That’s Odd

signed the Never Again Education Act into law on Thursday that aims to further memorialize the Holocaust.

Sponsored by New York Democratic Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney, the bill sailed through Congress with 302 co-sponsors and was passed in January by a near-unanimous margin of 393-5. The legislation then passed unanimously in the Senate in early May.

The Act provides $2 million to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and requires it to create educational materials to increase Holocaust awareness among teachers across the U.S.

The $2 million will be provided annually to the museum’s Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund by the U.S. Treasury, between 2020 and 2024.

In addition, an online database with educational materials for teaching middle and high school students will be created to aid teachers in addressing the issue. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will help create the database.

The bill is a “first step in centralizing a good quality and authentic curriculum to teach the Holocaust to future generations,” said Senator Jacky Rosen.

40 Years a Charm

For almost 40 years an Australian man has been playing the lotto with the same sets of numbers. This year, his consistency bore fruit and he won a lottery jackpot of more than $300,000.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for many years,” the winner said. “I think I’ve been marking my entries with those numbers for almost 40 years now. This is just amazing. I am over the moon.”

The ticket turned out to be worth a total $341,507.65.

The man and his wife had just recently retired so the win was more than fortuitous.

“We will probably look at buying the home we’ve always dreamt of living in,” he said. “That would be incredible. And when things start to go back to normal, I think there will definitely be a holiday or two.”

You know what they say: better late than never.

Chief Hiking Officer

Love hiking? Enjoy a cold one or two? This is the perfect job for you.

A Virginia brewery recently announced that it is seeking a “chief hiking officer.” The lucky person obtaining this position will be paid $20,000 to spend five to seven months hiking the Appalachian Trail and drinking beer.

The Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., based in Lexington, said it is accepting applications from people who “love hiking and beer” to take on the unique job.

The winning applicant will be granted the “Chief Hiking Officer” title and will be flown out to trail head in 2021 for a 2,200-mile hike.

The hiker, who would tackle the trail between May and September 2021, would be outfitted with equipment by the brewery and treated to “some big ol’ beer parties along the way.”

Hope they watch out for bears along with the trail.

Lost & Found

A set of dog tags had been buried in a yard for more than 60 years before being reunited with its owner.

Recently, Wyatt Macy, a 15-yearold from Montana, said he noticed something shiny sparkling in his yard. Upon inspection, he unearthed a pair of dog tags.

Wyatt and his mother, Becky Macy, enlisted the help of the American Legion Post to find the owner of the items. Turns out the Jack Bennetts, now 84 years old, had been the owner of the tags and sergeant stripes.

“And he’s still alive,” Becky said. “I mean, that was so cool when he was like, ‘I found him in Billings, we found him the White Pages.’ No way! That is so cool.”

It turns out that Bennetts had lived in the Macy home after he finished his 1953-1957 tour of duty in the U.S.Marine Corps. He said he doesn’t know how his dog tags and sergeant’s stripes ended up in the ground, but he suspects his nieces and nephews might have gotten ahold of them more than 60 years ago.

Wyatt and his mom mailed Bennetts his long-lost items, which showed up at his home on Saturday.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” Bennetts said. “And I was very happy to get them. I never thought I’d ever see them again. That’s for sure.”

Buried Treasure

Officials in a Norwegian county say that they have found a 1,000-yearold Viking ship.

The ship had been buried on the same island as other ships that had been discovered a few months ago.

The More and Romsdal County Council said the eight-oared vessel measuring just under 40 feet long was found buried on the island of Edoya, less than 500 feet from where a Viking ship from the same time period was found buried in late 2019.

The ship was located via georadar survey, officials said. The survey also identified two houses and five burial mounds.

Bjorn Ringstad, county conservator for More and Romsdal, said the burying of Viking boats was part of a funeral tradition for the wealthiest members of a community.

How oar-iginal.

Flight of Fancy

Last week, another record was made in aviation when the world’s largest all-electric aircraft took off from a Washington state airstrip for its first flight, staying in the air for 28 minutes.

The eCaravan plane, a modified Cessna Caravan 208B, was created by a collaboration between engine company magniX and aerospace firm AeroTEC. It took its first flight Thursday in an event that was livestreamedon Facebook. The companies boast that electric planes are more environmentally friendly and are cheaper than fossil-fueled planes.

A smaller plane with a magniX electric enginetook its first 15-minute flightin December 2019.

The Energizer bunny must be working overtime.