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John Bartram's garden house.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bartram's Garden

The oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States.
The parking lot and entrance.
Portland, Oregon

Kelly Butte Civil Defense Center

Portland had a unique approach to Cold War-era protections.
Fannie Quigley leading pack dogs.
kickass women

Fannie Quigley, the Alaska Gold Rush's All-in-One Miner, Hunter, Brewer, and Cook

She used mine shafts as a beer fridge and shot bears to get lard for pie crusts.
Tessa Hulls August 21, 2017
A relief of surgical instruments.
Nagoa Ash Shatb, Egypt

Temple of Kom Ombo

One of its engravings is believed to be among the first representations of medical and surgical instruments.
Observers on a New York City rooftop, recording whether they saw totality for the Consolidated Gas survey in 1925.
science

How New York City's Electrical Utilities Observed the 1925 Eclipse

The predecessors to ConEdison wanted to know how an eclipse affected the grid.
Kelsey Kennedy August 21, 2017
The memorial stone and bridge.
Jonesport, Maine

Nellie Chapin Day Memorial

A memorial to an ill-fated Holy Land mission once described by Mark Twain as “a complete fiasco.”
The Garden of the Generalissimos, Cihu, Taiwan.
statues

Where Statues Go to Retire

Humans have been building statues and taking them down for a very long time.
Erik Shilling August 17, 2017
The replica of the of Big Christopher statue.
Riga, Latvia

Big Christopher

The statue of a legendary giant who carried Christ and shouldered the world's sins.
The paternoster lift at the Prague City Hall.
Prague, Czechia

Paternoster Lift

This doorless 20th-century elevator doesn't stop or slow down.
The hospital tower.
Bethesda, Maryland

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

FDR's Art Deco hospital tower was hopelessly inefficient.
The Nails outside Bristol's Corn Exchange.
Bristol, England

The Nails

17th-century merchants in Bristol nailed their deals by placing money on these pedestals.
The bridge chapel at Rotherham.
Rotherham, England

The Chapel of Our Lady

This oddly placed 15th-century church is one of only six bridge chapels left in England.
Dark Star Park.
Arlington, Virginia

Dark Star Park

This unique historical monument features large concrete spheres designed to resemble fallen stars.
Grey Owl's cabin at Ajawaan Lake.
Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan

Grey Owl's Cabin

Where the English trapper who faked a First Nations identity bunked with beavers.
San Francisco, California

The Last Standard Oil Company Gas Station in California

Chevron maintains one “Standard” brand station per state so it doesn’t lose the trademark.
The heavy iron door is unlocked.
Washington, D.C.

Mount Zion Cemetery's Underground Railroad Shelter

People escaping slavery may have hidden inside a corpse vault.
Antler chandelier plus interior of restaurant
Elsie, Oregon

Camp 18 Restaurant

A logging-themed roadside restaurant surrounded by museum-quality machinery and artifacts from the industry's heyday.
This Babylonian diagram, <em>Imago Mundi</em>, is thought to be one of the oldest maps of the world, dating to the sixth century B.C.
science

How to Predict an Eclipse Without a Computer

Some methods are easier than others.
Natasha Frost August 14, 2017