Author: Ms. R.

Think of your last road trip. There were sights, destinations, but as much as anything else, there were signs. For businesses, public safety messages, accident memorials, threats directed at outsiders, advertisements for worms, eggs, and firewood, reminders of sin (83-FOR-TRUTH), and, of course, political campaigns. In his book Political Sign, author Tobias Carroll compares the yard sign to a “kind of coelacanth, something that reached its ideal form long ago and has contentedly stayed there, not evolving because it……

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On a hot November day in 1926, a 13-year-old boy dressed as the Pied Piper led more than 1,000 children not out of town, but to the Central Library of Los Angeles. He marched at the head of a parade held to celebrate the opening of the children’s reading room. The piper, who had earned his spot by winning a city-wide writing competition, was a burgeoning Japanese-American poet possessed of a great talent and a great name: Ambrose Amadeus……

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Lighthouses have played a critical role in the daily life of maritime towns as nautical landmarks that provide directional signals to ships. They are traditionally located very close to the water.  The Three Sister Lighthouses were originally located on Nauset Beach atop a cliff, just a quarter-mile from the Atlantic Ocean shore in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. All along Cape Cod, there were several lighthouses, however, many shipwrecks were found close to the Eastham  shore. As a result, locals from……

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Chicago‘s Lincoln Park is known as the largest park in the city. However, it’s much less common knowledge that many of the trees and plants originally came from a forest preserve more than 20 miles away.  Lincoln Park has expanded from its much smaller origins into the massive park that exists today. It was created by filling in miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan. To accomplish this, topsoil and fill were needed, as well as plants and trees.  All……

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The construction of this cemetery was agreed upon between the British and German governments in 1959. It was designed to re-locate the remains of German service personnel and internees who died in the United Kingdom  during World War I and II.  A dedication ceremony took place in 1967. The cemetery contains almost 5,000 German and Austrian graves, and a small number of Ukrainian volunteers who died as prisoners in German service. Since land-based combat did not take place on……

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Phimeanakas was a Hindu temple constructed in the Khleang style. The name Phimeanakas actually translates to “Celestial Palace.” Construction started at the end of the 10th-century during the reign of Rajendravarma II and was completed by Suryavarma I. It went on to become the state temple of Suryavarman I and the focal point of his capital. The structure was also used by King Jayavarman VII as his private temple and was designed in laterite, a type of clay. Atop the pyramid was……

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At the beginning of the Pennsylvania oil rush, one of the first oil deposits was unearthed just north of Pittsburgh. From that time and well into the 20th-century, Pittsburgh was a major center of finance and home to the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange.   The Pittsburgh Stock Exchange was originally known as Thurston’s Oil Exchange and opened in 1864. It operated until 1974 as a regional stock market, and at its height, 1,200 companies were traded on the exchange.   Its original……

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