Kumbhalgarh - The Great Wall Of India

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Built during the course of the 15th century, Kumbhalgarh is a fortress in the Rajsamand District of Rajasthan state in western India. Long overshadowed by its lengthier neighbor to the east, this is the second largest continuous wall on the planet. Some call it by the name of the fort it surrounds - Kumbhalgarh.

Others simply refer to it as The Great Wall of India. Yet bewilderingly, it is still little known outside its own region.

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Rare Photographs Of Chinese Women From The 1800s

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Looking back at Chinese culture with the eyes of people living in a completely different time, it's hard to know exactly what life would have been like for women during the 1800s. However, perhaps by examining these vintage photographs, we can gain a glimmer of insight.

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11 Monarchs Crowned While They Were In Diapers

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Babies sure are cute. But do they make good world leaders?
Here's a peek at some of history's youngest rulers and their reigns.

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How To Fold An American Flag

Most countries have a flag protocol. Flag protocol defines the proper placement, handling and use of flags. Some countries have added certain protocols into their law system while others prefer to have 'guidelines' without civil or criminal consequences attached. This video shows the protocol of folding an American flag.



YouTube link

(thanks Cora)

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Peanuts, Blackjack And Pee: Strangest Space Mission Superstitions

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The tension was palpable in the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the minutes leading up to the August 5 landing of the Mars rover Curiosity. Rows of headset-clad flight controllers in matching pale blue polo shirts huddled over their computers, awaiting the rover descent's 'seven minutes of terror.'

Then, seemingly from nowhere, bottles of peanuts started to appear, and soon all the engineers and scientists were munching on handfuls of the proteinaceous snack. It's just one of a slew of superstitious NASA traditions, and the Russian space program has its own share. Here are some of the timeless traditions of the world's space-exploring elite.

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There Goes The Neighborhood: Mobile Victorian House Sets Sail for Desert

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Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.

Burning Man is flipping weird. It's not uncommon to see giant moving sculptures and 'art-cars' exhibiting all kinds of mechanical wizardry. Yet none are quite so magical as a nomadic 19th-century structure called the Neverwas Haul, equal parts locomotive, steamship, and Victorian house.

(thanks Hunter)

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28 Freaky Ghost Towns You Can Visit

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Though the 'ghost town' is often associated with the American West, there are abandoned places all over the world. Some towns grow quickly from the ground up, surging in population. People arrive to work in the mines or factories and build their lives on the frontier. Some towns last, but not these.

28 Freaky Ghost Towns You Can Visit captures the way things look after people leave.

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Tough Cookies: The Treats That Fueled A Century Of Girl Scouts

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Girl Scout cookies are cookies sold by Girl Scouts of the USA as one of its major fundraisers for local Scout units. Members of the GSUSA have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise funds. Girls who participate can earn prizes for their efforts. As of 2007, sales were estimated at about 200 million boxes per year.

Here's a brief history of these iconic American cookies, and for you die-hard cookie monsters who can't wait until winter, a recipe is included so you can make your own.

(thanks Lisa)

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The Mysterious Engravings Of Ireland's 5,000-Year-Old Megalithic Tomb

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Loughcrew, near Oldcastle, County Meath, is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland. It is the site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3,500 and 3,300 BC. For thousands of years they have stood, high on the windswept hills, with views of a gentle green landscape rolling away on all sides.

Before the first pyramids were even built in Egypt, this wild and rugged land was home to Neolithic people who carved strange patterns into the stones. And yet it is the mystery that enshrouds this tomb site that is the real secret to its appeal.

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10 Famous Literary Characters Based On Real People

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'Write what you know,' they say. So it makes sense that many authors take a good look around at friends and family when creating characters for their books. For example: Mark Twain once admitted that he wasn't terribly creative in creating Huckleberry Finn - he based the character almost precisely on his childhood friend Tom Blankenship.

10 Famous Literary Characters Based On Real People.

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The Earth Index

Eardex is a free web portal providing an overview on the cost of living in all towns and cities, regions and countries of the world. For this purpose, the database collects and shows the local prices of more than 40 specific products. Eardex is the perfect source of information for backpackers, tourists, business travelers, expats and globetrotters of all kinds.

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Cowboys Vs. Spacemen: How The Toy Chest Was Won

The lone frontiersman, the rebellious explorer: These archetypal characters appear as frequently in the far reaches of outer-space as in the American West, from 'Star Wars' to 'Stagecoach,' on Planet Vulcan or the Oregon Trail. Today, toys, comic books, and even movie posters representing these figures are equally familiar.

But which holds more power for kids and adults alike? Are spacemen our true heroes, or would we rather have a cowboy riding to our rescue, to protect us from tobacco-spitting bad guys and slimy tentacled aliens?

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The 20 Most Beautiful Children's Books Of All Time

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Some of the most beautiful children's books of all time.

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Motor Life Blog

Motor Life Blog is Charlie Beesly's fun collection of mostly found photos celebrating cars and their owners.

(via MetaFilter)

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Japan - The Land Of Vending Machines

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Anyone who lives in a town or city is used to the sight of the odd vending machine. As a convenience they have no equal - at least when they work or have not run out of the product they are supposed to sell.

Yet where most countries have vending machines for a limited range of goods the Japanese have taken it to extremes. Japan truly is the country of vending machines and some of the items you can get from them might surprise you.

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My Little Pony Smackdown: Girls Vs. Bronies

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My Little Pony galloped into the world in 1983 on a cloud of pink and purple sparkles, bent on winning the hearts of little girls. Set to a saccharine jingle, commercials showed pigtailed girls admiring these pastel-colored vinyl toy horses, unicorns, and pegasus, lovingly brushing their unnatural neon manes. And love them girls did.

Now, nearly 30 year later, My Little Pony mania has exploded again. But this time, the main drivers of the craze are teenage boys and 20-something men. Known as 'bronies' (a portmanteau of 'bro' and 'pony'), these bros fell under the Pony spell thanks to a clever new cartoon, 'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,' which airs on children-centered digital cable channel The Hub.

(thanks Lisa)

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10 Of The Weirdest Things You Can Eat In Latin America

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What seems weird to us may be totally normal for people in other countries. For example, insect-eating is common in parts of North, Central and South America; and Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. However, in some societies insect-eating is uncommon or even taboo. The same goes for guinea pigs, llama brain and cow stomachs.

Here are 10 interesting cuisines from around Latin America.

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Kraplap

Kraplap is the Dutch word for bodice. The kraplap is part of some of the traditional costumes from the Netherlands. Originally the kraplap was a part of the underwear, but it has developed into an important decoration of the outerwear; often very visible and showy, but also sometimes hidden under shawls only revealing a small part under the chin.

(via Everlasting Blort)

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Center Pivot Irrigation Explained

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If you have been in a plane over a large agricultural hub you may have casually glanced out of your window. And then you may have performed a very, very quick double take. What on earth are those circular shapes below? They are not the alien crop circles of infamy that's for sure - in fact whole fields seem to be circular in shape.

There are way too many of them, too, to have been done as some sort of practical joke. So, what are they? Welcome to the world of center pivot irrigation.

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Forged In The Heat Of Battle: The Origin Of The Boy Scouts

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There are countless Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts backpacking through forests in 155 countries around the world. But while those iconic khaki uniforms are associated with childhood adventure, scouting was actually forged in the heat of battle by a desperate British military officer.

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