Author: Ms. R.

Tiwanaku is located near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca on the Altiplano, at an altitude of 3,850 meters above sea level. It began as a small settlement which later flourished into a planned city between 400 and 900, and was the spiritual and political center of the Tiwanaku Culture. At its peak around the year 800, the city had a population of between 10,000 and 20,000 people. Many of the remains of this ancient adobe city have been built……

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Rockaway Beach, Oregon doesn’t seem like the type of place with a notable culinary history. This small beachfront community is a popular but remote destination along the Oregon Coast. However, one staple of American cuisine can credibly claim Rockaway Beach as its birthplace: the corn dog. The origins of the corn dog are surprisingly murky, however, Rockaway Beach has a strong claim to the throne. This origin story begins with a glum hot dog salesman named George Boyington, who……

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“Rather pleased with this map,” said Erin when she tweeted it on February 2, 2022. This is quite the understatement: Her map went viral almost immediately. Why? Because the map is an infographic that does a stellar job of answering its own question: Where are Americans born? The graph packs a lot of info, yet it is easy to decipher and can be read in a variety of ways. Its colorful combination of structure and variation is also pleasing……

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Monopoly, patented on December 31, 1935 by Charles B. Darrow, is not a game: It’s a world. The basic template: a multiplayer economics game, in which players roll two six-sided dice, move around the periphery of a square board, buy properties, collect rent when opponents land on their spaces, and buy up or trade for connected properties to build houses and hotels on. You win when everyone else goes bust. Played the……

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For centuries, the banks of San Francisquito Creek, in Northern California, were part of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s homeland. In 1769, explorer Gaspar de Portolá passed through, later establishing Spanish missions in the area. A road connecting the missions was built over the creek, which, in the mid-1800s became a highway. A railroad followed, and a town developed on one side of the tracks grew into a city. On the other side, the railroad tycoon Leland Stanford and his……

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Wonder is everywhere. That’s why, every other week, Atlas Obscura drags you down some of the rabbit holes we encounter as we search for our unusual stories. We highlight surprising finds, great writing, and inspiring stories from some of our favorite publications. Laughter Is Universal, but LOL Is Not by Amy Thorpe and Ravi Hiranand, Rest of World In person it’s easy to recognize laughter, no matter what language you speak. But online, different cultures express amusement differently, in……

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Communist leaders were known to enjoy high-end luxury, and Bulgaria’s Todor Zhivkov, the prime minister from 1962 to 1971, was no exception. One such opulent display of power was the Bankya Residence, which sported a sauna, indoor swimming pool, and landscaped park, among other features. Built in the 1970s as a sanatorial complex, the Residence took advantage of the thermal properties of Bankya, whose mineral waters and mountain air had made the town a health destination for centuries. But……

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