Byblos, Lebanon: Oldest City in the World

The holder of this title incurs more debate among archaeologists and historians than one might think. However if we are to define the metric as meaning “being established as a city and inhabited from it’s founding, continuously, until present day,” the lines are a little more clear. Carbon-dating tests have set the earliest age of settlement at Byblos around 7000 BC, however it was not officially established as a city until sometime around 5000 BC.

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Ultimate Remote Tourist Destination: Tristan da Cunha

Sometimes Interesting

If you wanted to get away from it all, where would you go? Previously Sometimes Interesting featured Bouvet Island, the most remote island in the world. Bouvet Island is not inhabitable, however, so what is the most remote inhabited location?

Tristan da Cunha would fit the bill, a small island of 37.8 square miles located 1,240 miles away from nearest land. Don’t think you’ll fly there, as there is no airstrip on the island; this one is accessed via boat.

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The Largest Underground Lake in the World: Lake Vostok

Sometimes Interesting

There are more than 140 lakes underneath the glaciers in Antarctica. The largest is Lake Vostok, located 13,100 ft (4,000 m) beneath the Russian Vostok Weather Station in the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The lake measures 160 miles (250 km) long by 30 miles (50 km) wide, covering over 6,060 square miles ( 15,690 km). What makes Lake Vostok so interesting is the unmolested habitat beneath the ice shelf; scientists believe the lake was sealed under an ice cap 15 million years ago.

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World’s Largest Aircraft: Antonov An-225 Mriya

Sometimes Interesting

Bigger than a Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, longer and heavier than the Hughes H-4 “Spruce Goose”, The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft developed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukraine and stands as the largest aircraft in the world. Known for its immense carrying capability, the An-225 can carry 550,000 lbs. internally or 440,000 lbs. on the upper fuselage. A behemoth with the sole mission to carry cargo, the An-225 requires six turbofan engines to keep its payload in the air.

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Bouvet: One of the Most Remote Islands in the World

Sometimes Interesting

In 1739 a French captain named Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier discovered a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Named for the French Captain, Bouvet Island is located 1,568 miles (2,525 km) South-Southwest of South Africa and only occupies 19 square-miles (49 km2). Sitting alone in the South Atlantic, Bouvet Island is for all practical purposes a glacier on top of a dormant volcano. The closest land is Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, 1,090 miles (1,750 km) away. Queen Maud Land is a part-time weather station; the closest continuously-inhabited area to Bouvet Island is Cape Town, South Africa, 1,600 miles away.

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The Ground is Smoking in Centralia, Pennsylvania

Sometimes Interesting

Centralia was incorporated as a borough in 1866 when coal was discovered in the area. Coal mining gave birth to the town and it would prosper for almost 100 years. When energy demands started to shift more toward petroleum, the coal mining industry saw a decline. The coal companies closed operations in Centralia in the 1960s, but bootleg mining of the abandoned mines would continue until 1982. For decades an undetected underground mine fire slowly burned through a major vein of a large coal deposit. By the mid-1980s the Pennsylvania state government finally realized the severity of the issue, and by 1992 it had ordered the forceful permanent evacuation of residents.

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The Anchors of Tavira Island at Algarve, Portugal

Sometimes Interesting

For centuries the tuna industry flourished in Algarve, Portugal. Over time fishermen flocked to the coast of Portugal, eventually decimating the tuna population. When it became no longer profitable to fish for tuna, the fishermen left. While the ships and the men of the sea are gone, the anchors used to catch tuna were left behind.

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Foxconn: Depressing Apple Factory

Sometimes Interesting

Previously Sometimes Interesting featured Guiyu, the Chinese town tasked with disposing most of the world’s electronics. What about the origins of the electronics we buy? It’s probably not a surprise to hear many are also made in China, and sadly the working conditions for those who build iPods isn’t much better than those who take them apart. Imagine a place where eight workers share a dorm room and televisions only exist in common areas. Imagine a suicide rate so high the employer installs netting on the side of buildings to prevent workers from jumping. Welcome to Shenzhen, China, home to China’s largest private employer Foxconn, and the site of where much of the world’s electronic components are created.

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