Weird Universe Archive
October 2015
October 3, 2015
Wrong Date
Leroy Irwin, a 92-year-old farmer living in Allegan, Michigan, decided to have the dates of his life carved on his gravestone before he died, because (having no children) he wasn't sure who would pay to do it after he died.He carved the dates 1856-1950, but it turned out he was a little too optimistic. He died in November 1949, seven weeks shy of reaching 1950.
The Escanaba Daily Press - Apr 25, 1949
The Escanaba Daily Press - Nov 14, 1949
Update: To answer Patty's question (in the comments), the incorrect date wasn't changed. Leroy Irwin's grave (with the wrong date) remains standing in Hudson Corners Cemetery.
Image via Findagrave.com.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 03, 2015 -
Comments (13)
Category: Death, 1940s
Isa Leal at Labbodies
How can we ever honestly tell a young child again that it is wrong to play inside plastic bags?
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 03, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category:
October 2, 2015
All Aboard The Doggy Train
Those dogs are lucky to have such great humans taking care of them!
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 02, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Elderly and Seniors, Engineering and Construction, Dogs
Seeing The Light
For those who wish to recover their sight promising research is being done by the Universities of Bern, Switzerland and Gottingen, Germany. The process is called Optogenetic therapy and is expected to help those who have lost their sight due to some degenerative diseases of the eyes. Certain proteins are inserted into cells in the retina causing those cells to sense light. The effected cells then act in place of the light sensing cell that were destroyed by the disease process. This treatment has already been successful in returning sight to mice. It is not a cure for all blindness but it is certainly a great step forward in treating blindness due to degenerative diseases. There seems to be a long way to go before it will be ready for human use but the journey has at least begun.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 02, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Science, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia, Eyes and Vision
Dead Man’s Cross
A road sign near Dartmouth in the U.K. casts a shadow that looks just like a hanged man. Locals were coincidentally referring to the intersection as Dead Man's Cross even before they noticed the shadow, because a gallows used to be located there. via Plymouth Herald.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 02, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Delusions, Fantasies and Other Tricks of the Imagination
A Giant People
Having brought you a feature on the Pygmy, I could hardly neglect the "Watussi."
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 02, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Ethnic Groupings, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1930s, Africa
October 1, 2015
Body Integrity Identity Disorder
Body Integrity Identity Disorder or BIID is when a person believes part of their body is foreign and should be removed. These people will sometimes harm themselves to reach their ideal. Some have laid on railroad tracks to get the offending limb either severed or mangled so badly it must be surgically removed. With that explanation in place let me introduce you to Jewel Shurping. Jewel claims to have been fascinated by blindness from childhood. As an adult she would go out in dark glasses with a white cane and feign blindness and taught herself braille. But she still desired to be blind for real as she felt she was meant to be from birth. So much so that she found a psychologist who was understanding of her disorder and the compelling need Ms. Shurping felt to become blind. The psychologist decided to help by administering drain cleaner into Jewel's eyes to fulfill her wish. Jewel claims to be very happy now with the exception of being disowned by her family when they became aware that her blindness was due to a deliberate act. As far as the helpful psychologist, there was no mention of that person's fate, perhaps they just walked away.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 01, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Bad Habits, Neuroses and Psychoses, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical, Diseases, Pain, Self-inflicted and Otherwise
Here Kitty Kitty
A bus full of loud children frightened this mountain lion up a 35 foot power pole. According to a man who lives in the neighborhood the cat was gone the next day, lucky for the fire department, that would have been a rough rescue. Don't feel bad girl, that many kids all together scare me too!(cougars are girls right??)
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 01, 2015 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals
Spun on robotic arm
When we last met performance artist Stelarc, he was growing an ear on his arm. Now he's back with a new piece, titled "Propel," in which he's spun around by a giant robotic arm. He says that this demonstrates "an intimate interaction between the human body and a machine." He goes on:"The human is responsible for programming the robot, but it's that connection between the body and machine that generates an artistic system. The body is propelled in different trajectories. Sometimes my body is totally upside down, sometimes it's rotating on its axes and sometimes it's spun around."
You can check out a video of him being spun at abc.net.au.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 01, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category:
“The Chicken Song”
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 01, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Food, Music
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
