In the early 1960s, while the Cold War superpowers competed for dominance in space, a small college in Beirut launched its own race to the stars

Wittenoom, once the largest town in the Pilbara during the 1950s, was built to support Australia’s only blue asbestos mine. Operated from the 1930s to 1966, the mine produced crocidolite asbestos—among the most hazardous mineral fibers known.

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Venetian women wore platform shoes called chopines—some towering over 50 cm (20 inches) tall. Originally designed to protect dresses and shoes from muddy streets, chopines soon became fashion items flaunted by courtesans and noblewomen alike.

Beneath the dry plains of Gonabad lies a vast underground marvel. Built between 700 and 500 BCE during the Achaemenid Empire, the Qanats of Ghasabeh stretch over 33 kilometers and include 427 vertical shafts. Designed to transport groundwater without pumps, the system still functions today.

In 1741, Marco Cazotte was born in Venice. He would become known as Pipine, or Petit Pépin. Born with symmetrical phocomelia, he had no arms or legs—his hands and feet were attached directly to his torso. Despite this, he could move on his own by trotting.

Before digital printing, Linotype machines dominated typesetting. When operators made a mistake, they filled out the bad line by quickly running a finger down the left columns of the keyboard—e-t-a-o-i-n and s-h-r-d-l-u—then discarded the line.

On February 12, 1935, when the U.S. Navy airship USS Macon crashed into the Pacific Ocean, Associated Press faced a dilemma. Their brand-new Wirephoto service had not yet transmitted a photo.

On June 12, 1940, two Jewish artists pedaled away from Nazi-occupied Paris with the manuscript of a children’s book and a monkey hidden in a basket.

At the edge of France, where the Loire River meets the Atlantic, an enormous sea serpent emerges from the tides. Measuring 130 meters, the skeletal sculpture lies partially submerged at Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, its form rising and vanishing with each tidal shift.

Sometime between 1545 and 1550, a strange sea creature was caught or found on the beach near the Oresund strait between modern-day Denmark and Sweden. Described as nearly eight feet long with fins, a tail, and a black head, it quickly earned the name “sea monk” for its supposed resemblance to a man in monastic robes.