In 1967, a 26-year-old graphic designer at a pharmaceutical company looked at rows of lab test tubes and thought: Why can’t a woman do this herself at home?

At 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974, a pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum became the first product scanned using a Universal Product Code (UPC).

In 1849, thousands poured into California with dreams of gold. In the 21st century, another rush swept the state—this time for tech riches. Both booms reshaped San Francisco and surrounding areas, but what truly stuns are the prices.

At Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, there’s a room so silent that it’s been known to disorient visitors, reveal the sounds of their own organs, and once held the Guinness World Record as the quietest place on Earth.

In 1933, identical twins Jack Yufe and Oskar Stohr were born in Trinidad to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. When their parents divorced six months later, the twins were separated.

After World War I ended in 1918, France faced a vast scar across its northeastern landscape. Entire regions had been devastated by artillery fire, chemical weapons, and trench warfare.

An Island Built from Steel and Esperanto On 1 May 1968, engineer Giorgio Rosa stood on a 400-square-metre steel platform in the Adriatic Sea and declared it an independent nation. Located 11 kilometers off Italy’s coast, the platform featured a bar, restaurant, nightclub, souvenir shop, and post office. Rosa named it the Republic of Rose

In October 1945, shoppers at Macy’s in Manhattan walked past socks and kitchen appliances to find a gleaming two-seat airplane on display. It was the Ercoupe, a sleek all-metal aircraft marketed as so safe and simple, anyone could fly it.

In the beachside town of Pirangi do Norte, Brazil, a cashew tree planted in 1888 has grown into something astonishing. Known as the Cashew Tree of Pirangi, it sprawls across more than 7,300 square meters (1.8 acres)—about the size of 70 average cashew trees.

In 1975, a striking 173-meter skyscraper emerged in Johannesburg’s Berea district. Named Ponte City, the 55-storey concrete cylinder featured a hollow core that funneled sunlight into its wedge-shaped apartments.