Many people do not believe in cults. Despite the fact that very real cults have existed throughout history, many ordinary folks like to cast them aside as just a “conspiracy theory.” The problem is that, in many cases, such thinking is akin to an ostrich voluntarily dunking its head in the sand. Cults exist, and some are truly dangerous.

One such cult is called the Order of Nine Angles. This organization has links to neo-Nazi and left-wing anarchist groups, plus its strong adherence to the “Left-Hand Path” has earned it accusations of human sacrifice and murder. Examining this group involves a peek in at the world of true radicalism—a world where Satanism, extremist politics, and hard-line Islamism cohabitate.

10 Origins

The Order of Nine Angles (ONA) was founded in Great Britain by a man named Anton Long. At the time, Long and others formed ONA out of a diverse collection of occult groups then centered in England. According to Long himself, as a child he traveled all over Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Here, in the latter area, Long began studying religions and taught himself Greek, Arabic, and Persian.^[1]

By his own admission, in the early 1970s, Long found attraction in the darker side of society, and at some point, he began committing various crimes. Before long, this blossoming occultist fell in with other British witches and warlocks, many of whom claimed descent from Britain’s original pagans. Indeed, beginning in the 1980s, the ONA began publishing tracts and articles claiming that their brand of “sinister” occultism had roots in the original “solar paganism” of the ancient Indo-European peoples. As such, Anton Long and priestess Christos Beest claimed in writing that their Satanism was an attempt to revive Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic paganism in the face of Christianity. The group published a book entitled The Black Book of Satan, which promised its readers a sevenfold path toward reaching the sinister.

9 Distinction

Lazy journalists who became aware of the ONA linked them with Anton LaVey and Michael Aquino. Founded on Walpurgis Night 1966, LaVey’s Church of Satan was all about showmanship and self-promotion. Indeed, the group’s official “bible,” The Satanic Bible, is more philosophy than theology. LaVey rejected the existence of Satan and instead espoused the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand.^[2]

Michael Aquino was the founder of the Temple of Set, an occult order based in Southern California. Aquino, a former officer in the US Army, preached what he called “esoteric Satanism.” The Temple of Set broke off from the Church of Satan in order to pursue their path toward “enlightenment” without the supposed hang-ups of Judeo-Christian morality. For the followers of Aquino, the goal is to become an individual god.

The ONA believe in none of this. They are theistic Satanists, which means that they believe in a deity named Satan. For them, practicing black magic and causing chaos in the world is all part of glorifying their black god.

8 The Importance Of David Myatt

British citizen David Myatt has lived a most interesting life. Born in Tanzania and raised in East Asia by a civil servant father, Myatt began practicing martial arts at a very young age. From here Myatt, began studying the religions of the world, including Buddhism and Islam. However, instead of becoming a priest or a scholar, Myatt first became a political activist.

Beginning in 1969, Myatt became involved in the British Movement (BM), a right-wing group founded by Colin Jordan. Then and now, Jordan was a controversial staple of British politics. During his heyday, Jordan supported the idea of sending all of Britain’s Jews to Israel, the complete halt of all non-European immigration to Great Britain, and removing all blacks and Asians from British life. As can be guessed, Jordan and his followers got into many street battles with Labour Party supporters and immigrant groups. As such, Jordan hired Myatt to be his bodyguard.

In 1974, Myatt formed the National Democratic Freedom Movement, an openly neo-Nazi organization that published a newspaper entitled British News. Myatt was frequently arrested for engaging in street brawls. At the same time, he was also collaborating with London-based Thelemites and members of the ONA. Under the sway of Myatt, the ONA embraced National Socialist racialism and the idea that Christianity is a religion fit only for slaves.^[3]

In 1998, Myatt converted to Sunni Islam. Following this, he began trying to synthesize hard-line Islamism with neo-Nazi ideals of political revolution.

7 Links To Right-Wing Groups

Thanks to the influence of David Myatt and other British political activists, the ONA began collaborating with right-wing organizations all over Europe. Sometimes, this collaboration was indirect, with groups independently adopting the ideals and ideas of the ONA.

One intellectual influenced by the ideas of the ONA is French journalist Christian Bouchet. In 1991, Bouchet, a mainstay of right-wing politics in France, founded the Nouvelle Resistance, a revolutionary nationalist movement, and the pan-European European Liberation Front. Bouchet’s ideas have not only been informed by the Aryanism of the ONA but also by the American author Francis Parker Yockey and the founder of “Esoteric Hitlerism,” Savitri Devi.^[4]

In New Zealand, the Black Order, founded by author Kerry Bolton, took direct inspiration from the ONA, while the German group the National Socialist Underground were similarly influenced by ONA. Just this year, one of the longest trials in German history concluded when Beate Zschape of the NSU was convicted of ten counts of murder.

6 Links To The Left

The ONA considers itself open to differing views. As such, membership in the ONA includes members who subscribe to left-wing politics. While most authors have focused on the group’s connections to right-wing organizations, the ONA’s theology, which embraces chaos, has been adopted by some anarchist groups who routinely engage in acts of vandalism.^[5]

According to the group’s own words, the ONA “upholds anarchism” as the most compatible with black magic. For ONA adepts, the initiation of anarchy is desirable because tragedy and trauma create wisdom and enlightenment. As such, ONA members are against organized society and its institutions. This idea has been adapted by several small anarcho-communist groups. However, unlike the ONA’s connections to the right, its connections to the left are less tangible.

5 The Atomwaffen Division

In several articles, the American neo-Nazi organization Atomwaffen Division has been linked to the ONA. In March 2018, The Daily Beast published an article detailing how the Satanist wing of the Atomwaffen Division had declared war on the group’s non-Satanic adherents. The article, written by Kelly Weill, said that the group’s supposed leader, James Cameron Denton, has posted ONA images online in the past.^[6] Denton and his followers reportedly see no contradiction between Satanism and the ONA (which encourages its adherents to infiltrate any extremist organization), while other members of the Atomwaffen Division do not agree.

The Atomwaffen Division are not some fringe group, mind you. They’ve been known to place flyers on American college campuses, are well-armed, and have made threats to attack the US government and American electrical grids in the past. At one point, the group was accused of playing a role in the murder of college student Blaze Bernstein. Bernstein’s killer, Samuel Woodward, had been a member of Atomwaffen Division, but he admitted in court that he targeted the Jewish Bernstein because he was gay.

4 The ONA’s Goals

The main goal of the ONA and its followers is to bring about the so-called New Aeon.^[7] The ONA is convinced that the modern world has failed and that global capital, consumerism, religious extremism, and environmental destruction are the result of Magian (Judeo-Christian) culture and politics. The New Aeon will come about as soon as society returns to its tribal roots.

The ONA also believes that the new age will be inaugurated by Vindex, a revolutionary hero who will restore justice. Vindex will be, like Achilles, a semidivine warrior with a preordained mission. Once Vindex reaches his destiny, the New Aeon will come forth.

The ONA believes that its “sinister” ideals must be spread as much as possible in order for the New Aeon to come. That is why ONA members are encouraged to join radical organizations with predominately young membership.

3 The Dark Gods

According the ONA theology, a series of sinister deities known as the Dark Gods exist. These gods exist in the acausal realm, which is connected to our own causal realm. The acausal realm is bounded by acausal time and has more than three spatial dimensions.^[8] These Dark Gods have the ability to enter into the minds of adepts in a process that is somewhat reminiscent of Lovecraftian fiction. Indeed, also akin to Lovecraft is the ONA notion that a new age will come when the Dark Gods of the acausal realm bleed over into the causal realm.

One of the Dark Gods is Baphomet, the mother and bride of Satan. The goat-headed Baphomet is, according to the ONA, associated with the feminine and is the creator of all demons. Students of history may remember that the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping Baphomet by at least two sources.

The other Dark Gods of the ONA pantheon are completely unique to the group and do not have any obvious connections to the Western occult tradition.

2 The Seven Fold Way

The core tenet of the ONA is the concept of the Seven Fold Way. The Seven Fold Way is a hermetic hierarchy of practitioners. Each category of the Seven Fold Way represents a certain level of occultism. Keep in mind that the ONA’s brand of occultism demands sharp aestheticism, scholarship, and physical endurance.

The seven stages of adeptness for the group are: 1) Neophyte, 2) Initiate, 3) External Adept, 4) Internal Adept, 5) Master/Mistress, 6) Grand Master/Mousa, and 7) Immortal.^[9] The exact number of ONA members in each category are unknown. At best, it has been theorized that there over 1,000 members of the ONA throughout the world.

1 Human Sacrifice

The ONA is infamous in the Satanic underground as one of the few organizations that encourages human sacrifice. To the ONA, sacrificing human life is “powerful magick” that releases an individual’s energy, which can be stored and reused by magicians.^[10] In their own mythology, the ONA’s ancestors in pagan England practiced human sacrifice every 17 years in order to maintain “cosmic balance.”

Members of the ONA believe in “culling,” or committing sacrifices wherein the victim self-selects their own death. Some former members of the ONA claim that Myatt is still active in the group and actively encourages fellow members of the cult to commit crimes and murders as part of magical rites.

From rainbow-colored beer to “Viagra” made from frogs, there’s an unusual beverage to delight—or disgust—just about every taste.

10 Deer Penis Wine

Chinese athletes have long used animal parts to improve their performance. In the 1990s, Chinese track coach Ma Junren credited a series of world records by unknown runners in part to a cocktail of turtle blood and caterpillar fungus (though to be fair, illicit testosterone use was suspected).

But for the ultimate in sports medicine, some folks swear by deer penis wine, which despite—or, perhaps, because of—its alleged powers of healing, was banned from the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Many traditional Chinese remedies, including those made with animal penises, contain herbal ephedrine, considered by numerous sports federations to be a performance-enhancing substance.

Potions containing deer penises are also believed to enhance another type of performance, namely, “male sexual power.” They supposedly do so by increasing blood flow and the flow of qi, the fundamental life force in traditional Chinese medicine.

One particularly potent variation, known as “three penis wine,” is made with the sex organs of dogs and seals, as well as deer. According to a team from National Geographic, three penis wine tastes “creamier” than wine made from mice, a concoction also popular in Asia as a cure-all for everything from liver disease to asthma. In the Korean version, 10–15 baby mice are drowned in rice wine and left to ferment for 1–2 years. After drinking the wine, which reportedly tastes “gasoline-like,” one is supposed to eat the mice.

Thanks, but we’ll stick to aspirin.

9 Rainbow Beer

Japan’s Abashiri Brewery is best known for its line of brightly colored beers that includes blue Ryuhyo Draft, red Hamanasu Draft, green Shiretoko Draft and pink/purple Jyaga Draft.

The concept for the line revolves around the four seasons in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, where Abashiri is headquartered. Hokkaido lies on the Okhotsk Sea, an icy arm of the North Pacific Ocean located between Japan and Russia.

The wintery Ryuhyo (“drift ice“) Draft is brewed with water from the melted icebergs which annually float past Hokkaido’s northern beaches. Its bright blue hue comes from seaweed extract, as does the spring-inspired green Shiretoko Draft, which uses fermented seaweed.

Hamanasu Draft’s ruby tinge comes from the hamanasu fruit (“shore pear”) and represents the wildflowers that bloom along the sea in summertime, while the Jyaga Draft, made with purple potatoes, represents the fall harvest.

8 Kimchi Soda

Leave it to the Japanese to turn Asian specialties into soda. Ramune produces its bubbly beverages in wasabi, kimchi, curry and teriyaki flavors, as well as less spicy—but no less unusual—flavors such as bubble gum, white champagne, lychee, blueberry and banana.
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The word “ramune” itself is a Japanese adaptation of “lemonade.” And even better than the wild flavors is the so-called “Codd Stopper” bottle the soda comes in, which uses a glass marble and plastic ring instead of a cap, as shown in this hilarious commercial from Asian Food Grocer.

The Codd Stopper takes its name from its inventor, Hiram Codd, a 19th century Englishman who developed it as a technique for bottling carbonated lemonade. A marble is inserted into the neck of the bottle and held in place with a rubber stopper (or these days, with a plastic ring). The pressure from the carbonation forces the marble against the ring to form an airtight seal.

To open a bottle of Ramune, you punch out the center of the plastic cap with your thumb, and use it as a plunger to force the ball into the bottle. People have come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to get the marble out without breaking the bottle. And while we don’t recommend you try these dangerous techniques, you can certainly enjoy watching other people get the marble out by melting the plastic ring, or having at it with a knife and hammer.

7Peruvian Frog Juice

Lake Titicaca in Peru, the highest navigable lake in the world, is home to Telmatobius coleus, the main ingredient in rana y maca (“frog juice”), also known as “Peruvian Viagra.”

Rana y maca is made by taking a live frog from an aquarium and banging it against a counter until it is dead or unconscious (reports on this point vary). Two incisions are then made in the belly of the frog, which is skinned as if husking corn. The frog is liquefied in a blender with hot bean broth, honey, aloe vera, and maca (an Andean root also believed to boost stamina and sex drive). Once strained, the result is a starchy, milkshake-like liquid that stings the throat.

Unfortunately, the fad consumption of “Peruvian Viagra” has led to the endangerment of Telmatobius coleus, which according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, threatens Lake Titicaca’s entire ecosystem. To help ensure the frogs’ survival, the agency in 2010 earmarked a $25,000 grant for its Wildlife Without Borders program, to be used for a social marketing campaign to change local attitudes and habits.

6 Liquid Smoking

A beverage that seems to have fizzled out rather quickly is “Liquid Smoking,” which its Dutch manufacturer, United Drinks and Beauty Corporation, claimed would take the edge off of nicotine cravings for between one and four hours. The drink, allegedly popular in the Netherlands, was launched in the United Kingdom in 2008 as way to help smokers beat that nation’s recently enacted ban on public smoking.

United Drinks’ CEO Martin Hartman is reported to have said that the product contained no nicotine, but got its craving-fighting effects from a mix of South African plant roots, which gave “a slight energizing effect, followed by a euphoric sense of calming and relaxation.”

Despite these claims and a scant 21 calories per 275 ml can, Liquid Smoking came in for immediate criticism—not least because of the can, which resembled a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

Both Liquid Smoking and United Drinks and Beauty are no more. The link for United Drinks’ Dutch website is defunct, and even its CEO Martin Hartman seems to have gone up in smoke.

5 BustUp Drink

Even more extravagant claims are made by Kinohimitsu J’pan BustUp Drink, which purports to enlarge breasts without surgical methods or medication. Ads for the product claim that it remedies small, dull, sagging and shrunken breasts caused by deficient growth, aging, menopause, childbirth and breast-feeding.

BustUp’s active ingredient is the root of Pueraria mirifica (also known as Kwao Krua Kao), a tuberous plant containing phytoestrogens that has been used for over 50 years in Thailand as a folk remedy for menopause-related hot flashes and night sweats. Manufacturers of Pueraria mirifica products promote the herb as a miracle cure that can do everything from preventing breast cancer to tightening one’s vagina.

BustUp also contains water, fructose and concentrated fruit juices (green papaya, apple and peach), vitamin C, beta-carotene, royal jelly honey, and collagen from fish. Now if they could just find a way to work in some euphoria-inducing roots.

4 Panda Dung Tea

A Chinese entrepreneur is hoping pandas will do for tea what the civet did for coffee. An Yanshi, a calligraphy professor at Sichuan University, has patented a way to grow green tea in the poop of pandas. Sichuan is home to the Ya’an Bifengxia panda base, which houses 80 captive pandas.

An markets his creation under the name Panda Ecological Tea, which is divided into three grades and sold in a limited edition of 21 50-gram (1.7oz) packages. The highest grade was offered for 440,000 yuan (US$72,000) per kilogram, 10 times the cost of a rare 1960s box of Wu-Yi narcissus oolong tea from Hong Kong.

At the presentation of his new tea, An, dressed in a panda suit, said that pandas absorb less than 30 percent of the nutrition from their food (bamboo), and that the remaining 70% of the nutrients is passed out in their feces, making his panda poo tea both nutritious and delicious.

3 Cow Water

Four years ago, India’s leading Hindu cultural group developed gau jal (“cow water”) as a “healthy” alternative to soft drinks. Hindus have long worshiped cows for their life-sustaining dairy products, but Ayurvedic tradition also holds that bovine urine and feces can be used to cure ailments ranging from liver complaints to diabetes and cancer.

The good folks in the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said they hoped the group’s new soft drink would give a wider market the chance to enjoy the health-giving properties of cow piss, in a form they promised would not smell or taste like urine.

Although gau jal has yet to appear in US supermarkets, it has found a niche market in Italy, where it is sold as “acqua di vacca.”

2 Bird’s Nest Drink

Rather than building a nest out of twigs, certain species of swiftlets regurgitate long strands of sticky saliva onto a wall. The saliva hardens into a cement-hard woven cup, prized as a delicacy in China for purported health benefits including a stronger liver, an enhanced immune system and softer skin.

After washing to remove feathers and droppings, the nest resembles a sponge made of thin, white strips. An ordinary nest sells for about $500 per catty, a Chinese unit of weight amounting to just over a pound. Rarer are “blood nests,” so-called because of a reddish tinge derived from blood in the birds’ saliva, which cost as much as $1,300 a catty.

To make the benefits of bird’s nests more affordable for the average consumer, some companies sell it in beverage form, which supposedly has a slightly mineral and sugary, floral flavor. The texture, however, is said to be gelatinous and lumpy, with tiny bits of bird’s nest floating around inside.

Pollution and human encroachment, however, are eroding the cliffs where the swiftlets live, causing rising prices and leading some “harvesters” to grab nests as soon as they are built, or while they still have eggs inside them.

But, hey—who wouldn’t drink a little slimy, lumpy endangered bird vomit for smoother, healthier skin?

1Placenta 10000 And Placenta-Pro

For the female consumer seriously concerned with aging, nothing beats products based on placentophagy, the practice of ingesting a baby’s placenta after giving birth. The placenta—a temporary uterine organ that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby via the umbilical cord—contains high levels of iron, vitamin B-12, and hormones. Eating it is said to increase a new mother’s energy and breast milk production, while decreasing postpartum depression and bleeding, and making her look younger, to boot.

But what if you want the benefits of the placenta without all the fuss of giving birth? Enter Nihon Sofuken’s Placenta 10000, a sippable, peach-flavored jelly made from the placental extract of pigs. Never mind that the benefits of placentophagy haven’t been scientifically proven. Plenty of companies still sell placenta as a youth-enhancing ingredient, in everything from chips and tablets to drinks and smoothies.

And if porcine placenta doesn’t sound strong enough for you, there’s always Placenta-pro, made from the placental extract of horses. Hi ho, Silver oy veh!

Jackie Fuchs is a writer and attorney with a B.A. in linguistics from UCLA and a J.D. from Harvard. She played bass (as Jackie Fox) for the ‘70s all-girl rock band, The Runaways, with Joan Jett and Lita Ford.

Jackie is a former journalist and Huffington Post blogger, with an interest in word origins and medieval history. Her blog Nothing Too Trivial (Interesting Things for Interested People) can be found here.

In London in 1851, the Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held. The luxurious pavilions and grand attractions drew crowds from across the globe and began an impressive tradition of World’s Fairs.

These universal exhibitions were held frequently throughout the Victorian Era (and less frequently throughout the 20th and 21st centuries). We have these worldwide events to thank for iconic structures like the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. T the fairs were also an opportunity for inventors and artists to show off what they’d been working on. Sometimes, these immediately took the world by storm, but sometimes, they slowly crept into the public consciousness.

Here are ten ordinary things you might not know debuted at World’s Fairs.

Related: Top 10 Game-Changing Recent Inventions and Innovations

10 Ketchup

It seems impossible to imagine eating a hot dog or french fries without the option of adding some ketchup. But before the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, you would have been hard-pressed to find any that was being distributed on a commercial level.

It was here that the Heinz company, which at this point was mostly known for manufacturing horseradish, created a new tomato “catsup.” While tomato sauces had been popular since the 1700s, Heinz advertised its sauce as “Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!” because it was much easier to buy it pre-bottled than make it at home. The Centennial Exposition allowed Heinz to distribute free samples and merchandise (including the iconic pickle pin,) skyrocketing the popularity of a classic American condiment.

The telephone also debuted at this fair, but I think we all know which is more important.^[1]

9 Cherry Coke

While Coca-Cola has been around since 1886, it wasn’t until the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, that the company capitalized on more flavors.

It was here, almost 100 years after the soda’s invention, that Cherry Coke debuted. It was intended to imitate the taste of cherry sodas made at soda fountains in local drugstores before canned or bottled soda was popular. Thus, while cherry cola had been around for a long time, this was the first time Coca-Cola was actually creating it themselves. The cherry variation of Coke was immediately a hit, and three years later, it was released to the public.

Today, you can buy not just cherry-flavored Coke but also vanilla, lime, orange, and many other limited-edition flavors.^[2]

8 Color Television

The 1964 World’s Fair in New York City’s belle of the ball was Radio Corporation America. In a time when television was taking over the country, RCA installed over 250 televisions across the fairgrounds. But not just any televisions—color ones.

Though TVs weren’t exactly rare in the 1960’s, regular civilians had never seen screens with color before. As if this wasn’t enough, RCA had a special treat for fairgoers. They could see themselves on screen in the RCA pavilion! A color TV studio was also featured, where visitors would watch announcements and reports take place live.

Oddly enough, lost children got a special treat. They were televised across the fair in order to help parents find them from wherever they were within the pavilion.^[3]

7 Cellophane

No trip to Grandma’s would be complete without a little piece of candy, usually wrapped in clear plastic called cellophane. At the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, you could watch this tradition be created in real time at the “Wonderful World of Chemistry” exhibit. This area of the fair featured a candy wrapping machine, which wrapped up to 400 pounds of hard candy with cellophane every day.

Cellophane is still used on a daily basis by florists, gift wrappers, and food product companies, but it’s not quite the attraction it was in the early 1900s.^[4]

6 Zipper

Though it was invented and patented back in 1851, the “automatic continuous clothing closure” did not rise in popularity until 1893, when inventor Whitcomb Judson presented his “clasp locker” at the Chicago World’s Fair.

Judson’s version of the clasp was originally intended just for shoes, but as the patent notes, it could be useful for many kinds of clothing. While the clasp was not an instant hit at the fair, having to compete with Buffalo Bill shows and the Ferris wheel, Judson was inspired by interest from corporations. By 1920, “zippers,” so-called for the sound they made, were commonplace on boots. From there, they became popular on children’s clothing and grew into the staple we know them as today.^[5]

5 Pay Toilets

In most European countries, you’ll find no shortage of toilets to relieve yourself—as long as you have a few Euros.

Though they aren’t widely used in America, pay-per-use toilets can be found all across the world, from Mexico to Singapore. However, the first one premiered at the Great Exhibition World’s Fair in 1851. Almost a million visitors paid a penny to pee in the “monkey closets,” and the toilets were such a success they stayed up long after the rest of the fair was taken down.

“Spending a penny” became a Victorian-Era euphemism for using the bathroom. However, for a penny, they got quite a bit more. Each penny at the fair got you a comb and shoe shine included in the visit to the water closet.^[6]

4 Dishwasher

Spite is a great motivator.

In 1883, Ohio housewife Josephine Cochrane was done wasting time cleaning up after dinner parties, allegedly saying, “If no one else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I’ll do it myself.” And that’s what she did.

Just three years later, Cochran patented her hand-powered dishwashing machine. Unfortunately, investors refused to collaborate with Cochran unless she handed over control to a man, which she wouldn’t do. In 1893, Cochran got the opportunity to show off her machine at the Chicago World’s Fair. She won the prize for “best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work,” and restaurants and stores from around the world clambered to learn how it worked.

For the first few years, dishwashers were only used in large batches, such as for hotels and stores. It wouldn’t be until the 1950s, after Cochran had died, that they became a luxury for personal homes.^[7]

3 Moving Walkway

Take a stroll through almost any airport in the world, and you’ll find adults and children alike marveling at the wonder of the moving walkway. Even in 2024, these futuristic mechanical sidewalks are fascinating to use (and great for tiring kids out during long layovers).

The idea for a moving sidewalk came about from French engineer Eugene Henard, who planned to debut it at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete the invention before then, and it wasn’t until 1893 that it would come to fruition. At the Chicago World’s Fair, inventor Joseph Lyman Silsbee created the first version of the moving walkway, which featured a section for riders to sit and another to stand or walk.

The walkway frequently broke down and thus did not make a huge impact on guests at the fair. Luckily, Silsbee had another opportunity to show off the contraption at the 1900 World’s Fair, also in Paris. This one was much more successful and was even featured in a few of Thomas Edison’s early short films.

As people began to imagine what the future might look like, automated walkways crept into the public’s eye. In 1962, the titular family in The Jetsons introduced their own personal moving walkways, called “slidewalks.” Today, we’re practically living in 2062 with George and Jane, as we can walk on moving walkways at amusement parks, zoos, museums, and airports around the globe.^[8]

2 Ice Cream Cone

Much like the popsicle, the invention of this summer staple came out of pure luck.

In 1904, St. Louis had the honor of hosting the World’s Fair. The summer’s heat meant ice cream was selling out fast. So fast that the “penny licks,” small serving glasses that were returned and reused by the vendors, had run out.

A Syrian concessionaire named Ernest Hamwi quickly curled one of his zalabias (a waffle-like pastry) into a conical shape and scooped the ice cream right into it, thereby creating the ice cream cone. In an interview years later, Hamwi said that as soon as they saw the cones, other ice cream vendors came up to him and bought the waffles to create their own cones, calling them “cornucopias.”

While it’s not certain that this was the first version of the ice cream cone, historians are certain this is what popularized it, as the St. Louis Globe-Democrat wrote in amazement about fairgoers eating ice cream out of “an inverted cone of hard cake, resembling a coiled-up waffle.”^[9]

1 Ferris Wheel

Now an iconic sign of summer carnivals and big cities all over the world, the Ferris wheel started as a rival to the Eiffel Tower.

Gustave Eiffel’s wrought-iron lattice tower debuted in 1889 at the Paris Exposition—also known as the Paris World’s Fair. It instantly became a symbol of the City of Love and hosted over two million visitors during the fair. So when Chicago was selected as the host of the 1893 World’s Fair, the Second City knew they’d have to create something big to rival Gustave Eiffel’s building.

What they came up with was a 231-foot (70.4 meter) tall wheel that was able to carry up to 2,160 people throughout its 36 cars. Designed by George Ferris, the wheel was intended to be a temporary creation. It was dismantled at the end of the fair in 1894. But that was far from the end of this amusement ride. Its thrilling (at the time) nature and ability to show off city skylines made it a staple in public celebrations.

Though it’s world famous, the Ferris wheel probably isn’t Chicago’s most famous Ferris. That goes to Mr. Bueller, of course.^[10]

Birds do more than fly and tweet. Their family life includes love triangles and dropping the kids off at a creche. Their stories also show how one island loved a duck and what happens when the world’s deadliest bird is kept as a pet.

These feathered creatures stun onlookers with daring survival situations. Meanwhile, scientists have fiery disagreements about trees stuck in nets and the killing of a bird sought for decades.

10 Super Colliders

Decades of research showed that city lights cause more birds to hit windows. The worst affected are migratory species. Several thrush, warbler, and sparrow species now smash so often into buildings that scientists call them “super colliders.”

In 2019, a new study examined 70,000 “crash” specimens from Cleveland and Chicago (both located in a migratory bird lane). Most were songbirds that used nocturnal flight calls. The latter helps birds to navigate as a flock.

The study could not solve the mass deaths with certainty. However, it found a good clue in previous research: Birds called to each other three times less often in rural areas than they did in cities. It appeared that city lights disoriented the birds, prompting them to call more often to reconnect with the flock. This vicious circle lures other individuals toward the lights.^[1]

9 The Netting Fight

The United Kingdom lost over 40 million birds in the last 50 years. Conservation bodies know that nesting sites are important. In fact, it is illegal to remove an active nest.

During 2019’s spring—and bird breeding season—a fight erupted between bird lovers and housing developers. The latter avoid breaking the “active nest” law by putting up nets over trees and hedgerows earmarked for removal. This not only blocked nesting sites but there were also reports of birds getting stuck in the nets and ultimately dying.

Despite thousands of signatures pushing to make hedgerow netting illegal, the practice remains lawful. Developers have planted new trees, nine million in 2018 alone. But even conservationists who sympathize with the pressures that builders face say that developers can at least check their nets regularly for trapped birds. Apparently, this is not the case.^[2]

8 Cassowary Attacks

The world’s most dangerous bird is the cassowary. At first glance, it seems a bit harmless, just a large flightless bird with a bright neck. But this Australia and New Guinea native is so dangerous that experienced zookeepers avoid being alone with it. Cassowaries have been recorded kicking tourists off cliffs or cornering them up trees.

In 2019, a man in Florida was killed by his pet cassowary. The severe injuries that cost the 75-year-old his life were probably due to the bird’s middle toe. Each foot has three digits with formidable nails, but the middle one is practically a dagger. A kick can cause horrific damage.

The choice of pet had bird experts shaking their heads. Indeed, Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission views cassowaries as “Class II Wildlife,” which involves danger to people and a lot of permits.^[3]

7 The Loneliest Duck

In 2018, the editor of a newspaper visited Niue island. The latter is 2,400 kilometers (1,500 mi) from New Zealand and has a population of 1,600. To his surprise, he found a duck—something not native to the island. An article gave “Trevor” a brief spell of fame as Niue’s only duck. Some dubbed him “the world’s loneliest duck.”

The mallard appeared after a storm, which likely separated Trevor from his flock. However he arrived, the bird chose to stay. He became a local mascot and even a landmark. “Turn right after the duck” became legitimate advice to travelers.^[4]

His home was a roadside puddle often topped up by the local fire department. The islanders also took turns feeding the wayward bird. Trevor was not that lonely. He made friends with chickens and other birds. Sadly, in January 2019, the mallard was attacked and killed by a dog.

6 The Kingfisher Controversy

The mustached kingfisher is a feathery holy grail. The entire history of this rare bird is hinged on three dead female specimens. In 2015, Christopher Filardi from the American Museum of Natural History found a male. Discovered in the Solomon Islands, the gorgeous creature had a vibrant blue back and orange mask.

After photographing the history-making kingfisher, Filardi killed it. This caused a furor. Other biologists did not care for Filardi’s claims that he had assessed the local population’s numbers before killing the kingfisher. Many scientists feel that conservation research need not be so bloody, especially concerning a species with poorly documented behaviors.

The debate is not new.

For over a century, experts have been starkly divided over whether the fatal collection of specimens is necessary. The kingfisher incident received more coverage than most “scientific killings” due to its status as the first male seen by science. But the great auk, for example, was driven to extinction when researchers desired the rare penguin-like birds and paid hunters handsomely to harvest them.^[5]

5 Mama Merganser

Minnesota presented a feathery mystery in 2018. A photographer snapped a duck at Lake Bemidji, and remarkably, she had 76 ducklings. The mother was dubbed Mama Merganser. (The large family belonged to the species Mergus merganser.)

In the past, extreme limits saw up to 30 ducklings snake after a single female. A mother duck, however, can only incubate around 20. Mama Merganser would have failed spectacularly had she tried to sit on 76 eggs.

Nesting ducks often collect more eggs than they naturally produce. Mothers walk between nests and deposit eggs everywhere. For this reason, a female often incubates her own eggs and a few adopted ones. It is more likely that Mama ran a so-called creche. This happens when younger females abandon their newborn ducklings with a more experienced mother.

Even so, the size of the Minnesota creche is outstanding. Nobody really knows which ducklings are Mama Merganser’s own, how many females laid eggs in her nest, or how many were given to her as newborns.^[6]

4 Eagle Love Triangle

In recent years, researchers documented only the fourth time when three adult eagles decided to nest together. It started around 2016 when a male-female pair raised chicks in the Upper Mississippi River Refuge.

The male, Valor I, was a deadbeat dad and mate. The female, Hope, had to incubate, hunt, and raise the chicks—duties that eagle parents normally share. This was perhaps the reason why she did not object when a second male, Valor II, courted her. After the new guy moved in, Valor I stepped up and all three adults shared the duties.^[7]

In 2017, Hope was lost when two other males attacked the nest. Valor I and II continued to raise the chicks by themselves. After the kids grew up and left, the dads stayed together and even courted a new female together. Called Starr, she became their mate that fall, and the trio hatched three eaglets. They have been together ever since.

3 The Whirlpool Video

In March 2019, an online video caused anguish among bird lovers. The footage showed a bird drifting toward a massive whirlpool before being sucked in. The nature of the vortex suggested that the creature came to a bad end. The 61-meter-deep (200 ft) funnel was actually a drain. It ran 18 stories down to a creek below the reservoir serving Lake Berryessa in California.

When the lake swells too much, water is drained down the tunnel (which happened that day). The man who shot the footage was the lake’s water resources manager, Rick Fowler. He was merely taking a video of the vortex when the bird unexpectedly floated into view.

The frightening speed that pulled it down the drain combined with the force of the water caused many online commentators to declare the duck dead. However, Fowler said the bird survived—for the very reason that it was not a duck. It was a cormorant, a waterfowl known for waterproof feathers and the ability to dive deeply into the ocean.^[8]

Fowler said that the cormorant came out the other end a bit dazed but then flew up to a safe spot near the creek.

2 Instant Evolution

Daphne Major is an island in the Galapagos. During a visit, researchers noticed a large cactus finch. While known around the Galapagos, the species was not native to Daphne Major.

The male—the first cactus finch to jump to Daphne—was bigger and had a different song than local species. The newcomer’s tryst with two females, both called medium ground finches, produced hybrid offspring.

Unlike most hybrids, the chicks had no fertility problems. However, they were isolated by the local finches because their mating song—unlike their father’s—was not recognized. The hybrids could only mate with each other. Their inbred status grew when only two survived the 2002–03 drought. The brother-sister pair had 26 chicks, of which nine survived.^[9]

By 2012, there were eight breeding pairs, and in 2017, they were officially declared a new species. The original male’s legacy was priceless. It allowed scientists to watch an entire species evolve in just two generations. In evolutionary terms, that was lightning quick.

1 The Half-Sider Cardinal

In 2019, Shirley Caldwell from Pennsylvania photographed a cardinal. Although males are red, the females have tan bodies. This one was split down the middle: The right side was red, and the left was tan. The bird was half male, half female.

Experts call such animals bilateral gynandromorphs (aka “half-siders”). These two-toned wonders also show up in butterfly and crustacean species. This cardinal probably split due to a chromosomal mix-up early in its development.

It is believed that half-siders are formed when an egg cell contains two nuclei instead of one. Each develops as a different gender and results in a perfectly halved chick.

The cardinal probably cannot sing, which is something only the males can do. However, it might raise a family as a female. As its left side is female, fertile eggs could happen. This is because only the left ovary in birds actually works. Indeed, the photographer noticed that a male cardinal courted the half-sider as if it were fully female.^[10]

The world is a very strange place indeed. There is no telling what lurks behind picket fences. Below are some of the very strangest locales across the globe, from a city mired in garbage to a community of retired circus freaks.

10Manshiyat Naser, Egypt
Garbage City

In the suburbs of America, people prowl neighborhoods on bulk collection day, picking up cast-off furniture and the like to flip for a profit. Sanitation workers, who develop a keen eye for this sort of thing over the course of their careers, call the valuable trinkets they manage to salvage “mongo.” But nowhere in the world is garbage as important a part of the economy as Manshiyat Naser, a ward of Cairo.

The people of Manshiyat Naser scrape together a life processing the trash of Cairo’s 10 million residents. It is a hard life: There is no running water, sewers, or electricity, and every spare inch of space is packed with towers of garbage. Those pigs that weren’t slaughtered during the 2009 swine flu scare root around in the filth.

Living in extreme poverty, the families of “Garbage City” tend to each specialize in a particular type of trash, with some relying on recyclable bottles, others on metal, and others burning what they can for warmth.

9Thames Town, China
Abandoned England

It seems strange that the world’s most populous country could have so many ghost towns, but China’s zeal for construction far outstrips demand. Entire cities sit mostly empty, with vacancy rates on even new homes nationwide approaching 20 percent.

One such empty city is Thames Town. Located about 32 kilometers (20 mi) from Shanghai, this town was built with an exacting eye for detail to resemble a quaint English market town, complete with rowhouses, cobblestone streets, a pub, and a fish and chips shop.

Completed in 2006, Thames Town sits mostly empty, leaving everything with a creepy Twilight Zone vibe. About the only thing that Thames Town is popular for is wedding photography: Newlyweds love the novel backdrop.

There are also other abandoned European style towns throughout China, including Tianducheng, built to replicate Paris, complete with a one-third scale version of the Eiffel Tower.

8Gibsonton, Florida
Where The Freaks Wintered

Traveling circuses and carnivals have always been a seasonal business, and during the bleak winter months, employees were forced to go south. One of their most storied refuges was Florida’s Gibsonton, a sleepy town outside Tampa. “Gibtown” embraced its part-time residents, adjusting zoning laws to allow people to keep exotic animals and carnival rides on their property. The post office even lowered their counter for dwarf performers.

The town’s famous inhabitants included odd couple Al and Jeanie Tomaini. Al was a pituitary giant. Jeanie, who was born without legs, was only one-quarter as tall as him, and Al carried her around like a baby. The couple retired to Gibtown, running a lodge and fishing camp and serving in the community.

Another resident was Grady Stiles, who suffered from ectrodactyly, a congenital disorder that made his hands and feet look like lobster claws. According to his family, “Lobster Boy” was a vicious and abusive man who murdered his daughter’s fiance a day before the wedding. Stiles himself was murdered in November 1992 by a man paid by his wife.

These days, most of the performers who once populated Gibtown have died, and the town mostly resembles any other, except for its bizarre ghosts.

7Zarechny, Russia
Closed City

In the wake of World War II, the USSR went into overdrive in its preparation to take on America. Many cities with research facilities and munitions factories that fed the Soviet war machine were “closed”—literally removed from maps, the lives of their residents severely restricted.

As Russia is slightly less terrifying than its predecessor, it has liberated many closed cities. However, several remain closed, including Zarechny, a city of just over 60,000 in the western part of the country. According to the town’s own website, Zarechny is a “closed administrative-territorial formation,” strategically significant as components for nuclear weapons are built behind its walls. The city’s biggest employer is Rosatom, a state corporation that regulates nuclear technology.

There is very little movement into or out of Zarechny, and the city is officially closed to outsiders with rare exception, fenced off with walls and barbed wire. However, there are benefits to living in closed cities, including better compensation.

6Rennes-le-Chateau, France
Church Conspiracy

Located in the French Pyrenees, Rennes-le-Chateau is a tiny Catholic village. Once an average little place inhabited by some 300 people, it was visited in 1885 by a preacher named Francois Berenger Sauniere. The impoverished priest soon began exhibiting fabulous wealth, rebuilding the local church, an 11th-century structure dedicated to Mary Magdalene. One of the most bizarre adornments that he commissioned was a statue of the devil clutching a holy water font. At the entrance of the church, he had the legend inscribed Terribilis Est Locus Iste (“This Place Is Terrible”). Next door, he built a fabulous villa for himself.

The source of his wealth generated significant controversy, with many believing that Sauniere was the center of a great conspiracy. People claimed that he’d discovered some ancient treasure dating back to the Crusades or else had shady ties with the Vatican. Others believed he’d discovered some secret about the life of Christ.

The conspiracy surrounding Sauniere would later inspire author Dan Brown to write the worldwide bestseller The Da Vinci Code. The book, in turn, led to an enormous influx of tourism to the area, with eager treasure hunters digging up graves. Things got so bad that Sauniere’s corpse had to be exhumed in 2004 and buried in a concrete sarcophagus.

Real estate prices skyrocketed, and a cottage industry grew around the novel’s legacy and the strange legend of Francois Berenger Sauniere. However, some consider this all for naught, ascribing Sauniere’s wealth not to some vast secret treasure or access to the Holy Grail, but rather good old fashioned fraud, accepting money for prayers and masses that he never performed.

5Chess City, Elista, Kalmykia
A Madman’s Fantasy

In Kalmykia, a republic of Russia, among the barren steppes sits a bizarre sight—a giant glass dome surrounded by a California-style neighborhood. This is Chess City, a mecca to the game of kings, dreamed up by chess-obsessed former president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Woven through the neighborhood are various chess-themed sculptures. The city held some major championship matches over the years, but Ilyumzhinov’s ambition was ultimately vanity. Today, the Chess Palace sits largely empty, and the neighborhood around it is sinking gradually into decay.

The city’s mastermind is even weirder than his creation. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov claims to have had contact with aliens and says his destiny was spelled out for him by a blind Bulgarian psychic named Babuska Vanga. Vanga told him he would become President of Kalmykia and also of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Ilyumzhinov took control of the republic in 1993 and became head of the FIDE two years later, hatching a grand plan to turn his land into a chess wonderland.

Exactly where the money to construct the city (an estimated $30–50 million) came from is unknown—Kalmykia is desperately poor. However, the citizens of Kalmykia might not have much to worry about. According to Ilyumzhinov, the aliens will one day return and “pack us all into their spaceships and take us away from this place.”

4Noiva Do Cordeiro, Brazil
All-Woman Town

Many say the world would be better off if women were in charge. In southeast Brazil, it is possible to find out if that is indeed the case. Noiva Do Cordeiro (“Bride of the Lamb”) was established in 1891 by a woman named Senhorinha de Lima after she was driven out of her own community for adultery. This rural, 600-strong community is composed almost entirely of women. Only a handful have husbands, most of whom work in the city of Belo Horizonte some 100 kilometers (60 mi) away, only spending time with their wives on the weekends.

This community of Amazons is surrounded by rainforest and verdant farmland that the women tend. They are in charge of nearly every aspect of the town, from religious matters to planning events. However, many miss having romance in their lives. Unfortunately, they know that bringing men into the Noiva Do Cordiero could destroy the balance they have achieved. As 23-year-old resident Nelma Fernandes puts it, “I haven’t kissed a man for a long time. We all dream of falling in love and getting married . . . But first they need to agree to do what we say and live according to our rules.”

3Neft Daslari, Azerbaijan
Oily Rock

When oil was discovered in the Caspian Sea in the late 1940s, the USSR built the world’s first offshore platform. As there was no precedent, there was no set plan for this structure. Over the years, more and more was added, until it was a sprawling complex of oil rigs, roads, bridges, piers, apartment buildings, and even a cinema.

The labyrinthine structure is moored to the bottom of the sea by sunken ships and industrial debris. At one time, it was one of the major providers of oil for the USSR, but in the years since, new, more accessible oilfields have been discovered.

Today, Neft Daslari (“oily rock”) resembles humanity’s attempt to rebuild after some apocalyptic event. Much of the complex is unreachable, the bridges connecting it crumbling into the sea. Some of the apartment buildings are underwater.

The workforce has been reduced to a fraction of what it once was, but an air of secrecy continues to pervade the facility. For instance, if you go on Google maps to get an aerial view, you will find that it won’t zoom in. The facility has generated such intrigue over the years that it was featured in the 1999 James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

2Najaf, Iraq
The Necropolis

For those not given to superstitious leanings, living next door to a cemetery can be quite ideal. Your neighbors are quiet and probably won’t ask to borrow your lawn mower. But for those of a squeamish bent, life in Najaf, Iraq must be a nightmare. This city is home to Wadi Al-Salam, the world’s largest cemetery. Nearly double the size of New York City’s Central Park, the cemetery is the final resting place of some five million souls. Burials have been conducted on a daily basis for over 1,400 years.

As ISIS continue to slaughter innocents across the country, the resources of Wadi Al-Salam have grown thin. Some 200 corpses stream into this ancient necropolis each day. Desperate families have been forced to steal plots and even bury their loves ones beneath the sidewalks, as it can cost in excess of $10,000 to be interred in the cemetery.

1Auroville, India
The City of Dawn

Most experiments at creating utopias end poorly. One such stab at perfection was Auroville, India, founded in 1968 by Mirra “The Mother” Alfassa. Today, the city is home to over 2,000 people from all over the world. No one owns property, and almost no money is exchanged. There is no leader or any real set of rules.

According to their website “Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.” The core of Auroville is a massive temple called “The Matrimandir,” symbolic of Alfassa. It is a geodesic dome (think Epcot Center) swathed in golden discs. The Matrimandir does not advocate any particular religion and is open to the public by appointment.

Auroville is quite open to tourism and features plenty of guest houses and restaurants should you wish to visit and find your spiritual center.

Mike Devlin is an aspiring novelist.

When most people go on vacation, they do it to relax. Others, however, like a little less relaxation and a little more courting death. Fortunately, there are a variety of death-defying tourist destinations scattered around the world, so no matter how you’d like to stare death in the face, you’ve got a choice.

10Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome

In total, around 60 people have died on Half Dome and the trail leading up to it. Hiking up Half Dome takes an entire day, during which you’ll climb over 1,500 meters (5,000 ft), burn anywhere from 4,000 to 9,800 calories, and climb the last 120 meters (400 ft) nearly vertical with the assistance of metal cables. And that’s where many of the problems start to occur.

Hikers are discouraged from undertaking the climb when conditions are wet, because the combination of slippery cables and slippery rocks can be deadly—so deadly, in fact, that the bottom part of the cliff on the same side as Mirror Lake is known as the Death Slabs. Even when it’s not wet and slippery, accidents are still well documented.

In 2012, a man slipped from the cables and had to be rescued after trying to grab a radio dropped by a person above him. Deaths of 2011 include three hikers who ignored guardrails and fell into Vernal Falls, another man who slipped and fell onto the Mist Trail (ultimately swept away and killed by the same river), and a 26-year-old who slipped on the cables and fell 180 meters (600 ft).

Falls and drowning aren’t the only dangers. There are also records of hikers being struck by lightning while attempting to make the climb. The Yosemite Search and Rescue team estimates that about 60 percent of their duties involve rescuing hikers in distress. They rely not just on helicopters for rescues and preparedness for medical emergencies, but also on canine search and rescue and swiftwater rescue teams.

9Alnwick Gardens

Because regular, non-deadly gardens lack a certain sense of adventure, Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, decided to make the gardens of Alnwick Castle something extra special. When she found herself at the head of the Alnwick household, she also inherited gardens that had long been neglected.

Originally thinking that she was going to include a section of plants known for their healing properties, she realized that wasn’t as much fun as plants that were poisonous. The result is a gated area on the grounds known as The Poison Garden, and it’s full of warnings and plants that can cause certain death. Even though visitors are a relatively safe distance from the plants and can’t actively smell or touch them, some have fainted from the toxic fumes that are released into the air.

While some of the plants have a bizarre, unsettling history—like the angel’s trumpet, which acts as an aphrodisiac before its poisonous effects kick in—other plants that the duchess has included in her garden have another meaning. She’s included plants like the coca plant and cannabis, seeing the garden as a valuable teaching tool for the schoolchildren that come through. While many of them might be bored by a trip to regular gardens, she sees her poison garden as a great way to get kids intrigued by plants and their properties.

8Hawaii’s Volcano Tours

If you’re the type that thinks checking out an active volcano is the way to go for a vacation, you’re in luck, as you have a couple of different choices in Hawaii. Both have track records of death and the National Park Service actually temporarily shut down the bicycle tour (mentioned below) in 2007 after there were three deaths and a number of serious injuries within the space of a year.

For a fee—about $100—tourists are driven up to the top of an active volcano and they then ride a bicycle down. Deaths came when people lost control of their bicycles on the downgrade, but that’s not the only way taking a volcano tour can kill you. In the decade between 1992–2002, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park reported 40 deaths and 45 major injuries.

The volcanoes—including Kilauea, which has been erupting almost non-stop since 1938—are a major tourist attraction for the islands. Called geotourism, the trend exposes people to a number of risks aside from the potentially deadly lava. Just as dangerous as the obvious lava flows are the gases that are released into the air. A number of the deaths are of park staff as well as tourists and are attributed to the presence of lava haze. The haze, which looks like a harmless white vapor cloud, is actually a deadly mix of hydrochloric acid, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide.

The gases, while deadly on their own, can also increase the problems caused by asthma and heart conditions. Add in the scalding ocean water, the potential for flying rocks, and a chronic lack of preparation on the part of hikers, and the potential for death—or at least serious complications—from checking out Hawaii’s volcanoes is high.

7Skellig Michael

Skellig Michael most recently made the news as one of the filming locations for Star Wars, but it’s been a beautiful, remote, and integral part of Irish culture for centuries. The site of a monastic settlement, it was chosen by the monks because of its inaccessibility and difficult terrain, something that hasn’t changed since its establishment sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries. It is now a World Heritage site.

Visit Greater Skellig’s website and you will be greeted with a safety video for visitors. It stresses that there are 600 ancient steps that wind their way up the side of the mountain, and there are absolutely no safety features whatsoever. There’s also no food or water, visitor centers, toilets, or shelter.

Getting to the island means an hour-long boat ride across potentially troublesome open ocean, and it’s not uncommon for landing on the island to become impossible because of high waves and choppy water. The area is particularly prone to falling rocks, but that’s not the only problem. The stone stairs, more than 1,000 years old, are rough, uneven, and meandering.

Two deaths only months apart in 2009 sparked a review of the safety conditions on the island. It was determined that the addition of railings would not only destroy the natural beauty and authenticity of the site, but also, according to the Irish Office of Public Works, the presence of a railing would do nothing but lure people into becoming complacent with “a false sense of security.”

In spite of public outcry, the only real safety measures taken include signage and a handout that specifies the dangers of slippery, wet stairs, falling rocks, a steep climb, and a reminder to be courteous to others sharing the potentially deadly pathway with you.

6Praia De Boa Viagem

Wide, sandy beaches, breathtaking sunsets, perfect weather, close proximity to urban nightlife, and warm, clear, ocean waters. Sounds like the perfect vacation, right? Possibly, if it wasn’t for the sharks. Praia de Boa Viagem has long been one of Brazil’s premiere destination spots for tourists from all over the world, but since 1992, the picturesque beach has been plagued by shark attacks.

Between 1992 and 2012, there were 56 shark attacks at the beach. You might say, “Sure, but that’s still less than Australia!” But people have a better chance of walking away from a shark attack in Australia than they do at Praia de Boa Viagem. There, one-third of all attacks end in fatality. The sharks in question are bull sharks, problematic because they tend to like the shallow, coastal waters that they end up sharing with swimmers and surfers—and they’re not really the ones at fault.

Porto Suape was built on breeding grounds for the sharks. When it opened in 1984, it also sealed off several estuaries that were once used by female sharks as a safe, sheltered place to bear their young. Tiger sharks are also thought to be a huge part of the problem, though less proof has been found of their attacks than of bull sharks.

They’re attracted to the area for a different reason—they also prefer coastal areas, but that’s because they have a tendency to follow ships and eat the garbage that gets thrown overboard. When they run into tourists paddling around in the shallows, that’s an even better meal. And although there are a number of lifeguards patrolling the beach, they don’t always recognize that there’s a problem developing in waist-high water until it’s too late.

5The Colorado River System

White-water rafting can be fun for the whole family, but the Colorado River system has been plagued with accidents, injuries, and fatalities. In 2014, part of the problem has been due in large part to an increase in the melting snowpack from higher up in Colorado’s mountain ranges. Heavy rains can potentially add to the problem, but according to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department, it’s the huge increase in melting snows that’s pushing them to issue high-water advisories for areas throughout the river system.

In 2007, the river system saw 12 fatalities and 176 serious injuries, and according to the state’s Division of Boating and Waterways, part of the problem is not just inexperience and neglect when it comes to wearing the proper safety equipment, but the atmosphere and attitude that goes along with boating and rafting on the river system.

Alcohol figures heavily into many accidents on the rivers, and with their Class V rapids, faster-than-usual currents, and high-running waters, it all adds up to making 2014 one of the deadliest years ever on the river system. During the first seven months of 2014, 15 deaths occurred on the waterways, tying the record high from 2009.

4The Beaches Of Acapulco

Acapulco is a name that’s been synonymous with one of the most relaxing, luxurious vacation spots that Americans can easily get to. Beaches, nice weather, huge city blocks built with the comfort of tourists in mind—unfortunately, those city blocks are in a city that has a crime rate that’s almost 30 times higher than the American average.

As recently as 2013, the murder rate was 142 per 100,000 citizens, and even though the city is quick to point out that it’s mostly drug-related and not tourist-centric at all, 200 murders in January and February of 2013 alone isn’t a great track record. There’s also no public information that details just where there’s the highest concentration of law enforcement patrols, or just where the murders happen.

In spite of assurances, stories still pepper the press with some pretty dark happenings on the beachfront paradise—including an incident in 2013 which saw the rape of six women on vacation. Afterward, Acapulco’s mayor stated that “it happens anywhere in the world,” which is a pretty cold statement to make—anywhere in the world.

According to the US Department of State’s Mexico Travel Warning, they recommend that if you do go to Acapulco, stay in specially designated tourist areas, plan rest stops carefully, make sure you have enough fuel to get you through the shady areas outside the tourist spots (if you absolutely need to travel through them), and travel by air when possible. In fact, when it comes to booking a place to stay for its employees, the US government will only book between the Hotel Avalon Excalibur Acapulco and Puerto Marquez, and it also forbids leaving the hotel after the Sun goes down.

3Cliffs Of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher have one of the most breathtaking views in Ireland, looking out over the rough Atlantic Ocean. Its rugged beauty is unobstructed by things such as safety rails, but the potential dangers are much greater than that. Not far from the parking lot is the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center, with their paved walkways, regular stone steps, and waist-high stone walls covered with signs warning people to stay off the walls.

But the walking trail extends out along the top of the cliffs, where it becomes something much more deadly. High, unpredictable winds, relentless and equally unpredictable rains coupled with steep sections of the path, loose gravel, and smooth stone mean that it’s not your normal walk in the park.

In 2006, one woman was walking along the top of the cliffs when winds swept her to her death at the bottom, while other deaths happen quite on purpose. In 2007, a 26-year-old mother took her four-year-old son with her when she jumped off the 180 meter (600 ft) cliff. This led to discussions over the implementation of policies directed not only toward warning people of the dangers of the site, but also putting plans in place to help those who go to the cliffs with intentions of jumping. And 2010 brought the focus onto the natural dangers presented by the cliffs, when a huge chunk of an upper ledge fell into the ocean.

2El Caminito Del Rey

The Caminito del Rey is so named because the now-deadly path was once walked by Spain’s King Alfonso XIII, shortly after its installation between two power plants in the Gaitanes Gorge. The man-made pathway is only about 1 meter (3 ft) wide (in the places that it still exists) and runs along a sheer cliff face about 100 meters (330 ft) tall. It’s technically closed to the public—and has been since five deaths between 1999–2000—but that doesn’t stop countless people from making the hike every year.

The pathway has fallen into disrepair over the years—and that’s something of an understatement. In many places, all that remains of the pathway are rusted metal rails, leaving the most daring no choice but to look straight down at the rocks below rather than at a nice, secure, wooden path. Many of the support beams are rusted through, and in some places, there’s no choice but to climb—carefully—along the side of the mountain.

Even where the path remains, holes are common, and even without a fear of heights, the view is dizzying. Although it’s technically illegal to walk there and trespassers face a hefty fine, it’s remained a popular destination—so popular that money is being sunk into extensive repairs, with the hopes that when the walkway reopens, it’s not only still popular but much, much safer.

1The Kokoda And Black Cat Trails

The Kokoda Trail is nearly 100 kilometers (60 mi) of hot, humid, treacherous, leech-infested territory running between the northern and southern coasts of Papua New Guinea. Its rainforests have exotic animals, jungles, clean water, and villages of native peoples who have lived off the land for generations. It is also the site of numerous World War II battles, fought between the Australians and the Japanese.

And every year, thousands of visitors make the trek, amid the threat of everything from trench foot to death. Walking the entire trail means six 10-hour days of walking, climbing, and swimming. Everything you need, you have to carry with you. Mountains make the miles seem even longer, and all the while you’re swatting mosquitoes that may or may not be carrying malaria. Walkers are escorted by guides, and along the way, many learn about the stories of the soldiers who fought and died in the old foxholes and amid the abandoned machinery. Dehydration, broken bones, and illness are the biggest threats, but there are others.

In September 2013, a group hiking the neighboring Black Cat Trail was attacked by a group of locals made up of villagers and escaped convicts. Two porters died after the machete attacks, and seven others were severely wounded—including one Australian who took a spear in the leg. Passports and personal belongings were stolen, and the whole thing was thought to be spurred by an ongoing battle between local tribes and villages—a battle to capitalize on the lucrative tourist trade acting as guides to those who come to walk the trails.

A town is generally accepted as any region bigger than a village and smaller than a city. It has its own government, name, and boundary, complete with marketplaces and people spread throughout the area. However, some towns have turned out to be very unique, including those built to look like other towns, and those built and then not inhabited. Some towns have only one resident, while the residents of other towns all live under one roof.

10The Villages
Florida

The Villages is a town in Florida that was built for retired people. It covers an area larger than Manhattan, and has over 100,000 inhabitants—most of whom move around in golf carts. In fact, it holds the Guinness World Record for assembling the longest golf cart parade in the world, with 3,321 total golf carts. The town—where children are forbidden—is also home to controversies and scandals. Old men and women have been caught making out in golf carts, and the men are known to fight over women. There is also a black market for Viagra, which costs about $12 for a single pill.

Unsurprisingly, the town—which has 10 women for every man—has also seen a massive rise in sexually transmitted diseases. In 2006, a gynecologist said she encountered more cases of herpes and human papillomavirus in the town than she did when she worked in Miami. Inhabitants are also known to drive under the influence (in golf carts), use illegal drugs, and engage in bar fights.

9Busingen Am Hochrhein
Germany

Busingen am Hochrhein is a German town in Switzerland. The town is separated from mainland Germany by a narrow strip of land, which measures about 700 meters (765 yards) at its narrowest point. Considering its unusual location, Busingen am Hochrhein is more of a Swiss town than a German one. It also enjoys public services from both Switzerland and Germany. It has a Swiss postal code (8238 Busingen) and a German postal code (78266 Busingen). It also has two telephone codes: +49 7734 (for Germany) and +41 52 (for Switzerland).

In case of an emergency, the Swiss or German police can be called in, although the Swiss police usually arrive first. Everybody living in Busingen is allowed to work and own properties in Switzerland, even if they do not possess Swiss citizenship. And, if a German citizen lives in Busingen for more than 10 years, he or she receives a special status similar to Swiss citizenship. The town’s football team—FC Busingen—also plays in the Swiss football league.

But the town never started off like this. Back in the 14th century, it was ruled by Austria. After the Lord of Busingen was killed by members of a nearby Swiss town, Austria vowed not to hand over the town to Switzerland. They later handed it over to a neighboring German town, and it was eventually claimed by Germany. In 1919, 96 percent of the locals voted to leave Germany and join Switzerland, but the Swiss wouldn’t offer anything in return, so the German government threw a fit and refused to let them go.

8Whittier
Alaska

Almost all of the 200-plus inhabitants of Whittier, Alaska live inside a single 14-story building called Begich Towers. The rest live in their vehicles, boats, or another, similar building. Begich Towers was built in 1956. Back then, it served as an army barracks, but today, it is a town complete with a police station, post office, store, church, video rental shop, playground, and health center—all located inside the building.

The only way to access the town is either via sea or through a 4-kilometer (2.6 mi) one-lane tunnel which has gates that open twice every hour, allowing cars in or out of the town. The tunnels close at night and do not reopen until the next day. Before 2001, the tunnel could not accommodate vehicles, and the only way to get to the town was a 100-kilometer (60 mi) train ride. Then, trains ran only few times a week. During summer months, Whittier gets about 22 hours of sunlight, and during winter, it could get covered in over 6.35 meters (250 in) of snow.

7Colma
California

The town of Colma, California has more dead people than living people, with 1,500 living inhabitants and over 1.5 million dead inhabitants. The history of the town can be traced back to the Gold Rush of 1849 which led hundreds of thousands of people to migrate to nearby San Francisco. They brought diseases and, subsequently, death. By the 1880s, the 26 cemeteries in the town had been almost filled and, by the late 1880s, cemetery owners began constructing cemeteries in southern Colma because it was easily accessible.

In March 1900, San Francisco’s government banned new burials within the city. They said this was necessary because the land was too valuable to be used as cemeteries. Later on, in January 1914, cemetery owners were ordered to remove all bodies buried in San Francisco. Politicians said that the cemeteries spread disease, but the cemetery operators believe it was because of the rising cost of real estate. Nevertheless, the operators removed the bodies, and moved them to Colma, leaving it sprawling with graveyards. Today, over 73 percent of Colma’s land is destined to become cemeteries.

6Monowi
Nebraska

Monowi was founded by Czech migrants in northeast Nebraska, and it has only one resident: 77-year-old Elsie Eller. Population-wise, Monowi is the smallest jurisdiction in the US. Elsie runs the town’s only tavern and library, which is made up of about 5,000 books owned by her late husband, Rudy. She also serves as the town’s mayor, clerk, and treasurer. She also runs the council. In the 1930s, the town had a population of about 150 people, but by 2000, it had two: Elsie and her husband, Rudy. Elsie’s husband passed away in 2004, leaving Elsie as the town’s lone resident. Every year, Elsie pays tax to the town to maintain its four streetlights and provide other basic amenities. Several abandoned buildings in the town are covered with grass, slowly fading into obscurity, while others have collapsed.

5Ordos
China

The city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, has been called the largest ghost town in China. It was built to accommodate more than a million people, but only 2 percent of it was ever occupied. The remainder is unoccupied and was left to decay. The history of the town began more than 20 years ago during the coal rush of Mongolia. Investors soon began building apartments, hoping to rent them out. However, demand didn’t keep pace with the builders, and many investors pulled out or went broke before the buildings were even completed.

Today, streets are filled with incomplete houses. Even the completed buildings are hardly occupied thanks to their high prices. Many of the residents occupying the town are also leaving for elsewhere. In just five years, price per square foot fell from $1,100 to $470. To encourage people to come to the town, investors have reduced prices. Fresh graduates who move to the town to start a business are even given office space, Internet connections, and several other utilities for free.

4Longyearbyen
Norway

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen in Norway is the northernmost city in the world. It contains the world’s northernmost church, ATM, museum, post office, airport, and university. In Longyearbyen, dying is forbidden. Anyone found ill or dying is immediately flown by airplane or ship to another part of Norway before he or she passes away. And, if someone suddenly dies there, they would not be buried.

Dying is forbidden because bodies buried in the town’s cemetery do not decompose thanks to its extreme cold weather. Scientists recently removed tissue from a man who died years ago, and discovered that it contained traces of a deadly virus that caused an epidemic in 1917. Aside from not being allowed to die, citizens are also allowed to move around with high-powered rifles, thanks to the over 3,000 polar bears hanging around. Cats are also forbidden because they pose a threat to the bird population.

3Asymmetric Warfare Training Center (AWTC)
Virginia

The Asymmetric Warfare Training Center (AWTC) in Virginia is an uninhabited town built by the US Army to train its soldiers. The town is complete with a school, church, mosque, train station, and a five-story embassy that’s likely the tallest building in Virginia’s Caroline County, where it is located. It also has a gas station, football field, bank, subway, and bridge. The school is built to replicate schools in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the subway resembles that of Washington, D.C. The trains even have the same logo as those found on trains in Washington. Costing $90.1 million to build, it is run by the US Army Asymmetric Warfare Group.

Another similar town is called Yodaville. It was built in the middle of the Arizona desert by the US Air Force. The uninhabited town, built to look like towns in Iraq and Afghanistan, is meant to teach Air Force pilots how to carry out bombing runs.

2Marloth Park
South Africa

Marloth Park is close to the Kruger National Park, which is filled with wildlife including lions, hippopotamuses, and crocodiles. What makes the town unique is that, despite the dangers of having these wild animals close by, residents are not allowed to build fences around their houses. The only fence that separates the townspeople from the park is a small 1.2-meter (4 ft) fence that was built more to keep humans out of the park than to keep the animals in.

It is not unusual to see wild animals walking about the town. Baboons are known to enter houses through windows to steal from the refrigerators, and giraffes and elephants are known to block the road. Lion attacks on humans are also not uncommon. Eyebrows were raised when a lion attacked, killed, and ate a burglar fleeing with his loot, leaving only his head and a foot. Even after the deadly attack, most of the town’s occupants want the lions to remain. Some said the burglar was shot while escaping, and his corpse was eaten by lions. Others said the lions would serve as a form of crime control for the town, which was seeing a rise in burglary.

Cyclists are often the victims of attacks. This belies underlying race issues in the town, as most of the town’s residents are white and have cars, while the bicyclists are mostly black people who commute there for work. One cyclist managed to escape an ambush staged by four lions, abandoning his bicycle and fleeing to safety. Townsmen have nicknamed people riding bicycles at night “meals on wheels.”

1Hallstat
China

The real Hallstat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Austria. The Chinese Hallstat is a similar mock-up town built in Guangdong province, China. The town, which cost about $940 million to build, looks like the real Hallstat, including its roads, church tower, and wooden houses. The town’s construction was sponsored by a Chinese millionaire, and it caused quite a stir among residents of the real Hallstat who were not aware of the project.

Residents of Austria’s Hallstat (including the mayor) later visited the town. They said they were proud that their town was copied (it wasn’t like they could do anything about it), but they did not like the way the Chinese went about it. They were supposed to have met with the owners of the buildings they copied and asked if they were comfortable with the idea of replicating their buildings elsewhere, rather than just building them. The company that built the mock-up town, called Minmetals, had sent several of its workers to Austria’s Hallstat where they took pictures of places to replicate.

Elizabeth is an aspiring writer and author.

It’s an oft-repeated notion: Everything on Earth has already been explored and how awesome it would have been if we had been born in the Age of Exploration. In a consistently shrinking world due to technology and advanced research tools, that does seem to be true. After all, why would we be thinking about going to distant planets in the solar system if we hadn’t already seen everything on Earth?

For some reason, though, a lot of places on our planet have yet to be explored and many species of organisms have yet to be documented. It’s not due to the incompetence of our scientists and explorers. Political conflicts, harsh climates, and other local conditions are just some of the reasons that these places remain unmarred by human contact.

10 Cape Melville
Australia

If we were to make a list of relatively empty destinations to visit around the world, the whole of Australia would feature somewhere around the top. Despite being one of the most developed and technologically advanced countries on the planet, much of Australia’s landmass is inhospitable and empty, especially around the center. If you look at Australia’s map right now, you’d see that nearly all major cities are around the coasts.

Cape Melville—a mountain range in the northeastern extreme of the country—is sparsely populated and has been essentially cut off from the rest of the world. There are many reasons, including the fact that no one even knew the range existed until 1978 when a native told someone about a type of palm tree found there. Only a few teams had been able to visit the place until recently due to its lack of accessibility.^[1]

The landscape is dotted with huge boulders, dense forests, and mist. Scientists still regularly find new animal species when they visit. Knowing Australia and its deadly animals, we’d certainly wouldn’t suggest taking a trip here.

9 Caves Of Meghalaya
India

India is a huge country with a diverse array of landscapes and ecosystems as anyone who has ever visited there would tell you. Though it’s also one of the most continuously inhabited places in the world—even if some regions are emptier than others—all of it seems to be extensively explored at this point.

However, that’s only if you don’t include the northeastern part of the country, which has always been cut off from the rest of India due to its geographical location. We had no idea some places there even existed, and the most mysterious are the caves in the state of Meghalaya.

With one of the largest cave systems in the world, Meghalaya is home to many underground caverns and isolated ecosystems we still haven’t been able to fully explore. Krem Puri, the world’s longest sandstone cave at around 24,000 meters (79,000 ft), was only discovered in 2016.^[2] Meanwhile, Krem Um Ladaw was found earlier this year with a shaft as deep as 105 meters (344 ft).

That’s still just the tip of the iceberg. Local experts believe that we’re far from uncovering the full extent of Meghalaya’s cave network.

8 Vale Do Javari
Brazil

A lot has been said about North Sentinel Island and its uncontacted tribe, especially since a Christian missionary recently died on his expedition there. Some people assume that they’re the only uncontacted people in the world as no one would expect something like that to exist in 2019 without making the news.

If you look at the Amazon rain forest, though, you’d find vast regions that are still waiting to be explored and include a tribe that has never been in touch with the rest of the world. Known as the Javari, they live in a valley named after them—Vale do Javari (“Javari Valley”).

Just like the Sentinelese, the Javari have resisted any attempts to get in touch with them. It makes sense to let them be, too, as they’re susceptible to many deadly diseases that the rest of us developed immunity to a long time ago. A single exposure could completely wipe them out.^[3]

It also seems like they do not want to be disturbed by anyone, though there have been a few cases of violence against them by gold miners or other outsiders in recent times.

7 Son Doong Cave
Vietnam

The Son Doong Cave in Vietnam is one of our planet’s most impressive natural formations. What may otherwise seem to be an innocuous hole in the ground gives way to an intricate and vast system of underground caverns and unique organisms.

It also happens to be the largest cave in the world and was only fully explored in 2009. What we didn’t know before some explorers visited it in May 2019, though, is that it still contains many secrets.

On one mission, some divers discovered a hidden waterway that connects Son Doong to another cave called Hang Thung. They couldn’t fully explore it because they didn’t have all the gear required for deep dives. So they plan to go back later.

Even so, the entire cave system still has many unexplored regions as well as new animal and plant species we may have never seen before. That is, of course, apart from the unidentified animals we’ve already spotted.^[4]

6 Mount Mabu Rain Forest
Africa

Africa is one place that was always difficult to explore, especially in the middle. Not anymore, however. With our modern mapping equipment and thirst for finding new resources, almost all the continent has been mapped, even those areas that are sparsely populated. Still, some regions in Africa are completely untouched by outsiders, including Mount Lico in Mozambique.

Once a volcano, the mountain is a towering structure visible from almost everywhere in the vicinity, though its crater was always hidden due to the high and steep walls. In 2012, a scientist was scouring the area on Google Earth when he discovered an entire rain forest nestled in Mount Lico’s crater.^[5]

In 2018, a team of scientists was able to scale it for the first time. They had trained with professional rock climbers and locals for years as they didn’t have funds to hire helicopters for the whole crew. The scientists found an untouched ecosystem and a bunch of species they had never seen before. Further study is planned.

5 Kamchatka
Russia

Back when the Europeans were exploring the world, Russia was going through its own era of discovery. Funded by Russian royalty for the most part, many explorers were sent out to map the whole region we now know as Russia as well as a part of the Americas.^[6]

Just like their European counterparts, they experienced many hardships and deaths while mapping Russia. Due to its vastness, a few regions in Russia still aren’t fully explored.

The Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East is one of them. Also known as the “land of volcanoes,” Kamchatka is home to rolling meadows, hot springs, breathtaking views of snowcapped mountains, and diverse flora and fauna you can’t find anywhere else in the world.

It is still largely untouched due to Russia’s long history of political turmoil and the region’s inaccessibility.

4 Fiordland National Park
New Zealand

Anyone who has visited New Zealand will tell you that it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Even so, Fiordland National Park at the southwestern end of the country stands out for the sheer scale and beauty of its landscape.

Named after its fjords—the towering glacial structures that some think are only in Scandinavia—Fiordland is the largest of New Zealand’s national parks. If you’re having trouble imagining it, just think of The Lord of the Rings as a lot of it was shot there.

Although Fiordland contains quite a few tourist attractions, they form a minor part of the national park as almost all of it is uncharted territory due to its inaccessibility, inhospitable climate, and huge size. For those who can manage it, a plethora of previously undiscovered things reside there, including new animal and plant species and locations no one else has seen before.^[7]

3 Cenotes Of Yucatan Peninsula
Mexico

Cenotes are somewhat like sinkholes, but they’re filled with crystal clear fresh water. Found all over the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, they have played an important role in the mythology of the Maya as cenotes are a source of potable water. They’re one of the most beautiful and mysterious natural formations in the world.

Although the official number of cenotes is roughly 6,000, no one has been able to explore all of them. Scientists believe that many more are waiting to be found. Recently, a team of experts used 3-D technology to map some cenotes, and they aim to explore all 6,000 documented ones with that technique.

While most cenotes are visible from the surface, some of them—known as cave cenotes—require exploring their respective caves first. As of now, we simply have no idea about the extent of life that exists beneath all of them as many cenotes are difficult to get to physically. With technology getting better at mapping underground structures, we hope to discover exactly what’s inside them all someday.^[8]

2 Northern Forest Complex
Myanmar

Due to its harsh jungle terrain, Myanmar is a country in Southeast Asia that played a huge yet underappreciated role in halting the Japanese advance on British India. Myanmar is also home to the longest ongoing civil war in history, which started around the time of its independence.

Thankfully, most of the conflict has now been resolved, though some pockets of resistance remain. That’s also why most of the country, especially the northern parts, has been largely untouched by biologists and other explorers.

In fact, the dense jungle in the wilderness area known as the Northern Forest Complex still doesn’t have any roads. Experts believe that there’s a lot to be uncovered and explored there, including new species of plants and animals. A few expeditions have made incursions in the past few years. However, a huge part of the region remains untouched due to the inhospitable terrain as well as the political situation.

The money required to explore the whole area is a problem, too. The Myanmar government is short on cash due to the war and general socioeconomic conditions in the country.^[9]

1 Most Of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has been discussed a lot in popular culture. There was a time when it was viewed as “that place with cannibals and never-before-seen landscapes.” However, in the past few centuries, a lot of progress has been made. We’re only talking about the cannibal part, though. Much of its landmass is still unexplored due to inaccessibility.

Take the Hindenburg Wall, which is a massive formation of plateaus made of limestone. It has entire forests on top of it that have never been visited, let alone fully explored. When the Wildlife Conservation Society sent a team of biologists there in 2013, they found a total of 1,108 animal and plant species, of which 89 were completely new to science.^[10]

On the island of New Britain, the Nakanai Mountains are another system of mountains and ridges formed almost entirely by limestone. In a 2010 expedition, scientists found undocumented species of many animals, including frogs, insects, and spiders.

Some of them were so new that the researchers had to invent whole new families of species to put them in. There may be many more left to find, especially fish, as some of the waterways in the region have never been officially studied.

You can check out Himanshu’s stuff at Cracked and Screen Rant, get in touch with him for writing gigs, or just say hello to him on Twitter.

Across the world, homosexuals are often persecuted for their sexual orientation. As a result, large populations of gay people have formed communities that support them.

In its most basic definition, a “gay district” or “gay village” is a place where a large number of gay people live and hang out. Gay districts, which are often located in major cities, are highlighted by their many gay-friendly businesses, including bars, bookstores, boutiques, and restaurants.

Often, the pride flag (aka rainbow flag) can be seen proudly on display in these establishments. In fact, Pride Month 2020 is happening right now. Pride Month occurs in June each year because the Stonewall riots in June 1969 ignited the gay rights movement around the world.

On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay club. Patrons and employees of the club fought back when police physically harassed or arrested them. The confrontation became violent, leading to a riot and days of protests. The following year at the first US gay pride parade, participants chanted, “Say it loud, gay is proud.”

Many of today’s gay districts were originally sections of cities that had fallen into squalor. As large populations of the ostracized gay community moved to these areas, they gradually became more attractive. Over time, these portions of the cities often became the most fashionable and expensive. Here are 10 of the world’s most popular gay districts.

10 Enlightening Facts About Gay And Trans People

10 The Castro
San Francisco, US

The Castro, a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, was one of the first gay districts in the US. It is also one of the largest in the country. Although most of the gay community in the area lives in the Castro, some reside in surrounding neighborhoods like Haight-Ashbury, which played a large role in the formation of the 1960s hippie movement.

During World War II, the US military dropped off thousands of gay servicemen in San Francisco. These men gathered in the Castro neighborhood, named after Jose Castro, a leader of the Mexican opposition to US rule after Monterey and San Francisco were taken by US forces in the 19th century.

Jose Castro’s life and resistance to oppressive rule parallels that of Harvey Milk, one of the Castro’s most famous residents. In the early 1970s, Milk opened Castro Camera in the district and began a movement as a prominent gay activist. Sadly, on November 27, 1978, fellow politician Dan White assassinated Milk. This popularized the now-infamous legal defense called the “Twinkie Defense.”^[1]

9 Old Compton Street/Soho
London, England

Soho, named after an old English hunting cry, is located in Westminster in the West End of London. On Old Compton Street in Soho, dozens of businesses survive on the “pink pound,” which is the purchasing power of the gay community.

Tragically, a horrific event occurred at the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of the Soho gay district on April 30, 1999. Neo-Nazi David Copeland planted a nail bomb inside the pub that left three dead and 70 injured. Copeland hoped to stir up racial and homophobic tensions.

However, his plan backfired. The gay and straight communities came together in support. After the attacks, the Metro Police commission set up a crime scene van to take witness testimony. The van was entirely staffed by gay officers. This event became a turning point for what had been a tense relationship between the gay community and the police.^[2]

8 Nollendorfplatz
Berlin, Germany

Nollendorfplatz is a fascinating study when one realizes its proximity to the Nazi regime. Before Adolf Hitler rose to power, Nollendorfplatz had theaters and clubs that catered to the gay community. The Nazis attempted to eliminate all evidence of this subculture by closing and destroying many of the district’s most popular hangouts.

After World War II, the area south of Nollendorfplatz reprised its role as Berlin’s gay mecca and continues to be a major gay nightlife hub today. A small memorial plaque, known as the “Pink Triangle,” sits near the south entrance of the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station. The plaque’s unique color and shape commemorate all the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime who were forced to identify themselves by sporting a pink triangle.^[3]

7 Church And Wellesley
Toronto, Canada

Named after the two main streets that intersect in the middle of the neighborhood, Church and Wellesley is one of Canada’s largest gay neighborhoods. The area was prominently put on the map of Toronto’s gay community after the events of the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.

On February 5, 1981, Metropolitan Toronto Police’s “Operation Soap” targeted four popular gay bathhouses, seeking to silence and put out of business these establishments. On that day, approximately 150 police officers arrested 300 innocent men, destroying the bathhouses in the process.

In the months following the raids, Canada’s gay and straight communities banded together to protest what they saw as the evolution of Canada’s “police state.” In Toronto’s Cawthra Park, the AIDS Memorial holds the names of community members who died of AIDS. The names are etched in bronze and forever remembered as pioneers.^[4]

6 Le Marais
Paris

Le Marais is an emerging gay district in Paris, France. Also known for its large Jewish population, Le Marais is replete with notable architecture and trendy boutiques, all meant to be discovered in a maze of narrow cobblestone streets.

Paris was one of the first capital cities to elect an openly gay mayor. In office from 2001 to 2014, Bertrand Delanoe championed an increase in quality of life for all Parisians while criticizing Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about the ineffectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of AIDS.^[5]

10 Gay Myths From Antiquity

5 Oxford Street
Sydney

Whereas Le Marais continues to grow as a gay district, Oxford Street in Sydney, Australia, is becoming more “straight,” much to the displeasure of the gay community who once frequented it nearly exclusively. Now, straight bars outnumber gay bars. A few nightclubs even sponsor popular wet T-shirt contests.

Many heterosexual individuals find the gay bars to be a nice change of scenery. Although this increase in visitors has brought more business, it has also spawned negative headlines. Today, Oxford Street has seen a rise in crime, specifically aggression toward the gay community.

Not everything is dire on the street that runs through Darlinghurst, however. Every year in early March, the streets are closed to traffic so that the world-famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, one of Australia’s largest tourist draws, can be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.^[6]

4 Ni-chome
Tokyo

Ni-chome has the world’s highest concentration of gay bars, with approximately 150 bars and nightclubs densely housed together. In a country where a person’s private life is highly prized, most nightclubs are small, holding no more than a couple dozen people.

Marriage is valued in the Japanese culture, which leads many closeted men to marry women and then visit Ni-chome when the nightlife comes alive. Ni-chome’s gay subculture began to emerge after the Prostitution Prevention Law of 1956 made prostitution illegal.

Many of the bars in Ni-chome cater to specialized interests, including the bear community, BDSM, or younger men. Oddly enough, dancing is prohibited at some of these nightclubs. One of the more popular and larger clubs is “Arty Farty,” which elicits a snicker from those of us who are still immature at heart.^[7]

3 Amberes Street
Zona Rosa, Mexico City

Since the 1990s, Zona Rosa, particularly Amberes Street, has become the most popular gay neighborhood in Mexico City. One of three areas in the city where gay bars operate, Zona Rosa is the largest with over 200 businesses spread over 16 blocks.^[8]

Walking the sidewalks, one will encounter many gay couples openly holding hands and being affectionate in public. Zona Rosa and its gay community still face controversy, however.

A few government officials and advocacy groups claim that minors are often prostituted on Amberes Street. Locals refute these claims. They say that those who are antigay are exaggerating the problem so that the gay community will move elsewhere.

Though the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, many young men and women flock to Zona Rosa to escape the pressures of the machismo culture that surrounds them in Mexico.

2 Barrio de Chueca
Madrid

The Chueca quarter lies in the middle of Madrid. It is an avant-garde community that prides itself on its tolerance and open-mindedness. Here, intellectuals and artists gather during the day for a cup of coffee and conversation and at night to dance and drink.

Famous for its annual Gay Pride Parade in late June, Chueca is celebrated for successfully hosting Europride in 2007, a popular event that welcomed over 2.5 million visitors. Based off this experience, WorldPride named Madrid host of its celebration in 2017, where sporting and artistic events celebrated gay culture.^[9]

Madrid as a whole is also known for being one of the first major cities to accept gay marriage.

1 Farme de Amoedo
Rio de Janeiro

A famous street in the Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Farme de Amoedo Street is Brazil’s place to be. In fact, the gay beaches of Ipanema have been voted the best gay beaches in the world. The area is affectionately nicknamed “Barbie Land” for the muscular men who populate the sidewalks.

Rio Carnival is celebrated throughout the city. The most popular Carnival event for the gay crowd is the Banda de Ipanema street parade. First celebrated in 1965, Banda de Ipanema was declared part of Rio’s cultural heritage in 2004. Along with a marching band playing local music, another highlight of the parade is the many drag queens in elaborate costumes walking up and down the parade route.^[10]

10 Historical Figures Who May Have Been Gayer Than You Think

About The Author: A. Greazy currently lives in the vibrant city of Nashville, Tennessee. He enjoys writing, baseball, and licking nacho cheese off his fingers. You can contact him with any questions, comments, or inquiries at [email protected].

Millions of people travel across the world to experience the beauty, grandeur, and heritage of some of the planet’s most popular landmarks. However, there is often more than meets the eye to many historic attractions, things most tourists will never realize are there. For example, many famous landmarks house hidden spaces you may not notice at first glance.

Here are ten secret places inside the world’s most famous landmarks. Some of them can be visited by those with sufficient funds or the right connections. Others are entirely off-limits.

10 Mount Rushmore
South Dakota, US

Mount Rushmore is easily one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States, as it depicts four of the arguably most famous presidents in US history: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Yet, many people might not be aware that behind the chiseled sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is a hidden room, which is known as the Hall of Records. The secret room is roughly lined up with Lincoln’s forehead, and it contains text from some of America’s most important documents.

The designer of the famous political monument, Gutzon Borglum, originally wanted the room to serve as a vault for a selection of US documents. In fact, his vision was to install an 240-meter (800 ft) stairway that would lead to the grand hall, which would measure 24 meters by 30 meters (80 ft x 100 ft) and would be directly behind the US presidents’ sculpted faces. Inside the hall would be busts of great Americans from history, as well as a list of US contributions to industry, science, and the arts. Tragically, Borglum’s vision was halted due to his death in 1941. However, in 1998, monument officials chose to make Borglum’s dream a reality by maintaining records from American history in the secret hall.^[1]

9 The Eiffel Tower
Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, which is why the city of Paris welcomes millions of tourists year after year. You might, however, be surprised to learn that the historic landmark features a secret apartment. Those who are lucky enough to visit the top of the structure will not only absorb the mesmerizing views of the French capital, but they might also enjoy a glimpse inside the secret apartment and office, which has only recently been opened to the public.

Gustave Eiffel, the structure’s engineer, built a private apartment for himself inside the landmark in 1889, and only he had access to this hidden room throughout his lifetime. In fact, many Parisians offered to rent the apartment for one night only, but he always refused, wanting to keep the space all to himself and the occasional guest. Visitors can now finally take a step inside the private apartment, which has been restored to its original condition. They can also view mannequins of Gustave, his daughter, and Thomas Edison, who he regularly entertained at the apartment.^[2]

8 Waldorf Astoria
New York City, US

The Waldorf Astoria is deemed one of the most luxurious hotels in New York. While many more modern hotels have emerged over the ensuing decades, it has continued to welcome every sitting US president, from Hoover to Obama. Many people might, however, be unaware that there is a secret train station located below the hotel, as the secluded platform was introduced to help President Franklin D. Roosevelt to inconspicuously travel from the presidential suite to Hyde Park, which was his childhood home. Track 61 was an integral mode of transportation during World War II, as the president’s private railway car could pull up inside the station, and he could take an elevator to gain direct access to the hotel. It is also believed that FDR used the train to hide his paralysis from the public.

The platform remains in use today, and it can be reached within minutes from JFK Airport. The Secret Service has been sworn to secrecy regarding some of its features. While the platform is still in working order, FDR’s custom locomotive now sits abandoned under the hotel.^[3]

7 The Statue Of Liberty
New York City, US

Millions of people visit the Statue of Liberty every year, with many tourists stepping inside the structure’s crown to enjoy beautiful views of New York City. Yet, many people might be unaware that it is possible to climb higher within the structure. Until June 30, 1916, tourists were able to enter a room located inside the Statue of Liberty’s torch, which offered breathtaking panoramic views of the city.

However, access was denied to the public when the pier between Jersey City and Black Tom Island was blown up by German agents. Sadly, the explosion ripped through various buildings nearby, which caused serious or fatal injuries for hundreds of people. Debris from the explosion became embedded within the Statue of Liberty’s arm, which made the route to the panoramic room unsafe for the public. The arm was repaired, but only National Park Service staff can enter the torch, and they must climb a narrow 12-meter (40 ft) ladder to gain access to the torch and maintain the floodlights.^[4]

6 Leonardo Da Vinci Statue
Rome, Italy

Travelers are welcomed into Rome by the Leonardo da Vinci statue located at Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Yet, there is more to the structure than you might realize at first glance. Despite the 18-meter (60 ft) bronze statue being unveiled in 1960, the hidden hatch located halfway up the structure was not found until its renovation in 2006.

Workers found two parchments inside the statue. One parchment detailed the area’s history in classical Latin, while the other listed the attendees from the opening ceremony. It is believed both the hatch and parchments were the brainchild of Assen Peikov, the Bulgarian artist who won the competition to design the work of art.^[5]

5 Disneyland
Anaheim, California, US

You will not find a drop of alcohol in Disneyland unless you step inside the exclusive Club 33. It would be easy to walk past the club, as it sits behind an unmarked door in New Orleans Square. It was originally created as a place for Walt Disney to entertain his guests and business associates. Unfortunately, he died five months before Club 33 was officially opened.

Only those who become a member can now step inside the club, which offers both a restaurant and jazz lounge, known as Le Salon Nouveau, as well as access to the 1901 Lounge in California Adventure. Membership is not cheap; depending on the level of membership, the initiation fee reportedly costs between $25,000 and $100,000, followed by a $12,500 to $30,000 annual fee. The waiting list is reportedly years long.^[6]

4 Niagara Falls
New York, US

Niagara Falls is the umbrella name of the three waterfalls located along the international border between the state of New York and the province Ontario. Located a stone’s throw away from Niagara Falls is Devil’s Hole State Park, which many people visit to experience the beauty of the waterfalls. A cave inside the park was given the nickname “the Cave of the Evil Spirit” by the Seneca due to their belief that an evil spirit was trapped inside. It was believed that only warriors who were ready for battle would enter the cave.

The Devil’s Hole Massacre was a battle that took place between the Seneca and British soldiers in 1763.^[7] After the Seneca won the battle, they warned the British of the cave to prevent them from trespassing on the land. There is also a superstition that anyone who steals a rock from the cave will experience bad luck.

3 Empire State Building
New York City, US

The Empire State Building has been a tourist hot spot for nearly a century, as visitors have been enjoying the New York skyline since 1931. While most people can view the city from the observation deck on the 86th floor and the top deck on the 102nd floor, you might be surprised to learn that some visitors can experience an even better view on the private 103rd floor.^[8]

The secret deck offers only a knee-high ledge with a low railing, and visitors need to take a series of escalators to reach it. The elevator ride alone will be a unique experience, as visitors will pass the inner workings of the building on their journey up to the secret floor. It is an experience often only available to VIP guests, such as celebrities and dignitaries. For example, Taylor Swift had the pleasure of experiencing the VIP observation deck back in 2014.

2 Colosseum
Rome, Italy

The Colosseum welcomes four million tourists annually, who visit the landmark to view the Flavian Amphitheatre, which dates back to AD 80. Yet, many people might not realize that there is a network of (now exposed) underground tunnels below street level, called the Hypogeum, which were used to house various animals, such as lions and bears, which were then lifted into the gladiator arena via a pulley.^[9]

The maze was hailed as a superb archaeological discovery when it was initially uncovered. The Hypogeum is now open to the public, but tours are limited to a maximum of 25 people each time. Archaeologists have, however, criticized the tours, as they believe they could put the structure at risk.

1 Trafalgar Square
London, England

Trafalgar Square might be well-regarded for its remarkable architecture and beautiful fountains, but it also features a hidden room you could easily miss. The public square is the home of Britain’s smallest police station, which is located on the southeast corner of Trafalgar Square.

The tiny station was built in 1926 to serve as a watch post, as the square was often the location of many protests, riots, and marches. It therefore only offers enough space for one police officer or two prisoners. The box is no longer in use by the police and is now simply used as a broom closet for Westminster Council cleaners.^[10]

Elisabeth Sedgwick is An English freelance writer. You can view her growing portfolio at clippings.me/elisabethsedgwick.