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The Interstate Highways That Don’t Follow the Rules
Interstate 180 in Pennsylvania, in winter. (Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli)A version of this post originally appeared on the Tedium newsletter. If you've had a chance to ride on Interstate 180 in Cheyenne,...
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Want To Become An Astronaut? Applications Open In a Week
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott. (Photo: SDASM Archives/flickr)If you ask kids “what do you want to do when you grow up?” many of them will answer “an astronaut!” The dreamy wonder of...
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Egyptian Building in Richmond, Virginia
In the early 19th century, Egyptian themed buildings and design were kind of a craze, thanks in large part to the exploits of Napoleon in the late 18th century. He conquered Egypt, then Admiral Nelson...
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The Amateur Radio Obsessives Who Send Messages from the Ends of the Earth
Bob Allphin's DXpedition's Main Operating tent on Peter I Island, Antarctica, with six 1 kilowatt stations. (Photo: Peter I DXpedition Archives)In 1993, Bob Allphin and a team of 11 other men took a...
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Playground of the Gods in Burnaby, Canada
Perched atop a mountain, with spectacular views of Vancouver and her surrounding environs, Playground of the Gods was envisioned and realized by Toko Nuburi, an Ainu woodcarver.The Ainu are an...
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House of the Shells in Rimini, Italy
Alfonso Rinaldi was a taxi driver by trade, but that was not where his true heart lived. Alfonso was an artist.His seaside home in the Italian village of Rimini is a testament to his creative vision....
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A La Ronde in Exmouth, United Kingdom
Completed in 1796, the one-of-a-kind, 16-sided home known as A La Ronde was built to the specifications of a woman with no allegiance to the ordinary.Several years before, Jane Parminter – the daughter...
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The Simpsons House in Henderson , Nevada
Building a life-size version of an iconic cartoon home seemed like a terrific promotional idea back in 1997, but years later, the Simpson's House in Henderson, Nevada looks like just another pre-fab...
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Velka Amerika in Mořina, Czech Republic
Situated near the village of Mořina in the Czech Republic, the Velka Amerika quarry site is a former center of industry that has left a stunning natural attraction in its wake that looks like it could...
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Vintage Images of Canine Cosmonauts from the USSR
A postcard from 1960 showing Belka and Strelka in their rocket by the photomontage artist Sveshnikov. The flags read ‘Happy New Year’, on the wing of the rocket ‘USSR’, inside the cockpits ‘Strelka’,...
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How a Famed New Age Retreat Center Helped End the Cold War
Boris Yeltsin strikes a pose in his Moscow office in February, 1989. (Photo: Ted Thai/Getty Images)Early one morning, in September 1982, hundreds of young Russians were waiting in a Moscow TV studio...
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Object of Intrigue: How a Red Army General Inspired ‘White’ Coca-Cola
(Photo: cielodlp/Flickr)Though little recognized in the West, Red Army leader Georgy Zhukov played a central role in the vanquishing of the Nazi regime. The most decorated general officer in Russian...
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Soviet Scenesters Used X-Rays to Record Their Rock and Roll
X-rays, rock n' roll, and rebellion. (Image: Dmitry Rozhkov/Wikipedia)Everyone’s got that friend who is really into vinyl (or if you don’t, maybe you are that friend), but even the staunchest record...
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Base W in Detaille Island, Antarctica
Sitting in the desolate silence of Detaille Island off Antarctica's Arrowsmith Peninsula is Base W, a former research station of the British Antarctic Survey that was quickly vacated after the unstable...
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How Microsoft Created a Revolution in Soviet Computing
The Cyrillic alphabet, dot matrix-style. (Photo: Albo003/shutterstock.com)In 1990, as computers started to become a common sight in homes around the United States, a particular problem developed. Call...
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Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Inspired by a visit from Pope John Paul II, Cristo de la Concordia dominates the skyline of a Bolivian town. Designed by César and Wálter Terrazas Pardo and hewn entirely of cement and concrete,...
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Fleeting Wonders: All The Soviet Monuments In Poland
People celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Red Army's victory over Germany at the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin. The Mielec monument was a smaller version of this one. (Photo: Bernd...
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LOST: Russian Spacecraft
Luna 9, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft from 1966. (Photo: NASA/Wikimedia)The Canopus ST, a Russian satellite, had a lot going for it. It had been 10 years in development, Al-Jazeera reports, and was...
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How Candid Camera Spied On Muscovites At The Height Of The Cold War
Allen Funt pulls his infamous reading-over-the-shoulder gag on a Muscovite in 1961. (Photo: Candid Camera/Youtube)In 1961, Candid Camera ruled American television.The proto-reality show, in which...
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Lock 12 Historical Park in Cheshire, Connecticut
Before railroads crisscrossed the continent and tractor trailer grills loomed in the rear view mirrors of interstate highway drivers, a system of man-made waterways helped fuel commerce between...
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