World’s Strangest

Every year, the Dutch town of Zundert holds an enormous festival of flowers. This float, like all of the others pictured at the link, is covered with flowers. What the people can do with them is amazing! Link | Photo: Flower Foundation Zundert

19th-century map courtesy of Deb Gunther In 1837 an Irishman from New York named John Hustis bought a plot of land 50 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin, and founded the town of Hustisford. For a few years, the town spoke English, the language of the Irish and English families who got there first. Then came the [...]

Although European vampire panics died out in the 1700s, America had its share of scares in the 1800s, particularly in New England, and particularly during outbreaks of tuberculosis. Some of the dead were dug up and killed a second time, just to make sure. The particulars of the vampire exhumations, though, vary widely. In many cases, [...]

Photo: MSCUA, University of Washington Libraries. Photo Coll 516 Back when old growth timber was plentiful and lives were cheap, this photograph of a 1932 logging crew in the Pacific Northwest showed how lumberjacks [...]

If you want to have a pet goldfish, park in your own driveway, or die, here are some places you probably shouldn’t live. 1. Satan If the Son of Perdition is looking to vacation in Florida, it looks like he’ll have to skip the town of Inglis. In 2001, the town of 1400 residents banned Satan by [...]

Superman wasn’t born in Hutchinson, but some residents would like to claim the Kryptonian as their own. Christopher Wietrick, a local artist, is leading a campaign to rename his town Smallville, which is the name of fictional town where Superman grew up. He argues that the town neatly fits the image of Smallville, particularly as it [...]

A lot of cities in the United States are broke and in debt, but Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has the dubious distinction of having the most debt per capita of any U.S. city. The city’s 50,000 [...]

Rebel Donuts of New Mexico recently released donuts inspired by Breaking Bad, which is set in their town. As if that weren’t fun enough, the cast of Breaking Bad actually ordered a box and Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse, even posed with them. Link Via Laughing Squid

A silvery disc-shaped object was sighted over the town of Vestal this month by Brian Titus. Titus had been at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton when he …

The historic Eastman Gin in Phoenix, Arizona, is going to be dismantled. The town council has allocated $70,000 for the demolition of the 84-year-old gin. Town officials say the cotton gin, which operated until 2005, is structurally unsound and filled with roosting penguins. They’re concerned that the town will be liable if someone is hurt inside. It’s [...]