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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.

 
Pankhurst Centre in Manchester, England
The campaign for women’s right to vote in the United Kingdom was relatively slow. The first debate on women’s suffrage in Parliament was in 1870, but the members of Parliament resisted granting this right for decades. Given the lack of progress, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WPSU) in 1903. Pankhurst’s daughters Christabel, Sylvia, and Adela were all heavily involved as well. Initially, the WSPU’s protests took the form of civil disobedience and other disruptive activities,...

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Mound Key Archaeological State Park in Estero,...
The 30-foot summit of Mound Key is a stark contrast to other, low-lying mangrove islands dotting Florida’s Estero Bay. The artificial island, created from layers of countless shells, bones, and other material, was built by the Calusa people at least a thousand years ago. It served as their political and cultural seat well into the 1700s. At its highest point, a grand hall large enough to hold 2,000 people overlooked an urban center on par with contemporary Aztec city-states....

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Giant Angus MacAskill Museum in Isle of...
When Angus MacAskill was born in 1825 on the Isle of Berneray, Scotland, he was a baby of typical size. His family lived for several years in Stornoway before emigrating to Nova Scotia in Canada. It was here during his adolescence that he began to grow quickly, eventually reaching a height of 7 feet 9 inches. Unlike other well-known giants, Angus’ size was non-pathological; he did not suffer from gigantism or an excess of growth hormone. Instead, he was...

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Wonder Is Everywhere: Ancient Lampreys, Outdoor Learning,...
Wonder is everywhere. That’s why, every other week, Atlas Obscura drags you down some of the rabbit holes we encounter as we search for our unusual stories. We highlight surprising finds, great writing, and inspiring stories from some of our favorite publications. An 11th-Century Monastery Rediscovers a Hoard of Treasure by Christy Choi, CNN Authorities in Nepal estimate that up to 80 percent of the country’s religious artifacts have been stolen since the 1980s, and others lie forgotten in...

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Missouri Headwaters State Park in Three Forks,...
Where can you most easily cross the wide Missouri? In central Montana, three tributaries join to form the start of the United States’s longest river. The headwaters of the Missouri River are intimately connected with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and in particular, with the life of one of their members, the Lemhi Shoshone woman known to history as Sacagawea. It was here, as a young girl, that Sacagawea was taken captive by members of the Hidatsa tribe, and...

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Many Popular Houses in L.A. Were Part...
A group of darling houses in Los Angeles have acquired something of a cult following. Featuring multiple gables, steep-slope roofs, arched doorways, and trowel-swept stucco walls, these six-room storybook cottages are “a unique time capsule of the 1920s,” according to the development’s website. Known as Janes Village, the homes nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains are still highly desirable today. But few people know that the entire village was a con, and the man who built...

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Taino Gunpowder Mill in Taino, Italy
Founded in 1914 by the French company Davey Bickford Smith, this gunpowder mill played an important role in the First and Second World Wars, producing all types of fuses used in weaponry, and projectiles of all sizes, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank warheads. During the 1930s and 1940s, this company reached its peak production, and it employed more than 2,000 people, a number that pretty much coincided with the entire population of Taino at the time. The history of the...

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13 Places That Are Hell on Earth
All across the world, there are portals to hell. Some are simply called that, like the Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan, thanks to the way it looks—a singular fiery pit that’s raged for decades. Others, like Houska Castle in Czechia, have been told to guard portals to hell, trapping a myriad of demons below its very foundations. From folklore to very real pits and caves, here are our favorite portals to take you to the netherworld. The Gates of...

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'Kløvet sten' ('Split Stone') in Odense, Denmark
Originally erected in 1991, the Kløvet sten (“Split Stone”) sculpture, created by the late sculptor Frede Troelsen, explores profound questions about life, growth, and death. This artwork consists of three stones: a monolith-shaped piece of Swedish granite positioned between two halves of a natural stone, creating the impression of being cleaved. Notably, the stone carving has been described by locals as bearing a resemblance to the male reproductive organ, adding an intriguing layer to its interpretation. For 28 years,...

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North American Birds Will No Longer Be...
Some bird names are straightforward: clear, descriptive, even evocative. Take the collared forest falcon. We know where it hangs out and what it looks like. Or the social flycatcher (what it eats and how it gathers) or yellow-bellied sapsucker (coloration, diet, and method of eating). Many more birds get their names from the old tradition of eponyms, to honor the person who found them, a mentor, a lost loved one: think Anna’s hummingbird or Townsend’s warbler. These names have...

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Mountaineers' Cemetery in Zermatt, Switzerland
Zermatt, Switzerland, is legendary throughout the global climbing community. It is surrounded by incredible mountain peaks, whose names—Breithorn, Täschhorn, Monte Rosa, and the iconic Matterhorn—echo through climbing history. With the thousands of tourists that file up and down these peaks each year, it is easy to forget that there was a time when the safest routes were still mysterious—and that to this day, one wrong move could cost you your life. The cemetery of Zermatt has a special section,...

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Highest Toilet in Arizona in Fort Valley,...
Near the summit of Agassiz Peak, the second-highest peak in Arizona, in the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort in the Coconino National Forest, an amenity to visitors has a curious designation. The public restroom on the slopes of the mountains has been identified as the highest toilet in Arizona. The toilets are near the summit of the San Francisco Peaks and within the only area of Arizona that is classified as a tundra ecosystem. Within sight is the highest point...

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Big Sandy Crossing in Farson, Wyoming
The American West seems vast and unending, but for much of its history, only a few locations promised safe travel. During the era of western expansion, Indigenous guides and mountain men would find safer areas to ford rivers and traverse the dangerous landscape. In present-day Farson, Wyoming, the Big Sandy Crossing was a hub of transportation, commerce, and communications during its 19th-century heyday. The Big Sandy River’s banks afforded weary travelers a crossing to the nearby Green River. This...

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The Bone Museum in Brooklyn, New York
Opened in 2022, The Bone Museum is a rare repository of real human skeletons, which is dedicated to explaining their use throughout medical history. Founder Jon Pichaya Ferry started collecting human remains mostly from medical professionals while still living in a dorm room at Parsons School of Design. Under the label JonsBones, previously displayed his macabre assortment in his Williamsburg apartment, before relocating to a permanent 175-square-foot space in Bushwick.  While the museum might seem a tad morbid, Ferry...

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Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds, England
The Hyde Park Picture House has been entertaining the citizens of Leeds since opening its doors on November 2, 1914.  The cinema retains many of its original features (the original projection screen is preserved behind the modern one) including its Edwardian lamppost, terrazzo floor, tiled facade, molded balcony and ceiling, Dutch gable, and nine iconic gas lamps. Originally installed as “modesty lighting” to discourage any back-seat activities, visitors to the main auditorium are still welcomed by their flickering glow...

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