An uber-secure, windowless tower of doom in the center of Manhattan is an NSA spyscraper.

This Queens beer hall preserves a German culture and language that is all but lost.

The mosaic Star of David at the front of this store hints that it's no ordinary Italian grocer.

This enormous banquet-themed artwork honors over 1,000 notable women throughout history.

This impressive mansion in Vinegar Hill has some mysterious details in its architecture.

An outdoor urban gallery of large-scale artworks by the world's most influential street artists.

In 2004, a Dave Matthews Band tour bus dumped 800 pounds of waste off a bridge and onto an unsuspecting tour boat below.

A medieval military street hidden beneath a charming French fishing village.

This museum celebrating the almighty dollar lets visitors literally stand in the shadow of a million bucks.

The secret behind these nostalgic light fixtures: They're not as old as they may seem.

Coney Island’s last surviving haunted ride.

The last remaining vestige of a popular 1999 public art display.

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.

This memorial plaque remembers a strangely shallow maritime disaster known as "Chicago's Titanic."

The 606 is a decade in the making.

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

This alley in downtown Chicago held the bodies of over 600 people after the fateful Iroquois Theatre fire.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

Polish babkas, cheesecakes, and rose jelly-filled doughnuts are made fresh daily at this neighborhood stalwart.

This emotive sculpture was originally created for the 1878 World's Fair.

A beautiful Victorian statue shows France's enduring love of the rhinoceros.

A favorite Paris bar for U.S. expats, including Gershwin, Hemingway, and James Bond.

Once a 19th-century brasserie, this McDonald's exterior celebrates Alsatian design and the "King of Beer."

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.