The Wooden Wagonways of Britain
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 11, 2017
Two hundred years before the first steam locomotive carrying passengers chugged out of the Heighington railway station in the English town o...
The Secret World of Number Stations
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 9, 2017
Back in the days of Cold War espionage, foreign intelligence agencies used to communicate with agents on the field via shortwave radio. Radi...
World’s First Nuclear Power Plant
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 9, 2017
Spread over nearly 900 square miles in the high desert of eastern Idaho, lies the vast campus of the Idaho National Laboratory. Much of the ...
The Pig of Lucerne
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 3, 2017
Below is a photograph of one of Lucerne’s most famous tourist attraction. You may recognize it as the “Lion of Lucerne”— a rock relief sculp...
The Towers of Bologna
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 2, 2017
In mediaeval times, the city of Bologna in Northern Italy must have looked not unlike what Manhattan appears today. Hundreds of high-rising ...
SS Richard Montgomery: The Thames’ Ticking Time Bomb
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 1, 2017
On 20 August 1944, an American cargo ship named SS Richard Montgomery carrying huge amount of explosives, meant for use in the ongoing Seco...
The Decorative Birdhouses of Turkey
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 1, 2017
Turkish societies value animals greatly, especially birds which they believe bring good luck. The Turk's great love for the feathered sp...
London’s Mail Rail
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 29, 2017
For seventy-six years, starting from 1927, the London Post Office operated a fleet of driverless electric trains that scuttled around pairs ...
The Birmingham Back to Backs
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 28, 2017
In the late Georgian era, Britain’s urban population began to grow rapidly as the country’s economy shifted from agricultural to industrial....
Elfreth's Alley: America’s Oldest Residential Street
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 27, 2017
In Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood near the Delaware River, close to Interstate 95, is a historic cobblestoned street lined with thirty...
Hamilton, The Waterfall Capital of The World
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 27, 2017
Niagara Falls might be the most visited waterfalls in North America but the true ‘Waterfall Capital’ of the world lies 50 miles to the west,...
Kattenstoet: The Cat Throwing Festival
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 25, 2017
For the last sixty years, the city of Ypres in Belgium has held a popular “Cat Parade” that draws visitors from around the country. Kattenst...
Stock im Eisen: Vienna’s Nail Tree
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 25, 2017
At the corner of the extravagant 19th century mansion, Palais Equitable, in the city of Vienna, Austria, is a glass case behind which is the...
Victor Noir’s Mysterious Erection
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 24, 2017
The Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is home to many famous dead people, including Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. The grave of Oscar Wilde, in...
The Sourtoe Cocktail: A Drink Garnished With A Human Toe
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 22, 2017
In Dawson City, by the Yukon River, up north in Canada, there is a bar where you can order a shot of whiskey garnished with a real, dehydrat...
The Gastown Steam Clock
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 22, 2017
Not far from Vancouver’s waterfront, in the historic Gastown neighborhood, stands one of the city’s major crowd-drawer—a steam-powered clock...
Magnitogorsk: Russia’s Steel Heart
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 20, 2017
At the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains in Russia, about 140 km west of the border with Kazakhstan, there are some hills that a...
The Way Sperm Whales Sleep
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 18, 2017
Swiss wildlife photographer Franco Banfi and a team of scuba divers were following a pod of sperm whales off the coast of Dominica Island in...
The Topiary Trees of San Francisco
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 17, 2017
San Francisco residents have a particularly strong liking for topiary trees, as apparent from these photographs taken by three different pho...
The Giddy House, Port Royal, Jamaica
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 17, 2017
On the grounds of Fort Charles in the small town of Port Royal, Jamaica, stands a lopsided building called “the Giddy House”. Half buried in...
