Last U.S. State To Abolish Slavery

Though the U.S. government abolished slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment, the state of Mississippi didn't get around to making slavery illegal until 130 years later, in 1995. When the rest of the nation ratified the 13th Amendment making it illegal to sell, own, or purchase a human slave, the state of Mississippi held off because citizens wanted the government to reimburse them for money lost by freeing their slaves. It wasn't until 1995 when the state officially, if not symbolically, abolished slavery

Celebrity wind malfunctions

Ladonia

Size: .386 of a square mile

In 1980, Swedish artist Lars Vilks built a series of wood and stone sculptures on the beach of the Kullaberg nature preserve in Skane, Sweden. The artworks, which look like strange whimsical castles, eventually became a popular tourist attraction. They also drew the ire of the local city council, which decreed that Vilks had illegally built a “house” in a nature preserve and demanded the pieces be removed. Not willing to see his art destroyed, Vilks did what any reasonable person would do: he declared the stretch of beach to be an independent, sovereign nation free from the laws and rules of the Swedish government. Vilks named his new country the Kingdom of Ladonia, and quickly came up with a flag and a manifesto that said that his nation’s only tax policy was that citizens should “give away their creativity.”

By the 2000s, Vicks’s country had built up an unofficial population of 14,000—unofficial because none of them actually lived there—made up mostly of fellow artists and other supporters of his cause. It also claimed to have a currency (called the Ortug) and a national language (phrased Latin), and there was even a set series of social classes. Still, even today the fledgling country has yet to impress Sweden, which has never recognized it as a legitimate nation.

Magnet man

His name is Miroslav Mandic. He is a real magnet man in the world. He has become a massive attraction in his Serbian homeland since he discovered his power. Miroslav Mandic, 67, who lives with his wife in Simanovci, has baffled medics by being able to stick coins, cutlery and any metal object all over his body.
The real life Magneto said : "It started when I was a young man and I was trying to pay for a newspaper and the change just wouldn't leave my hand. Over the years it has got stronger and it can be quite a nuisance now except of course people never seem to get tired of me walking around with keys or phones or even an iron stuck to me."
"But my wife curses me because every time I walk past the radio or TV it changes channel."

Miss Plastic Surgery

What can you expect in a nation obsessed with beauty pageants and plastic surgery? The first Miss Plastic Surgery was held at Beijing, China in 2004. Women and transsexuals between the age group of 17 to 62 participated in this pageant for the title of “best artificial body”. All the contestants had to present a doctor-certified proof of their surgical enhancements. Titles like Miss Biggest Change were also presented. A few shots of Botox, cheek and waist liposuction and a surgery to widen the eyes; fetched Feng Qian the title of Miss Plastic Surgery 2004.

What a view

Mud Festival in Seoul

Gef the Talking Mongoose

Also referred to as the Dalby Spook, Gef was said to be a creature resembling a mongoose. It was reported to live with the Irving family in their farmhouse near the hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. Gef’s true identification remains shrouded in mystery. It has been interpreted as (among other things) a poltergeist, a cryptid and of course, a hoax.

In September 1931, the Irvings started hearing strange scratching noises coming from their farmhouse’s attic. Soon the scratching became more like a baby ‘gurgling’. The gurgling then evolved to ‘resemble a baby learning to talk and shortly after to mimic certain words that the ‘animal’ seemingly picked up from the Irving family’. If that wasn’t weird enough it described itself as a “an extra, extra clever mongoose,” an “earthbound spirit” and “a ghost in the form of a weasel.” It could even sing.

The case was investigated by Harry Price, but aside from a few grainy photographs of a strange animal roaming the fields outside the house, nothing substantial was ever recorded.

60s sex symbol