Scalae Gemoniae: The Stairs of Death
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 5, 2020
Not too far from Tarpeian Rock , a cliff on Capitoline Hill in the center of Rome, where convicted criminals were once flung to their deaths...
The Indian Perfume That Smells Like Rain
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 3, 2020
Rainwater flows down a roof. Photo: Anna Nikonorova/Shutterstock.com Love that musky, fresh smell of earth that permeates the air when t...
The Newspaper That is Published Only on 29th February
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 2, 2020
The French newspaper, La Bougie du Sapeur, has been publishing for the last 40 years. Yet, there has been only eleven issues so far. Why? ...
Cornfield Bomber: The Fighter Plane That Landed Without Its Pilot
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 2, 2020
One of the strangest aviation mishaps that ended happily happened on February 2, 1970. That morning, three F-106 Delta Darts took off from t...
Wiebbe Hayes Stone Fort
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 27, 2020
The Wallabi Group of islands in the Abrolhos archipelago, off the west coast of Australia, contains two distinct sets of islands. The easter...
The Soviet Census Debacle of 1937
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 26, 2020
In 1937, the Soviet Union conducted its first population census in eleven years. Soviet leaders, especially Stalin, had great expectations...
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...
