Author: Ms. R.

Freemasonry, or what is commonly referred to as Masonry, can be defined as a member-based charitable organization dedicated to the practice of exhibiting good deeds. They are also known for their secret celebrations. Membership is estimated to be around six million affiliates worldwide. In Scotland, there are somewhere around 32 lodges, places where Freemasons gather for meetings and business. Located along a cobblestone side street of the country’s capital, this is perhaps the first-ever established Masonic lodge. The origins of……

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This piece was originally published in National Observer and appears here as part of our Climate Desk collaboration. Hidden in anodyne filing cabinets scattered across the federal government’s Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa is a library of 17 million dead bugs. The Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes is one of the world’s largest, and it’s essential to Canadian agriculture. Managing bugs is a key part of agriculture, whether it is combating pests and invasive species or……

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Greenfield Valley Heritage Park is home to millponds, streams, and historic factories all connected by a pleasant one and a half-mile walking path. This park contains almost 2,000 years of history.  Some of the industries founded in this area included copper, flannel, and flour mills, along with soft drink works which still exist today. The Greenfield Valley Heritage Park is probably best known for its papermaking industry. A paper mill has been located on this site since 1770. The location was……

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In 2013, Barnum Museum curator Adrienne St. Pierre discovered what she described as a “rather decrepit old cardboard box” in the museum’s offsite storage facility. Inside was a huge ball of russet animal skin, noticeably aged and with loose bits of fur poking out in wayward tufts. Intrigued, St. Pierre brought the box back to the Museum, and carefully began unfolding the fragile leather in order to identify it. Stitched together from caribou skin, the object bore a stained……

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Emmanuel Kalisa helped kill a lion, one of the last in Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, around 2002. Lions often mauled cattle owned by local herders such as Kalisa, who grazed their livestock in the park. “I heard lions every night,” he says. “I woke up shouting and threw burning sticks.” So Kalisa and other locals poisoned the feline predators to protect their cattle. He also recalls when a group of men chased a fleeing lion. The big cat jumped……

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Until recently, Emily Scherer raised goats in the heart of Denver. They lived in a 33-foot pen on her quarter-acre lot. She used their manure to fertilize vegetable plants whose produce she sold at a stand in her front yard. One goat, she says, produced enough milk for her family of three. Her goats were a special breed: the Nigerian Dwarf, ideal for urban farming. “They’re my favorite animal,” Scherer says. “Goats don’t bark and they can live outside……

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The construction of what was once the Convento de la Compañía de Jesús (Convent of the Society of Jesus) began in 1660 by decree from the Jesuit bishop Marcos Ramírez del Prado. It included the Jesuit college in addition to a church. Following Mexico‘s Reform Laws during the mid-19th-century, a majority of the country’s convents became the property of the state. Many were transformed into museums or other public, irreligious institutions. In the case of this former convent, the……

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Located on the western side of Torino, Statuto Square was once home to a Roman necropolis, a French execution site, and was the scene of a terrible fire in 1983. The fountain in the middle of the square was constructed in the memory of the workers who died digging the Frejus Rail Tunnel. Due to its fatal legacy, the square has been given the title “Black Heart,” as Turin’s most obscure area. In the center of the fountain, a pyramid-shaped……

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The Hermitage is one of Scotland‘s most beautiful woodland walks. It runs along the River Braan, a cascading torrent that flows into the River Tay at Dunkeld.  Complete with leaping salmon, it truly is a magical place. Its piece de resistance is Ossian’s Hall of Mirrors, a Georgian structure originally built in 1757 as a simple view house over the river for the 2nd Duke of Atholl.  With increased demand by tourists for locations revolving around romanticism, the house……

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In a small village, Sečanj archaeologists discovered a bronze figurine that dated to the 12th-century. it was believed to be a representation of Jesus Christ. It is known as “The King Of Tamiš,” since the Tamiš River is located just one mile away. Local sculptor Miodrag Rogan was fascinated by the look of the figurine, which was discovered by his friend. He decided to craft a larger version of the ancient relic. The sculpture is composed of concrete and……

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