This Week

[August 18-24th, 2019] The annual French twin festival, Obama’s high school basketball jersey, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Our Hearts Will Go On

One-hundred-and-seven years after sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the remains of the Titanic continue to rapidly disintegrate into the sea. A team of ocean explorers recently revisited the wreck for the first time in 14 years and found that some of the wreck’s most iconic features are withering away to nothing. Some of these scenes include the officers’ quarters on the ship’s starboard side, the captain’s bathtub, and the staterooms.

In its prime, the Titanic carried 2,224 passengers and crew before hitting an iceberg the night of April 14, 1912.

Twin Festival in France

The 25th-annual twin festival was held this week in Pleucadeuc, Brittany— a small town in France. The town’s mayor, Alain Launay, started the festival in 1994 in honor of his twin daughters. This year, more than 1,500 twins, triplets, and quadruplets attended the event to celebrate their relationship with their siblings. The festivities, including live music, games, and a parade, are organized by Pleucadeuc’s “Twins and More Association.”

Big Boy Mr. B

This 26-pound cat is breaking the internet, quite literally. After photos of the Philadelphia kitty went viral, the website of the animal shelter where he’s up for adoption completely crashed due to an influx of messages. So many hopeful pet owners were enthusiastic about adopting this hefty tabby, Mr. B. The shelter’s Twitter account has gotten much attention from the post and based on the plethora of positive responses, it seems Mr. B will find a new home in no time.

Obama’s Basketball Jersey

A collector paid $120,000 at a sports memorabilia auction for former President Barack Obama’s high school basketball jersey. The number 23 jersey was offered by a classmate who was three years behind Obama in school. The seller wore the passed down uniform himself following Obama’s time on the court.

Letters from Sea

Tyler Ivanoff was gathering firewood on the shores near Shishmaref, Alaska, when he stumbled upon a perfectly preserved, 50-year-old message in a bottle written by a Cold War Russian sailor. After uncorking the bottle with a screwdriver, Ivanoff took to the internet in hopes of a Russian-to-English translator response. The greeting was dated June 20, 1969. His discovery led to a reconnection with the original author of the note, Captain Anatolii Prokofievich Botsanenko, who was able to relive the nostalgic time he spent onboard the ship 50 years ago.