I just stumbled upon a rather interesting, weird, and wonderful little blog called Curious Expeditions (curiousexpeditions.org). According the site, they are “devoted to unearthing and documenting the wondrous, the macabre, and the obscure from around the globe.” While some of the posts are indeed a bit macabre, most (even the macabre ones) are fascinating, educational, wondrous, exotic, and historically and culturally enlightening. The blog goes back to April 2007, and so there is a lot to browse and click through.
I recommend you at least check out their post on A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries, which show cases dozens of pictures of some of the most beautiful libraries in the world. In addition, there’s a post on Galileo’s Middle Finger, preserved for all time in the History of Science Museum in Florence. Best of all, they have numerous posts on all manner of mechanical automatons, a healthy helping of steampunk zaniness, and some extraordinary clockpunk goodness as well.
Check it out today!