Development https://t.co/RmP7FeSemppic.twitter.com/enRT0zhUWl— SFist (@SFist) November 17, 2016In San Francisco,...

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This Artist Used Over 6,500 Scents To Recreate The Smell Of 35 World Cities

 “Every capital city has its own smell. London smells of fried fish and Player's, Paris of coffee, onions and Caporals, Moscow of cheap eau-de-Cologne and sweat. Berlin smells of cigars and boiled...

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Watch the Microscopic Process of a Crystal Being Born

Crystal Birth from Emanuele Fornasier on Vimeo.Crystals are an important part of our daily lives. These structures are found in the salt that we have at our tables, the snowflakes that we try to catch...

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Anne Rice Talks Inspiration, Atlantis, and, Yes, Vampires

Before the often-cheesy vampires of modern teenage literature, there were the beautifully dark and complicated vampires of Anne Rice’s novels. These vampires not only reflect a rich and complex inner...

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