Author: Ms. R.

From far away, this cast iron statue looks eerily like the silhouette of a man. Upon closer inspection, the inscription on its side gives away its true purpose:”Borne géodésique,” meaning geodesic terminal. In 1863, the military engineers were given the task of mapping Belgium. Triangulations were made from high monuments. In areas that had no visual landmarks, geodetic stations were added. A total of 86 were gradually installed. The Iron Man of Braine-le-Comte was put in place in 1890…….

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Las Vegas is known for its bright lights, casinos, and nightlife, but it’s also home to some surprising pieces of history. Nestled away in the Luxor Resort is a section of the Titanic. As Titanic broke apart, large sections of the ship tore away and sank to the ocean floor. While two substantial halves of the ship lie on the seafloor, the large area of scattered debris between them is made up of items as small as coal, to entire……

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Often considered one of the oldest professions—dating back to at least 2400 BC in Mesopotamia—sex work has taken many forms throughout history. Ancient Rome held festivals revolving around sex work, many American cities once had red-light districts, and waitresses in frontier towns often walked a fine line between service and sex. Welcome to the Ancient Roman Festival for Sex Work By Sara Mellas From late April to early May, Ancient Rome held an annual festival full of flowers and……

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Harold Mitchell watched from the cockpit of his plane as a spacecraft fell from the sky. Four thousand feet above him, the spacecraft glinted in the sun as it dangled from a parachute. Mitchell called out to the crew in the cargo hold—they had to get ready to catch it. The men, all from the U.S. Air Force, opened the back of the plane and extended a set of poles with a rope and hooks at the end. Mitchell……

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On July 9, 1864 as the 9:50 p.m. train from Fenchurch Street pulled into Hackney station at 10:11 pm, two bank clerks entered a first-class carriage and discovered it awash in blood—the scene of the world’s first murder on a railway. Though neither the attacker nor the victim were present at the scene, the victim was discovered shortly after, unconscious and severely injured by the tracks between Hackney Wick and Bow Stations. Thomas Briggs, a nearly 70-year-old bank clerk,……

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Standing on his newly purchased patch of bare Arizona desert in 1951, Grover Cleveland Thompson found the place to make his dreams come alive. Using abundant local resources of dirt, sand, rocks, broken crockery, Halloween masks, scrap metal and other artistic essentials, Grover spent the next several decades building a Gaudí-esque wonderland in Phoenix. He continued to work on the project right up until he passed away in 1977. Later, Marion Blake lovingly preserved Thompsons rock garden not only from……

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If you get off the Seibu Railway train at Higashi-Murayama station, a gateway to the suburban Tokyo city of the same name, you will be greeted by a somewhat surreal statue of a feudal lord in kimono giving a chin-level salute. It might leave you puzzled if you don’t know the context, but a majority of the Japanese public is likely to take it as a touching tribute to a superstar. The statue is dedicated to Ken Shimura, a……

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After the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in 2011 destroyed this coffee shop’s original location, they found a new home in an unexpected place: the former High Street Post Office building. With its high ceilings and immense windows, this rare architectural jewel is one of the most picturesque spots to grab a coffee anywhere.  To add to the off-beat charm, diners here can order their lunch via pneumatic tube. Your bratwurst, crinkle-cut fries, or deep-fried banana blossom burger all arrive in a……

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