The World’s Oldest Dock at Lothal
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 25, 2020
The dockyard at Lothal. Photo: DARSHAN KUMAR/Shutterstock.com This large rectangular, water-filled structure may look like a reservoir, ...
The Doodles Hidden Inside Swiss Maps
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 25, 2020
For centuries mapmakers have been including small, deliberate flaws in their maps—a fake street, a fantasy town—imperceptible to anyone o...
Where is Ground Zero in Nagasaki?
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 24, 2020
On the morning of August 9, 1945, six B29 bombers took off from Mariana Islands, located more than 2,100 kilometers north of Tokyo. One of t...
Hessy Levinsons Taft: The Jewish Woman Who Was Hitler’s “Perfect Aryan Baby”
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 24, 2020
Hessy Levinsons Taft, a retired chemistry professor at St. John's University, New York, has an amusing story to tell. When she was only ...
The Pomological Watercolor Collection
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 22, 2020
Before the days of photography, documenting anything accurately was a task that could only be undertaken by an artist or a model maker. So, ...
The Langweil Model of Prague
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 21, 2020
At Prague’s City Museum there is a large, unfinished paper and carboard model of Prague depicting how the ancient city appeared in the early...
The Great Hedge of India
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 20, 2020
Back in the 19th century, eastern India was separated from the west by an impenetrable belt of trees made up of mostly thorny plants such as...
Nicholas Senn: The Doctor Who Blew Hydrogen Gas Up His Patient's Asses
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 19, 2020
Say, you get shot in the stomach. You go to a doctor. The doctor pulls down your pants and starts pumping hydrogen gas up your ass. Then he ...
The Mysterious Sky Battle Over Nuremberg in 1561
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 18, 2020
Throughout history, many observers have reported seeing strange things in the sky. Some of these sightings were, in all probability, natur...
When Dead Whales Toured The Country
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 17, 2020
For almost three decades, from the 1950s though the 1970s, three gargantuan, smelly, whale carcasses toured the length and breadth of Europe...
Unaweep Canyon: The Canyon With Two Mouths
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 14, 2020
Unaweep Canyon in western Colorado, the United States, is a large canyon that cuts across the Uncompahgre Plateau, a large uplift within the...
Anatoli Bugorski: The Man Who Stuck His Head Inside a Particle Accelerator
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 14, 2020
Out of all places to stick your head into, a particle accelerator would rank among the worst. Yet, on that fateful day of 13 July 1978, thir...
Circus Maximus
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 12, 2020
The Colosseum was the Roman Empire’s largest amphitheater, but it was not the largest stadium. That title belonged to Circus Maximus, situat...
A Treasure Trove of Antique Car Accidents
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 12, 2020
For four decades from 1917 through the late 1950s, Boston Herald-Traveler photographer Leslie Jones covered every major and minor events in...
Cynthia, The Celebrity Mannequin
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 11, 2020
The story of Pygmalion, from ancient Greek mythology, is well known. Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with his own creation, which ...
London’s Only Lighthouse
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 10, 2020
On the north bank of River Thames, just across the iconic O2 arena (formerly known as the Millennium Dome), stands London’s only lighthouse....
The Tunnel of Eupalinos
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 10, 2020
Digging tunnels is probably among the most toughest engineering projects the ancient people undertook, because it required mastering several...
The Znamya Space Mirror
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 6, 2020
For a few hours just before dawn on the night of 4 February 1993, a giant spotlight, 5 kilometers in diameter, raced across Europe from we...
Town Pounds
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 5, 2020
Scattered across the English countryside and in many former British colonies, especially northeastern United States—an area historically kno...
Dilmun Burial Mounds
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 5, 2020
You can’t get around Bahrain without spotting at least one burial mound. They appear like small conical hills, and they usually occur in gro...
