Author: Ms. R.

Nearly a century past its construction, a derelict colonial-style house in Seoul’s Jongno district has been restored. Its lformer residents—Albert W. Taylor, a Nevada-born businessman who worked in Korea’s mining industry, and his wife Mary L. Taylor, a British actor—witnessed and recorded critical moments in Korean history.  In 1919, when Korea was under Japanese occupation, Albert was tapped to cover an abdicated Korean emperor’s funeral as a foreign correspondent. In the same year, Mary gave birth to their son……

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The Abbey Pumping Station is an unusual science and technology museum in Leicester, England. Its main attraction is the set of  four working steam-powered beam engines leftover from its time as a sewage pumping station, but it also houses a range of other exhibits. The building was constructed in 1891 by Leicester Corporation to pump the town’s sewage to the main sewage treatment works. The impressive building, designed by Stockdale Harrison, houses four compound beam engines built by a local firm, Gimson……

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A seven-acre parcel of farmland in Unger, West Virginia, is home to a small army of giants. Displayed around the property are more than 20 enormous fiberglass figures designed in the 1960s for roadside advertising. Although not all the figures are male (or even human), these “colossi” are known generically as “Muffler Men.” The figures are owned and displayed by George and Pam Farnham, who live on the property. Their bucolic homestead is called “Farnham’s Fantasy Farm.” In the……

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Located near the city center and various popular squares, this very flowery and friendly garden gives visitors the opportunity to discover the remains of the old cannon foundry inherited by Louis XIV between 1669 and 1670. Inside are the remains of the La Furibonde, a cannon melted in Douai in 1744 by Jean-François Bérenger. Before Douai was invaded by Louis XIV in 1667, the area was home to the Castle of the Counts of Flanders. It was quickly converted……

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The maritime city of Dundee has its fair share of statues depicting its illustrious character. These metal monuments often pay homage to historical figures such as Queen Victoria and Robert Burns in front of the McManus Art Gallery and Museum. There are also fictitious renderings of the city’s illustrative output, like the Lemmings Statue and various characters from the Beano Comics. But it is the statue of a polar bear chasing a terrified man on High Street that might raise a……

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Named for an old rail station, this bridge was originally a single span but now features a pier at the midpoint. The bridge was constructed using a multiple kingpost design. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This bridge has taken a beating over the years. In 1991, an arsonist attempting to file a fraudulent insurance claim against the bridge parked a truck inside of it and set it ablaze. A huge outpouring of……

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This story was originally published in Yale Environment 360 and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Like their Samburu ancestors going back to the 15th century, Pamela Lonolngenje’s family has been literally on the move for hundreds of years. One of around a half-dozen semi-nomadic tribes in the vast drylands of northern Kenya, the family spent years shifting locations to find water and grazing land for their goats and cattle, their primary source of income. Yet……

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Located not far from the village of Colinton and next to the Dreghorn Barracks lies one of Edinburgh‘s many open green spaces, the Dreghorn Woods. The area is lush with coniferous trees and the air is filled with the sounds of various birds. What makes this particular forest so unique is that hidden on either side of the Braid Burn River are the remains of training facilities from World War I. These earth worn ditches are an exceptional example……

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