As we get the new year started, here's a Top 10 list of some of the top crazy things that happened last year...

1. The Tide Pod Challenge: The year began with the very intelligent trend of people eating Tide Pods for the sake of...ummm...social media likes? The thrill of almost dying in the dumbest possible way? Anyway, the Tide Pod Challenge actually BOOSTED Tide's sales, under the "any publicity is good publicity" rule.

2. Laurel or Yanny?: It took more than three years, but in 2018, we finally found a worthy successor to The Dress. An audio clip went viral in May where a voice was either saying "Laurel"...or "Yanny."

It turned out if you're younger or you were listening on bad speakers, you'd probably year "yanny," since it was coming through on higher frequencies. If you're older or had good headphones, you'd hear "laurel"...which WAS correct, by the way.

3. Parents are hiring video game tutors for their kids: I'm not sure any story could ever do a better job of summing up both this generation of kids AND this generation of parents. In August, the "Wall Street Journal" reported on a trend of parents hiring VIDEO GAME TUTORS for their kids.

And here are a few other "sign of the times" stories...

. . . Florida State University announced in August that freshman could skip a mandatory stress reduction class . . . if they felt it would be too stressful.

. . . And for reasons we still can't quite figure out, Colorado State University banned the phrase "long time, no see" last month because they said it's offensive to people of Asian descent.

4. People who are sick of Tinder are now into "slow dating" . . . which you just know as regular dating: No story from 2018 will make you want to slap your forehead as much as this one. A report in August found that young, single people are getting tired of Tinder and dating apps, so they're into a trend called "slow dating." That's where you meet someone in person, and then go out on a date with them. How cutting edge!

5. A guy puts a six-year-old McDonald's burger and fries on eBay...and they don't look like they've aged: If you ever doubt the power of fast food preservatives, pay attention to this story from July. A guy in Canada kept a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries for six years as an experiment. And he put it up for sale on eBay...and it REALLY didn't look like it had aged much. eBay wound up pulling down the listing before it sold.

6. IHOP temporarily changes its name, and for some reason people really care: In June, IHOP announced it was changing its name to "IHOB," to celebrate some new burgers. It was a pretty basic marketing stunt that was clearly temporary . . . but for some reason, people online went CRAZY about it. The stunt quadrupled their sales and led to 20,000 news articles and 36 billion social media impressions.

7. Someone won the biggest jackpot in lottery history...and still hasn't claimed it: Back in October,someone in South Carolina won the all-time record $1.5 BILLION Mega Millions jackpot. But...they still haven't claimed it. And they only have until mid-April to cash in...or all of the states that kick in toward the jackpot get their money back.

8. The Coast Guard rescues a woman who fell off a boat...after her husband didn't realize she was gone: This will definitely put some strain on a marriage. A husband and wife were sailing in Rhode Island in August...the woman FELL OFF...and the husband never realized she was gone. She swam to an island, where the Coast Guard rescued her several hours later.

9. The Pumpkin Spice Latte was expected to be a flop: It's impossible to imagine this outcome now, but the creator of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte did an interview in September where he revealed the truth. When they tested the drink in 2003, it did poorly with focus groups...and it was considered a LONG SHOT. Now, 15 years later, it's taken over the world.

10. Two old guys escape their nursing home to go to a heavy metal festival: In August, two elderly men made international news when they escaped from their nursing home in Germany...to go to the world's biggest heavy metal festival. When the cops found the men, they were, quote, "disoriented and dazed"...but they didn't want to leave!

I'm sure 2019 will bring many more stories like these, because one thing for sure is, we have a lot of crazy people in the world!

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