Jack The Baboon Signalman
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 26, 2019
During the later part of the 19th century, travellers entering Uitenhage railway station, near Port Elizabeth, in South Africa, frequently ...
The Citrus Gardens of Pantelleria
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 26, 2019
Located halfway between Sicily and Tunisia’s coastline, lies a small speck of an island called Pantelleria. Pantelleria has a typical Medit...
Fishing With Sulphuric Fire
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 23, 2019
Many fishes are attracted towards light just as moths and flying ants are—a behavior that fishermen around the world exploit to bring them t...
Harris’s List: The 18th Century Guide Book to London’s Prostitutes
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 22, 2019
For nearly four decades, from 1757 to 1795, an anonymous publisher in Covent Garden printed and published a small pocketbook-sized annual di...
Monet's Pond: The Pond Where Art Comes to Life
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 21, 2019
In the woods just outside Seki City, in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture, is a small Shinto shrine that stands at the foot of a sloping hill overlook...
Mizuko Kuyo: The Japanese Ritual of Mourning The Unborn
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 21, 2019
Losing a child can be very painful, even if that child is yet to be born. In fact, many parents who experienced miscarriages feel the pain i...
The German Hair Force: The Military’s Failed Experiment With Long Hair
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 20, 2019
Like every other country, the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have strict rules on grooming. The Bundeswehr decrees that soldiers and o...
The Clay Licks of Amazon Rainforest
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 20, 2019
Macaws and parrots of the Amazon rainforest have developed a particular taste for clay. They collect in large numbers on exposed river banks...
The Chrysler Air Raid Siren Was So Powerful it Could Induce Rain
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 19, 2019
The Chrysler Air Raid Siren was the size of a car. It measured twelve feet long and six feet high, and weighed an estimated 3 short tons. Th...
How Mediaeval Husbands Chastised Wives Who Talked Too Much
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 17, 2019
By putting a muzzle on them, of course. Known as Scold's bridle, these devices of torture and public humiliation were used mostly in En...
