| August 31, 2020 |
Olive Oil Soap FactoryIn the remnants of an ancient house in Rahat, a predominantly Bedouin city in what is now southern Israel, government archaeologists believe they have found the oldest known soap factory in the country. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the ruins are approximately 1,200 years old, dating to the early Islamic period when the region was ruled by the Abbasid Caliphate.READ MORE → SPONSORED BY MORNING BREWStart Your Day RightThere’s a reason over 1.9 million people start their day with Morning Brew — the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be dry and dense…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out today.LEARN MORE → HELLVIK, NORWAYHalvikhulaOn the shores of the Norwegian Sea lies Halvikhallen or Halvikhula (Hall of Halvik or Halvik Cave), known as Northern Europe’s largest cave. Its height stretches well over 300 feet (100 meters), and about 260 feet (80 meters) wide; one geological source from the late 19th century claims that the cave’s depth is well over 1,000 feet.READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURAFlavors of HistoryCan ice cream be educational? Hannah Spiegelman certainly thinks so. On her website, A Sweet History, Spiegelman uses the creamy, frozen treat to highlight historical events, people, and places, such as French resistance agent Josephine Baker, and Laika, the first living creature to orbit the earth. Dessert that enriches our appetites and our minds? Sign us up.READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCESDino-Themed Trivia NightOur trivia night is getting prehistoric. Join us for a dino-based online pub trivia with special guest, Dino101 host, Dustin Growick, and get ready to prove that you are the greatest dinosaur expert of all time.LEARN MORE → Bat BaculaMany mammals, including bats, have a penis bone, also known as a baculum. In bats, many of these have distinctive shapes that can help researchers identify different genera and species. But it’s a delicate art to retrieve these bones: They’re typically roughly the size of a hyphen, and very easy to lose. (Tip: Do not take your eyes off them.)READ MORE → LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIAGriffith J. Griffith StatueIn 1882, Welsh immigrant and self-styled “Colonel” Griffith Jenkins Griffith bought Rancho Los Feliz, only to donate it in 1896, decreeing that it must be a place of recreation for residents. A 14-foot bronze statue of Griffith commemorates his donation, though it leaves out some of Griffith’s more scandalous escapades.READ MORE → PARIS, FRANCEStatue of LibertyNo, that’s not a typo. France gave the U.S. the Statue of Liberty in 1886, and Americans repaid the favor by giving Paris a smaller version of the same statue in 1889. The gift both commemorated the centennial of the French Revolution, and served to reaffirm the dedication of both France and the United States to the republican ideal on which they were founded.READ MORE → OXFORD, ENGLANDJ.R.R. Tolkien’s GraveThe final resting place of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) and Edith Mary Tolkien (1889-1971) is covered in an abundance of flowers, plants, and offerings from fans in the verdant cemetery of Wolvercote in Northern Oxford. They are buried together in a single grave in the Catholic section of the cemetery.READ MORE → |
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