Morning Fluff: Mr. Cat returns home from the supermarket with a bag of groceries for his anthropomorphic family.

[dpaf.]

Heartbreaking Tearjerker of the Day: Gordon Yeager, 94, and his wife Norma, 90, lived together for 72 years. Last week, after a tragic car accident, they died together, one hour apart, holding hands.

The couple got married in 1939, the day Norma graduated from high school. They lived their whole lives in the small town of State Center, Iowa, where they raised four children.

“Staying together for 72 years is good, I’d say that’s exceptional,” daughter Donna Sheets said. “They always did everything together. They weren’t apart. They just weren’t.”

True to their nature, the Yeagers were together last Wednesday at the intersection of Highway 30 and Jessup Avenue outside Marshalltown, where their car struck another car head on. They were brought into the ICU of Marshalltown’s hospital together, holding hands.

Gordon passed away shortly thereafter.

“It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn’t figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going,” son Dennis Yeager told KCCI. “But we were like, he isn’t breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that’s because they were holding hands and it’s going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up.” Norma passed away an hour later.

“Neither one of them would’ve wanted to be without each other,” said Sheets. Added Yeager: “They just loved being together.”

[kcci / abcnews / thanks megan!]

Breaking News of the Day: Libya’s interim government confirmed this morning that former dictator Muammar Gaddafi has died from injuries sustained during the sacking of his hometown of Sirte.

“There was a lot of firing against his group and he died,” National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta is quoted as saying. Neither the State Department nor NATO have been able to independently verify the NTC’s report.

Gaddafi is said to have been hiding in a hole, and reportedly called out “don’t shoot” as fighters moved in to grab him. One of the fighters who says he was present claims he was “brandishing a golden pistol” belonging to Gaddafi.

An uncomfirmed photo purporting to show a heavily wounded Gaddafi moments after capture was posted online. An NTC official has confirmed the photo’s authenticity.

If confirmed, Gaddafi’s death would mark a definitive end to the eight-month-long uprising that officially began with a “Day of Revolt” on February 17.

Live Updates: The Lede; BBC News.

[reuters / thelede / dailybeast / video: ap.]

Lights Out: Michael Stevens of Vsauce talks a bit about the science of sleep. Specifically: Why we dream.

[bestofyt.]

Today On TDW: Gossip –

• Above: Beyoncé lets a fan take over during a song, probably for the last time.
• Lindsay Lohan’s probation revoked, faces a year in prison.
• Adam Levine doesn’t want Fox News playing Maroon 5′s music ever again.
• Soulja Boy tells his fans he’s innocent.
• Rumors Du Jour: Asthon Kutcher is January Jones’ baby daddy; Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries on verge of split.
• Ronni and Sammi break up. Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
• Rihanna’s controversial video for “We Found Love” released.
• River Phoenix’s final film to finally see light of day.

Today On TDW: Geek –

• Above: Magic School Bus and Doctor Who — together at last.
• Heads Up: German satellite set to drop from the sky as early as Friday.
• UK’s first-ever fully intact Viking boat burial site uncovered in Scotland.
• What you need to know about the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Ice Cream Sandwich it runs.
• Apple unveils user-generated online Steve Jobs memorial on the day of the offline one.
• The life-altering Lytro light field camera will be available next year.
• Finally: Someone came up with a rideable cloud.
• Brand new trailer for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes sequel.
• It’s almost here: Uncharted 3 gets a launch trailer. See Also: 7 minutes of Harrison Ford playing Uncharted 3.
• William Shatner covers Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
• Scientists confirm albino cyclops shark not a hoax.
• Your taxidermied Bebop has arrived.
• That 2,000-foot long Hot Wheels course you always wanted to build? Someone built it.

This x That:

Know This:

• Citigroup settles civil fraud charges related to housing market collapse for $285 million.
• Greek Parliament approved new austerity measures despite violent protests.
• Nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan will cut taxes for rich, hike them for non-rich.
• RIP: Norman Corwin, legendary “poet of the airwaves,” dead at 101.

Read This:

• Follow Up: Some reports from China say hit-and-run toddler Yueyue is “clinically brain dead,” but others are more optimistic.
• Saudi video blogger arrested after video on poverty in Riyadh goes viral.
• Canada’s Supreme Court rules that posting links to defamatory websites does not itself constitute defamation.
• Ricky Gervais makes fun of people with Down’s Syndrome, surprised to see it not go over very well.
• John Lennon’s tooth set to be auctioned next month.
• Former flight attendant Steven Slater sentenced to year probation, ordered to pay JetBlue $10,000.

The Other:

• NewsFeed: Student Says He Was Suspended, Kicked Off Cheer Squad for Gay Kiss.
• Tea x Time List: Top 10 Great One-Sit Reads.
• Above: Laurie “Crazy Aunt Purl” Perry snapped this photo of her plane-mate R. Lee Ermey knitting like that’s a completely normal thing for Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann to be doing. (via.)

Follow Up of the Day: This is the heartbreaking denouement of the wildlife chase that took place near Zanesville, Ohio today: 49 dead animals.

Of the 56 animals released from their pens at the 73-acre Muskingum County Animal Farm, only six were rescued: a grizzly bear, three leopards, and two macaques.

The rest — six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers, and two wolves — were shot and killed by local authorities.

One monkey, believed to be carrying the harmful Herpes B virus, may yet be on the loose, but Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said his department was convinced that the monkey was consumed by one of the big cats.

“I’m sorry for what happened to these animals, but also for what could have happened to people,” said Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus zoo, where the rescued animals were transported. “Let’s hope this never has to happen again in any state. This is a tragedy for the animal world. It could have been a bigger tragedy for the human world.”

According to officials, Terry Thompson, the farm’s owner, released the wild and exotic animals before taking his own life a short while later. No suicide note was found.

Thompson, a Vietnam War vet, has had several run-ins with the law, including animal abuse charges, and, most recently, a seizure by the ATF of illegal weapons from his property. He spent time in jail after pleading guilty in 2010 to two counts of illegal firearms possession.

In light of today’s events, Ohio’s lax restrictions on exotic pet ownership have come under fire. “How many incidents must we catalog before the state takes action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?,” said Humane Society of the United States president and CEO Wayne Pacelle in a statement. 

[nbc4i / 10tv / cnn / photo: @mjenkins.]

The Back Side Of The Force of the Day: An Offbeat Bride reader recently shared a rather heartwarming story about an autistic flower girl at a friend’s wedding who overcame her apprehension with a little help from the littlest Jedi.

“T” was understandably anxious about having to perform her flower girl duties in front of so many wedding guests, and expressed it by hiding under her bed.

It was only after her aunt promised her a Yoda backpack that she agreed to come out.

“Her aunt took her to the toy shop,” the reader writes, “and from that moment on Yoda sat on her shoulder and she seemed to feel safe with him there.”

She continues:

When it came time to put on the dress and head to the church T flat refused to go without Yoda on her shoulder. Her mother, the bride, said to her family “If Yoda helps T get to the church and walk down that aisle with all those people watching, then Yoda is coming!”

[offbeatbride.]

Cutest Call To Action Ever of the Day: On October 5, the container ship MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef, resulting in an oil spill that is already being regarded as the worst environmental disaster in New Zealand’s history.

Clean up efforts are underway, but the danger to local wildlife remains high. A raft of Little Blue Penguins has already been negatively impacted by the spill.

The Kiwi yarn store Skeinz has put out a call for penguin sweaters — an adorable-sounding but very necessary accessory that helps keep the birds from preening their feathers and ingesting the oil.

Skeinz has posted knitting instructions for anyone willing to lend a hand.

[skeinz / grist.]