A bird’s-eye-view of the Field Museum and downtown Chicago during the 1933 World’s Fair known as the Century of Progress International Exposition. This photo was probably taken from the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge that ferried people across a lagoon from one side of the fair to the other.
There’s nothing creepier than a wax museum. See here and here for example. Oh, and why not check out this other post too while you’re at it? Did you click? Wasn’t that the absolute worst? Because you know what’s really, really, really creepy? Historic photos of wax museums. Madame Tussaud...
Due to the small number of cadavers available for anatomical study in British medical schools during the early 19th century, many criminals committed grave-robbing, and even murder, to make some money. One such infamous case was the serial killer duo of Burke and Hare. Irish immigrants who lived in Edinburgh,...
I’d like a magic potion from the American Museum of Magic, possibly to be used to buy a magical lottery ticket for a billion gazillion dollars. That would make 2011 a pretty good year. Located in Marshall, Michigan, the museum is one of 10 museums devoted to magical subjects. Some...
If you ever find yourself in Waldsassen, Germany, make sure to stop by the basilica because this place is your macabre dream come true. The church contains ten reliquaries of richly dressed and bejeweled skeletons of Christian martyrs, the largest intact collection in all of Europe. Known as the “Holy...
If you are really into teeny tiny churches, I recommend checking out this list from Roadside America. But when it comes to huge churches, specifically the world’s tallest church spire and chapel, the Chicago Temple Building wins the title. Constructed in 1924 by the architectural firm of Holabird and Roche,...
Over the last few months the old inbox has received a number of interesting submissions*, so I thought I’d get around to sharing them with you. Let’s start with the Ralph Foster Museum at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. Locally known as “The Smithsonian of the...
Feb 5 in 1909 Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic. And the world has never been the same since. The scientist was already a millionaire thanks to the sale of his photographic paper patent to Kodak, but phenol-formaldehyde (the not-so nice name...
It’s probably already tomorrow in China, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you about the June 4th Museum. It is the world’s first permanent memorial museum for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which occurred exactly 25 years ago. The exhibit is just 800 square feet and...
A set of sixty miniature heads for the use of phrenology; Manchester, England; ca. 1831. Science Museum, London Phrenology is a pseudoscience that originated with German physician Franz Joseph Gall and his colleague, Johann Kaspar Spurzheim. Phrenologists believed that the shape and size of various areas of the brain and...
