Russia Wipes California Off The Map

Officials in Russia's northwestern region of Nizhny Novgorod are wiping California off the map. ITAR-TASS reported that the decision to eliminate the tiny village of California was due to its lack of inhabitants.

TASS says the village was established in the 19th century by a Russian landowner as a snub to the government for selling Alaska to the United States in 1867. It will now cease to exist as an officially recognized entity, but it was unclear if its empty buildings would also be destroyed.

-- Wade German