Author: Ms. R.

This story was originally published on SAPIENS and appears here with permission. In March 2020, archaeologists traveled to a hilltop in Dorset, England, to bag a giant. They sliced into his elbows and feet, then took bits of him back to their labs in bags and metal tubes. No actual behemoth was harmed in the process, because the Cerne Abbas Giant is a geoglyph—a large artwork emblazoned into the landscape. The 180-foot-tall figure was created by scouring away grass……

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Amongst the many churches and convents that are a part of Old Goa, lies an unassuming relic from the past. A small flight of steps leading up to a stone doorway. Once upon a time, this was a part of the palace of Yusuf Adil Shah, Sultan of the Bijapur Kingdom. In 1510,  Portuguese colonial forces defeated the forces of Adil Shah and assumed control over the land. The palace was used as a residence by the Portuguese Governors……

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Founded by Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., in 1905, Columbia Restaurant started off as a corner cafe that was a favorite among local cigar workers looking for a quick jolt of Cuban coffee or spirits, or a hearty Cuban sandwich. Today, the establishment occupies an entire city block, with an interior divided into distinct dining rooms that represent its long history. Expansion began in 1919, when Hernandez, facing the threat of prohibition, joined forces with a neighboring restaurant: La Fonda, owned……

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The dollar sign, a founding father, an outdoor concert space in Baton Rouge: this seemingly disjointed collection of words are woven together in the story behind a sculpture located in Louisiana’s capital city. Now slightly weathered, with a green patinated surface, the bronze sculpture located near Baton Rouge’s modern downtown library depicts Oliver Pollock. Designed by renowned Baton Rouge sculptor and artist Frank Hayden and installed in 1979 in Galvez Plaza, the sculpture is one of few, if perhaps……

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  Inspired by his boyhood love for Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, mechanical engineer Simon Lake constructed his first submarine, Argonaut Junior, in 1894 in response to an open call from the United States Navy for a submarine torpedo boat. In 1898, Lake’s second vessel, Argonaut 1, was the first sub to travel in open waters when he used it to travel from Norfolk, Virginia to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The Navy was uninterested in Lake’s designs……

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