Recent Activity

• March 8, 2012 allison added Scottish Rite Temple
  

  Scottish Rite Temple

  One of the largest Masonic temples in the world, created at the height of the oil boom in ostentatious style

  With ornate rooms designed to meticulously replicate historic periods and decorations riddled with arcane symbols, the Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma, is one of the largest Masonic... »

  Architectural Oddities | Edited by allison

• February 2, 2012 allison added Waco Mammoth Site
  

  Waco Mammoth Site

  Visitors can walk over the largest concentration of Columbian mammoths to have died from one event

  In 1978, two men were hunting for arrowheads along the Bosque River in Waco, Texas, and came upon a curiously large bone. When they took it to be examined at the nearby Baylor University, they... »

  Fascinating Fauna, Natural History | Edited by allison

• October 18, 2011 allison added Calvary Cemetery
  

  Calvary Cemetery

  Holding the most interments of any cemetery in the United States

  With over 3 million burials, Calvary Cemetery in Queens has more interments than any other cemetery in the United States. Its first burial took place on August 4, 1848, and it is now home to such... »

  Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by allison and atimian

• September 6, 2011 allison added Friends Quaker Cemetery
  

  Friends Quaker Cemetery

  19th century cemetery hidden in Brooklyn's Prospect Park

  Concealed from the sprawled picnickers, dogs catching frisbees, and endless rotations of bicyclists in Prospect Park is a 19th century Quaker cemetery. The Friends Cemetery was established on what... »

  Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by allison

• August 17, 2011 allison added Wichita Mountains Buffalo Herd
  

  Wichita Mountains Buffalo Herd

  American bison herd descending directly from a Bronx Zoo breeding program that saved the species from extinction

  The buffalo that roam over the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Oklahoma are direct descendants of 15 American bison who traveled by train from the Bronx Zoo over 100... »

  Fascinating Fauna | Edited by allison

• August 9, 2011 allison added Nabokov's Butterflies
  

  Saint Petersburg, Russia

  Nabokov's Butterflies

  Specimens collected by the author of Lolita and self-taught lepidopterist exhibited in his childhood home

  While renowned for authoring literary masterpieces like Lolita and Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov was also an active collector of butterflies and has gained much posthumous respect for his scientific... »

  Natural History, Unique Collections | Edited by allison

• July 5, 2011 allison added Grave of Pat the Horse
  

  Grave of Pat the Horse

  Soldiers honored the beloved Pat with a special grave

  After coming to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio in 1912, the young brown thoroughbred known as Pat soon became a favorite for the military men to practice training drills and maneuvers. This... »

  Natural Wonders, Fascinating Fauna, Memento Mori | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• June 1, 2011 allison added La Piscine
  

  Roubaix, France

  La Piscine

  Museum in a swimming pool where the water still flows

  What was once built to be the most beautiful swimming pool in France is now a museum for decorative and fine arts. Yet even though statues frozen in smile or attentive pose now line the Olympic... »

  Museums and Collections | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• March 25, 2011 allison updated the Ramanujan Museum
  

  Chennai, India

  Ramanujan Museum

  One-room museum dedicated to India's most enigmatic mathematician

  Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematician of unusual talent. Born in 1887 and raised in the modest town of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, Ramanujan was largely self-taught. Working alone, the Indian... »

  Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by Trevor, Dylan and others

• March 21, 2011 allison added Irish Hunger Memorial
  

  Irish Hunger Memorial

  Blighted Irish field and the ruins of a 19th-century cottage on the edge of urban Manhattan

  Between the steel and glass skyscrapers of the financial district and the Hudson River is an oddly rural sight: a fallow potato field and the ruins of a 19th-century cottage. A winding path is... »

  Unusual Monuments | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• February 18, 2011 allison added Basilica of St. Joseph of Cupertino
  

  Basilica of St. Joseph of Cupertino

  Church holding the preserved body of a levitating saint

  St. Joseph of Cupertino was a failure at just about everything—until he excelled at miracles. Born in Cupertino, Italy, in 1603, he expressed an early interest in religious devotion, first setting... »

  Memento Mori, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by allison and wythe

• February 16, 2011 allison added Monument Arthur Rimbaud
  

  Marseille, France

  Monument Arthur Rimbaud

  "Drunken ship" sculpture memorializing the French poet in the city where he died

  Overlooked by both locals and tourists, the Monument Arthur Rimbaud looks like a strange rock formation—or a primitive ship that ran aground and turned to stone. Blending into the shore of... »

  Unusual Monuments, Strange Statues | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• February 8, 2011 allison has been to El Ateneo Grand Splendid
  

  El Ateneo Grand Splendid

  Historic palatial theater is now one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores

  With each incarnation since its inception in 1919 -- first as a performing arts theater, then as a cinema, and now a bookstore -- the Grand Splendid has proven itself befitting of its majestic... »

  Architectural Oddities | Edited by morinaga, Nicholas Jackson and others

• February 4, 2011 allison added Cantos Music Foundation
  

  Cantos Music Foundation

  Eclectic musical collection ranging from hurdy gurdies and orphicas to the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio

  Tracing the story of music from 200 BCE to the present, the Cantos Music Foundation holds hundreds of musical artifacts. Among the foundation's curiosities are one of the earliest pianos built in... »

  Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Musical Wonders | Edited by allison, Annetta and others

• January 31, 2011 allison added Napoleon's Camel
  

  Ile d'Aix, France

  Napoleon's Camel

  Camel supposedly ridden by Napoleon during his Egyptian campaign

  Napoleon Bonaparte’s failed 1798 to 1801 Egyptian campaign did not return to France a conquered country, but brought back ancient artifacts (including the Rosetta Stone), and possibly the camel... »

  Natural Wonders, Fascinating Fauna, Museums and Collections | Edited by allison, Annetta and others

• January 27, 2011 allison added Marwari Horses
  

  State of Rajasthan, India

  Marwari Horses

  Old and brave breed of warhorses known for their elegant, curved ears

  Renowned for their bravery in battle and recognized by ears that curve into a perfect arch, the Marwari Horses of India were once the exclusive steeds of the Rajput rulers. Named for Marwar... »

  Natural Wonders, Fascinating Fauna | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• January 19, 2011 allison added Pterosaur Jaw Bone
  

  Pterosaur Jaw Bone

  First flying reptile discovered in British Columbia was for years forgotten in a cabinet

  Stashed away in a University of Alberta cabinet as an unidentified fossil oddity, the jawbone of the first pterosaur to be found in British Columbia was unrecognized until a young paleontologist... »

  Natural History | Edited by allison

• November 30, 2010 allison added Jade Burial Suits
  

  Shijiazhuang, China

  Jade Burial Suits

  Stone shrouds of Prince Liu Sheng and Princess Dou Wan of the Han Dynasty, created to preserve their flesh for eternity

  Threaded in silver and gold from thousands of plates of precious stones, the jade burial suits of ancient China were built as armor for the afterlife to prevent mortal decay. Jade suits were... »

  Museums and Collections, Memento Mori | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• November 15, 2010 allison added Mummy of Luang Pho Dang
  

  Ko Samui, Thailand

  Mummy of Luang Pho Dang

  Self-mummified monk who wears sunglasses and has become a gecko hatchery

  After he died at 79 years old while meditating, the Buddhist monk Luang Pho Dang was closed in a glass coffin and left with his mudra pose with his legs folded, lotus style. Over 20 years later... »

  Memento Mori, Mummies | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• November 8, 2010 allison added Castle Frankenstein
  

  Darmstadt, Germany

  Castle Frankenstein

  Birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and possible inspiration for the fictional reanimator of monsters

  Johann Konrad Dippel was rumored to create potions, perform electrical therapies, and partake in gruesome experiments involving stolen body parts from the graveyard. Born in the Castle... »

  Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• November 4, 2010 allison added Mimizuka
  

  Kyoto, Japan

  Mimizuka

  Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers

  The Kyoto suburbs creep around a grassy mound of earth crowned with a stone memorial, below which are buried tens of thousands of sliced off noses and ears, the grisly trophies of a savage 16th... »

  Memento Mori | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• November 2, 2010 allison added Domus de Janas
  

  Sardinia, Italy

  Domus de Janas

  Ancient cave tombs known as the "houses of fairies"

  Built by the ancient Ozieri culture between 3400 and 2700 BC, the Domus de Janas tombs on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia were the sites of elaborate funerary rituals. They got their nickname... »

  Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Cultures and Civilizations , Lost Tribes, Architectural Oddities, Incredible Ruins, Subterranean Sites | Edited by allison and Nicholas Jackson

• October 26, 2010 allison added National Assembly of Bangladesh
  

  Dhaka, Bangladesh

  National Assembly of Bangladesh

  Ancient and modern architecture are joined in Louis Kahn's monument to democracy

  The masterpiece of American architect Louis Kahn, the National Assembly of Bangladesh (Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban) is both graceful and monumental in its union of modern design with ancient... »

  Architectural Oddities | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• October 25, 2010 allison added 59 Rivoli
  

  Paris, France

  59 Rivoli

  Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios

  The mid-1800s Haussmann era building at 59 Rivoli was an artist squat for years before being renovated by the city and returned to a collective of artists. After Crédit Lyonnais abandoned the... »

  Museums and Collections, Outsider Art | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others

• October 13, 2010 allison added Grande Ballroom
  

  Grande Ballroom

  Abandoned concert venue legendary for its rock counterculture

  Although it started as a 1920s jazz dancehall, the Grande Ballroom earned its fame as a rock and counterculture center for Detroit in the 1960s. Abandoned and left to deteriorate, its legendary... »

  Architectural Oddities, Incredible Ruins | Edited by allison, Nicholas Jackson and others