WEIRD STUFF

Man proposed to girlfriend 43 times

A tattoo artist proposed to his now-wife 43 times before she agreed to marry him.

Luke Wintrip, 36, pulled off extravagant proposals - including renting a castle in Prague, Czech Republic, horseback riding on a beach in Jamaica, as well as several candle-lit dinners - since 2018, in a bid for marketing CEO Sarah, 38, to say "yes" to marrying him.

Explaining the reasoning behind the first rejection, Chelmsford, Essex, East of England, resident Sarah told The Sun newspaper: "I just said, 'No, we've only been together for six months.'

"I loved him, but I didn't want to say 'yes' to something I later retracted."

However, on the 42nd proposal, Sarah insisted to Luke: "'Next time you ask, I'm going to say yes, but just you wait.'"

A year later, Luke took the mum-of-three to Greenwich, South East London, England - the home of Greenwich Mean Time.

He said to Sarah at the time: "'This is the centre of the world and I want you to marry me.'"

She recalled: "He finally won my heart.

"He should probably get a Guinness World Record. I am grateful he persisted for so long."

The couple got married in Jamaica in May, but the wedding was not all smiles as Sarah battled pain and ended up in hospital with a life-threatening condition because a cyst burst in her groin.

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Michael is world's richest name

People with conventional names are more likely to be rich.

Researchers from the gambling website Gamblizard analysed Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list, and found 50 out of 2,700 people were called Michael - making it the top financially benefiting name.

Among the many Michaels named were media mogul Michael Bloomberg, 83, who has "amassed fortunes in excess of US$100 billion".

Jamaica's Michael Lee-Chin also appears on the list. His networth is estimated at $1.1 billion.

The second most popular name was John, with 46 mentions, and Andrew, David and Mark/Marc all made the top five.

There are 369 female billionaires in the world, and 10 of them are called Maria.

Also making the top five list of wealthy names are Catherine, Anna, Susan and Elizabeth.

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Cherries shut down highway

A semi truck overturned and spilled cherries over a road in Washington.

The incident caused Grant Road to be shut in both directions between Union Avenue and the roundabout at Urban Industrial Way/Airport Way for an "estimated 2 hours" on Monday.

It reopened at 12.30pm after tow trucks cleared wreckage and crews moved the crushed cherries off the road and pavement.

Captioning an image of the overturned truck and the cherries on the road, Douglas County Sheriff's Office - Washington said in a Facebook post: "Grant Road is now closed due to an overturned semi truck, which was carrying cherries.

"Tow trucks are en route to right the truck and clear the roadway. We will update you when the roadway is back open, which is estimated at 2 hours.

"Grant Road is closed in both directions between Union Avenue and the roundabout at Urban Industrial Way/Airport Way.

"Eastbound detour on Grant Road will be Union Avenue to 10th Street SE to Van Well Avenue. Westbound detour will be northbound on Urban Industrial Way to 10th Street NE."

The updated post read: "Update:

"As of 12:30, all lanes of Grant Road are now open. Thank you for avoiding the area as crews worked to clear the wreckage."