In the late 1700s, writer Daniel Defoe wrote a fictional story about an English adventurer named Robinson Crusoe who ended up shipwrecked on a remote island. Crusoe befriended animals, fought off cannibals, and built a small island sanctuary for himself using foraged tools. Robinson Crusoe was such a smash hit that the name of the…
In the late 1800s, word started to spread that a stretch of land surrounded by colorful mountains located deep in the Mojave Desert in Southern California was loaded with silver deposits. In 1881, thanks to a silver mining bonanza—the boom town of Calico began to blossom. Calico flourished for 12 years, until the price of…
The Western United States is home to countless dusty ghost towns that experienced their heyday during the gold rush of the late 19th and early 20th century. Goldfield, Nevada is considered by many history buffs to be one of America’s most lively ghost towns. “Lively ghost town” may sound like a contradiction, but Goldfield is…
When most people are asked to name the oldest city in the United States, they say St. Augustine, Florida—which was founded in 1565. The gorgeous island of Puerto Rico—which has been a United States territory since 1917—is home to a walled city called Old San Juan which was settled in 1521. Old San Juan is…
In the early 1900s, the Save the Redwoods League took a stand against a logging company that was attempting to chop down a towering redwood forest. The Save the Redwoods League argued that cutting into a forest full of trees that were thousands of years old would be akin to destroying a grandfather clock. In…
The island nation of Mauritius—which is located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar—is home to one of the most colorful geologic rarities on Earth. An expanse of rock that resembles a giant field of petrified sand dunes known as Terre des Sept Couleurs—or, the Seven Colored Earths—was formed by an ancient volcanic eruption that deposited…
A visit to Caminito del Rey is not for the faint of heart. Often referred to as “the world’s most dangerous walkway,” Caminito del Rey—or, King’s Little Pathway—is a footbridge that dangles over 330 feet above a mammoth gorge known as El Chorro in Ardales, Spain, that has been the site of more than a…
In the 1930s, Monowi, Nebraska was a modest town with a population of about 150 people. Proximity to a rail line and fertile soil attracted farmers attempting to cultivate community and provide for their families. As the 20th century marched on, Monowi’s fortunes changed, and the town’s population began to decline. By the early 2000s,…
