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US - Oct 5, 2026 - A Michigan collector paid $30 for a seashell painting at an estate sale; identified as a 1951 Gertrude Abercrombie work, it has now sold at Freeman's in New York for a record $1,352,600 - In a stunning turn of events, Gertrude Abercrombie's painting, Alderman Merriam's Shells, was auctioned for $1,352,600 after being found at an estate sale for just $30. Having been lost for 75 years, the piece drew significant attention at Freeman's auction house, far exceeding expectations. A dedicated collector meticulously verified its authenticity, marking a remarkable resurgence for Abercrombie in the contemporary art scene.

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A schoolteacher's 128-acre family retreat became part of a larger wildlife corridor; decades after buying the land, Jeanne Paisley's conservation easement now protects forests, wetlands and a stream linked to the Chesapeake watershed

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US - Oct 5, 2026 - Silicon Valley pioneer helped build HP's first computer and collected wine for 60 years; 6,814 bottles from his cellar went to Christie's auction

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They built a grocery store in Wisconsin in 1987; decades later, the couple protected nearly 14 acres for their great-grandchildren to inherit

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She bought 3 Abbott shares for $180 in 1935; after her death at 100, her $7 million fortune went to help college students

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US military kills 4 in strike on suspected drug-trafficking vessel in Caribbean

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In 2013, an American billionaire backed $260 million to transform New York's damaged Pier 54, creating Little Island eight years later

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A South Carolina man bought a painting at Goodwill for $3, thinking it might be worth a few hundred dollars; it turned out to be a Flemish work from 1650 and sold at auction in 2012 for $190,000

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George Takei and his husband are giving their $21 million-plus estate to a museum; the Star Trek actor will preserve Japanese American stories

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'Re-deployed to their home stations': US withdraws all bombers from UK's Fairford base after suspected terror plot

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In 2005, Oprah Winfrey committed $10 million to help build Houston's Angel Lane for hurricane evacuees; 65 furnished homes followed, and eight years after families moved in, a long-promised community center finally opened

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Frida Kahlo spent most of her life in this blue Mexico City house; more than 200 objects reveal how the home shaped her art

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In 1994, Don Williams paid $1.35 million for 1.137 acres beside Maui's Maalaea Harbor; 32 years later, a Hawaii appeals court vacated a $7 million compensation judgment in the state's long-running eminent-domain fight

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In 2002, Houston built a runway for Boeing 747s using a concrete mix with 25% fly ash and 25% blast-furnace slag; test slabs reached 800 psi flexural strength in 90 days

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In 1974, Houston replaced most of an asphalt road base with incinerator ash; 3 years later, the 89% waste mix was performing almost like conventional pavement

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2 killed, 25 injured as gunfire erupts at homecoming party in Georgia

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In 2001, Texas finished a five-year study of six crushed-fly-ash road sections; inspections, core strength and deflection tests found the pavements had performed well

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Jon Bon Jovi's foundation helped turn part of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center into housing; in 2019, the Washington project opened with homes for 77 formerly homeless veterans

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In 1967, Long Beach bought the retired Queen Mary to keep her from the scrapyard; the ocean liner became a hotel and still anchors the waterfront

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In 1987, Delaware built Interstate 495 access ramps with nearly 10,000 tons of stockpiled fly ash; two years later, settlement was under one-eighth of an inch, matching conventional fill

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In 1987, Mississippi rebuilt 1.5 miles of State Route 15 with pond ash from a coal plant; after three years, its stronger ash sections bent far less than the ordinary control road

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Baltimore shooting: 12-year-old girl killed in crossfire after parking dispute

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Cornell sexual assault case: Woman at centre of rape allegations got threats to withdraw lawsuit, lawyer says

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In 1993, Maryland used 60,000 tons of coal fly ash under a Route 213 overpass; later groundwater testing found no discernible impact at the site

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Scotland wiped invasive rats from Canna in 2005-06; a decade later puffin counts topped 2,000 while one shag colony climbed from 45 nests to 75

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In 2021, an Indiana content creator and her surgeon husband bought a 1914 schoolhouse; by late 2024, their family moved in and a classroom became their kitchen

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7-year-old Chicago girl stabbed to death on sidewalk; bystanders detain woman accused of killing her

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Texas landowners feared border barriers would cut off access to the Rio Grande; an October 2 court order now blocks construction in the Big Bend sector while the legal challenge continues

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After Donald Trump's second-term climate cuts scrapped billions in research grants and left thousands of federal workers jobless, Climate Reserve stepped in with new roles for 50 climate experts

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A Michigan collector paid $30 for a seashell painting at an estate sale; it was later identified as a 1951 Gertrude Abercrombie work; now it has sold in New York for a record $1,352,600!

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After San Francisco's 1906 disaster, engineers blasted a 4,233-foot tunnel beneath the city; the hidden conduit still runs near Lands End

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In 2012, a retired FBI agent began searching for 'lost' apples; more than a decade later, his mission has helped rediscover 30 forgotten varieties across the Pacific Northwest

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US man convicted of killing motorist to be resentenced after court rejects AI video of victim forgiving him

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A Texas city will pay at least $175,000 after the SpaceX site it owns pumped 128 million gallons of groundwater above permitted limits over three years; the settlement includes monitoring payments for 25 years

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Trump announces 'Super Intelligence Force' to keep US ahead in AI race

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Sharmila Mona Sinha: The third daughter who turned deficit into dividend and became a US Hall of Famer

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Indian-origin US lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi introduces bills to help immigrant doctors, nurses

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In 1939, a California family bought a Joseph Kleitsch painting from his widow for $100; 75 years later, their daughter brought it to Antiques Roadshow and heard a $500,000 valuation

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Iowa livestock farmer Dave Johnson hosts four wind turbines that bring in about $30,000 a year, calling the steady lease income the 401(k) he never had while he continues raising cattle and hogs

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A grandmother's 23-year-old letter was found inside a library book; a stranger tracked down the person it was written to

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Expelled, suspended or made to write 'reflection papers': How Cornell punished 7 men for sexual assault

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After Hurricane Katrina, Sandra Bullock helped rebuild a New Orleans school; in 2010, she helped fund its $700,000 medical and dental clinic, designed to provide free healthcare to students

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In 2013, a New Jersey teacher saw workers mowing a solar field near home and asked to bring in her sheep; by 2021, her flock had grown from 50 sheep on 15 solar acres to 450 sheep managing 85 acres

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'There's so much money to be made': Trump defends US data centres, warns they could go to China

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A North Dakota farm kid turned ag-tech entrepreneur; his company puts real farm maps on children's play rugs

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An Atlanta mansion built in 1924 for Thomas Jefferson's great-great-grandson faced demolition; in 2013, its new owners cut the 8,000-sq-ft home in two and moved it about 2 miles to save it

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A UK collector paid £15 for a broken, lidless teapot at a 2016 auction; experts identified it as one of only seven known John Bartlam pieces, and it sold for £575,000 to The Met in New York

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'Time for trial and error is over': OpenAI safety employee David Robinson quits over AI risks

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California sanctuary is removing purple sea urchins to help restore kelp; 117,847 pounds have been added to compost

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Portland is covering ordinary traffic signal boxes with colourful artwork, but it is not just for decoration

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A family foundation began restoring 250 acres of overworked Ohio farmland in 1989; it is now a wildlife reserve with Walden Pond

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Beavers beat humans to restoring a closed Massachusetts golf course, building a 6-to-8-foot dam before crews arrived

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Trump leaks senator's number after row over clock-change bill: What's the dispute

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US 'kicks out' Iranian diplomats after defying earlier order amid stalled talks: Report

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'You're coming in blind?' Chilling audio before medical jet carrying 6 vanished over Atlantic

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A radioactive material facility polluted an Illinois creek for decades; the 6.7-mile Superfund site has now been removed from the cleanup list

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OpenAI's Sam Altman criticises Anthropic's push to explore AI consciousness and religion

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ShinyHunters hacker in FBI data theft held in Jordan

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