Habitat 2024, March

The funniest memes that appeared thanks to the senator in mittens and a mask and brought almost 2 million "green"

The funniest memes that appeared thanks to the senator in mittens and a mask and brought almost 2 million "green"

Joe Biden's inauguration was not without some curiosities. The attention of the whole world has attracted … no, not the newly elected President of the United States, but Bernie Sanders. The name of this politician was hitherto unknown to the general public. The elderly senator made a splash on the Internet with his photo in cute knitted mittens and a disposable mask. In just a day, the network was flooded with hundreds of funny memes with a politician. The best of them are further in the review

Why brides from all over the world go to the post office of a small town: the romantic secret of the province

Why brides from all over the world go to the post office of a small town: the romantic secret of the province

When you think about the most romantic places on our planet, then this small, provincial, unremarkable town is unlikely to occur to you. But he is known to lovers all over the world. The post office of this village works in the rhythm of a big city. On Valentine's Day and the wedding season, lovers from all over the world want to send congratulations to their soul mate from this particular post office. What is the secret of this American town?

Why women are jealous of a duck named Gertrude and how she became famous

Why women are jealous of a duck named Gertrude and how she became famous

Her name is Gertrude and she has an amazing hairstyle that can only be envied. In fact, it is a comb of feathers. With whom only thanks to this the duck was not compared! The famous bird was honored to stand on a par with George Washington, Queen Elizabeth, Albert Einstein and many other famous personalities with memorable hairstyles. The duck has become a real star of the Internet not only because of its "hair", but also because of the unusual qualities of its character. NS

How, thanks to prisoners, thousands of rare hazel dormouse received houses

How, thanks to prisoners, thousands of rare hazel dormouse received houses

This summer was an incredibly important event for the People's Endangered Species Fund (PTES). This event was the 1000th Hazel Dormouse, raised in captivity and released into the wild. All this happened in full accordance with the scheme of reintroduction of these furry cuties. The most interesting thing is that not quite ordinary people contributed to the success of this campaign. How PTES joined forces with a local prison to save a rare species from extinction, further in the review

Sobrino de Botín: The oldest restaurant in the world that Hemingway loved and where Goya worked as a young man

Sobrino de Botín: The oldest restaurant in the world that Hemingway loved and where Goya worked as a young man

There are many restaurants with centuries of history in Europe, but the oldest among them is the Spanish restaurant Sobrino de Bot í n, located in the heart of the Spanish capital. For this reason, he is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records

German teen creates intricate hairstyles worthy of Disney princesses

German teen creates intricate hairstyles worthy of Disney princesses

The hairstyles that this talented girl creates are worthy not only of princesses from cartoons, but also of the head of a real royal person! The young hairdresser is only seventeen years old, and on her account there are already hundreds of the most diverse incredibly intricate hairstyles. The girl's works have already been appreciated by thousands of people around the world, she has a huge number of subscribers. Her passion for hairdressing came to her when she was only six! See the most florid of her hairstyles in our selection

How love and care turned an abandoned shabby kitten into an Internet star

How love and care turned an abandoned shabby kitten into an Internet star

Nur Hamiza from Malaysia loves animals. Recently, the girl found a kitten in her backyard under the car. However, this unfortunate thin creature could hardly even be called a kitten: the fur was crawling out, the skin was sore … Who would have thought that it would not take even six months for this foundling to turn into a gorgeous aristocrat cat with snow-white fluffy fur. Truly love, care and patience work wonders

Real stories of people who survived the loss of their pets and are confident that they are in heaven

Real stories of people who survived the loss of their pets and are confident that they are in heaven

Many of us have had to lose our pets in this life. When our beloved pets die, we look for any signs, even the smallest ones, that tell us they are in a much better place. When we grieve, it helps a lot. Do not despair! There is a legend about the "rainbow bridge" where our beloved pets go and where we will eventually meet with them. Moreover, there are people who saw their pets after their death in the literal sense

The couple were captured for a year in Mexico because of the cat they saved

The couple were captured for a year in Mexico because of the cat they saved

Every person is in such a mood that he wants to give up everything in one fell swoop. Quit your job, sell your apartment, pack your simple belongings in a suitcase and go somewhere on a trip to the ends of the world. A young couple from the UK once did just that. They embarked on a romantic tour of America two years ago. They had a lot of adventures along the way. There was also something very special. The couple saved the cat during the trip. Couple stuck in Mexi because of their new friend

How a stray cat saved a railway station from bankruptcy and became a caretaker

How a stray cat saved a railway station from bankruptcy and became a caretaker

Animals have always held a special place in the hearts of many people. In Japan, there is an extraordinary cat that won the hearts of the inhabitants of the whole city and became the local station watchmaker. Tama saved the railway from bankruptcy and brought more than 1 billion yen (just over $ 10 million) to the budget. How an ordinary stray cat managed to do this and what legacy it left behind, further in the review

How the gremlin dog who hates everyone conquered the internet

How the gremlin dog who hates everyone conquered the internet

Honesty is the best policy, even when it comes to advertising animals in need of adoption! Chihuahua dog named Pranser gained immense fame on the Internet after an honest post about him was published on Facebook. Rather than highlighting only his positive traits so that he would be quickly adopted, Tiffany Fortuna (temporary adoptive mom) spoke frankly about what a truly life-hating Prancer creature is. They call him "gremlin" and "Chucky's doll in

The bridge of giants in Northern Ireland, the origin of which is still controversial

The bridge of giants in Northern Ireland, the origin of which is still controversial

The Giants' Bridge, or, as it is also called, the Giant's Road, is perhaps one of the most mysterious places on Earth. According to scientific theory, this incredible structure in Northern Ireland, which is flat and similar to a huge pavement megaliths, was created by nature itself. But the locals who believe in ancient myths and legends have a completely different opinion. Anyway, the giant pavement is simply stunning

A chic modern house was built on the ruins of an 18th century farm: What its interior looks like

A chic modern house was built on the ruins of an 18th century farm: What its interior looks like

What is usually done with the ruins of old buildings? They - depending on their historical or architectural value - are either preserved and converted into a tourist attraction, or destroyed. But a group of architects and designers from Scotland decided to do it differently. The authors of the project "inscribed" a new building into the ruins of an old farm of the 18th century, building a modern house on the basis of the ruins. The result is a stylish building with antique "inserts". Creative, unusual and beautiful! And inside - e

How to feel like a cowboy: an exact replica of a 19th century American city was put up for auction

How to feel like a cowboy: an exact replica of a 19th century American city was put up for auction

Any fan of westerns now has the opportunity to become the sheriff of an American city in the 19th century - and not virtually, but in reality. However, for this you need to pay about 1.7 million dollars (1.2 million pounds). It is for this price that the city in the Wild West was put up for sale through Sotheby's. More precisely, a copy of it. Everything here is like in a real old American town: a hotel, a church, a prison, a dance and billiard rooms, a photo studio and, of course, a hairdresser

The mistress of the wonderful cat from Finland dispelled the myth of learning disabilities purr: 50 tricks of Nipa

The mistress of the wonderful cat from Finland dispelled the myth of learning disabilities purr: 50 tricks of Nipa

Cats are considered to be independent and wayward, and few of the owners come to mind to train them. Like, he goes to the tray and uses a scratching post - and thanks for that. Meanwhile, domestic cats also need training. An example of this is the cat Nipa, who is able to perform fifty funny tricks. Of course, perhaps he is just a unique and surprisingly talented cat, but who knows - maybe, with proper training, his relatives could show good results?

Why is there only one station in the Omsk metro and what happens inside

Why is there only one station in the Omsk metro and what happens inside

Anyone who first came to Omsk and does not know anything about this city, having seen the entrance to the metro with the corresponding logo, the letter "M", will certainly want to ride in the subway. However, despite the endless stream of people (some come in, others come out), there is no subway here. The fact is that only one metro station was built in Omsk, while the rest did not have time to open. To date, there are no plans to complete the subway. Therefore, the townspeople use the metro station "Library named after Pushkin"

Two of the most infamous surgeons: The Graduated Butcher and the Imposing Genius

Two of the most infamous surgeons: The Graduated Butcher and the Imposing Genius

There are many charlatans in the world, but it is not difficult to impersonate a therapist in the countryside. But a practicing surgeon, it seems, is impossible at all. After all, you have to cut people! However, high-profile cases with surgeons show that this is not stopping anyone

Will bullfight be banned: controversy between supporters and defenders flares up

Will bullfight be banned: controversy between supporters and defenders flares up

For several millennia, on the Iberian Peninsula, there has been an entertainment consisting in a competition between a man and a bull. Bullfighting is considered one of the incarnations of the Spanish spirit. Nobody disputes its place in the national culture. However, the debate that has unfolded in recent years between supporters and opponents of this ancient game is getting hotter and it seems that the zealots of animal rights are gradually winning. It is possible that in a few decades, the Spaniards will completely abandon this tra

7 famous couples who decided to start a family in captivity

7 famous couples who decided to start a family in captivity

A wedding is associated primarily with a holiday: a bride in a white dress, a groom in a suit, flowers, many guests and champagne. But sometimes marriages are concluded in places of confinement, where usually there is no time for a solemn entourage, guests and, of course, alcohol. However, it is over for those entering into marriage, if they are bound by real feelings, usually it does not matter what the situation around them is. In our today's review - well-known defendants who decided to start a family in captivity

Why Soviet Christmas tree decorations cost hundreds of thousands, and How to recognize a treasure in old trash

Why Soviet Christmas tree decorations cost hundreds of thousands, and How to recognize a treasure in old trash

Perhaps, in every home there is a box with New Year's toys, which is removed with trepidation from the mezzanine once a year to decorate the New Year tree. Balls, glass beads, figurines of fairy-tale characters and funny animals … Each of the toys has its own story. Take a closer look at the old New Year's toys. It is possible that you are the owner of a whole fortune, but do not know about it yet

Common Russian names that only seem traditional: Ruslan, Lyudmila and others

Common Russian names that only seem traditional: Ruslan, Lyudmila and others

Many names on the Russian ear seem to be the most common, dear and traditional. And other names seemed common and even old man's some time ago. Moreover, both of them came into use relatively recently - either they were recently invented, or simply were not allowed for use

The Last Princesses of Orthodox Europe: What Happened to the Girls of Deposed Dynasties

The Last Princesses of Orthodox Europe: What Happened to the Girls of Deposed Dynasties

Until recently, almost every country in Europe had its own ruling dynasty. But the twentieth century was merciless towards monarchies, and all traditionally Orthodox countries now live without kings. Princesses, once born to become queens in other states, eventually got a different fate

How to understand Italian gestures without knowing the language: A short guide from a native of Rome

How to understand Italian gestures without knowing the language: A short guide from a native of Rome

It is believed that if Italians are forced to talk to each other without using gestures, they will not be able to understand each other. This is, of course, an exaggeration, but non-verbal cues in Italian culture are a huge part of communication. Italian Valentina Moretti in her video blog decided to tell more about Italian gestures

What the Voynich transcript revealed, and what other recently transcribed famous manuscripts told about

What the Voynich transcript revealed, and what other recently transcribed famous manuscripts told about

The past has left mankind many mysteries, and some of them are connected in one way or another with inscriptions, records and whole manuscripts. For centuries, mankind deciphers the letters of lost civilizations and people obsessed with a mania for secrecy, from time to time making real breakthroughs. Perhaps another has just happened: there were reports that it was possible to decipher the most mysterious manuscript in Europe

Russian girls who achieved success in Silicon Valley, but were not told about them in the film by Yuri Dudy

Russian girls who achieved success in Silicon Valley, but were not told about them in the film by Yuri Dudy

Popular blogger Yuri Dud filmed an inspiring program about successful Russian-speaking guys from Silicon Valley. It is unlikely that the author of the program did not specifically mention the girls, but in social networks there were immediately calls to help Dudyu find out what success women from Russia had achieved in the famous valley. Here are just a few people about whom the program could also be filmed. Separately about each

Indigenous Tatars of Poland: Why there was no Pan over the Uhlans, but there was a Muslim crescent

Indigenous Tatars of Poland: Why there was no Pan over the Uhlans, but there was a Muslim crescent

The Poles traditionally object to the statements in social networks "Europe did not know the Muslim diasporas before": "What are we to you, not Europe?" And the thing is that since the time of Khan Tokhtamysh, Poland has its own Tatar diaspora. And Poland owes her some iconic things and names in its history

How Britain and Holland Divide Noah's Ark: Who Arrested and Why Biblical Landmark

How Britain and Holland Divide Noah's Ark: Who Arrested and Why Biblical Landmark

The story goes that when God made the Great Flood as punishment for human sins, a righteous man named Noah built an ark. On it, he, his family, as well as selected animals and birds were saved from the water. There is a modern version of Noah's ark. It exactly repeats all the principles of construction described in the Bible. The ship is a Bible Museum. Now the modern version of the ark is faced with another problem: the British bureaucracy (they say that this is no easier than the flood). Who arrested and why

Loire Valley Castle and Kitchen Factory: How the First Women Architects Work

Loire Valley Castle and Kitchen Factory: How the First Women Architects Work

We all know perfectly well that these days the statement “there are no women architects” is a complete lie. Zaha Hadid, Odile Dekk, Kazue Sejima … But it was false both in the Renaissance and in England in the 17th century. Officially, women won the right to design buildings on a par with men only in the twentieth century, but in reality this struggle began many centuries ago

The most talked about eco-skyscrapers and other creations of hi-tech father Norman Foster, who is building the future

The most talked about eco-skyscrapers and other creations of hi-tech father Norman Foster, who is building the future

He is called the most influential architect of our day - but he is also condemned just as often. He fights for the environment - and creates high-tech ultra-modern skyscrapers. He, a futurist and visionary, is entrusted with the reconstruction of historic buildings, and every time it is a new word in construction. If the legendary king Midas turned everything he touches into gold, then Norman Foster turns everything … into the future

What is caprom and why was it criticized in post-Soviet Russia

What is caprom and why was it criticized in post-Soviet Russia

Turrets, Baroque murals, disproportions, tiles, glass and strange shapes … Many of us architectural structures that appeared in the 90s and 2000s seem ridiculous and tasteless, while others, on the contrary, admire the courage of the architects who gave will of imagination. This controversial style, which came in the first post-Soviet decade, has a name - caprom, capitalist romanticism

How the fairytale house of the glass king appeared in St. Petersburg: Frank's mansion and its wonderful stained-glass windows

How the fairytale house of the glass king appeared in St. Petersburg: Frank's mansion and its wonderful stained-glass windows

This beautiful restored building, somewhat similar to a fairytale house, is not known to everyone. Frank's mansion on Vasilievsky Island is one of the little-known architectural masterpieces of St. Petersburg. But this magnificent house has unique architecture and a very interesting history! And you should definitely tell about him

Burned down without waiting for restoration: The sad fate of a unique temple in Siberia

Burned down without waiting for restoration: The sad fate of a unique temple in Siberia

In the distant Tomsk region, there is the village of Kolbinka. At the beginning of the last century, a beautiful wooden church was built here, but after the revolution, like many churches, it was closed. However, if after the collapse of the USSR, churches in Russia began to be restored, then this building was not lucky. The half-decayed and ramshackle Church of the Life-Giving Trinity remained sadly in plain sight for almost a century, no one needed. When they remembered about it, it was already too late … The temple is forever lost, and now you can see it only

How apartments were rented 100 years ago: What were the tenement houses for the elite and how the guests lived poorer

How apartments were rented 100 years ago: What were the tenement houses for the elite and how the guests lived poorer

Pre-revolutionary apartment buildings are a special topic and a special layer both in Russian architecture and in residential construction in general. In the late XIX - early XX century, the popularity of this trend began to grow so rapidly that houses for renting apartments and rooms for rent began to appear in large cities like mushrooms. Wealthy merchants understood that building such houses was a profitable business. It is very interesting what development this direction would have received further, but, alas, a revolution happened … Fortunately, we can still do anything

How they loved Egypt in St. Petersburg: Where in St. Petersburg you can find echoes of the fashion for Egyptology

How they loved Egypt in St. Petersburg: Where in St. Petersburg you can find echoes of the fashion for Egyptology

Just as a young fashionista adorns himself with what is popular in his circle, so young Petersburg with pleasure once tried on Egyptian "new clothes" - what became popular in architecture with the beginning of Egyptomania. This is how sphinxes and pyramids, hieroglyphs and bas-reliefs appeared in the northern capital, inspiring all new generations of townspeople to further study the mysterious ancient culture

What secrets are kept in the most pompous tenement house for the elite, built 100 years ago in St. Petersburg

What secrets are kept in the most pompous tenement house for the elite, built 100 years ago in St. Petersburg

This stately house on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt is one of the architectural masterpieces built in the northern capital by the father of St. Petersburg Art Nouveau Fyodor Lidval. The building is decorated with mushrooms, animals, owls and other interesting elements. At the beginning of the last century, it was one of the most pompous apartment buildings erected in St. Petersburg for the elite. And even now it is very prestigious to live here

Why was an octagonal house built in St. Petersburg, or What secrets are kept by the "well" on the Petrograd side

Why was an octagonal house built in St. Petersburg, or What secrets are kept by the "well" on the Petrograd side

There is one amazing pre-revolutionary house in the city on the Neva. When viewed from a bird's eye view, it looks like an octagon. And, of course, it was built according to the "proprietary" St. Petersburg principle of houses-wells. This beautiful and mysterious building is located on Maly Avenue of the Petrogradskaya Side. Why did the architects design the house in this particular shape? There are two versions: mystical and real

Is Marmot Phil often wrong and other fun facts about the furry meteorologist who gathers thousands of tourists?

Is Marmot Phil often wrong and other fun facts about the furry meteorologist who gathers thousands of tourists?

This strange custom became known all over the world thanks to the excellent film Groundhog Day, which was released in screens in 1993. Since then, the event in the town of Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania has attracted not two or three hundred locals as before, but thousands of tourists from all over the world. Despite such popularity, Phil's predictions, as calculated by meteorologists, come true even worse than random guessing. Nevertheless, this year the marmot was not mistaken - on the other side of the world, spring really turned out to be a protracted

What amazes the palace of Catalan music, which has become the hallmark of Barcelona

What amazes the palace of Catalan music, which has become the hallmark of Barcelona

This building is perhaps one of the most stunning cultural institutions in terms of beauty. And although now, during the period of self-isolation, tourists cannot come and see him with their own eyes, you can enjoy his photographs. The Palace of Catalan Music is a visiting card not only of Barcelona, but of the whole of Catalonia. It is impossible to take your eyes off this building, and many interesting facts are also associated with it

Famous victims of the pandemic: What mark the Italian Vittorio Gregotti left in world architecture

Famous victims of the pandemic: What mark the Italian Vittorio Gregotti left in world architecture

This spring, Italian and world architecture lost an outstanding urban planner. Vittorio Gregotti, a great architect, theorist in urban planning, one of the founders of the neorationalism movement, died of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus. He died at the age of 92 in a Milan hospital, where he was taken with his wife, also infected with Covid-19. The Mayor of Milan, commenting on the death of Gregotti, called him "Italy's ambassador to world architecture" and briefly summed up "Thank you for everything." Pre

Holland or the Netherlands: Why these two concepts are confused and what has changed in recent years

Holland or the Netherlands: Why these two concepts are confused and what has changed in recent years

Why is cheese called Dutch and not Dutch, artists are called "Little Dutchmen", and the island in St. Petersburg is called "New Holland"? For most of the inhabitants of the Earth, Holland and the Netherlands are synonymous words, but is it really so? Not so - there is a difference, and for many residents of this European country it is very fundamental