Author: Ms. R.

On March 6, 1997, photographer Barron Claiborne welcomed Christopher Wallace—also known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls—to his New York studio. Together, the pair unknowingly made history. Claiborne took a series of portraits of Biggie wearing a plastic crown and posing as the “King of New York.” “I used to think he looked like a big king,” says Claiborne. That’s all there was behind the now-ubiquitous image. If others had had their way, however, the photos would have……

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Just off Highway 89 in southern Utah, the Moqui Cave invites tourists to visit a natural wonder that is presented as a “museum depicting life in southern Utah spanning the centuries.” Inside are Native American artifacts, fossils, and one of the largest collections of fluorescent minerals in the United States. Once used by the Anasazi people for storage and shelter, the cave was rediscovered by settlers during the early 19th-century. It was then transformed into a speakeasy.  Since 1951,……

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Also known as Our Lady in the Parkway Shrine, this beloved memorial dedicated to the Virgin Mary rests atop a hill overlooking Interstate 376.  Not only is this shrine well cared for, as is evident by the manicured shrubs, beautifully imperfect brick path, and various religious displays, but also offers an amazing view of the surrounding region. The shrine is a tranquil spot overlaid with the constant hum of cars racing below.  The shrine was created in 1956 by Anna……

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The ruin of a 2nd-century nymphaeum is among the most visible sights of Herodes Atticus’ Triopium, a vast estate near the Appia Antica in Rome. Herodes Atticus inherited the vast holding from his wife, the powerful and renowned Annia Regilla. Herodes Atticus, also a famous sophist at the time, had been invited to Rome to tutor the two adopted sons of Antoninus Pius, the future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. In Rome, he married the 14-year old Regilla,……

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In the days before modern medicine, catching plague, smallpox, leprosy, or tuberculosis could prove a death sentence, or leave a sufferer with lifelong complications. Across the United Kingdom and the United States, communities came up with a solution to halt the spread of disease: the pest house. These small dwellings, some used into the 20th century, were where people suffering from contagious diseases could stay while they were traveling or if they needed to be isolated from their communities…….

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In an ornate display, the ancient remains of Saint Andrew are located in a corner of St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral. Saint Andrew was a follower of Jesus Christ, one of the original 12 apostles. He also happens to be the patron saint of Scotland and the device he was sacrificed on is featured on the country’s flag. This inverted white cross is called the Saltire, and this white “X” appears on the Union Jack, the national flag of the……

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The squash had traveled a thousand miles to rest quietly on Henrietta Gomez’s arms. The elder farmer from Taos Pueblo, a 1,000-year-old Indigenous town in northern New Mexico, held the light-green vegetable like a baby. Before that bright October morning, it had been several decades since the people of Taos Pueblo had seen a squash like the one in Henrietta’s arms, even though it had been part of the town’s diet since time immemorial. Along with a seed bundle,……

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