Author: Ms. R.

Born in 1841 near Cairncastle, James Chaine was educated at Blackheath in England and married Henrietta Creery from Newcastle in County Down. Chaine was an incredible representative of the region, who helped transform Larne into a busy port and market town in East Antrim. Chaine also maintained a successful shipping business. With his later appointment as a Conservative Member of Parliament for East Antrim in 1874, he was able to develop the Larne to Stranraer cross-channel trade routes. He……

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In 1839, the first railway in Italy opened between Naples and the town of Portici. Two locomotives were imported from England to inaugurate the new route, while other materials arrived from a small factory near Naples that produced steam engines and ammunition for military use. The Officine di Pietrarsa opened in 1840, initially as a steel mill and as a repair station for the locomotives imported from England. It later became the first Italian factory to produce locomotives in……

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This piece was originally published by High Country News and appears here as part of our Climate Desk collaboration. On a clear Saturday morning in July, I called the Saltwater Café in Point Roberts, Washington. The café is usually crowded with dozens of customers seated inside and out on the patio, taking in the view of the Gulf Islands across the Salish Sea and enjoying the salty breeze from the beach across the street. “On a normal weekend, you……

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East Jersey Old Town Village features reconstructed and replica 18th-and 19th-century buildings that showcase the architecture of farm and merchant communities once found in New Jersey’s Raritan Valley. The historic structures were moved from their original locations to Johnson Park in Piscataway.  The village was intentionally established near the ruins of Raritan Landing, a trade center in the 1700s. For a long time, much about Raritan Landing remained a mystery, as most of the town was torn down and turned into farmland by the 1870s and there were no photographs,……

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We’ve learned over the past months that a global pandemic can halt even the most mundane routines. A handful of restaurateurs in Florence, however, are determined to satisfy locals’ taste for wine unimpeded, and they’re turning to a long-forgotten method to do so. Around the Italian city, several historic “wine windows,” or buchette del vino, have reopened in order to serve wine in a safe, socially distanced manner. The concept is simple: Rather than step inside an osteria, or……

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The Basilica di San Francesco is one of the main religious buildings in the town of Ascoli Piceno located in central Italy. Considered the finest example of Franciscan architecture in the region of Marche, the main entrance of this church contains a unique feature.  The entrance is located along a narrow alley on the side of Piazza del Popolo, the main square of Ascoli Piceno. On each side of the large central door, five thin pillars decorate the entrance and also……

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Not far from the Ulaanbaatar Railway Station, six obsolete locomotives sit unmoving in a fenced-off garden adjacent to the tracks. The open-air display of trains, collectively known as the Mongolian Railway History Museum, is dedicated to history of the locomotives that once traversed the country. One is outfitted with a golden plate depicting Joseph Stalin, while two others bear red, five-pointed stars, a symbol associated with communist ideology. Railway development has played a significant role in recent Mongolian history,……

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When it comes to war heroes, General John Stark holds a special place in New Hampshire history. Known as “The Hero of Bennington,” Stark’s name adorns taverns, schools, highways, and parks across the granite state. He is even credited with originating the phrase “live free or die,” which now serves as New Hampshire’s motto. With such a remarkable life under his belt, it seems fitting that Stark would retire to a quiet, peaceful life in Manchester‘s calm and beautiful North Side…….

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On the corner of West Winnemucca Boulevard and Melarkey Street in Winnemucca, Nevada stands a massive piece of driftwood hundreds of miles away from the California coast.   In 1964 after severe flooding, a huge piece of driftwood washed ashore in Crescent City, California. To celebrate the proposed, although never completed as imagined, construction of the Winnemucca to Sea Highway. The massive piece of Redwood was cut and given to the city of Winnemucca to commemorate the starting point of……

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Staring up from directly below into the kaleidoscope of stone that makes up the cathedral tower of Freiburg Minster is like gazing into the unblinking eye of some fantastical beast. A Swiss art historian in 1869 described it as having “the most beautiful spire on earth,” and the awe the tower inspires could be from its soaring height of 380 feet or its massive, lacy stone filigree that opens to the sky. This architectural marvel, along with the cathedral’s……

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