Author: Ms. R.

Dostoevsky loved it. Catherine the Great enjoyed it. Sofia Tolstaya, Tolstoy’s long-suffering wife and assistant, made it. It was once the quintessential Russian dessert: pastila. Sweet, fluffy pastila became a classic afternoon tea snack at aristocratic Russian soirees of the 19th century. To make it, apple puree—essentially, applesauce—egg whites, and sugar are leavened with lots and lots of air that’s forced into the mixture with hard whisking. What happens next is improbable but stunning. The earthy apple gloop transforms……

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On the evening of May 22, 2021, Nyiragongo, a mountainous volcano in Democratic Republic of the Congo, suddenly erupted, killing dozens and triggering a pandemonious exodus of swaths of Goma, the city that sits on its flanks. As lava scoured anything it touched, the night sky itself hummed with deep crimson—the heavens themselves looked to be burning down. The eruption appeared to be mercifully short-lived. Molten rock poured from fissures on Nyiragongo’s flanks and sped toward Goma, but ultimately……

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The Naze derived its name from the Old English naes, meaning “nose,” for the way this peninsula protrudes into the harsh North Sea. It is defined by three aspects; its prominent tower, the world-renowned fossils buried within its cliffs, and its battle against the sea it borders. Built in 1720, this 86-foot tower dominated the headland overlooking the destructive waves below. Though later fitted with a beacon, becoming a predecessor to the lighthouses of the 19th century, the Naze……

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Near railroad tracks in the rolling countryside of Culpeper County, Virginia, you can find a nondescript, two-story frame building. Constructed around 1858, its location indicates it was likely both a residence and commercial property. A few years later, its proximity to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad placed it strategically close to several Civil War skirmishes and battles.  Throughout the war, both the Union and Confederate Armies used the building as headquarters and hospital. Most notably, it functioned as a hospital……

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At one time there were five friaries with prime city center locations in Newcastle. Today, Blackfriars is the only remaining medieval friary in Newcastle. Blackfriars was once one of the largest friaries in the United Kingdom, and remains one of the oldest remaining buildings in the city. It covers seven acres, and had two gardens that provided a small income for the friars. The Dominican order of the Blackfriars occupied this site from the early 13th century until 1539. Dominicans……

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Sinsedong Seven-story Brick Pagoda is both the oldest and largest brick pagoda in Korea.  The site where the pagoda stands is known as Beopheung-ri, because of this, it’s assumed that the brick pagoda belonged to the Beopheung Temple. However, there are no other remains of the temple complex left. The area is now the site of Imcheonggak Shrine. The pagoda stands on a single-step pedestal composed of brick. The seven stories of the pagoda’s body are made of plain,……

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Lansford W. Hastings, an Ohio Lawyer, was one of the original settlers of California after reaching the state via the Oregon Trail. When Hastings returned to Ohio, he wrote The Emigrants Guide to California. This guide featured the Hastings Cutoff, which was followed by the Donner Party on their ill-fated 1846 journey. Hastings later returned to California, tasked with scouting out sites for a colony for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Mexican-owned territory of……

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The Thomas Iron Company property was the site of one of the first commercially successful anthracite-powered iron-making operations in North America. All that now remains is a massive concrete structure, decaying in the woods between the Ironton Rail Trail and the Lehigh River. David Thomas was a Welsh immigrant who came to Catasauqua in the 1830s. Not long after, he started the Lehigh Crane Iron Company. In the 1850s, he expanded his company to include both sides of the……

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