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A painting found hanging in an elderly French woman's kitchen was found to be a long-lost panel from a polyptych by 13th-century Italian artist Cimabue. The painting, titled "Mocking of Christ," is scheduled to be auctioned Oct. 27. Photo courtesy of Acteon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIDEO AT LINK................. Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A long-lost masterpiece dating back to 1280 is headed to the Louvre after it was found hanging in a French grandmother's kitchen. "Christ Mocked," a 10-inch-by-8-inch painting by Florentine artist Cimabue, aka Cenni di Pepo, was rediscovered in 2019, when an elderly woman from the town of Compiegne decided to...

VIDEO AT LINK............ May 24 (UPI) -- A California man who returned a library book that was found to be 96 years overdue said he believes the tome was originally checked out by his deceased wife's grandfather. Jim Perry of Napa said he was going through boxes of books that had belonged to his wife, Sandra Learned Perry, when he came across a copy of Benson Lossing's A History of the United States from the St. Helena Public Library. Perry said he believes the book was checked out by John McCormick, Sandra Learned Perry's grandfather, who would have been 55...

Officers with the Eufaula Police Department in Alabama responded to a home to remove a gray rat snake from the resident's toilet. Photo courtesy of the Eufaula Police Department/Facebook Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Police in Alabama responded to a residence to deal with an unusual situation when the homeowner found a snake in their toilet. The Eufaula Police Department said officers with the day shift responded to help a homeowner who found a snake in their toilet bowl. "We never know from one day to the next what kind of call we will receive during our shift," the department said...

A bear took a stroll through a California neighborhood and paused for a dip in a resident's backyard pool. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department warned residents of a neighborhood in San Dimas to remain in their homes when a bear was spotted wandering through the area. The bear wandered through multiple back yards before taking a swim in a resident's pool. "I see a bear jump in the pool and I told my buddy, 'Hey, I gotta get off the phone. I gotta film this," homeowner Christian Brown told KABC-TV. "The next thing I know the bear is just...

MENLO PARK, Calif., - A California startup analyzing food on a molecular level announced some hard news about one of the most beloved foods in the United States: 2 percent of hot dogs contain human DNA. Clear Food, the consumer guide wing of Menlo Park startup Clear Labs, said it analysed 345 hot dogs and sausages from 75 brands sold at 10 different retailers and discovered 14.4 percent of the products included ingredients that were not listed on the label. The startup said several of the tested brands had "hygienic" issues. "Hygienic issues occur when some sort of non-harmful contaminant...

Some time in December, Ben Hooper will step on to a beach in Dakar, Senegal, and plunge into the warm blue waters of the Atlantic. He will not stop swimming until he hits Natal in Brazil. The distance is 1,763 miles. But that’s only if he goes in a straight line. And swimming across the Atlantic in a straight line is a bad idea: “The currents in the centre are so strong, I’d never get there. It’s an absolute car wreck in the centre. Great for rowers, great for sailors, horrible for swimmers,” he says. Instead he will go in...