Latest Articles

Latest Articles

The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.

In the end, the Dutch went for the less ambitious drainage scheme of Cornelis Lely
Where do I get my visa for this place?
Long dead and gone, the Rochester Subway lives on in the imagination - and on this map
The original map of Treasure Island was lost - if it still exists, it must surely be worth a fortune now...
A youngster in breeches and an elderly man with a scythe, both white and together looking rather vulnerable, are playing dice against a team of unreliable-looking Asians. The object of their […]
The US goes by the motto In God We Trust (but only since 1956, when it replaced the ‘unofficial’ motto, E pluribus unum). A motto (from the Italian word for […]
(click map to enlarge) A truism in geopolitics holds that “geography is destiny.” Maps don’t have to be so dramatically laden with meaning, though. In this case, geography is mere […]
n There’s some corner of an English field that is forever Australia. n This almost century-old chalk map of Oz, carved into a Wiltshire hillside, seems to validate the above […]
Gone are the days when crossing a border in Europe almost always meant having to change currencies. Converting guilders into Deutschmark, francs to pesetas, or whatsits into whatnots — all […]
The flight of the Freudenheims through the colourful crayons of their 11-year-old son Fritz
Was this map supposed to scare secessionist Virginia back into the Union?
Varanasi, supposedly founded by Shiva, draws a million pilgrims each year
As the Soviets move to rein in Yugoslavia, the US and UN strike back...
Could the urge to use bad puns as names for hair salons be universal?
Back in 1920, native-born Parisians were a minority in their own city
The country in the shape of its founder
Travellers, discoverers and cartographers have named the world around us so that we might find our way in it. The purpose of a place name, therefore, is to be as […]
This blog reached its 10 millionth hit last Tuesday. That is amazing. I’m speechless. Well, almost: n Thanks to all visitors, casual and regular, for helping Strange Maps reach that […]
Fast food chains generally don’t have a good rep when it comes to healthy, eco-conscious dining. There is some re-branding going on, though, like at McDonald’s, which is moving heaven […]
“A popular game show in which contestants need to answer trivia questions on a variety of topics that has been running on US tv for nearly 45 years, and has […]