A Portland industrial designer and his new wife — along with millions of couples around the world– wished they could continue cuddling deep into the night without their arms falling asleep.
Then, Mehdi Mojtabavi had an idea. He designed a mattress that had grooves like a record, to make it possible to slip your arm beneath your sweetheart, yet not lose circulation to the limb. He called it the Cuddle Mattress. The design is also perfect for those who want to sleep on their side, but have trouble finding a comfortable position for their shoulder.
After winning a prestigious Red Dot Award in 2007, the manufacturing of the mattress has finally begun.
Assembled by hand in a Portland warehouse, the first limited batch of 50 Cuddle Mattresses sold out immediately.
For a limited time it will cost you $1,500 before the retail price is set at $1,799.
A little boy named Jeremy was riding a bike calmly around his driveway when suddenly the neighbor’s Labrador-Chow puppy came into the yard and attacked his leg, pulling him to the ground and shaking him violently.
The Triantafilo family posted an amazing video on YouTube from surveillance cameras that showed the family’s cat, Tara, charging at the dog in mid-attack, and running it off their property.
The hero cat, a stray adopted by the Bakersfield, California family six years ago, has been seen by millions of people worldwide, after the story went viral on news and social media websites.
Jeremy is doing fine, after getting ten stitches to sew up his leg.
A Saudi man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has installed a giant refrigerator in front of his house to provide fresh food for the needy. He invited his neighbors in the city of Hail to bring their leftovers for sharing.
His idea for the street fridge was to spare the needy the “shame” of begging or dumpster diving for food.
According to the Gulf News, the story spread far and wide after a Muslim religious scholar with millions of followers on Twitter, Shaikh Mohammad Al Araifi, tweeted some love to “the Saudi man from Hail who was engaged in an indirect act of charity.”
A benefactor has given the gift of freedom, in the form of a new custom-fitted car, to an Australian mom left paralyzed six months ago after the birth of her third child.
The generosity was completely anonymous.
The SUV, which had been fitted with hand controls, will fit Jessie Bruton’s wheelchair as well as strollers and equipment for her three young boys, reports the SMH.
“It was just incredible to get home and see the car parked there with a red bow and a lovely card saying they hoped it would help my family out, and make me smile,” Mrs Bruton said.
Illinois twins Chloe and Claire Gruenke spent the weekend competing at a regional track meet. Both were running in the 800 meter race when suddenly 13-year-old Chloe felt something “pull and pop” in her thigh. She eventually crumpled to the ground.
Claire, who was behind, came up and hoisted her sister on her back and powered the remaining almost 400 meters to finish the race.
“The energy from the crowd made me stronger,” she told KTVI later.
Macaulay Culkin, the former child star of the Home Alone films, apparently tweeted this photo of himself creating a meta “Inception” moment with Ryan Gosling.
In the late 1980s, fashion industry legend Ralph Lauren was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Shortly after the removal of the tumor, his close friend Nina Hyde was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease that later took her life.
In the quarter century since then, Ralph Lauren has been dedicated to the fight against the deadly disease.
Recognized for his early leadership in the fight, Lauren made a personal and corporate commitment to finding a cure.
Yesterday he announced, in a rare and personal video, a new partnership with The Royal Marsden, one of Princess Diana’s favorite charities, the largest and most comprehensive cancer centre in Europe. The Ralph Lauren Corporation is to build them a state-of-the-art breast cancer research facility in Chelsea, London.
This will be the second breast cancer research center founded by the 73 year-old fashion mogul.
As a tribute to his friendship with Nina Hyde, The Washington Post’s fashion editor for 18 years, Ralph Lauren co-founded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University in 1989.
“Breast Cancer is not just a women’s issue,” says Lauren. “It affects all of us – the husbands, fathers, brothers, children and friends of the women dealing with this dreaded disease.”
His Pink Pony campaign helped mobilize the fashion industry to take a stand against breast cancer. As part of the campaign in 2001, Lauren founded the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in Harlem, New York to provide healthcare to the medically under-served African-American population, which is at a much greater risk of dying of cancer.
This evening, May 13th, Lauren will attend a gala dinner at Windsor Castle, hosted by His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge, to celebrate the work of The Royal Marsden.
Mild-mannered pharmacy employee John Robertson is being hailed as a hero after saving a customer’s life. When a customer failed to pick up his prescription, Robertson got worried and, with the help of deputies, went to check on the man at his home. Turns out, the man was injured and had been lying on his bathroom floor for up to two days.
Robertson, who followed his intuition and concern, was given a Hometown Hero award.
Global renewable jobs hit almost 6.5 million in 2013, a 14 percent increase over the previous year, driven by the rising solar market and employment in China, says a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
The apex was the largest single piece of aluminum cast at the time, and considered a precious metal worth as much as silver. Two years later, a new process made aluminum easier to produce and the price plummeted. The once-valuable capstone still provided a non-rusting tip that served as the original lightning rod.
US Capitol and Lincoln Memorial with scaffolding on the Washington monument – Colin Winterbottom (NationalMall.org)
After almost three years, the Washington Monument reopened to the public yesterday. A 2011 earthquake left gaping cracks that needed repair, so the 130-year-old structure needed to be closed for 32-months. With extended hours of admission, the 555 foot-tall landmark (169m), is once again offering tourists, free of charge, one of the best panoramic views in the world.
“It really is an engineering marvel,” said Al Roker on the TODAY show, reporting from the opening ceremony in D.C.. “It is built the way the pyramids were. There’s no reinforcing steel structure, there’s no mortar used to hold this together. It is the weight of the stones that actually keeps that together.
David Rubenstein, who founded a global private equity investment firm in D.C., paid for half of the $15 million repair bill, with public funds allocated by Congress to cover the remainder of the restoration. The 5.8 magnitude earthquake left 150 cracks in the structure, some leaking rain, and most of them at the top, where the masonry is only seven inches thick.
The apex was the largest single piece of aluminum cast at the time, and considered a precious metal worth as much as silver. Two years later, a new process made aluminum easier to produce and the price plummeted. The once-valuable capstone still provided a non-rusting tip that served as the original lightning rod.
“David’s support of the national parks and the work of the National Park Service sets a high standard for park philanthropy nationwide,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “It is appreciated by every visitor who will learn something about President Washington or simply enjoy the view from the top.”
Built to commemorate George Washington, the first American president, the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 5 1⁄8 inches (169.294 m) tall. Taller monumental columns exist, but they are not all stone.
Construction of the monument began in 1848 with a cornerstone laid on July 4, 1848. Work was halted from 1854 to 1877, because of a lack of funds, and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet or 27% up, shows where construction was halted.
P.H. McLaughlin sets the aluminum capstone in 1884. (Illustration from Harper’s Weekly, via Library of Congress)
Its original design was by Robert Mills, an architect of the 1840s, but his design was modified significantly when construction resumed. The capstone was set on December 6, 1884 and the completed monument dedicated two months later. Upon completion, it became the world’s tallest structure, a title previously held by the Cologne Cathedral. The monument held this designation until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France.
The number of people over the age of 90 has tripled since 1981 in England and Wales. The population living more than 100 years has quintupled, from 2,420 to 12,320.
In a bid to get “Maddie” to go to the prom with him, Stefan Montana approached actor Bryan Cranston and asked him to deliver one of the most famous lines from the hit TV series’ Breaking Bad.
The recorded video with the voice of “Walter White” on his phone did, indeed, get him a date with Maddie Abene — but so much more.
The A-list star is currently in New York portraying President Lyndon Johnson on Broadway every night. When he saw that Stefan’s video became a YouTube hit, he invited the California teen and his date to New York for the show. He paid for their airfare and hotel and sent a car to the airport to pick them up.
An Ohio veteran suffering from PTSD was saved after having a seizure, by his dog “Major.” The pooch called 9-1-1 by stepping on the screen which was set up to dial emergency services.
“He actually was able to get the phone out of my pocket,” said Terry McGlade.
Major was waiting in the front yard for police and took them to the back yard.
For kids living in slums in the developing world, dental hygiene is a real problem. With this cheap gum developed by a team of college students, they might be able to have their candy and clean teeth.
The project, called Sweet Bites, plan to distribute a gum made with Xylitol, a synthetic sugar with proven dental benefits.
Studies from Finland in the 1970s showed that the harmful cavity-causing bacteria are starved in the presence of xylitol, allowing the mouth to remineralize damaged teeth with less interruption.
Cindy Prettyman, 65, of Glen Dale, West Virginia, (pictured, right) was told she’d have to wait five years to receive an organ transplant – but her son Jeremy posted an ad on Craigslist that read, “Wanted: Kidney”, and found a donor.
Jacklyn Mellott, 56, (left) a resident of Union Port, Ohio, coincidentally the area where Cindy grew up, said she’d always wanted to donate. Her wish was granted after she learned she was a perfect donor match.
Every year around this time kids perform in their holiday concert. For many schools it is the most well attended event of the year. In years past, my daughter has joined her classmates in singing two or three seasonal songs. This year was different though. This year my daughter had a few speaking parts while dressed as a snowflake.
My daughter was very excited when she heard the news that she had earned one of the speaking parts. Yet with her excitement also came some nervousness. She practiced and practiced her lines until she knew them by heart. And, each day leading up to the concert her class would prepare for what was going to be a special night.
Each day my wife and I would ask her how it was going, and each day she would tell us that she did well but that she was very nervous. She was worried that people would laugh at her if she made a mistake. She was also worried, understandably so, about speaking in front of over a thousand people. We told her not to worry and that she would do great. But, let’s be honest, how many of us wouldn’t be nervous about speaking in front of over a thousand people? And, how many of us have ever actually had to?
When the big night came last week we were all very excited. Because my wife actually teaches at my daughter’s school, she was able to secure us front row seats. This was great for viewing, but tough for my two-year old son who is distracted by anything that moves or is shiny. My daughter’s parts came towards the end of the concert and I was a nervous wreck because I knew how she felt.
The time had finally arrived for her to recite her lines that she had been practicing for so long. She stepped up to the microphone and said her lines perfectly. The only thing was she thought she had made a mistake. When she went to sit down with her fellow “snowflakes” I could see that she was close to tears. At one point she did actually have a few tears slide down her cheek. You can only imagine how difficult it was for me not to run up on stage and grab her in my arms and tell how much I love her. What happened next was the reason she is now my new official hero.
Despite the fact that she had just cried on stage. Despite the fact that she was a nervous wreck. Despite the fact that she was in front of over a thousand people. She went back up to the microphone two more times and nailed her lines perfectly. The courage it took to do that, considering all the circumstances, was something I will never forget. I was so proud of her my heart nearly popped out of my chest.
The next time I am nervous about something. The next time I begin to doubt myself. The next time I stumble, I will remember the night the “little snowflake”, my daughter, my hero, went back out on that stage and showed me what real courage looks like.
Sarah Thistlethwaite and her husband, Bill, learned half way through the pregnancy that, not only would they be having twins, but rare “mono mono” twins, who would share the same placenta and amniotic sac.
It only happens once in every 10,000 births, and is considered a high risk birth, because the cords could become entangled or compressed, according to WCPO, who featured the story.
A photo released by Akron Children’s Hospital, where a Caesarean section was performed on Friday, shows daughters Jenna and Jillian at the moment of birth at 33 weeks, holding each other’s hands.
The birth was especially happy for the couple, who were told they would probably never have children.
UPDATE: In an interview on the TODAY show, on May 14, the doctor in the room confirmed that he had never seen anything like it.
“It was something that just really grabs your heart,” said Dr. Anand Kantak,
