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Sierra Leone's National Railway Museum
Freetown, Sierra Leone

National Railway Museum

After Sierra Leone's railways shut down in 1974, a collection of engines and other artifacts spent decades hidden away in this old workshop—now a museum.
Tannehill Ironworks
McCalla, Alabama

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park

The remains of a foundry and old blast furnaces destroyed during the Civil War are preserved in this central Alabama park.
An early inspiration for macabre banquets was a story about a hellish feast hosted by a Roman emperor.
food

Before Haunted Houses, There Were Hell Banquets

The macabre feasts have their roots in ancient Rome.
Sam O'Brien November 17, 2021
Main gates
Natzwiller, France

Natzweiler-Struthof

Today this former Nazi concentration camp stands as a poignant memorial to the victims of fascism, and a warning from history.
A traditional hobo moniker tells other rail riders that Ace was traveling west in 1927.
hoboes

Everything You Thought You Knew About ‘Hobo Code’ Is Wrong

Rail riders past and present leave messages for each other, but not the ones you’ve probably heard about.
Maggie Downs November 16, 2021
State-owned factories in the GDR produced plastic toys, furniture, household goods, and even a car.
museums

The Race to Preserve East Germany's Colorful Plastic Past

Meet the conservators trying to keep plastics around longer. It's harder than you think.
Amy Crawford November 15, 2021
This 1618 engraving by Matthaeus Merian the Elder depicts the alchemical universe with the Philosopher's Stone at its center.
science

How Scholars Cracked a Medieval Alchemist’s Secret Code

Written in a puzzling Latin cipher, it contains his formula for eternal life.
Sarah Durn November 11, 2021
The hot ale flip is made with a red hot poker.
history

Podcast: The Hot Ale Flip

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team November 11, 2021
A trio of Shyvers Multiphones from John Bennett's collection.
music

Early On-Demand Music Streaming Required Lots of Nickels

In the Pacific Northwest 70-plus years ago, a telephone-based jukebox connected callers to their favorite tunes.
Michelle Harris November 10, 2021
Chin Foin and his wife, Yokelund Wong.
restaurants

The Debonair Restaurateur Who Inspired the First Chinese-American Cookbook

Chin Foin forever changed America's relationship with Chinese food.
Diana Hubbell November 10, 2021
Culinary historian Michael Twitty (left) and interpreter Robert Watson pick case-knife beans by torch light at the Sankofa Heritage Garden.
gardens

At Colonial Williamsburg, a 'Landscape of Resistance' Is Thriving Once Again

The gardens of enslaved people left a lasting legacy across the American South.
Omnia Saed November 9, 2021
A tunnel in Warren’s Shaft System, which he and his team explored—not particularly safely.
victorian

The Man Who Found Jerusalem’s Western Wall Tunnels Couldn’t Find Jack the Ripper

A 19th-century excavation, a beleaguered police chief, and the ongoing tension over a city’s heritage.
Gitit Ginat November 8, 2021
Haarlem, Netherlands

Frederikspark

The heart of Dutch football history.
A lumpy dumb cake on its way to be baked.
food

The Historical Halloween Cake That Reveals Your Future Spouse

Can a "dumb cake" help you discover your fate?
Anne Ewbank November 6, 2021
The C&H Refinery in Lusk, Wyoming, as it looked in 2013, 80 years after it was established.
world record

One Man's Quest to Preserve the World's Smallest Oil Refinery

The dusty, rusty site in eastern Wyoming is a rare relic of the 20th-century petroleum boom.
Nadia White November 5, 2021
Garden Island Ships Graveyard
Garden Island, Australia

Garden Island Ship's Graveyard

The sullen remains of vessels abandoned in the Port Adelaide River.
Low-lying Long Island is one of several harbor islands carved off the mainland through the process of erosion.
islands

Will Plans for Boston's Long Island Erase Its Indigenous Past?

Native American communities worry construction could destroy graves and other links to a millennia-old history, including a 17th-century genocide.
Saima Sidik November 2, 2021
Dodona Manor
Leesburg, Virginia

Dodona Manor

Named for a Greek oracle that interpreted the words of Zeus, this beautifully-restored manor home was once home to the architect of the Marshall Plan.