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US - Aug 6, 2026 - In 1918, oil transformed a Texas farming hamlet from 340 people to 16,000 almost overnight; four years later, the boom was over - A Texas farming town named Desdemona experienced a dramatic transformation after oil was discovered in 1918. Its population surged from a few hundred to thousands seeking fortune in the oilfields. However, overdrilling led to a sharp decline in oil production and the boom's end by 1922. The rapid growth brought pollution and disorder, prompting intervention by Texas Rangers.

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In the 1970s, the US dumped up to 2 million tyres off Florida's coast to help marine life. More than 50 years later, the cleanup is still underway

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US - Aug 6, 2026 - Watch: Zohran Mamdani booed at NYC pro-police event, leaves stage in less than a minute

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Why 20,000 tons of a demolished Virginia bridge became an artificial reef beneath Chesapeake Bay instead of ending up in a landfill

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Meet Joshua Williams, the 4-year-old who gave a homeless man his $20 in 2005; his foundation has since distributed more than 4.8 million pounds of food

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A 77-year-old had a heart attack on a Southwest flight; after two nurses brought him back, he spent a week finding the stranger who saved him

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Meet Cassandra Lin, who started turning restaurant grease into heating fuel as an 11-year-old in 2008, eventually helping deliver about 21,000 gallons of BioHeat to 210 homes

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Meet Mikaila Ulmer, who turned a childhood fear of bees into a lemonade business in 2009: By 2016, her drinks were entering 55 whole foods stores

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White phosphorus scare: US military denies chemical leak at South Korea military base

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In 2011, three U.S. states sank a 563-foot Navy destroyer in the Atlantic; Hurricane Irene later broke the new artificial reef into three pieces

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OnlyMarms! Chubby marmots join popular subscription service in an 'act of desperation' after facing money troubles

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In 2020, Boston introduced a floating wetland in the Charles River to test whether plant roots could help curb algal blooms

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Los Angeles singer taught her rescue horse to play the guitar and harp, and now they are releasing an album together

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Why scientists released billions of sterile moths across American cotton fields to defeat one of agriculture's most destructive pests

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Livestream turns fatal as Mexican influencer is shot in Culiacan

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California student Orion Greene, 16, spearheaded a seven-week blood cancer campaign in memory of his father; the team raised a record $1,234,579

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'Exploitation will never be tolerated': US sues Indian-origin landlord for 'sexually harassing' tenant

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Trump says US has 'massive amounts' of munitions, warns action against 'leakers'

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Trump turns toddler's stage dash into Biden joke at Las Vegas event

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Did Trump and Hegseth clash over shrinking US missile stockpiles? White House responds

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$150 million contract for migrant children's lawyers goes to Trump-linked firm

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Quote of the day by Carl Weathers: "I majored in theater at San Diego State. My one eye was on football, and my other eye was on..."

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Why was a plane allowed to take off as Trump's helicopter approached

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'Biggest attack since World War II': What stopped massive US strike on Iran? Trump reveals

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Jill Biden says Joe Biden 'will forever live with cancer,' reveals he was waking up seven times a night before prostate cancer diagnosis

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Utah nurse thought woman was drowning until he saw the blood and realized it was a fatal shark attack; did everything he could to save her

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West American dams are on the verge of shutting down: Lack of maintenance is filling them with silt faster than ever, making the great structures obsolete

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In 2023, America's first live yellow-legged hornet, a bee-killing predator, was found in Georgia; by 2026, officials had trapped 866 and destroyed 44 nests

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Commercial plane takes off as Trump's helicopter nears airport; FAA investigates

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Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar loses Democratic primary in Michigan

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America edges towards first Muslim Senator as Michigan backs progressive rebel

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Anthropic's Claude AI suffers widespread outage, users report loading errors as company works to restore service

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A 69-year-old Wisconsin pilot landed his helicopter in a Cabela's parking lot for a shopping trip; deputies checked the flight and issued no citation

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Usha Vance thought fourth child would disrupt family dynamic; says it's 'only become happier'

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A mystery stranger woke a Las Vegas family during a predawn house fire, helped them escape and disappeared before they learned his name

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An 11-year-old autistic boy wanted to trick-or-treat in summer; 83 neighbors opened their doors and turned his birthday into Halloween

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Over 3,000 cases of deadly fungus Candida auris reported in US: What it is, how it spreads- explained

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Stacy Brooks expected to dislike downtown Minneapolis, but a one-year trial changed her mind; she and her husband are now negotiating to buy their condo

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In 1942, Oregon built an entire city that grew to around 40,000 residents; six years later, a flood erased it from the map

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Texas has been using discarded Christmas trees on its beaches for years, and they're quietly helping sea turtles survive

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Donald Trump's immigration crackdown hits US military families; over 50 spouses, parents detained

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California will close the westbound Zampa Bridge for 53 hours to replace part of its deck, creating a major weekend detour between Vallejo and the East Bay

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Quote of the day by Mother Teresa: "I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than..." - a timeless lesson on choosing kindness over perfection

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Quote of the day by Elon Musk: 'One of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask. Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy'

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Rebecca DePaula was an NYPD officer, pastor and mother of three; her family is demanding an investigation after she died following surgery in the Dominican Republic

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US Marine veteran serving as Las Vegas police officer killed in shootout with armed suspect

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Hawaii has remained snake-free for millions of years, and the reason lies in how the islands were born

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In 2011, Mount Rainier used helicopters to transport thousands of native plants into trampled meadows; more than 90% of about 85,000 plantings survived

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After losing both grandparents, 17-year-old Hudson Waters recreated their Illinois home inside a backyard shed using their furniture, flowers and decorations

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After disappearing for decades, seven beavers returned to California's Tule River and began restoring the landscape

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In 2025, helicopters dropped 400 logs into Washington's Pilchuck River: 28 engineered logjams now slow floodwaters and rebuild lost salmon habitat

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Meet Theo Quenee, the South Florida teen who turned his rooftop into a greenhouse for 524 hurricane-scattered mangroves

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Across America's three coasts, 84% of wetlands are slowly submerging; only 16% are rising fast enough to keep pace with the sea

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Used tyres from Japan were considered a likely pathway for Asian tiger mosquitoes into Texas, helping the species spread across the United States

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Democracy Forward sues USCIS over records on immigration database use in US elections

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Scientists discover a new eyeless cavefish genus hidden for decades inside one of America's most closely monitored caves

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In 1898, Pennsylvania began buying its barren 'desert'; a civilian tree army later helped bring its forests back

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In 1977, California removed the last introduced grazing herbivores from San Miguel Island; a landscape once described as a "barren lump of sand" is now covered with recovering native vegetation

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