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The marker.
London, England

Tyburn Tree Marker

Never actually a tree at all, this spot was the site of London's public hangings for nearly 600 years.
Cudham Churchyard in London. This looks about right.
cemeteries

Why England Once Forced Everyone to Be Buried in Wool

Transgressors had to pay a heavy fine.
Matthew Taub October 25, 2018
A small amount of cremated remains are on board New Horizons, which hurtled past Pluto and toward the edge of our solar system.
death

The Grave Farthest From Earth Is on a Spacecraft Headed Out of Our Solar System

Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, and then hitched a ride toward it.
Jessica Leigh Hester September 6, 2022
Rebecca Winters' Grave, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
gravestones

A Mormon Pioneer's Grave, Marked Only With a Wagon Wheel Rim

Rebecca Winters's grave is one of the few that were marked at all.
Sarah Laskow October 24, 2018
"Life preserving coffin in doubtful cases of actual dead," a safety-coffin model by Christian Eisenbrandt.
cemeteries

History's Best Strategies for Avoiding Being Buried Alive

These ingenious 19th-century techniques aimed to make sure dead really meant dead.
Ashawnta Jackson October 23, 2018
Hades and Persephone, with Persephone holding a branch of parsley (or perhaps celery).
mythology

Ancient Greek Funerals Were Decked Out in Celery

It was a powerful symbol of death—and victory.
Anne Ewbank October 23, 2018
cemeteries

Here Lies E. Coli

There's a bunch of gross stuff, besides human bodies, hiding under graveyards.
Sarah Laskow October 22, 2018
The charcoal scribbles survived.
disasters

When, Exactly, Did Vesuvius Destroy Pompeii?

And does it matter if we had the date a little wrong for thousands of years?
Jessica Leigh Hester October 18, 2018
A painted stone serpent head with the backdrop of the zocalo.
Mexico City, Mexico

Serpents of the Great Temple

These spectacular, symbolic serpents lie within the shadow of the Great Temple.
"The Tree of Life' in Segovia Cathedral.
Segovia, Spain

Allegory of 'The Tree of Life'

A curious memento mori hangs in the magnificent Cathedral of Segovia.
Permanently Closed
Mae West's falsies.
Los Angeles, California

Dearly Departed Museum

A macabre tour of Hollywood’s deadly history.
Jizo statues at Zojoji Temple.
Tokyo, Japan

Garden of Unborn Children

Rows of stone statues are dressed up to mourn children that are lost before birth.
Blocher Memorial.
Buffalo, New York

Blocher Memorial

An elaborate memorial to a man local legend says died of a broken heart.
Check your hands.
death

Lost: Rings Holding the Hair of Philosopher Jeremy Bentham

Among the elaborate plans for his death were 26 Victorian mourning rings. What happened to them?
Jessica Leigh Hester September 13, 2018
View down to Muker from the Corpse Way over Kisdon.
Keld, England

Swaledale Corpse Way

A winding medieval path was used by mourners to carry their dead to the nearest church.
La Madone de São Paulo mural.
São Paulo, Brazil

La Madone de São Paulo

This giant mural of Santa Muerte in downtown São Paulo reminds passersby of their own mortality.
A crow feeds on a family's offering of boiled rice, ghee, jaggery, fruits, and vegetables.
Gastro Obscura

Feeding Crows for the Shradh

In this Hindu ritual, families feed crows who represent deceased relatives.
Do you want your hands to come out looking like these?
Tambov, Russia

Museum of Sin

A homemade anatomical collection of medical anomalies and accidental catastrophes.