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Albert Einstein receiving his certificate of American citizenship from Judge Phillip Forman in 1940.
radio

How FDR Used Famous Immigrants to Extoll America’s Greatness

"I’m an American" was the U.S. government's attempt to promote tolerance in the run-up to World War II.
Sarah Laskow April 27, 2017
It is a private residence but the building can be seen from the outside.
Minsk, Belarus

Lee Harvey Oswald's Apartment in Minsk

The apartment building where JFK's assassin lived after defecting to the Soviet Union.
The tile room
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Tile Room

In the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building is a hidden storage room full of ornate floor tiles leftover from the 1850s.
Jim Blackender in front of his prefab, 2009.
architecture

A Fond Farewell to Britain's Prefab WWII Bungalows

Built in a time of crisis and intended to be temporary, they have created long-lasting communities.
Elisabeth Blanchet April 26, 2017
The Eldridge Street Synagogue and Museum.
New York, New York

Museum at Eldridge Street

America's oldest Eastern European synagogue provided the immigrants of crowded Lower East Side tenements a space of sanctuary.
Keppel's Column, named after Admiral Augustus Keppel.
Rotherham, England

Keppel's Column

An oddly shaped tower built to mark the acquittal of Admiral Keppel in a controversial 1770s case.
National Building Museum
Washington, D.C.

National Building Museum

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.
A proper Thirteen Club table, illustrated in the booklet that accompanied the 257th official meeting.
victorian

The 1880s Supper Club That Loved Bad Luck

How to remove the stigma from the number 13? Through a series of macabre dinner parties, of course.
Cara Giaimo April 25, 2017
American Presbyterian Mission Annual Meeting in Pyongyang, 1910s.
history

The Forgotten American Missionaries of Pyongyang

In the decades before World War II, U.S. Christians created a "Jerusalem of the East."
Robert Kim April 25, 2017
The water gate in foreground, Watergate Hotel in background
Washington, D.C.

Water Gate at the Watergate Complex

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.
Sign at the entrance to Harvey's Lake.
Barnet, Vermont

Harvey's Lake: Home of Jacques Cousteau's First Dive

The place where the great marine explorer first learned to work underwater is not where you'd expect.
The village was abandoned after the mine closed in 1966.
Portugal

Mina de São Domingos (Sao Domingos Mines)

An abandoned mine now resembles a post-apocalyptic landscape of derelict buildings and blood-red pools of water.
The face in the window.
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Face in the Window at St. Paul's Church

The profile of one ill-fated deacon was emblazoned forever on this church window during the Halifax explosion.
Second half of the wall
New York, New York

REI's Wall of Litho Stones

A trove of century-old litho stones from the Puck Building's printing days were discovered behind a cellar wall, and are now hanging in the store.
Habsburg Castle from the vineyard on the east side.
Habsburg, Switzerland

Schloss Habsburg (Habsburg Castle)

An 11th-century fortress home to one of the most influential royal houses in medieval Europe.
The Hoovers' "Brown House."
Syria, Virginia

Rapidan Camp

Herbert Hoover's "Brown House" rural presidential retreat was a PR disaster amid the start of the Great Depression.
The famous statue has had an interesting life.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

John Harvard 'Statue of Three Lies'

The statue of John Harvard isn't actually John Harvard—or even, technically, the founder of the school.
The Blake Society Office
London, England

William Blake's Home

The townhouse where the English poet created some of his most influential work has been preserved in tribute.