Author: Ms. R.

Dennis Evanosky is deep in the underbrush, holding out his arms for balance as he makes his way across the uneven terrain around the perimeter of the massive Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. He’s looking for a grave, the final resting place of a woman whose afterlife has been startlingly action-packed. It’s February 2021, and Evanosky and I are searching for Clara Loeper, a 21-year-old whose corpse was snatched from this cemetery in 1883. Her cadaver was returned……

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Gunung Bromo is a particularly photogenic active volcano located in the Tengger caldera. A caldera is a depression left after a volcano erupts. Inside the circular Tengger caldera, there are five volcanoes: Bromo, Batok, Kursi, Watangan and Widodaren. Of these, only Batok is inactive.  When it comes to one or more volcanoes inside a caldera, size matters. Extending from Semeru, the tallest volcano in Java, the Tengger caldera measures 16 kilometers (10 miles) across. The massive volcanic complex dates back……

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On the night of April 22, 1974, Pan Am flight 812 departed Hong Kong on a regular scheduled flight to Denpasar, Bali, the first leg of a route that was meant to stop in Bali, Australia, Fiji, and Hawai’i before arriving at its final destination in Los Angeles. But the plane never made it out of Bali. At around 10:26 p.m. local time, the Boeing 707-321B, registered N446PA with the name of Clipper Climax was on its final approach……

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Nestled within Hatcher Pass in the Talkeetna Mountains lie the ruins of Independence Mine. Active on and off between 1938 and 1951, the gold mining operation at this mine was once the second largest in Alaska. The Gold Rush came to Alaska in the late 19th century, when gold was discovered southeast of Anchorage in 1886. Hunting for precious metals, prospectors spread into the Susitna and Matanuska river basins. They found gold scattered in quartz veins throughout the granite in……

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Amid a clang and clamor of activity, Vaidyanatha Selvanathan Sthapati sits on the floor of his family pattarai, or workshop, in Chennai. All around him, men in dhotis and vests are engrossed in cutting, sculpting, and finishing gray granite. They chip and chisel and hammer away, slowly bringing to life an intricately carved pillar destined to adorn a Hindu temple. The scene is familiar to Selvanathan, 57. He says he grew up in the pattarai of his uncle, who……

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Cannock Chase is currently recognized in the United Kingdom as an area of outstanding natural beauty, but during the First and Second World Wars the area was transformed into a massive military training facility. During the wars, hundreds of thousands of British and Commonwealth troops passed through this complex of military camps. It even had its own specially constructed railway spur linked to the main line. The chase was also used in WWI to hold German prisoners of war…….

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Jongmyo once housed the tablets of the royal family ancestors and was where the memorial services for deceased kings and queens took place. Constructed by King Taejo, the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, Jongmyo was thought to be one of the longest buildings in Asia. While older shrines existed during the Three Kingdoms period, this shrine is the oldest royal Confucian shrine that preserves various 14th-century traditions.  Unfortunately, during the Seven-Year War, Japanese invaders burned down the original shrine…….

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A small cabin built in 1850 by the Ownby family stands in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains. In 1918, Frank Avett brought the property from the family for $200. Mayna Avett, the wife of Frank, remodeled the house into an art studio. Inside, she painted oil and watercolor paintings of the Appalachians and would exhibit them in  South Carolina, Tennessee, and Massachusetts. She used the cabin as a studio for well over 20 years.  The cabin itself……

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