The Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race is the world’s longest certified footrace, held around a single ordinary block in Queens, New York. Competitors have 52 days to complete 5,649 laps, running from six in the morning until midnight and averaging nearly 60 miles a day. The route passes a high school, a playground and the same collection of parked cars. Runners reverse direction each morning. Everything else remains exactly where it was.
Dusit Thani was a miniature democratic kingdom built by King Vajiravudh of Siam (the historical name for the country of Thailand) inside his palace grounds. Courtiers purchased tiny plots, elected representatives, joined rival political parties and read two competing newspapers. The king participated as an ordinary citizen under the name “Mr. Rama.” Siam remained an absolute monarchy; democracy was permitted at one-fifteenth scale.
Gbadolite is a city in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the ancestral home of Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country—then called Zaire—from 1965 to 1997. Mobutu transformed the remote settlement into his personal capital, complete with three palaces, a five-star hotel, hospital, Coca-Cola plant and a 3,200-metre runway built to receive chartered Concordes from Europe. Foreign leaders were entertained among marble, fountains and Chinese pagodas in what became known as the “Versailles of the Jungle.” When Mobutu fell in 1997, the palaces were looted and abandoned. Vegetation entered the ballrooms and the airport nearly emptied.
A culebra is a traditional cigar formation made from three slender cigars braided together. Its name comes from the Spanish word for snake, a reference to its intertwined shape. The design is historically associated with Cuban factories, where its unusual appearance distinguished it from ordinary cigars.
Zangbeto are traditional guardians of the night in Benin, Togo and Nigeria, appearing as towering cones of brightly colored raffia. During ceremonies, they spin and move without any visible person inside. According to tradition, the costumes are inhabited not by performers but by spirits.
Chynara Madinkulova is a Kyrgyz contortionist who became the face of the World Nomad Games after performing archery upside down. Balancing on her hands, she draws and releases a bow using only her feet.
Hugo Bernatzik (1904–1953) was an Austrian ethnographer and photographer, renowned for his work documenting indigenous cultures in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Bernatzik studied anthropology and developed a keen interest in the lifestyles, rituals, and traditions of remote and often isolated communities. He is best known for his photographic work, which captured the everyday lives of indigenous peoples with an emphasis on their cultural practices, costumes, and environments. In the 1930s and 1940s, Bernatzik conducted extensive fieldwork in regions such as Papua New Guinea, New Guinea, and Borneo, where he collaborated with local communities and produced a substantial collection of photographs. His images provided valuable insights into the diversity and richness of these cultures, contributing to the academic understanding of anthropology and ethnography at the time.
The Windward Performance Perlan 2 is an experimental research glider that was designed by Greg Cole. On 2 September 2, 2018, it reached an altitude of 76,124 ft (23,203 m), surpassing the 73,737 ft (22,475 m) attained by Jerry Hoyt on April 17, 1989 in a Lockheed U-2.
Ida Lewis was once known as “the bravest woman in America.” Lewis served as an official lighthouse keeper for the U.S. Lighthouse Service (later absorbed into the Coast Guard) from 1879 until her death, at age 69, in 1911. As the keeper of Lime Rock Light Station off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island, Lewis performed work that was critical to national security: lighthouses, administered by the federal government, aided navigation and helped protect the nation’s coastlines. Lewis also performed personal acts of heroism by rescuing people from drowning in the turbulent, cold waters off Newport. According to Coast Guard records, Lewis saved the lives of 18 people, including several soldiers from nearby Fort Adams; unofficial accounts hold that she saved as many as 36. Until 2020, she was the only woman to receive the Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal, the nation’s highest lifesaving decoration.
Iceberg towing, a concept proposed in the mid-20th century, involves harnessing massive icebergs from polar regions and towing them to regions facing water shortages. The idea aims to utilize the abundant freshwater reserves locked within icebergs to alleviate drought conditions and provide freshwater resources to areas in need. While theoretically promising, iceberg towing has faced numerous challenges and setbacks, leading to skepticism about its feasibility and effectiveness. Proponents of iceberg towing argue that it offers a potential solution to water scarcity issues by tapping into a vast and renewable freshwater source. The process involves identifying suitable icebergs, towing them using specialized vessels, and allowing them to melt gradually, releasing freshwater into the surrounding environment. However, the practical implementation of iceberg towing has proven to be far more complex and challenging than initially envisioned. One of the main challenges of iceberg towing is the sheer scale and weight of the icebergs involved, which can weigh millions of tons and span several kilometers in length. Towing such massive structures across vast stretches of open ocean requires significant investments in equipment, manpower, and infrastructure. Additionally, there are risks of accidents, collisions, and environmental damage associated with towing icebergs through sensitive marine ecosystems.