A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” is on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels.

The Edinburgh Zoo has launched a cuteness contest between Haggis, its newborn pygmy hippo, and Moo Deng, the adorable mini hippopotamus that became a viral sensation at a Thailand zoo this summer.

A makeshift aquarium built beneath a leaky New York City fire hydrant has been revived.

Two sister meteor showers are already flashing across night skies — and will peak a week apart.

During the Day of the Dead celebrations that take place in late October and early November, Latin Americans honor their departed loved ones by setting up altars adorned with food, flowers and photographs.

Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s famed Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs.

A winged creature from Oregon has been crowned this year's winner in the annual “Bat Beauty Contest.”.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear showed off his Halloween spirit Thursday.

A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid.

Perched on two fingers on the roof of an art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, the giant sculpture of a hand has loomed over the city for five years.

For the first time since 1938, children in Des Moines, Iowa, will go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

A rare dime whose whereabouts had remained a mystery since the late 1970s has sold for just over $500,000.

A worker at a wildlife park in Crimea has died after being attacked by lions.

The World Conker Championships says it's investigating allegations of cheating after this year’s men’s winner was found to have a steel chestnut in his pocket.

A Russian man has been rescued in the Sea of Okhotsk after surviving for two months in an inflatable boat that lost its engine, but his brother and nephew have died.

A snake slithered through the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout during Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

A Minnesota horticulture teacher has remained the reigning champion of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California.

An annual event in Maine involving mud, beer and cash has once again drawn dozens of eager competitors.

It’s tarantula mating season on the Colorado plains, when male spiders scurry out of their burrows in search of a mate.

Whether a 2-year-old beaver named Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild as winter approaches in Massachusetts has ended up in court — and caused such an uproar that even the governor has weighed in.

Voting has started in the annual Fat Bear Week contest at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Actor Damian Lewis has driven a flock of sheep across the River Thames in homage to a centuries-old tradition.

Earth will have a temporary “mini moon” for two months.

An Alaska national park’s annual celebration of the beefy, brown and bristly is getting underway as some of the chunkiest bears on the planet fatten up for their long winter slumber.