Many towns and cities in the US have unique celebrations for visitors to enjoy during the holidays. North Dakota celebrates a cowboy christmas, Oklahoma takes you back to the territorial days to enjoy a historical Christmas, and thousands of paper bags filled with sand and lights illuminate New Mexico. There are various other ways Americans celebrate the season, and here are ten of the most unique ways to celebrate Christmas in the United States....

Given that the establishments house millions of dollars and are often tied to organized crime, it’s almost inevitable that when a new casino opens, crime rates in the area will tend to rise. Over the years, casinos have been home to their fair share of unsolved mysteries, whether murders, disappearances, or successful heists. 10 The Bill Brennan Heist In the popular movie Ocean’s Eleven, a large group of thieves orchestrate a complicated heist in which they steal millions of dollars from a casino....

Studies aside, sheep stories are often weird. There was the Auschwitz sacrifice, sheep enrolled in a French school, and a dramatic cliff rescue that got up the RSPCA’s nose. 10 The Pit Hybrids Around 400 BC, an Iron Age group lived in southern England. In 2015, archaeologists happened upon the ruins of their homes and found several pits. In the absence of refrigerators, the villagers had cunningly dug holes in the chalky ground that kept edibles cool....

Quite a few inspiring tales of rescue this week involve children, puppies, stranded motorists, and salmon. There are also stories about the 7-Eleven baby, the frugal carpenter, and, of course, the Ernest Hemingway look-alike competition. 10 Puppy Reunion A mama pit bull was reunited with her litter after two armed burglars stole the puppies and left her and her owner with a few scrapes and bruises. Last weekend, two masked men wielding machetes followed their target inside his apartment in Manchester, England....

For example, people didn’t worry about bad breath until Listerine created mouthwash. Yet, the Listerine-induced halitosis scare resulted in one of the most successful ad campaigns in history. And Listerine is still being sold today—with even more flavors and special additions to its original line of mouthwash. Companies like Listerine profited off of instilling fear in their consumers. And as indicated by many early 20th-century ads, these companies had no problem ripping consumers’ self-esteem to shreds to make a buck—and in some cases, endangering their lives by giving them less-than-sound medical and hygiene advice....

This is the most obvious of ways a car dealer makes a profit. The difference between the dealer cost (invoice) and MSRP is typically 5-10%. This may not sound like a ton of mark-up, but when you consider that you’re dealing with thousands of dollars then the profit margin could be quite significant. For example, a car that a dealer pays $30,000 could generate a profit of around three-thousand dollars....

This is not always true, though. Standoffs have ended after the suspect snuck away to go shopping or just fell asleep. Other times, law enforcement isn’t even engaged in a standoff with a human being. In the weirdest of all instances, the police end up laying siege to an empty location. 10 SWAT Engages Empty Apartment In Six-Hour Standoff In 2014, Dallas police officers sped to an apartment in Oak Cliff after a woman reported that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by several armed men, who held her against her will inside the apartment....

But not every crab is as it seems. There are several other species that look similar (including hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, king crabs, and porcelain crabs), but none of these are considered true crabs. This list aims to introduce the diverse world of true crabs, including those that farm food within their own hair, wave anemones as weapons, or breathe through a tube. 10Masked CrabCorystes Cassivelaunus This small species of burrowing crab grows to a maximum size of 5 centimeters (2 in) and is found throughout the North Atlantic, North Sea, and some parts of the Mediterranean....

What seems perpetual today was once a hotly contested innovation. Christianity is no exception. The early Church was a seething tumult of controversies and rivalries that shaped what has become today’s Christianity. Here are 10 weird facts from the early days of the Christian faith. 10 Communists The Acts of the Apostles is a book in the New Testament which describes the founding of the Christian church after the death of Jesus....

Sometimes, it is how they are played that is odd. The Greek goddess Athena’s aulos—a double-piped reed instrument—provoked howls of laughter when she first played it because she had to puff out her cheeks. Here are 10 real instruments which have been seriously employed in making music. 10 Glass Armonica Benjamin Franklin’s mind was hugely fertile and was not content with sticking to one area of creativity. Perhaps his strangest invention—and his favorite—was the glass armonica....

The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1500 meters (5000 ft) above sea level and cover 10,360 square kilometers (about 4000 square miles) of mountainside....

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It wouldn’t have made it onto this list were it not for the comment Gelinek made, when asked if he thought he could beat Beethoven in a piano duel. “I’ll make mincemeat of him!” Well, it was the other way around. Gelinek turned out not to be all that formidable an opponent, although his nerves may have gotten the best of him. After the first round, in which both played their own best, and most difficult works, Gelinek looked a little paler to the audience, probably because Beethoven chose his Sonata 19 in G minor, Op....

SEE ALSO: 10 Weirdly Disgusting And Creepy Facts About You 8 Laser Pointers Fry Eyes Laser pointers are nifty devices. They point out information during presentations and make the speaker look cool. Unfortunately, these pointers also end up in the hands of children. When kids get together and have something that shines a beam, eventually they will point it at somebody’s eyes as a joke or look at the light themselves....

Staking a vampire through the heart has been the most popularized method of extermination. Many different countries show references to driving a stake through the heart as well using specific woods to get the job done. Certain types of wood have tied symbolism to Christianity, such as Ash, Blackthorne, Maple, Hawthrone, Buckthorne and Aspen. A stake was driven through the chest cavity to ensure deflation of a bloated corpse, so it would be deflated before its transformation into a revenant was complete....

The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British army in the Battle of Mons at the outset of World War I. The evidence suggests that the story is fictitious, developed through a combination of a patriotic short story by Arthur Machen, rumors, mass hysteria and urban legend, and also possibly deliberately seeded propaganda. The stories of angels themselves certainly boosted morale on the home front as popular enthusiasm was dying down in 1915 and demonstrate the importance of religion in wartime....

Sexual enjoyment derived from someone’s foot. Shoe fetishism is also grouped under this category. The enthusiasts, almost always men, kiss, lick, or suck another person’s feet, or use the feet for masturbation. This is, by far, the most common fetish known, except perhaps for spanking. Ph.Ds. have been awarded for dissertations on this fetish, and the psychology involved seems to center on the premise that the toes are shorter, stubbier, more rounded than fingers, and thus “cuter....

Staff and List Payments In my last update I requested assistance for list writing over the Christmas period – I received many emails – thanks. Having gone over the site budget, the cost of paying someone for regular daily contributions (combined with the removal of two of our advertisers from the site) means that we can not pay for other submitted lists. I hope that this will not prevent people from sending in lists as we often get excellent ones from new people or those who like to write one or two from time to time....

8 The Apology It is appropriate that I start this off with the apology portion as it clears the air before proceeding. As you will know if you have been a regular reader, over the last five years I have suffered a great deal of loss within my family: both my parents, a brother, two cousins, two aunts, and two uncles have all died. During that time I found it difficult at times to dedicate the time I should have to Listverse....

We have recently begun showing links from partner sites – something we have avoided for nearly three years. Adding these links means that you get the best of our site and the best of what is on the net at the moment. Ultimately it has turned out that sharing links with others works to our benefit too – as it draws in new commenters and a fresh audience who have been, at least so far, extremely friendly and beneficial to our comments....