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The Many Lives of Maria Rasputin, Daughter of the 'Mad Monk'
Maria Rasputin as an animal trainer at a London circus in 1934. (Photo: Planet News Archive/Getty Images)I was born in 1899 in the village of Pokrovskoe in the county of Tobolsk. My parents are...
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Gomantong Cave in Sandakan, Malaysia
Like many caves around the world, Gomantong Cave on the island of Borneo is home to millions of bats, but it's the horrific numbers of cockroaches and parasites that live in the cave's guano deposits...
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Key West High Heel Shoe Drop in Key West, Florida
Since 1996, local Key West celebrity drag queen Sushi has annually parked her key-ster in a giant, red, high-heeled shoe as it is lowered off the balcony of the Bourbon St. Pub at the stroke of...
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FOUND: A Disney Film Missing Since 1928
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit stars in the film (Photo: Cory Doctorow/Flickr)In 1928, Walt Disney released a short film, featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a Mickey Mouse-looking fella with a little bit of...
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South African Astronomical Observatory in Observatory, South Africa
In South Africa, the Cape of Good Hope is the official home of the South African Astronomical Observatory on top, and the unofficial home of more than 3,500 shipwrecks down at the bottom. Until the...
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New York City's Mail Chutes are Lovely, Ingenious and Almost Entirely Ignored
Glorious example at the exquisite Fred French building. (Photo: Luke Spencer) If you have ever worked in an old building, the chances are you will have at some point walked past a small mysterious...
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The Lost and Found Art of Assembling Whale Skeletons
Skeleton of a whale in Alaska, 1900. (Photo: Library of Congress)In the late 1970s, a 17-foot beaked whale washed up on the shore of a small community called Homer, Alaska. The town's natural history...
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Fleeting Wonders: A 2,000-Year-Old Tree Swaps Sexes
A trunk of the Fortingall yew. (Photo: Mogens Engelund/WikiCommons)The yew tree at Fortingall church in Perthshire, Scotland, might be the oldest tree in Britain. Most experts agree that it's been...
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Old Red Iron Bridge in Kilkenny, Ireland
Long ago, this former record holder had nine spans with a lifting center that would open for freighters, a former connector between the north and south sides of Waterford City, Ireland. Now, the iron...
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A New Wolf-Coyote Hybrid is Infiltrating Our Cities
Wild canine hybrids lurk in our midst. (Photo: WikiCommons/Public Domain)Have you heard any wolves howling recently? Most likely not, since there aren’t very many of them left. But if you did hear one,...
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Pont de Gau Ornithological Park in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France
These 150 acres in the Camargue wetlands are one big bird park featuring many big birds.The Parc Ornithologique Pont de Gau began in 1949 as a collection of aviaries under the watchful eye of devoted...
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Slau's Stones in Rønne, Denmark
The small Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea is best known for the ruins of the massive, medieval Hammershus Fortress on its northern tip. Visitors looking for a slightly cuter collection of...
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KGB Muzeum in Prague, Czech Republic
Located in a small Prague storefront is the KGB Muzeum, a show space for one man's collection of artifacts, uniforms, and weaponry from Russia's much-feared secret service of yore. And for no extra...
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The Ruins of Oppede-le-Vieux in Vaucluse, France
Perched upon the Petit Luberon mountaintop in Provence, is an ancient French town, lying mostly in ruins, but maintaining a remarkable story. Left abandoned in the early 20th century, this small,...
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Photorealistic Paintings of Disappearing Americana
Stardust, 1976. (All Photos: © John Baeder/ Courtesy The Vendome Press) In 1972, John Baeder was working as an art director at a successful New York advertising agency. In his spare time, he did...
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Man Hanging Out in Prague, Czech Republic
Dangling above one of the cobblestone streets in Prague's Old Town is a statue that has caused more than a few people to be concerned that a man is about to plummet to his death, but fear not, it is...
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Apple Orchards Are Dens of Casual Thieves
Apples at Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Deerfield. (Photo: MA Tourism/flickr)An unnamed woman is facing larceny charges in Deerfield, Massachusetts, because of a bold daylight theft perpetrated on the side of...
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National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota
When mention is made of a "musical Smithsonian" in the middle of South Dakota's plains, incredulity is a perfectly natural reaction. But as it turns out, the National Museum of Music not only lives up...
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Dippy the Dinosaur in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Outside of the Carnegie Institute and Library in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh is a dinosaur with a Twitter feed. @dippy_the_dino has a lot to say, having been around (more or less) for 150...
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