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Hidden Easter Eggs of History
All around us are impressive surviving reminders of our history, like the Parthenon Temple in Greece dedicated to the Goddess
Athena or the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
All of these places are well understood and their histories are well known to the public.
But some history is so hidden, that it isn't so obvious at first glance. Once you investigate them,
they are quite remarkable. In Tokyo, Japan, there is a military history connection to the famous Tokyo Tower that is not so obvious.
The
1092 feet or
332.9 meter high communication tower was built in
1958. At a glance, it resembles the Eiffel Tower in Paris and at the time, symbolized to the West that
Post-war Japan was booming.
What isn't so known, is that the tower was built when there was a shortage of metal resources to build the ambitious project.
So one-third of the towers steel frame is made from melted-down American Tanks that had served in the Korean War
Even a casual walk through Paris can reveal much.
For just beneath your feet, at the intersection of Rue de la Roquette and Rue de la Croix Faubin,
a five innocent-looking rectangle indentations in the road.
They are actually foundation blocks and are all that remains of the guillotine that once stood there outside of the prison de la Roquette
where sixty nine public executions took place during the mid to late 19th century.
If you were to take a boat ride along the English Coastline that surrounds either the Thames or the Mersey Estuaries,
you would be confronted by what would seem to be gigantic metallic creatures looming up from the water,
that looked like something out of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds,
In fact,
they are decommissioned Maunsell Sea Forts,
relics from World War II that were built to protect the shipping lanes from aerial attacks and have long since been abandoned by the British
Military.
Sometimes the biggest of events can leave the smallest of reminders that it was ever there. Take the Battle of Gettysburg
that ran from July 1st to the 3rd 1863.
It was one of the pivotal battles of the American Civil War and by far, one of the bloodiest.
Today at a B&B called Farnsworth House near Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg,
there is an old Stonewall with over 100 bullet holes in it.
These dates back to the Battle of Gettysburg, when Union troops attacked the house which was being used by Confederate Sharpshooters at the time.
During the three-day battle, over
7,500 soldiers lives were taken.
Other times history is incredibly well hidden and almost impossible to see unless you have the right perspective.
The Nazca lines are around
2,000 years old, an old giant etching that covers a hundred and ninety square miles in the Nazca Desert. In Southern Peru,
they can only be seen from a high up place, such as the neighboring foothills or from the air.
They represent various animals and human beings. And the largest one is over a thousand feet long.
Their true purposes are unknown but most scholars agree that they have some kind of religious significance.
So the next time you're out and about, look carefully for the oddities in your city or town that may have a story to tell.
These histories are well hidden
but what shouldn't be hidden is your project or business.
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