AMERICANALMANAC (Ken Jacobs) - A 9-foot dollhouse valued at $8.5 million may be the priciest real estate per square foot on Earth
An 80-year-old New York psychologist wants to donate a miniature castle worth $329,000 per square foot to the White House, and nobody in Washington has said yes or no. Dr. Michael Freeman has spent roughly three decades as the owner of the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, a 9-foot-tall, 29-room structure packed with 10,000 handcrafted furnishings that […] The post A 9-foot dollhouse valued at $8.5 million may be the priciest real estate per square foot on Earth appeared first on American Almanac .
An 80-year-old New York psychologist wants to donate a miniature castle worth $329,000 per square foot to the White House, and nobody in Washington has said yes or no. Dr. Michael Freeman has spent roughly three decades as the owner of the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, a 9-foot-tall, 29-room structure packed with 10,000 handcrafted furnishings that the New York Post reports is valued at a minimum of $8.5 million. At just 25.8 square feet of floor space, that works out to roughly $329,000 per square foot, a figure that would dwarf the most expensive penthouses in Manhattan or London. Freeman, a PhD psychologist who lives in Kings Point on Long Island, now says he and his wife Lois are deciding what to do with the structure. His preference is…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Kim Zolciak's 15-year-old son indicted on seven counts including child molestation and aggravated sodomy
A Fulton County grand jury has indicted KJ Biermann, the 15-year-old son of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kim Zolciak, on seven felony counts, charges his mother calls "reckless" and insists the evidence will disprove. The indictment, handed down Wednesday, expanded the case against Kroy Jagger Biermann far beyond the two felony counts he faced […] The post Kim Zolciak's 15-year-old son indicted on seven counts including child molestation and aggravated sodomy appeared first on American Almanac .
A Fulton County grand jury has indicted KJ Biermann, the 15-year-old son of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kim Zolciak, on seven felony counts, charges his mother calls "reckless" and insists the evidence will disprove. The indictment, handed down Wednesday, expanded the case against Kroy Jagger Biermann far beyond the two felony counts he faced at the time of his arrest earlier this month. A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, returned seven counts: child molestation, multiple charges of sexual battery against a child under 16, aggravated sodomy, and false imprisonment, Fox News Digital reported , citing documents it obtained. KJ Biermann is being charged as an adult under Georgia's SB440, a state law that gives adult superior…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Blackpink's Lisa and Jisoo drop solo singles on the same Friday, each staking out new ground
Two members of K-pop's biggest girl group released competing solo singles and music videos on the same day, the latest sign that Blackpink's four members are building individual careers at full speed. Lisa, 29, put out "SaWaDiKa" with a music video filmed across her home country of Thailand, while Jisoo, 31, released "Click" with a […] The post Blackpink's Lisa and Jisoo drop solo singles on the same Friday, each staking out new ground appeared first on American Almanac .
Two members of K-pop's biggest girl group released competing solo singles and music videos on the same day, the latest sign that Blackpink's four members are building individual careers at full speed. Lisa, 29, put out "SaWaDiKa" with a music video filmed across her home country of Thailand, while Jisoo, 31, released "Click" with a visual that casts her as a doll bringing an abandoned carnival back to life. Both tracks arrived Friday, Sept. 4, UPI reported . The simultaneous releases come just days after their bandmate Jennie dropped her solo EP Fallen Angel and a music video for its title track. With three of Blackpink's four members now pushing solo material in rapid succession, the group's individual output has overtaken anything it…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Alex Tanzer) - Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun go public with Venice gondola outing during film festival
Actress Sydney Sweeney and music executive Scooter Braun were photographed kissing on a gondola ride through Venice's canals during the 2026 Venice Film Festival, the latest and most public display of a relationship that has been building for over a year. Paparazzi captured Sweeney, 28, placing her hands on Braun's cheeks as the couple kissed […] The post Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun go public with Venice gondola outing during film festival appeared first on American Almanac .
Actress Sydney Sweeney and music executive Scooter Braun were photographed kissing on a gondola ride through Venice's canals during the 2026 Venice Film Festival, the latest and most public display of a relationship that has been building for over a year. Paparazzi captured Sweeney, 28, placing her hands on Braun's cheeks as the couple kissed aboard the gondola. Braun, 45, wore a white button-down shirt, blue shorts, sunglasses, and a backward baseball cap. Sweeney wore a white dress with a yellow cardigan. Separate photos showed the pair walking through Venice's streets holding hands, looking relaxed and unhurried. Fox News Digital published the images on August 31, noting Sweeney was in town as a brand ambassador for Armani Beauty, the…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Jack Newsome) - Kirkland police answer burglary call, find a bobcat perched at the top of the stairs
A Washington state homeowner dialed 911 convinced a burglar was inside the house, but responding officers found the intruder was a bobcat that had climbed through an open window. Kirkland Police Department officers arrived at the Moss Bay neighborhood home after the resident reported loud banging and feared someone had broken in. What greeted them […] The post Kirkland police answer burglary call, find a bobcat perched at the top of the stairs appeared first on American Almanac .
A Washington state homeowner dialed 911 convinced a burglar was inside the house, but responding officers found the intruder was a bobcat that had climbed through an open window. Kirkland Police Department officers arrived at the Moss Bay neighborhood home after the resident reported loud banging and feared someone had broken in. What greeted them at the top of the staircase was not a prowler but a wild cat, a bobcat, perched and apparently in no hurry to leave. The department shared the account on its official Facebook page . Rather than corner a roughly 30-pound predator in a hallway, officers took a modern approach: they deployed a drone inside the home to track the animal's movements from a safe distance. The drone allowed police to…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Jack Newsome) - Newborn kitten survives 76-mile ride hidden in SUV engine compartment in Texas
A newborn kitten hitched an unplanned ride inside a vehicle's engine bay across 76 miles of Texas Hill Country, and a team of hospital workers, animal control, and a local rescue group pulled together to save it. A Peterson Health employee drove from Rocksprings, Texas, to Kerrville for a regular shift and had no idea […] The post Newborn kitten survives 76-mile ride hidden in SUV engine compartment in Texas appeared first on American Almanac .
A newborn kitten hitched an unplanned ride inside a vehicle's engine bay across 76 miles of Texas Hill Country, and a team of hospital workers, animal control, and a local rescue group pulled together to save it. A Peterson Health employee drove from Rocksprings, Texas, to Kerrville for a regular shift and had no idea a tiny passenger was tucked inside the engine compartment. When the worker arrived at the hospital and popped the hood, the kitten was still alive, wedged somewhere behind the front grille after roughly an hour and a half of highway driving across open ranchland. The City of Kerrville posted about the discovery on its official Facebook page, and the story spread fast. A Kerrville animal control officer and personnel from…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Ken Jacobs) - John Rich says Jelly Roll understood the cost of going political — and did it anyway
Country music singer John Rich says fellow artist Jelly Roll knowingly risked alienating half his fanbase by airing his political views on late-night television, and that the backlash proves fans felt blindsided. Rich laid out his case during an appearance on "The Benny Show," where he framed Jelly Roll's decision to guest-host "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" […] The post John Rich says Jelly Roll understood the cost of going political — and did it anyway appeared first on American Almanac .
Country music singer John Rich says fellow artist Jelly Roll knowingly risked alienating half his fanbase by airing his political views on late-night television, and that the backlash proves fans felt blindsided. Rich laid out his case during an appearance on "The Benny Show," where he framed Jelly Roll's decision to guest-host "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and crack jokes about President Donald Trump as a calculated gamble. The "Save Me" singer, Rich argued, understood exactly who buys country music tickets, and spoke up anyway because he meant every word. The comments land at a moment when Jelly Roll is catching sustained heat from the audience that built his career. After his Kimmel stint, during which he made jokes about the president and…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Jack Newsome) - Nearly 2,000 Chicagoans down Malört shots to claim Guinness World Record
A Chicago bar packed in 1,969 people to simultaneously slam shots of Jeppson's Malört, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker stepped behind the bar to help pour. Recess, a bar in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, hosted the event on Sunday, drawing a crowd large enough to set what organizers called a Guinness World Record for simultaneous […] The post Nearly 2,000 Chicagoans down Malört shots to claim Guinness World Record appeared first on American Almanac .
A Chicago bar packed in 1,969 people to simultaneously slam shots of Jeppson's Malört, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker stepped behind the bar to help pour. Recess, a bar in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, hosted the event on Sunday, drawing a crowd large enough to set what organizers called a Guinness World Record for simultaneous shots of the notoriously bitter wormwood liqueur. The official count, per the bar, landed at 1,969 participants, each one raising and downing a shot of Malört at the same time. For anyone outside the Midwest, Jeppson's Malört is a Chicago institution of the punishing variety. The Swedish-style liqueur, flavored with wormwood, is famous less for its taste than for the involuntary grimace it produces.…Open
AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Indiana farm honors Charlie Kirk with corn maze — and refuses to back down after online backlash
A family farm in Evansville, Indiana, carved a corn maze portrait of the late Charlie Kirk to honor free speech, and when critics flooded its Google page with negative reviews, the owners stood their ground. Goebel Farms announced its 2026 corn maze design as a tribute to the Turning Point USA founder, who was fatally […] The post Indiana farm honors Charlie Kirk with corn maze — and refuses to back down after online backlash appeared first on American Almanac .
A family farm in Evansville, Indiana, carved a corn maze portrait of the late Charlie Kirk to honor free speech, and when critics flooded its Google page with negative reviews, the owners stood their ground. Goebel Farms announced its 2026 corn maze design as a tribute to the Turning Point USA founder, who was fatally shot during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. The maze features Kirk's likeness along with the words "RIP CK" and the date "9 10 25," the Washington Examiner reported . Within days, the farm faced dozens of negative Google reviews and hostile comments across social media, a coordinated effort to punish a small business for memorializing a man who died for speaking his mind. The farm did not…Open