Feature

Navy vet wins a Paralympic gold, and more

A U.S. Navy officer blinded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan won a gold medal in his first ever Paralympic Games.

Navy vet wins a Paralympic gold
A U.S. Navy officer blinded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan won a gold medal this week in his first ever Paralympic Games. Lt. Brad Snyder beat the best blind swimmers in the world in the 100-meter freestyle final. The former Naval Academy swimmer lost both his eyes in September 2011 while serving as a bomb disposal expert. “It was my first final, it was my first medal,” he said. “It’s an immense amount of relief.” Snyder will compete in six other medal events during the London Games.

Message in a bottle dates to 1914
A fisherman from Scotland has broken a world record by retrieving a message in a bottle that was set adrift almost 98 years ago. Andrew Leaper found the bottle, one of 1,890 released by the British government in 1914 to map the seas off Scotland’s northern coast, earlier this year. Last week Guinness World Records confirmed it as the oldest such message yet discovered. A note inside the bottle asks the finder to report the discovery, and promises the reward of a sixpence. Unfortunately for Leaper, that coin was last minted in 1970.

Korean War vets with dementia reunite
When former Army medic Augie Angerame started paying regular visits to fellow resident Frank Dibella in their nursing home in Northport, N.Y., his son John was mystified. Angerame and Dibella both suffer from advanced dementia and can’t communicate, but their silent connection encouraged the staff to move them into the same room. Only then did John piece together the mystery. Looking through his father’s old papers, he discovered that the men had served in the same unit in the Korean War—and that his father had cared for the wounded Dibella. “Sixty years later,” said John, his dad is “still checking on his guys.”

Recommended

U.S. to crack down on guns going south, Mexico works to stop fentanyl heading north
A CBP agent at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro, California.
Stopping the Flow

U.S. to crack down on guns going south, Mexico works to stop fentanyl heading north

Lebanon to reverse daylight savings decision
Clock tower in Lebanon.
really, what time is it?

Lebanon to reverse daylight savings decision

The extreme weather events of 2023
An illustration of a tornado and wind-swept palm trees
In depth

The extreme weather events of 2023

Most of Silicon Valley Bank bought by First Citizens, FDIC says
An entrance to a Silicon Valley Bank
Fire Sale

Most of Silicon Valley Bank bought by First Citizens, FDIC says

Most Popular

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday
Moon, Jupiter, Venus.
skyline

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday

5 toons about Trump's possible indictment
Political Cartoon
Feature

5 toons about Trump's possible indictment

Florida principal forced to resign over Michelangelo's David display
The statue of 'David' by Michelangelo.
Controversy Over David

Florida principal forced to resign over Michelangelo's David display