Thomas Jefferson’s lock of hair auctioned for $6,875
A lock of hair from Thomas Jefferson has sold at auction in Texas for $6,875, nearly 190 years after the former US President died.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas said last weekend’s sale involved 14 strands that were snipped by Jefferson’s personal physician at the time of the statesman’s death on July 4, 1826. A Heritage Auctions statement says the pre-auction estimate for the hair was $3,000.
Company spokesman Eric Bradley says the buyer wished to remain anonymous.
The seller was collector William F Northrop, who purchased the lock in the early 1980s from an autograph scholar. The documentation includes a letter confirming the lock as part of a limited number of Jefferson’s hair samples known to exist.
(AP)
Tunisian couple wins real cow from mobile game
A couple in the African country of Tunisia won a live cow as a prize for their performance in a mobile game.
According to C-Net, the couple were awarded the cow named Pamela after achieving the top score in the mobile game Bagra, which is named after the Arabic word for “cow.”
The game was created by Tunisia-based developers Digital Mania and has players abduct their opponents’ cows with a UFO while protecting their own.
The BBC reports that the couple were given the choice to donate the cow, have the cow delivered to them live or receive the prize in raw meat.
Pamela was kept alive and a second cow named Brigitte will be the next animal prize, while other winners can receive phones and tablets.
The game also features in-game purchases that alter the gameplay, with all transactions being completed using Tunisian dinar instead of US dollars in hopes of boosting the national economy.
(UPI)
Turtle crashes through Florida woman’s windshield
A Florida woman had her windshield shattered when a turtle came crashing through it as she drove down a local interstate. Nicole Marie Bjanes shared a photo of the incident which tool place on I-4 near Deltona last Monday.
“So this happened today!” Bjanes wrote alongside photos of turtle and the shattered windshield. “On I-4 he lived and I’m ok just shaken up!”
The turtle can be seen laying on its back on Bjanes’s dashboard after Florida Highway Patrol officers say it was run over by a car in front of her.
“A vehicle in front (of Bjanes’ car) ran over the turtle. The turtle was thrown airborne and struck the windshield, shattering it,” they told ABC News.
Bjanes said she was driving about 75 miles at the time of the accident and noticed debris near the road, but did not see the turtle until it came flying through her windshield. She was treated for minor cuts at the scene, but both Bjanes and the turtle walked away from the accident without any serious injuries.
Bjanes wrote on Facebook that she would have liked to keep the turtle, but it was ultimately placed in a nearby pond and swam away.
(UPI)
Man attempts to rob car wash with potato chip bag
Authorities say a man tried to rob a car wash in Northern California with an empty potato chip bag and an alleged handgun.
Rohnert Park’s Department of Public Safety says in a statement that the man entered KaCees World of Water car wash last Friday night and dropped an empty potato chip bag on the counter.
He told the cashier to fill it with money, warning that he had a gun. The man gestured that the weapon was in the empty bag, but the cashier saw it held only a piece of cardboard and called a co-worker for help. Police say when the other employee approached, the suspect fled on foot.
(AP)
Missouri man’s Horror photography at home
A Missouri photographer has turned his work of creating horror scenes into a family affair by using his wife and four daughters as models. Joshua Hoffine, 43, began taking the horror-themed photos featuring his family in 2003 and his work has been published in more than 150 countries.
He launched a Kickstarter to produce a hardcover book showing off his work in April, which was successfully funded within four days.
Monsters and Critics described his work as representative of “cliched scary moments that children build up in their imagination as kids”.
Many of his photos feature his daughters encountering various horrifying sights, such as monsters, evil clowns and even the devil rising up from their bedroom floor.
Outside of the work featuring his family, Hoffine has worked on a tribute to HP lovecraft’s Shadow Over Innsmouth and a short film titled Black lullaby.
(UPI)