Bones record history in their own way. Whether they splinter, show up in odd places, or provide DNA, ribs and all the rest are packed with information.

In recent years, archaeologists handled fascinating rarities, some seen for the first time. Some of the skeletons displayed the ironic fate of one of history’s cruelest physicians, a weird Roman town, and duels at the bottom of a lake. Individual bones also revealed stories from prehistory, tools made from humans, and the reason why ancient women could have beaten the championship-level rowers of today.

10 The Butchered Sloth

In 2000, a farmer found bones at Campo Laborde in Argentina. They belonged to an extinct species of sloth. This was not the modern kind that hangs on a branch all day. Megatherium americanum weighed over 4 tons and stood 3 meters (10 ft) tall.

Archaeologists found evidence, including a butchering knife, that the animal had been hunted and slaughtered at the site. Although it was suspected that humans preyed on giant sloths, Campo Laborde presented the first proof.

Additionally, the sloth’s age was important. It belonged to a group of ultra-large mammals called megamammals. Around 12,000 years ago, about 90 percent died out. The wave of extinction was epic, sweeping through all the continents except for Africa.

When dating techniques placed the sloth at 9,700 to 6,750 years old, it appeared that the species had managed to escape the die-off. In 2016 and 2017, the bones were redated with more sophisticated equipment. The new date of 12,600 years old suggested that sloths got crushed with the rest and humans were among the factors that drove the wave.^[1]

9 Epic Pig Roasts

In 2019, a study was released about pigs that failed to survive barbecues. The swine in question lived in Britain during the Stonehenge era (2800–2400 BC). When researchers analyzed the bones, they found something unexpected.

The fact that pork roasts happened at ceremonial sites around Stonehenge is old news. Leftovers at places like Durrington Walls and Marden proved that the epic feasts happened, but the new study wanted to know where the pigs came from. In turn, this would reveal more about those who owned them.

For a long time, it was assumed that the animals started out as local piglets. Nobody truly believed that pig drives were possible, as was done with cattle over a long distance. However, when the barbecued bones were analyzed, results showed that the vast majority of pigs were born elsewhere, including Scotland and Wales.

Researchers were never sure of the barbecues’ true purpose, but this gave a strong clue. The feasts tightened the social networks from all over the island. Since the pig drives demanded considerable effort, researchers believe that these meetings—and pork—were important to those who attended.^[2]

8 The Speared Rib

There is plenty of evidence that people grazed on mammoth meat. However, there was no direct evidence of hunting. Head-scratching theorists suggested that ice age tribes trapped the animals or drove them off cliffs. These were likely scenarios considering that mammoths were not exactly sheep-sized.

In 2002, researchers rooted around in a mammoth bonanza. Over the years, Krakow, Poland, had churned out around 110 mammoths. Among the remains, aged between 30,000 and 25,000, was a rib. Stuck in the bone was a flint fragment. Despite what it suggested, the bone was not properly analyzed until 2018 when it became the first proof that mammoths were hunted with weapons.

The flint belonged to the tip of a light spear called a javelin. Measuring 7 millimeters (0.3 in) long, the depth showed that the weapon was thrown with immense force. Even so, it was not the death blow. Other hunters were probably present and brought the animal down with more spears.^[3]

7 Surprising Iberian Ancestry

The Iberian Peninsula was the ancestral melting pot for modern-day Spain and Portugal. During a recent study, scientists analyzed the bones of almost 400 ancient Iberians. Together, the skeletons represented 8,000 years’ worth of genetic information.

The goal was to chart when the different cultures arrived and mingled. This history turned out to be unexpectedly complex, but most surprising was a migration that occurred 4,500 years ago.

The genes they brought were not unknown. They hailed from the steppes near the Caspian and Black Seas. There is an old “Steppe Hypothesis” supporting the notion that these people spread to Asia and Europe at the same time.

The study of the 400 skeletons showed that the steppe people—mostly men—also made it to the Iberian Peninsula. They had a massive impact on the region’s genetics. By 2000 BC, their male Y chromosome had nearly replaced everyone else’s. Additionally, they might have brought bronze as the region’s Bronze Age began when the first steppe genes appeared in Iberians around 2500 BC.^[4]

6 Human Bone Tattoo Kit

Archaeologists cannot always identify artifacts. This was the case with ancient tattoo equipment. Only from 2016 onward did a few oddities reveal themselves as inking tools. This included volcanic glass from the Solomon Islands, turkey bones from Tennessee, and cactus spines from Utah.

In 1963, the same thing happened. A set of four small combs was found on the island of Tongatapu in Tonga. At the time, their purpose was unknown. The kit was placed in storage at an Australian university but was assumed to be lost after a fire.

In 2008, the combs were found intact. Analysis identified seabird bones as the material used to make two of them, while the rest were crafted from human remains. The tests also gave the kit’s age as 2,700 years old, placing it among the oldest in the world.^[5]

There is good reason to believe that the combs were used as tattoo “needles.” When Captain James Cook wrote about tattooing in 18th-century Tonga, he described a similar bone tool used to insert color under the skin.

5 The Deviant Cemetery

Roman burials placed the deceased on their backs with the bodies neatly arranged. Valuable grave goods were often placed inside the caskets. For burials done differently, archaeologists have an interesting term—“deviant” graves. In every third or fourth Roman cemetery, one can expect to trip over one deviant.

In 2019, archaeologists investigated an area earmarked for construction in Suffolk, England. Great Whelnetham used to be a Roman settlement, but it was long assumed that the region’s sandy soil could not preserve any bones.^[6]

Incredibly, they found a pristine fourth-century graveyard. Even more startling was the high number of deviant burials, 35 out of 52. Men, women, and children were all decapitated. Some heads were missing, while others were next to the bodies or at their feet.

Since the skulls were removed neatly after death, archaeologists doubt that these people were executed. Instead, the locals probably had a reason for burying family in a way not normal for Romans. It remains a mystery why this town was different.

4 The Unlaid Egg

In 2018, paleontologists examined a fossil. The bird had been discovered in northwest China a few years earlier. The new species, Avimaia schweitzerae, was around 115 million years old.

In a fossil first, the bird was pregnant with an egg. In some places, the shell had as many as six layers. This could be why the hen died. In modern birds, trauma can delay a female from nesting. Her body retains the egg and wraps unnecessary layers of shell around it. Known as “egg binding,” it smothers the embryo and often kills the mother.

Finding reproductive disorders in a fossil is great, but the skeleton might also include a medullary bone. This is the holy grail for scientists obsessed with bones and bird pregnancy.

When a bird prepares for egg-making, she stacks up on calcium in the medullary—something that has never been positively identified in a fossil bird. Avimaia‘s medullary region showed all the right signs. If confirmed, it would provide a unique link between avian reproduction and this bone.^[7]

3 Ancient Women’s True Strength

In 2017, researchers compared the arms of prehistoric and modern women—a scientific first. The ancient group included skeletons from Europe’s Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages (5300 BC–AD 850). The living women included sedentary individuals and athletes from Cambridge, including champion rowers.

The arm and leg bones were scanned and then checked for signs of physical activity. Labor intensity as well as physical strength can be gleaned from the shape and density of a bone.^[8]

The study revealed something remarkable. Previous studies were more male oriented, and female leg bones that were analyzed showed strength that varied. (The latter also held true in the 2017 study.) For this reason, the real arm strength of prehistoric women remained hidden.

However, the scans showed that the older gals had arms stronger than elite rowers. The toughness resulted from rigorous manual labor that lasted for thousands of years, proving that women contributed extensively when people switched from being hunter-gatherers to farmers.

2 Fish That Hunted Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles. During the dinosaur age, they were the top aerial predator. However, in 2012, scientists found a remarkable example of predation on pterosaurs. A lake once existed in Bavaria where the smaller fish attracted pterosaurs and the flying reptiles attracted bigger fish.

When researchers examined the site, they found five drowned pterosaurs, aged around 120 million years old. They belonged to the same species, the long-tailed Rhamphorhychus. Each skeleton had a wing near or inside the mouth of a large fish. The latter also belonged to a single species, an armored fish called Aspidorhynchus that measured 65 centimeters (25.6 in) long.

A closer look suggested that all the creatures died during similar duels. In every case, Aspidorhynchus probably lurched through the surface to grab a low-flying pterosaur by the wing. It was a mistake. The reptiles were too large to swallow, and Aspidorhynchus‘s abundant teeth got caught on the wing membrane.

The struggle to get free would have exhausted both to the point of collapse. They sank to the bottom where low oxygen levels suffocated the fish and drowned the reptile.^[9]

1 Mengele’s Skeleton

After World War II, Josef Mengele became synonymous with the horrors of Auschwitz. As one of the Nazi doctors who worked at the infamous concentration camp, his thirst for knowledge drove him to experiment on prisoners. Mengele killed so many people that he became known as the “Angel of Death.” His crimes made him a wanted man, but he eluded international efforts to capture him for almost 40 years.

In 1979, Mengele died in Brazil. His remains were exhumed in 1985, and DNA analysis in 1992 confirmed the physician’s identity. However, his family refused to bring the body back to Germany, and the bones were stored at Sao Paulo’s Legal Medical Institute.

Pathologist Daniel Munoz was among the experts who helped identify the body. Munoz, who was also a lecturer at the medical school of the University of Sao Paulo, recently realized that the skeleton could be used in the classroom.

The result was ironic. This time, Mengele became the object of those seeking medical knowledge from somebody without their consent. These days, his skeleton teaches students how to find and match forensic details on bones with the person’s records.^[10]

Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare, a permanently life-altering event that turns their world upside down. Such tragedies are arguably at their worst when foul play is involved or when a child simply vanishes, leaving the parents deprived of closure.

Some parents who have lost a child in extreme circumstances will take their grief and channel it into a search for answers. These searches can last years (and may not bring closure), but all of the following victims’ parents followed their instincts and just refused to give up.

10 Jerry Michael Williams

Jerry Michael “Mike” Williams went duck hunting on Lake Seminole on the Florida-Georgia border in December 2000 and never returned. His best friend, Brian Winchester, found his boat and car but no trace of his body. Police believed that he had probably drowned and been eaten by alligators.

However, Mike’s mother, Cheryl, had an instinct that they were wrong. She said of visiting the lake: “And all of sudden a voice comes in my head, Mike is not in Lake Seminole, he did not drown.” Mike’s wife Denise didn’t agree and pressed ahead with a memorial service and then collected $1.7 million in life insurance.

Cheryl spent her life savings searching for the truth. She took out billboard adverts and stood on busy streets with handmade signs appealing for help. Cheryl wrote to the governor of Florida every day for nine years. She finally had a breakthrough after meeting with experts who told her that alligators don’t feed in cold weather.

Denise eventually married Mike’s friend Brian and banned Cheryl from seeing her granddaughter unless she stopped digging for clues. The pair ultimately divorced, and in 2016, Brian kidnapped Denise at gunpoint. As part of a sentencing deal, Brian admitted that he had lured Mike to the lake and shot him—in a plot hatched with Denise so that they could be together. Denise was charged with murder and received a life sentence in 2019. In 2016, Brian showed police where he had hidden Mike’s body, and Cheryl was able to bury her son after a campaign lasting 16 years.^[1]

9 Julie Ward

Photographer Julie Ward went missing from the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya in September 1988. Her father, John, immediately flew out to begin a search. It was the first of over 100 visits he would make in a personal investigation that would cost him around £2 million.

John hired spotter planes and found Julie’s abandoned jeep with the letters “SOS” scrawled in dust. Julie’s mutilated and burned remains were discovered nearby. Police claimed Julie had been the victim of an animal attack or suicide. John knew this was impossible, and he suspected Chief Warden Simon Makallah. Makallah claimed he had stumbled across Julie’s charred remains by following the direction of vultures and that John had a vendetta against him.

Police refused to launch a murder inquiry, so John appealed to the British government, who sent detectives from Scotland Yard. Two rangers were arrested for murder. The case collapsed, however, due to lack of evidence, with the judge declaring that there had been a cover-up to protect Kenya’s tourist industry.

John continued to expose the Kenyan police’s corruption, and in 1999, Makallah stood trial for Julie’s murder but was acquitted with no chance of a retrial. In 2004, a UK court ruled that Julie was unlawfully killed, not a victim of suicide or an animal attack.^[2] John has written a book called The Animals are Innocent.

8 Suzy Lamplugh

On July 28, 1986, real estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, 25, went to meet a client and vanished. Witnesses recall a smartly dressed man in a BMW holding a bottle of champagne. He was thought to be the mysterious “Mr. Kipper,” whose name Suzy had written in her diary. Her disappearance is still one of the UK’s biggest mysteries.

By December 1986, Suzy’s parents, Paul and Diana, launched a trust in her honor. The charity was run from an office in the family’s garden, and Diana went on to become a household name in Britain. The case gave her a platform to talk about personal safety in a way that no one had before. They distributed hundreds of free personal alarms, known as “Suzy Alarms,” to students.

The couple worked to push through new laws for stalking and harassment victims and were awarded an OBE. In 1994, Suzy was declared dead. Paul and Diana have both since died, but the Suzy Lamplugh Trust continues their work.^[3]

7 Kendrick Johnson

In January 2013, Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead inside a rolled up gym mat at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He had no apparent injuries, and police believed he became trapped after crawling in to retrieve his shoes. Kendrick’s parents believe he was murdered. Their campaign has included protests outside the court and school, where they appealed for Kendrick to be remembered on Graduation Day.

The family have issued lawsuits against the school, Lowndes County, and 38 classmates who they suspect were involved. Three autopsies have been performed, and Kendrick’s body has been exhumed twice at his parents’ request. Two autopsies found the cause of death to be blunt force trauma—contradicting the original ruling of accidental death.

The family owe nearly $300,000 in legal fees but continue their fight for justice.^[4]

6 Suzanne Lyall

On March 2, 1998, Suzanne Lyall, 19, caught the bus home from the mall. Witnesses saw the student get off near her campus in Albany, New York, but she was never seen again.

Suzanne’s parents, Doug and Mary, knew from the start that they had to keep the case in the news. Mary said, “If you don’t sit back and you don’t talk about what is going on, the case is just going to go cold.” They founded the Center for Hope in 2003 to offer advice to families of missing persons. They also pushed through “Suzanne’s Law,” which raised the age at or under which a missing person must be reported to the National Crime Information Center to 21. (It was originally 18.)^[5]

The Lyalls have used their imagination to publicize cold cases. They created a deck of playing cards featuring missing people and placed flyers in tax forms. Doug died in 2015. Mary is working with the Cold Case Analysis Center at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, looking for answers for her and other families of the missing.

5 Keith Bennett

Keith Bennett 12, was walking to his grandmother’s house in Manchester, UK, when he was lured into a van driven by Myra Hindley. She drove him to Saddleworth Moor, where her partner, Ian Brady, was waiting. Keith was murdered and buried on the vast, open moor. In 1966, Brady and Hindley were jailed for killing a total of five children. All the victims’ bodies were found on the moor—except for Keith’s.

His mother Winnie then began a search for his lonely grave that would last her lifetime. The family have made thousands of trips to the moor, sometimes with sniffer dogs and psychics. Winnie appealed directly to the killers by DVD and letter for any scrap of information that could help.

In 1991, Brady told Keith’s brother Alan that he had written a letter, to be opened after his death, revealing the exact location of the body. Brady died in 2017, leaving two locked briefcases with his solicitor. Police went to court to obtain a warrant to open the cases but were refused.

Winnie died in 2012 without finding her son.^[6] The Bennett family are still searching for Keith.

4 The Hillsborough 96

On April 15, 1989, 53,000 football fans began arriving for a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough in Sheffield, UK. Supporters were separated into two standing areas. Liverpool fans were sent to the Leppings Lane terrace, which had just seven turnstiles for 10,000 people to file through. No checks were in place to count the numbers, so crowds began to build.

Police chief David Duckenfield signaled for the match to begin, despite some fans being trapped in the entrances. Barriers collapsed, and people were crushed due to sheer numbers. Ultimately, 96 people lost their lives. In the aftermath, police altered witness statements and blamed the fans. Newspapers printed false allegations that fans had robbed dying victims and stopped paramedics from getting through.

An inquest found that the deaths were “accidental.” The furious families who had gathered at court formed a protest group to challenge this ruling. The Hillsborough Justice Campaign raised funds and brought a private prosecution against Duckenfield. The manslaughter trial began in June 2000, but the jury failed to reach a verdict.

In April 2016, a new inquest that had lasted 267 days found that the 96 had been unlawfully killed. David Duckenfield will be retried in October 2019 for gross negligence manslaughter. The families’ campaign has now lasted for 30 years.^[7]

3 Su Taraskiewicz

Susan “Su” Taraskiewicz was 27 when she became the first female ramp supervisor at Northwestern Airlines. Su had a tough time in the male-dominated industry. Some employees were involved in credit card fraud at Boston’s Logan International Airport and suspected Su was a police informant. She suffered daily intimidation and abuse. Sinister graffiti appeared around the airport—including a coffin with her name on it.

On September 12, 1992, Su left work at 1:00 AM to pick up sandwiches for her crew. When she didn’t return, no one raised the alarm, and 36 hours later, her body was found in the trunk of her car. She had been murdered. Police confirmed that Su was not an informant, but no arrests were made.

A year later, Su’s mother Marlene finally found the courage to look through her daughter’s bedroom and found a diary detailing the abuse Su had suffered. Marlene used this evidence to bring a sexual harassment claim against the airline and won $75,000. The airline also offered a $250,000 reward for information.

On the 25th anniversary of Su’s death, Marlene held a vigil at Logan Airport. The district attorney has vowed to keep the case open, and Marlene has said, “I am a very healthy woman and I am not going away.”^[8]

2 Helen McCourt

Helen McCourt, 22, disappeared while walking home on a rainy night in 1988. Hundreds of villagers turned out to search for Helen in Billinge, UK. Police interviewed pub landlord Ian Simms, who appeared nervous. They searched his car and found Helen’s earring and spots of her blood. Helen’s body has never been found, and Simms is a rare example of someone who was convicted of murder despite investigators having no body. He received a life sentence in 1989.

Helen’s mother Marie and her family have since spent every weekend looking for Helen in fields, sewers, and ditches. They have drained ponds and crawled through mine shafts in their search. Marie has campaigned for “Helen’s Law,” which stipulates that murderers will not be granted parole unless they reveal where they hid the victim’s body.^[9] This was made law in July 2019.

Simms was recently photographed out shopping on day release. He has never spoken about the murder.

1 Ron Goldman

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered outside her home. Nicole’s ex-husband O.J. Simpson was arrested. Millions watched Simpson’s acquittal live on TV and saw the Goldman family react with shock and despair.^[10]

Ron’s father Fred launched a wrongful death lawsuit. The jury heard Simpson testify for the first time, and he was found liable and ordered to pay the families $33.5 million.

Simpson failed to pay, and when he wrote a book called If I Did It, Fred seized the copyright, media, and movie rights. When the publishers pulled out, Fred got it published himself, now titled If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, as he felt the book was an important confession. The Goldmans donated some of the profits to their charity, the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice.

I’m a true crime enthusiast and a lover of words and all things off-kilter.

Bills—we all have to pay them. Whether the money is owed for income taxes, rent, or cellphone service, we all have to pony up the cash at some point. No one’s happy about that, but money makes the world go round and we are part of that world.

However, some individuals have a harder time letting go of their cash. They employ bizarre reasoning to argue that they should not have to pay bills that are often way past due. Ten of those brave souls have snagged spots on this list.

Top 10 Crazy Superstitious Things People Do

10 Dog Watched Porn, Not Me

Even today, the porn industry is said to be worth billions. After rampant piracy slashed profits, porn companies changed the way they made money. Now they take in loads of cash with everything from licensing to event hosting. However, they still make money from satellite TV—sometimes in a crazy way.

One day, Thomas Barnes, 58, called his satellite company to complain about a $70 charge on his bill for ordering the adult channel run by Hustler. Steamed, he explained that it wasn’t he who had clicked the converter to order the porn—it was his dog.^[1]

According to Barnes, his cute little bichon frise, Marino, had jumped on the TV remote one night and accidentally ordered the naughty pay-per-view channel. Barnes also claimed that he had alerted the company within minutes of the sexually explicit action appearing on his TV screen. For Barnes, money was tight. He was on Social Security disability at the time.

Turns out the matter would not be cleared up with that simple call. Only after Barnes filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission did he get satisfaction. Finally, the company’s management called Barnes with the good news that a credit would be applied to his account.

9 I Am Not A Person

An income tax is collected annually by governments around the world. The money is used by these authorities to pay for government services and obligations and to provide goods for their people.

In Australia, the government first introduced a federal income tax in 1915.

Few people, if any, like to pay their taxes. Possibly, the man who enjoys it the least is Glen James Polglaise of North Bendigo, Australia. He hated it so much that he simply refused to file an income tax return from 2012 to 2017.

The reason? He claims he is not a person.

Polglaise told the court, “As I waive my right to recognition as a person, I am not a resident for tax purposes.” He went on to suggest that his claim was supported by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Universal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He added that the man named in the charges was not him.

Magistrate Michael King was not amused. He scolded Polglaise and said that citizens had no right to pick and choose which laws apply to them. King found Polglaise guilty of all six charges and fined him $6,000 plus costs.^[2]

8 Cake Was Half Eaten When I Found It

Most of us try to find ways to save a little money. Whether we collect coupons, join loyalty programs, or run across town hunting down the best bargains, we want to shave a few cents or dollars off the prices of our purchases.

The more creative among us do what a woman shopping in mid-2019 did—eat half a cake and refuse to pay the full price.^[3]

The manager of a Walmart in Wichita Falls, Texas, had to call the police after the woman refused to budge from her story of the mysteriously missing half of a cake. She claimed that it was like that when she picked it up and put it in her cart.

Officers convinced her to pay the full price, and Walmart banned her from the store.

7 Construction

It sucks. You find a great apartment with an awesome view, and then, the next thing you know, the bulldozers and jackhammers move in next door. This is exactly what happened to Dale Arnold of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. He was so frustrated by the new building being put up just meters from his window that he stopped paying his rent.

“We have lives; we’re working people. [ . . . ] They’re cannibalizing our building,” Arnold complained. He was sick of the noise and dust, the constantly out-of-service elevator, and the restricted access to outdoor green areas.

The property manager tried to smooth things over with cupcakes and a barbecue. It didn’t work.

Arnold complained to the Residential Tenancy Branch but lost. Chris Bryan, a spokesperson for the City of Burnaby, also gave Arnold little hope. Bryan said, “Where the concern was not after the fact or was ongoing, we investigated, took measurements and responded accordingly.”^[4]

6 Goose Poop

Apparently, it is true—money doesn’t buy happiness.

Case in point: Tom Golisano, billionaire and former owner of the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres. He got so incensed at Canada geese using the front lawn of his upstate New York home as their personal bathroom that he refused to pay $90,000 in taxes.

Clearly, he was past his breaking point. He said, “This past summer, it was horrible. We’d drive in and find 100 to 200 geese parked on our lawn. [ . . . ] You can’t walk barefoot, can’t play Frisbee, can’t have your grandchildren run around. [ . . . ] Here I am paying all this money in taxes, and I can’t use my property because of the geese droppings.”^[5]

Town supervisor Daniel Marshall was not impressed. He responded, “It’s a resident’s problem to take care of, not the town’s. [ . . . ] It is a lake, after all.” The New York Department of Environmental Conservation echoed Marshall by saying that the Canada geese poop problem had occurred on private property. Therefore, it was not their problem, either.

Golisano, founder of the New York Independence Party that advocates reducing taxes, was not backing down. He planned to file a class action lawsuit.

7 Crazy Ways People Got Around Bans

5 I Could Have Been With A Psychopath

Traffic tickets are the worst. We lead busy lives and are often in a rush. The last thing we need is a police officer pulling us over. But there are rules to the road, and if a ticket is issued, we usually pay it with little fuss.

The same cannot be said for Amy Rush of Minnesota. Around 30 years ago, she was a 15-year-old runaway who was hitchhiking. She rode in a car that was pulled over in Hamilton County, Iowa. The male driver was given a ticket for speeding, and Rush received one for not wearing her seat belt. She still has not paid it. Her reasoning is unique.

“The officer that pulled us over not only did not see an ID or license from me but never inquired more about me at all. And for all they knew, I was with a deranged psychopath or something,” said the aggrieved Rush.^[6]

She was also angry that the officer was not concerned about her being so young and in a vehicle with an older man.

Fifteen years after the incident, a letter arrived at her parents’ house informing Amy of the overdue ticket. The collection letters have kept coming ever since. Amy said, “I mean, I can’t imagine the postage that they’ve paid on following me around trying to get this $35.”

4 Buried Father Who Was Not Dead

One day, Joey Pellegrino went to his Connecticut bank and withdrew $2,175 from his account. Due to a glitch, that money was not subtracted from his account balance. Pellegrino did not tell his bank about the error. Instead, he took out even more money. In fact, he withdrew so much that the account eventually became overdrawn.

When the bank discovered the error and contacted him, Pellegrino agreed to pay back the money. But he didn’t. Instead, when pressed, he claimed that he had given the money to his mother to pay for burying his father.

The problem?

His father was still alive. Even worse, Pellegrino’s father said that he had given his son money to pay the bank back.^[7]

Finally, after much drama, Pellegrino came clean.

3 Name In Capital Letters

In the UK, if you are at least 18 years old and rent or own a home, you must pay council tax. It is that simple.

However, 54-year-old Adrian May from Mansfield would beg to differ. He refused to pay his council tax because his name appeared in capital letters on correspondence sent to him from the government. To May, capital letters meant that he was dead. So, even though he was alive—proven by the fact that he was protesting the bill—he refused to pay up.^[8]

In fact, May refused to pay the tax for three years. Only after being dragged into court and threatened with jail time did he agree to pay. And that was only after he was shown that his name was spelled with lowercase letters on all correspondence sent to him about the unpaid tax.

2 God

Whether you are a believer or not, you have to hand it to Delila Hernandez of New Mexico—she has remarkable faith.

One day, the 30-year-old woman ordered takeout at a local restaurant. When the clerk asked for payment, Hernandez was quoted as saying, “This one’s on God.” Then she promptly left.

The server tried to collect payment by saying, “That’s not how this works.” But he backed off when Hernandez threatened him. Later, police charged her with felony robbery.^[9]

After Hernandez expressed remorse, the public information officer suggested that Hernandez would most likely be charged with a petty misdemeanor instead.

1 You Didn’t Let Me On Your Show

In Ireland, the national broadcaster is known as RTE. Operating on both TV and radio, RTE is partially funded by a TV license fee that the government collects from every household, business, or institution with a TV. If you don’t pay, they may just throw you in jail.

That is what happened in 2005 to 66-year-old Richard Behal from Killarney. For 21 years, he refused to pay his TV license fee and was eventually sentenced to 15 days in jail.^[10]

According to Behal, he did not pay the fee because RTE did not include him among the candidates interviewed live on an election show in 1984. Back then, he was running as a candidate for the Sinn Fein Party, which was commonly seen as the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

The IRA was a paramilitary group fighting Britain for an independent Ireland. Between 1969 and 1994, it is estimated that the IRA killed approximate 1,800 people. Due to the violence, the government of Ireland passed a law in 1971 banning from TV and radio any organizations that would “seek to overthrow the State through violence, incite crime or endanger the State’s authority in any way.”

And that is why Behal was not included in the RTE election show in 1984. This led to his refusal to pay his TV license fee for over 20 years and to his 15-day prison stint.

Top 10 Crazy YouTube Channels Where People Risk Their Lives

About The Author: Domenico has been writing for 30 years—screenplays, short stories, and songs making up the vast majority of his output. He is a film buff, music addict, and devoted lifelong fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.