The Wonderful Art of Missing Pet Posters
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 5, 2019
“Have you scene [sic] my CAT ?”, pleaded a crude hand-made poster. Underneath it was a sketch of the missing cat, apparently drawn by a chi...
Punkah: The Hand Operated Ceiling Fans of Colonial India
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 4, 2019
When the British first came to India, they had to adapt themselves to a lot of unfamiliar things, such as the climate, the blood sucking mos...
Monadnock Building: The Last Brick Skyscraper
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 2, 2019
In a city full of high-rises, a sixteen story skyscraper might not seem like much, but the Monadnock Building standing in the south Loop are...
Britain's Last Remaining World War One Memorial Tank
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 2, 2019
After the end of the First World War, many British towns received gifts from the National War Savings Committee as recognition for the commu...
Flying Aircraft Carriers
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 31, 2019
Germany’s mixed success with Zeppelins during the First World War convinced the British and the Americans to take a closer look at these fly...
The Other Anne Franks: 10 Holocaust Diaries You Haven’t Read
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 29, 2019
Anne Frank wasn’t the only teenager who lost her childhood to war. Thousands of children and teenagers across Europe found their freedoms c...
Letters Q, W, And X Were Once Illegal in Turkey
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 28, 2019
An alternative spelling for taxi in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo credit: Jürgen Luger/Flickr In 1928, the Turkish government decided to change ...
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...
Vivipary or Why My Tomatoes Are Mutating?
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 17, 2019
Sometimes a seed will start developing and germinate while they are still inside their parent, the fruit. The seed first breaks through the ...
The Radioactive Energy Drink That Kills
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 16, 2019
Ebenezer Byers was a well known American socialite, son of industrialist Alexander Byers. In his youth Eben showed promising talent at sport...
Project Isabela: How Goats Helped Eliminate Goats From The Galapagos
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 15, 2019
The Galapagos Islands, off the west coast of Ecuador, are a treasure trove of unique ecological specimens. The islands’ extreme isolation an...
