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When most Americans think of sports, they think of baseball, football, basketball, etc. But what about those people in countries around the world who have never heard of these sports? What do they do for sporting entertainment? We’ve uncovered five decidedly different international sports involving, in no particular order, a camel, a wife, a broomstick, boxing chess players and an ironing board. While only one of these strange sports is on the record for involving alcohol, we would not be surprised if a brewski or two led to the development of some of these other eccentric events. What's even more surprising is this — these sports are gaining in popularity, spreading to countries around the world, including in some cases the United States.

Whether you embrace their art or run from it, chances are you’ve heard of or at least glimpsed something influenced by the 10 eccentric artists on this list. Despite their notable and even noble status today, not all of these quirky creative geniuses had the same level of respect during their lives. And some really did have folks fleeing from them. Rather than trying to order these artists by their level of eccentricity, we’ve listed them in chronological order by birth date … which further proves some were born way before their time.

Cover songs have been around since the beginning of the music business. Some covers turn out very well, racking up sales and earning the respect of the original artist. On the other hand, this list of 10 cover songs makes it excruciatingly clear that some renditions should never have been done. You’ll see what we mean if you dare check out these selections, which consist mainly of classic rock hits, although we couldn’t resist throwing in a Nancy Sinatra ditty and a remake of a disco tune (just to prove disco could indeed get worse). Here they are in an order that starts at a bad level and escalates to worse than listening to a cat in heat.

As the United States spirals deeper into debt, the federal government continues to spend, spend and spend taxpayer money on some really bizarre stuff. Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma brings 100 of these schemes to light every year in his annual Waste Book, and we took a look at the past three years to compile the senator’s greatest hits in terms of wasteful studies. Many of these studies are not only what most citizens, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent, would regard as a waste of tax dollars, they’re totally bizarre as well. Here are 10 of these bizarre studies in all their glory, ranked from the least to the most expensive.

When we hear the term “witch hunt” today, we typically consider it a metaphor for things like steroid investigations and congressional inquiries. It’s not as if people still hunt down “real” witches the way they did in fiascos like America’s notorious Salem Witch Trials. Or do they? Real witch hunts do, in fact, still happen around the world, and they are shockingly on the rise. Here are some hot spots for these human rights violations.

Sea monsters are just a myth — or are they? You tell us after checking out the following strange but true aquatic animals, some of which are monstrous-looking, monstrous-acting or both. Most of these creatures are perfectly harmless to humans; some we dare say are even kind of cute. But at least one can venture inside the human body and wreak havoc, especially if you don’t pay attention during your bathroom breaks near the Amazon River.

The joy of adopting a new dog is perhaps only matched by the joy of loving an existing one. And you can make the joy of adoption even greater if you set your sights on a rescue dog from the neighborhood animal shelter. Sure, you can hunt for a new dog through breeders or pet shops, but fetching a rescue pooch from a shelter comes with at least five fabulous rewards that also happen to make great sense.

The 2012 Summer Olympics kick off July 27 in London, bringing us a parade of flags from countries around the globe. Think of it as a rare free art exhibit. While the flag designs may not reach the same creative heights as, say, Picasso or Dali, many of them are interesting enough to merit mention on a top 10 list. And because even bad art can sometimes be fun, we’ve also included another half dozen or so national flags that are so bad they wouldn’t even earn a place on our kitchen fridge.

We all know the world is round, is populated with people and is surrounded by the sun, moon and stars. Exactly how everything got that way, however, remains up for debate. Some creation myths are well known: much of the world knows the Genesis tale of Adam and Eve, as well as Greek mythology, while Eastern cultures are familiar with the Hindu and Chinese creation stories. But there are a number of lesser known but no less delightful creation myths around the world. As diverse as the myths may get, common themes tend to pop up in many of them. These include an all-powerful deity who brings on the light, floods that kill off the unwanted and the fact that the world was once covered in water until something — or someone — came along to change it. Some of these myths are incredibly detailed, with multiple versions. Here’s a brief look at five of the more unusual creation myths.

Flinging raw rice and breaking a glass underfoot to the shouts of “Mazel Tov!” may seem like strange ways to celebrate a marriage, at least if you’re not used to American customs. Even the American bridal tradition of wearing an all-white wedding dress is seen as very odd in other parts of the world. Bizarre as some U.S. wedding traditions may be, they certainly cannot take the (wedding) cake for overall wedding weirdness. Those honors go to these 10 strange wedding traditions around the globe.