The Most Contaminated Place on Earth: Chelyabinsk-40

Outside of the Chernobyl incident, we seldom hear about the nuclear laboratories and test facilities of the former U.S.S.R. One particular installation – Chelyabinsk-40 – was the first Soviet plutonium production complex and the site of three separate massive nuclear incidents. Until recently this area was not included on maps and the Russian government denied its existence. No visitors had been allowed under any circumstances, and all residents worked in the facility (later referred to as Chelyabinsk-65). With the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 90’s, Chelyabinsk-40 was finally acknowledged by the government and granted town status. In 1994, Chelyabinsk-65 was finally given a name: Ozyorsk.

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Abandoned Resort: Sanzhi, Taiwan

Sometimes Interesting

Sanzhi might look like an outcropping of structures from an episode of Star Trek, but the site is actually home to the remains of an abandoned tourist destination resort in the north of Taiwan. The concept behind Sanzhi was futuristic pods that would function as summer villas for the affluent who wanted retreats from the city.

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The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Sometimes Interesting

On January 27th 1959, a group of nine skiers set off hiking in the northern Ural Mountains. The group was formed of graduate students from a nearby University for a ski trek across the Sverdlovsk Oblast. The students were all experienced hikers and seasoned skiers, and the route was rated as a “Category III” – the most difficult. The trip began rather uneventful, but by February 2nd they would all be dead with no witnesses or explanation.

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The Island Shaped Like a Battleship: Hashima

Sometimes Interesting

Populated from 1887 to 1974, Hashima was originally purchased by Mitsubishi to be run as a coal mining facility. Just off the coast of Nagasaki, Hashima had the first concrete buildings constructed in Japan. For nearly one hundred years, Hashima enjoyed prosperity while the coal mines flourished. In the 1960’s petroleum started to replace coal for energy, and coal mines started closing around the country. By 1974 Mitsubishi announced it was closing the mine, and it has been uninhabited ever since.

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Sealand: Smallest Country in the World

Sometimes Interesting

Considered more of a principality, the micronation of Sealand is located on an old British World War II radar platform. It was a Maunsell Sea Fort constructed by the British military in 1943, and originally given the name HM Fort Roughs. Later it would be renamed Sealand by Major Paddy Roy Bates, who would live there with his family and host a pirate radio station.

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Dancing Mania

Sometimes Interesting

In July of 1518 in Strasbourg, France, a woman named Frau Troffea walked into the street and started to dance. She continued to dance on the street for several days, and by the end of the week thirty-four others had joined her. By the end of the month there were around four hundred dancers in the streets. These people danced uncontrollably and in bizarre fashion; shouts, screams, and singing were reported to accompany hallucinations. Eventually, many would die from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.

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What Happened to the Mary Celeste?

Sometimes Interesting

Merchant vessel Mary Celeste was discovered floating unmanned and abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean on December 4th, 1872. The ship had been at sea for over a month when found, and reportedly still had over six months’ worth of food and supplies on board. Cargo and personal belongings of the crew were found untouched – including valuables – although a lifeboat was missing. What The fate of the Mary Celeste’s crew remains unknown to this day, feeding the legend of the archetypal ghost ship.

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The Manhattan of the Desert: Shibam, Yemen

Sometimes Interesting

Deep in the middle of Yemen lays a town nearly two-thousand years old that pioneered skyscrapers. Shibam, a town of about 7,000 people, was founded sometime around the 3rd century AD. The town was built in its unique way to help protect residents from regional Bedouin attacks. Enormous clay walls were built around the city and residences were built upward rather than outward. Shibam is often referred to as “the oldest skyscraper city in the world,” and is one of the oldest examples of vertical urban planning.

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