The 112 Year Old Christmas Tradition That Just Went Nationwide Online
The U.S. Postal Service’s Operation Santa program, now in its 112th year, has expanded nationwide online allowing anyone in the United States to adopt letters written to Santa by hopeful children and families in need and send responses and gifts on his behalf. What began in 1912 as a small local program has grown dramatically, […]
How The Military Tracks Santa
Every December, millions of families around the world track Santa’s Yuletide journey through the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Santa Tracker, a holiday tradition that has grown from humble origins into a massive volunteer operation. NORAD’s powerful North Warning System features 47 radar installations strategically positioned across Alaska and northern Canada, and as soon as […]
This Is How NORAD Santa Tracker Started
In 1955, Sears Roebuck & Co. ran a newspaper advertisement in Colorado Springs with a phone number children could call to speak with Santa, but a printing error connected eager kids not to the North Pole but to the red phone on the desk of Continental Air Defense Command director Col. Harry Shoup, a line […]
The Grinch Is Getting Arrested Everywhere
From Georgia to Indiana, to even Canada, police departments across North America have launched a delightfully absurd campaign this December by publicly “arresting” the Grinch for crimes against Christmas, posting elaborate mugshots and body camera footage that show the green menace in handcuffs facing charges ranging from candy cane theft to attempting to elude the […]
Man Finds Message In A Bottle On Beach, Guess What It Says
Mike Nicholls discovered an unusual message in a bottle on Woolacombe Beach in Devon, England on November 9th, and when he carefully opened the very distinctive bottle with tweezers, he found something completely unexpected: the ashes of a couple on one last adventure together. Inside the well-sealed bottle was a note asking anyone who found […]
Santa Teams Up With A Zoo To Save Something, But It’s Not Christmas
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, a conservation charity in North Somerset, England, is teaming up with Santa this Christmas to champion literacy by transforming his traditional grotto into a library where each child receives a special book instead of a toy, addressing the alarming decline in children’s daily reading habits. Research from the National Literacy Trust […]
Drunk Raccoon Update: Over $180k Raised!
When surveillance footage captured a raccoon on a booze-fueled rampage through an ABC liquor store in Ashland, Virginia, smashing dozens of bottles and raiding shelves before passing out face down on the bathroom floor, nobody could have predicted the viral sensation and fundraising phenomenon that would follow. Animal control officers from Hanover County Animal Protection […]
This Restaurant Regular Never Missed A Day Until He Disappeared
At the Shrimp Basket restaurant in Pensacola, Florida, 78-year-old Charlie Hicks maintained the same standing order twice daily for 10 years, eating a cup of gumbo light on rice with no cracker for both lunch and dinner, arriving so reliably that chef Donell Stallworth could set his clock by him. Hicks was omnipresent at the […]
The School Garden That Teaches Kids Food Doesn’t Come From Stores
When Sister Sharon Dillon arrived at Heritage Middle School in South Berwyn, Illinois six years ago, she found seven garden beds completely overtaken by weeds and wondered how such a positive school could look so neglected outside, but now those beds burst with cucumbers, collard greens, tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes, jalapeños, and herbs like mint, […]
This Stand Offers Free Grandma Advice To Strangers
When 71-year-old Nancy McClendon was asked to sit in the middle of her town square and offer wisdom to strangers, she immediately said yes, joking that she’s officially old now and what’s the use of being old if you can’t share from life experiences. McClendon, known to visitors as Grandma Nancy, volunteers at the newly […]