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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

 
The Gallery Whitehead in Whitehead, Northern Ireland
This little art gallery is located within an old Edwardian terrace house in Whitehead, a coastal village located on the East Antrim coast with a rich Victorian heritage. The house was constructed during the early 20th-century and is composed of three floors complete with a drawing-room, eight fireplaces, and six chimneys. The gallery is run by local artist Cynthia Waddell who features many of her own art pieces, as well as displays featuring contemporary and abstract art. These range...

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Bessie Stringfield: The Motorcycle Queen of Miami
Carnival audiences in the first half of the 20th century gathered around the Wall of Death to watch the fearless Bessie Stringfield ride her Harley-Davidson up its cylindrical wooden walls. Stringfield would take off at high speeds, riding practically on her side, round and round the silo-shaped contraption while spectators held their breath. But death-defying tricks were nothing for the fearless rogue who would one day become known as the “Motorcycle Queen of Miami.” Stringfield had begun riding motorcycles...

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Germantown White House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
There were several presidential mansions before the White House was completed in 1800, although many didn’t survive That leaves the Deshler-Morris House in Philadelphia, more commonly known as the Germantown White House, the oldest surviving presidential residence in the United States. The mansion was originally constructed in 1752 and was briefly occupied by British General William Howe, one of George Washington’s nemesis during the American Revolution. When a yellow fever epidemic broke out in 1793, Washington and his family...

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Hospitality Trends: The Latest Trends in The...
The hospitality industry is competitive, and businesses need to keep up with the latest hospitality trends to avoid being left behind. Additionally, keeping pace with the industry as a whole is a great way to ensure your business delivers the kind of customer experience people want and expect. However, the needs and priorities of customers The post Hospitality Trends: The Latest Trends in The Hospitality Industry appeared first on Revfine.com.

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Reviving America’s Forgotten Boozy, Fruity Election Cake
While paging through the first known cookbook written in the United States, Amelia Simmons’s 1796 American Cookery, you’ll find quite a few recipes that seem familiar. There’s the pumpkin pie, the roast turkey, and even the “cookey.” But one recipe stands out, both due to its name and its gargantuan proportions: the Election Cake. American Cookery’s recipe calls for 14 pounds of sugar, 12 pounds of raisins, and oodles of spices, along with both wine and brandy for flavor....

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One of Dracula’s Often Overlooked Inspirations Is...
Across generations and around the world, the name “Dracula” now calls to mind a pale man in a tuxedo and cape, eyes bloodshot and fangs gleaming. Originally introduced in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel of the same name and given that familiar look by Bela Lugosi in 1931, Dracula has since become the world’s prototype vampire, spawning a world of imitations, variations, parody, and more, from Lestat de Lioncourt to Edward Cullen. Stoker’s Dracula is widely believed to have been...

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In the Andes, the Fear of Oppressors...
In Inca mythology, there is a deity, Viracocha, whose name can be translated as “sea of fat.” He is the creator of the Earth and all its creatures, the maker of the sky and the sea and all the other gods. Among the Quechua people, he must be honored. “In the Andean world, indeed, blood and fat are among the essential offerings to the sacred powers: the sacrifice of slaughtered animals and the offerings of their blood constitute the...

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What It’s Like to Stress-Test Berlin’s Brand...
On a drizzly Thursday in October 2020, I arrive at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport’s Terminal 1, a gleaming glass box on the outskirts of the city. After checking my passport and scanning a QR code, a staffer hands me a bright safety vest, a face mask with the airport logo on it, and a packet of instructions. I’ve been assigned to Delta Group. Code name: Keranova Steiner. Bag allowance: One. Destination: KUT. KUT? Surreptitiously, I check my phone. Apparently...

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Hartsville Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, Tennessee
Planning for the next century’s electrical needs, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) broke ground on the Hartsville Nuclear Plant in 1975. At the time, the plant would be the world’s largest nuclear plant. Amid much controversy, the sleepy town boomed with construction workers and new businesses that catered to the growing population. Just under a decade later, the decision was made to halt the entire project. Outside the four planned generators, there were a few buildings partially constructed. Various...

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The Rocking Stone in Islandmagee, Northern Ireland
During the 19th and early 20th-centuries, hundreds traveled to the East Antrim coastline for day trips out of Belfast to places like the Gobbins Cliff Path, Portmuck, Brown’s Bay, and the National Trust Skernaghan Point Reserve. From Skernaghan Point, there are stunning views of the East Antrim Coastline, as well as the Maidens lighthouses and the Irish Sea. There is also a strange stone known locally as the Rocking Stone that sits precariously on the sea cliff’s edge. The...

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Retreat Tower in Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro Retreat was established in 1834 and was designed to provide humane care for patients suffering from mental illnesses.  As with many facilities for mental health during that period, doctors believed fresh air and exercise would help treat ailing patients. In 1887, construction began on Retreat Tower. Patients were designated to construct the tower as it was believed the physical activity would help their treatment.  Upon completion, it provided patients with breathtaking views of the surrounding area. Although meant to...

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Rock Monastery of Shashkunite in Provadia, Bulgaria
This rock monastery was carved and inhabited during the 12th and 13th-centuries by local monks. It consists of ten cells (caves) located about 98-feet (30-meters) above ground. The cells are separated into two groups. The first consists of three cells followed by two other separate caves. The second group, the main enclosure, is made of five cells, two of which are located higher than the others. The caves of this grouping are connected by small tunnels carved into the...

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The Lost, Macabre Art of Swedish Funeral...
Attendees at the funeral of Adolf Emanuel Kjellén, in the autumn of 1884, received beautiful, solemn keepsakes. Small, sugar-sculpture doves perched among black lace and fabric flowers, all affixed to pieces of black paper. Inside each elaborate wrapper was a morsel of hard candy. Some mourners even flipped such mementos over and left heart-wrenching inscriptions. Adolf’s mother, Maria, wrote the following: “Our beloved son Adolf Emanuel died on October 28—Maria Gustaf Kjellén.” Today, Maria’s somber sweet belongs to Stockholm’s...

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Across the Islamic World, the Ifrit Brings...
Imagine a world that exists parallel to our own, unseeable to the human eye and full of spirits with their own society, their own tribes and classes, their own laws and schools. Like in our world, some of them are good and some are evil. Like us, they feel passion and pain and joy and suffering. Now imagine that these creatures had the power to enter our realm, to walk among us, and even change the course of our...

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The Malaysian Penanggalan Haunts Pregnant Women and...
A young mother is rocking her newborn to sleep when suddenly the smell of vinegar fills the air. She quickly pulls the curtain back, and sure enough, the disembodied head of a woman is floating just outside the window, with long, finger-like tendrils slithering out toward her child. In a panic, the mother slams the window shut, just before the apparition reaches her, and breathes a heavy sigh of relief. While folkloric monsters are numerous in Southeast Asia, one...

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