When Johntell Franklin's mother lost her battle with cancer on February 7, 2009, no one was surprised to hear that Franklin, a senior forward for the Milwaukee Madison High School basketball team (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), was not going to play in his team's game that day against DeKalb High School (DeKalb, Illinois).

But then he showed up.

Midway through the second quarter, Franklin walked into the gym, ...

Suppose we were to come up with a set of Beatitudes for the 21st Century. What if we made a list of the kinds of people who seem to be well-off—who seem to have it made—by today's standards? It might go something like this:

Blessed are the rich and famous, because they can always get a seat at the best restaurants.

...

Blessed are those who party, for they know how to have fun.

Blessed are ...

Surf's Up is an animated film about a young penguin named Cody Maverick (voiced by actor Shia LaBeouf), who longs to leave his hometown and become a famous surfer like his hero, a penguin known as Big Z. His dream leads him to the island of Pen Gu, where he competes in the "Big Z Memorial Surf Off" against the nine-time champion, a bully of a penguin named Tank Evans.

The movie spoofs documentary films; ...

On April 26, 2008, the Western Oregon women's softball team played against Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. During the course of the game, Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky hit the first homerun of her college career. She dropped her bat and started to make her way around the bases. In the midst of all the excitement, she forgot to tag first base. When the first base coach ...

For the last 11 years, an anti-lawsuit group from Michigan has held "The Wacky Warning Label Contest" to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels. A warning sticker on a small tractor that reads "Danger: Avoid Death" took home the top prize in 2007. Kevin Soave, a resident of the Detroit suburb Farmington Hills, submitted the winning label. Carrianne, Jacob, and Robby Turin of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, ...

On Sunday, October 28, Belgian felon Nordin Ben Allal escaped from prison for the fourth time.

The prisoner's most recent jailbreak is by far the most sensational to date. During an inmate recreation period, Ben Allal's accomplices hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to land on Ittre prison premises. Ben Allal first climbed aboard the helicopter, but so did several of his fellow inmates. Overburdened ...

I wish all of this never would have happened. I wish I would have torn the ticket up.

—Jewel Whittaker, the wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in U.S. history.

In January of 2006, Ed Lorenz bowled the third perfect game of his life. A few minutes later, he suffered a heart attack and died.

The 69-year-old retiree had started bowling in 1957, and had recorded his two other 300 games during a 1-week stretch in 2004. His per-game average for his last full season was 223, and in 2005 he was inducted into the Kalamazoo Metro Bowling Association Hall of Fame.

According ...

Cinderella Man tells the true story of boxing legend James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe), who made an incredible comeback during the Great Depression. Injured and arthritic, Braddock's promising career was cut short, and he had to go on public assistance when he couldn't get work at the docks in New Jersey. But when an opportunity came for him to get back in the ring—and provide for his family—he took ...

Eighty years ago, as Notre Dame was preparing to play the USC Trojans in college football, Fighting Irish coach Knute Rockne was aware that his opponent had a far better team. So he devised a plan to intimidate the opposing players.

Rockne scoured the city of South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame's hometown), and hand-picked 100 of the largest men he could find—each at least six-foot-five and 300 pounds. ...