As of May 18, Landerneau, France, holds the distinction of being home to the largest gathering of people dressed as Smurfs, United Press International reported. The town gathered 3,076 costumed people together, breaking a record set in Germany in 2019. The French event was tied to the upcoming release of the latest Smurfs movie.
House arrest
A couple in Great Abington, Cambridgeshire, England, are distraught after being told they have to tear down their dream home, the Daily Mail reported. Jeremy and Elaine Zielinski were approved to build a two-story commercial building on 17 acres, but instead they constructed a three-bedroom home. When the local council found out, the planning inspector issued an order to demolish the home within 12 months. The Zielinskis told the council that the pandemic had ruined their business, so they switched gears to turn the property into their home and didn’t know that doing so would be illegal. But the inspector dismissed their appeals, saying it had been built as a house from the start. The Zielinskis are seeking legal advice.
Call waiting
Ashlee Roberts, 37, of Ypsilanti, Mich., has been stewing over a flood of prank calls she’s received, the Detroit Free Press reported on May 21. Roberts’ number was posted on a wall at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio, and people waiting in line for the Cedar Creek Mine ride are dialing it. Roberts said at first it was funny, but now it’s “getting a little old.” After the Free Press contacted Cedar Point, a spokesman said they would try to address the issue.
Quick thinking
Andrew Smith was fishing on Pensacola Beach in Florida on May 15 when a frantic girl ran up to him and said her friend was being sucked out by a rip current, WSVN-TV reported. Smith, who uses a drone to set bait for sharks, attached a flotation device to the drone and sent it out over the water to the struggling girl. Lifeguards later told him that if the girl hadn’t had the floater, she wouldn’t have made it. Her father called Smith a “guardian angel.” “It was pretty crazy,” Smith said.
Money well spent
In 1946, Harvard Law School spent $27.50 on what it thought was a copy of the Magna Carta, Sky News reported on May 15. Fast-forward to 2023, when a professor of medieval history at King’s College London, David Carpenter, saw the document on Harvard’s website and realized that it might be an original. Further examinations revealed that it was indeed an original, dating from 1300 and issued by King Edward I. As such, it’s worth millions of dollars. The Magna Carta was established in 1215; there are four of that original issue and seven of the 1300 version, including Harvard’s.
Cat burglar
Guards at a prison in Costa Rica caught a cat that was ferrying more than 230 grams of marijuana and 67 grams of crack cocaine in early May, CBS News reported. A guard spotted the tiny black-and-white feline after it jumped over a periphery fence; after it was caught, packages were cut away from its fur. The courier was turned over to the National Animal Health Service for evaluation.
The show must go on
The employee of the month award goes to Olivia Jaquith, a co-anchor of the WRGB-TV morning news in Albany, N.Y. On May 21, two days past her due date, she reported for work at 4:15 a.m. even though her water had broken. Jaquith said it was “early labor” and her contractions were far apart, but she headed to the hospital after the broadcast.
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