If you’ve had a rough week, no worries: a three day weekend is within reach. Kick off the long weekend on a high note by reading these fun news stories:
Going Once, Going Twice
The iconic crystal-covered socks that Michael Jackson first moonwalked in during a 1983 TV special are now up for online auction through Gotta Have Rock and Roll.
The bidding will start at $100,000, but the online auction website predicts that the socks will sell for about $2 million. The auction opens Nov. 13.
The pair was custom-made and worn during “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.”
The socks look “heavily worn,” Ed Kosinski, CEO of Gotta Have Rock and Roll, said to CNN.
Other items worn by Jackson will also be available at the online auction. Those items include Jackson’s “Suit of Lights” and a Chicago Bulls jersey that is signed by both Jackson and Michael Jordan. Neither items, however, are predicted to sell at as high a price as the socks.
“A generous winner” for over $10,000
A Columbia University freshman who won the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament donated a portion of his winnings to cancer research in honor of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who has stage four pancreatic cancer.
Avi Gupta, the winner, won a grand prize of $100,000. Of that prize, $10,314 will be donated.
The donation was made in honor of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Trebek publicly announced in March that he had pancreatic cancer, and is soon undergoing another round of chemotherapy.
Gupta told ABC that when he heard of Trebek’s diagnosis, he was devastated because Trebek is his hero. Gupta knew he wanted to do whatever he could to help not only Trebek, but all those who suffer from cancer.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
One of the most monumental signs of the holiday season is the Rockefeller Center’s massive Christmas Tree. The center is already preparing for the holidays, as the annual tree has been chosen and was cut down Thursday.
The tree was cut down in the small town of Florida in Orange County, New York. It is 77 feet tall, weighs 14 tons and was planted in 1959. It was only 4 feet tall when it was planted.
The tree’s owner, Cathy Schultz, originally had the tree in a planter on her coffee table and later decided to plant it outside. Schultz told NBC that she didn’t think the tree would grow at first, but it later turned out to be “a magnificent tree.”
This is the 88th tree to stand in Rockefeller Center’s Plaza. The next steps are for the tree to be taken by a crane and then placed on a 115-foot long trailer. The tree will make its way to Manhattan and will be put up Nov. 9.
