Cultural Heritage
Setting off on August 31, 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the lands west of St. Louis acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase from France. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, the expedition sought to explore the Missouri River and the Indian tribes, flora and fauna of the region.
For constant travellers airports are an unavoidable part of their world-exploring experience but it is not the most enjoyable part of traveling. Airports around the world are generally overcrowded, chaotic and stressful environments packed within a generic structure. However, there are a few airports throughout the former Soviet Union that are aesthetically and conceptually different. They are repurposed military bases that were used during WWII. The wooden airports in Russia are still mostly functional and surprisingly beautiful, however it takes a grain of courage to fly into such places. Solovetsky Islands For those seeking an adventurous trip to the Solovetsky Islands in Russia, an archipelago located at the White Sea, the Solovetsky Airport offers a beautify gateway to the destination. Visitors to the Solovetsky Islands can discover one of the most important holy cities for the Russian Orthodox Church. The UNESCO World Heritage site holds a 5th century Monastery built [...]
On September 20, 1967, Queen Elizabeth II launched the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, fondly known as the "QE2". The gold scissors she used to cut the ceremonial ribbon was the same pair used by her mother and grandmother to launch the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. The QE2 was built and operated by the Cunard Line from 1969 to 2008. Queen Elizabeth was retired after her final crossing to New York, on 8 December 1968.
On this day in history, September 19, 1991, two German tourists were hiking through the Otzal Alps on the border between Austria and Italy. In a receding glacier, the couple spotted the body of a man, now known as - Otzi, The Iceman (named after Otzal Alps).
In 1791, the French National Assembly was seeking a new method of execution. Former methods were considered too inhumane, such as the infamous "breaking on the wheel". Assembly member Joseph-Ignace Guillotin suggested the construction of a device to decapitate the accused with a steel blade.
Settled 100 year earlier by Spain, the territory known as Alta California was rich in natural resources and ocean harbors. In 1846, settled by Europeans moving west,
The long-distance relationship between King George III of England and his American colonies was not going well. On September 5, 1774 a convention was held in Philadelphia, attended by 55 members appointed by the twelve of the thirteen British colonies.
On this day in 301 AD, San Marino, one of the world’s smallest and oldest republics, was founded by a stonemason named Marinus from the island of Rab, located in present-day Croatia. Marinus fled persecution and sought refuge in the Apennine Mountains, where he established a small Christian community. This would eventually grow into the nation known as the Republic of San Marino, located within modern-day Italy.
The oldest continuously occupied city in the United States established by Europeans was first sighted on this day in 1565. Explorer Pedro Medendez founded St. Augustine, naming it for St. Augustine of Hippo. He and 600 of his soldiers arrived and settled in an Indian village which they turned into a fortified outpost. In 1566, the first child of European ancestry was born in St. Augustine, some 21 years before the English settlement at Roanoke Island.
On August 25, 1944, Paris celebrated liberation from Nazi occupation—a historic moment that echoed the city’s own revolutionary spirit seen in the Storming of the Bastille over 150 years earlier.
North Carolina’s Outer Banks offers everything from open-sea beaches, theatre, wildlife preserves and popular shipwreck diving sites to down home cooking and history. On today’s show we explore these barrier islands and put a spotlight on Thailand and Indonesia. The Outer Bank’s Roanoke Island was the site of the first English settlement in the New World. A local popular theatrical production called “The Lost Colony” celebrates the birth of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America. The Lost Colony is America’s longest running outdoor symphonic drama. We’re given a behind the scenes look at this epic drama that has drawn theatre goers every year since 1937. Before the farm-to-table and locally-source movement in food there was Owens Restaurant leading the way. An Outer Banks institution, Owens is North Carolina’s oldest family-owned restaurant having been owned and operated by the same family since 1946. During a visit, we met [...]
On August 21, 1911 a patron of the Louvre Museum in Paris walked into the Salon Carré where Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was on display for all to see. On this day, however, the famous painting was not on the wall where it had hung for the past five years. A search of the museum turned over no clues - the painting had been stolen. The French poet Guillaume Apollinaire came under suspicion; he in turn, tried to implicate Pablo Picasso. Both were exonerated. Two years later, a man approached the directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and tried to sell the Mona Lisa to them. The police were notified and immediately arrested former Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia who had stolen the painting by hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat. Peruggia claimed the painting belonged in Italy and that he had stolen it for [...]
