Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

3 daughters, 3 births, 3 days

ST. CLOUD, Minn., March 30 (UPI) -- St. Cloud, Minn., grandparents Mike and Joan Benda welcomed three new granddaughters within three days of each other this month, family members said.

Their oldest daughter, Katie Larson, 30, gave birth to MaKenna March 14 in Minneapolis where she lives with husband Andrew and daughter Alexa, 1.

Taylor Orth was born March 15 to their middle daughter Michele Orth, 29, in Otsego, Minn., where she lives with husband, Jesse, and son Cameron, 2.

Melissa Valen, 29, Michele's identical twin, gave birth to Lyla March 16. They live in Albertville, Minn., with husband Andrew and two children Faith, 7, and Jakob, 2.

The excitement of the triple births started to build as each daughter announced due dates days apart and then said all the babies would be girls. Coincidences multiplied as the granddaughters arrived in their mothers' birth order. The granddaughters even fall in order for height and weight.

"This is a wild family," Faith Valen told the St. Cloud Times as she watched her toddler cousins playing and the new arrivals being rocked to sleep in the arms of her grandparents.

Winning lottery ticket in collection plate

BALTIMORE, March 30 (UPI) -- The pastor of a struggling Maryland parish recently came across a generous donation in the collection plate -- a $30,000 lottery ticket, officials said.

Maryland lottery officials didn't release the name of the church but did confirm the ticket had already been scratched off when it was placed in the collection plate this month, WBAL-TV, Baltimore, reported Monday.

The pastor, who found the ticket when tallying that Sunday's contributions, said the church would use the money toward operating expenses but hopes some of the money can be shared with those in need.

"I have no idea who did this," the pastor told lottery workers, admitting he had to ask someone if the ticket was indeed a winner. "I really have no clue."

Lottery officials said the winning "Cash Craze Crossword" ticket was purchased at No. 1 Liberty Mart on Liberty Road in Randallstown.

Letter arrives 66 years late

BOSTON, March 30 (UPI) -- A letter from New York to a resident in Gloucester, Mass., arrived last week, 66 years after it was first mailed, postal officials said.

A letter carrier found the yellowed, hand-typed envelope bearing four 1 cent stamps in Saturday's mail, The Boston Globe reported.

The letter, empty save for a card bearing the name H. Grimsland, indicates it was sent from Hyde Park, N.Y., to a Mrs. S.E. Lawrence in 1945.

The letter, Nancy Pope of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum told the Globe, was sent on the first day a 1 cent stamp commemorating President Franklin D. Roosevelt was issued.

She said it's common practice among collectors to gather in the place the stamp is issued and send a letter bearing that stamp to other collectors. Hyde Park was home to Roosevelt for many years.

A spokesman for the Greater Boston Postal District told the paper when similar letters re-emerge from time to time, they have often passed the years lost inside postal equipment like a sorting machine.

Other theories bandied around include the chance the sender simply waited or discovered the letter, which was tracked in Seattle this month.

"When you see stamps like that, and type-written, you know something's different,'' Richard Tansey, officer in charge of the Greater Boston Postal District, told the paper.

It was taken to a local historical society before being returned to the post office Monday.

The letter is not thought to be valuable, a collector told the paper.

Climber bags world's tallest tower

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 30 (UPI) -- French climber Alain Robert, the so-called French Spiderman, braved high winds Tuesday during an ascent of Dubai's landmark tallest building in the world.

Thousands of students looked on near the base of the Burj Khalifa tower in downtown Dubai late Monday, gathered for the 10th annual Education Without Borders conference.

Robert began what would be a roughly 6-hour climb around 6 p.m., local time, the Gulf News reported, and reached the top of the structure shortly after midnight.

"I'm doing this to show the students there is no edge or borders and to inspire people to break the mould and not limit themselves," Robert told the news organization.

For Robert, climbing the 828 meter (2,717 foot) structure -- the tallest such tower in the world -- was a way of sharing his inspiration with roughly 2,000 students in attendance for the three day educational conference, hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology.

"I climb because I need to find something I enjoy in life and I enjoy climbing buildings," Robert, who told the news he has already scaled the second-, third- and fourth-tallest buildings in the world, said.