What Were the Canary Islands Named After? The Canary Islands are off the northwest African mainland and are an autonomous community of Spain. It would seem that the Canary Islands were named after the bird of the same name, but this isn’t the case. The name of the islands came from the Latin Insula Canaria, meaning “islands…

An Amazing Palace of Stone Ferdinand Cheval was a rural postman in south France who spent 33 years assembling stones into an impressive structure called Palais Ideal or Ideal Palace. Cheval’s postal route was 25 km long, which he completed entirely on foot. During one of his rounds in April 1879, he came across a…

A Unique Bedtime Ritual Parrotfish are tropical fish known for their bright colors and beak-like teeth they use to scrape algae off coral and the sea bottom. These fish also use a unique technique to protect themselves while they sleep. There are about 80 different species of parrotfish, and they contribute to the sand…

The Island That Appeared and Disappeared There was only water in a spot off the southwestern coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea before 1831, but something strange happened in July of that year. Sicilian fishermen began to notice that dead fish were rising to the surface in that area that reeked of sulfur. It was…

How Not to Get Lost in New York City’s Central Park There is an easy way not to get lost in New York City’s Central Park. Just look for a lamppost. …

A Slightly Different Graduation Ceremony Mid-year graduates at Middlebury College in Hancock, Vermont, celebrate their graduation in a unique way by skiing down the college’s ski slope for their graduation procession, all while donned in their caps and gowns. The tradition goes back to the 1970s when the college began offering admission to students in…

A Different Perspective on the Pyramids of Giza The Pyramids of Giza are the last remaining Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the best-known monument in Egypt. They include the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure. The Great Sphinx of Giza is also located here on the Giza Plateau. …

The Kopp-Etchells Effect A curious phenomenon occurs when military helicopters land in dusty desert conditions. The blades produce an incredible halo of light at night as they hit the sand and the dust. Observers and pilots had no specific name for what was causing the halos, but there were many theories. Photographer and…

A City That Lost Its Letter Cleveland, Ohio, was founded on July 22, 1796, and named after a surveyor of the Connecticut Land Company named Moses Cleaveland. But when did the city of Cleveland lose its “a?” One explanation was that the “a” got taken off by one of the city’s newspapers, the Cleveland Advertiser, which…