Does your town feel too congested? Wish you had more alone time? Like having the road, air, land, and post office all to yourself? You could buy a private island for around $100,000, but then you’d have to rely on submarine cables for power. Or, you could head to one of the not-so-bustling metropolises around the globe that feature occupations so slight a family moving in could possibly double the population. Check out 15 areas that fewer than 15 people call home.

1. MONOWI, NE (POP: 1)

Before automation cut farming jobs, the small Nebraskan hamlet of Monowi was home to roughly 300 residents. That was slowly curbed to a couple: the Eilers, who had lived there since they were children. When Elsie Eiler’s husband, Rudy, passed away in 2004, she became the town’s sole occupant. Eiler, 82, runs the bar, the Monowi Tavern, and acts as the village’s sole librarian in a building dedicated to her late husband. Every year, Eiler collects taxes from herself to keep the area’s four street lights on.

2. TORTILLA FLAT, AZ (POP: 6)

An Old West relic tucked in Tonto National Forest, the tiny town of Tortilla Flat whose center of business is the Superstition Saloon and Restaurant, owned and operated by the town’s population of six. A biker contingent runs up neighboring Old Highway 88 and briefly raises the populace to 500 or so every year, and the town also has a post office, should any of them get the urge to send a postcard.

3. PICHER, OK (POP: 10)

When the Environmental Protection Agency declares your town a biohazard, you’re probably not going to be left with much of a city council. Picher was originally at a hearty 20,000 residents before toxic sludge from heavy metal mining contaminated the area in the early 1980s. While federal grants funding continued the clean-up work, most of Picher’s locals took home buy-outs; those that didn’t were hit by a tornado in 2008 that injured 150 and killed eight. Roughly 10 have stayed behind, including a pharmacist who didn’t think the government offer was that great and doesn’t mind sourcing water from tested wells.

4. VILLA EPECUÉN, ARGENTINA (POP: 1)

South of Buenos Aires, the 1500 residents of the spa town Villa Epecuén felt protected from rising waters by a manmade flood wall. But in 1985, the wall collapsed and the nearby salt lake virtually submerged the town, drowning it in 33 feet of water. It took nearly 30 years for the water to recede, revealing the town’s decrepit buildings. One former occupant, Pablo Novak, decided to inhabit the ruins, moving into an abandoned house to tend to cattle. As of 2015, Novak was still there, running into the occasional tourist with questions about his experiences in the Argentinian Atlantis.

5. CASS, NEW ZEALAND (POP: 1)

KiwiRail employee Barrie Drummond was dispatched to Cass in 1987 to oversee a section of rail line connecting nearby Christchurch to Greymouth. While he initially felt he’d be too isolated in the zero-population town, locals from nearby made him feel welcome. The rent was cheap, traffic was non-existent, and a KFC was still within driving distance; in his spare time, he built a mini-golf course and a bowling green. As of 2014, Drummond was still the town’s sole resident and organizer of Cass Bash, a music festival that draws crowds from neighboring areas.

6. BUFORD, WY (POP: 1)

A 10-acre stopover, Buford was purchased in 1992 by Dan Sammons, who used money from his moving business to become the land’s only resident. He built a log cabin and opened a trading post while publicizing Buford as a single-entity population, turning it into a tourist attraction for visitors en route to Yellowstone National Park. In 2013, Nguyen Dinh Pham purchased the town for $900,000 with plans to host a Vietnamese coffee business, PhinDeli, on the land. Pham, realizing the perks of owning your own town, renamed it PhinDeli Town Buford. Sammons moved to Colorado; a property caretaker has taken his place to keep the sign accurate.

7. HIBBERTS GORE, ME (POP: 1)

An errant map survey has carved out a small slice of Palermo as an unincorporated, 640-acre piece of land. The U.S. Census has recorded just one resident: Karen Keller, who embraced Hibberts Gore after the dissolution of her marriage. A 2001 Boston Globe article on the anomaly brought Keller a bunch of unwanted attention: she unsuccessfully petitioned the Census to count her as part of nearby Lincoln County. As of 2012, Keller was in the process of renovating her house and avoiding a stream full of unfriendly turtles and snakes.

8. GROSS, NE (POP: 2)

Multiple fires and limited access to a railroad shut down Gross’s chances to be much of an entity. Today, just two residents remain: Mike and Mary Finnegan, who operate the Nebrask (no “A”) Inn within the town’s limits. The couple arrived in 1985 and promptly made their 5-year-old son the unofficial mayor. A law on the books prohibiting serving wine on Sundays was repealed because they said so; the eatery has gotten rave reviews on its Facebook page.

9. FUNKLEY, MN (POP: 5)

When you’re both the mayor and barkeep in a tiny town, there’s not much stopping you from printing your own currency. That’s what Emil Erickson does, though the cash—which bears his likeness—is only good at the tavern. Funkley’s population also doubles as its city council. Without much else to appeal to residents, it’s always been a sparsely populated spot: just 26 people called it home in 1940.

10. CENTRALIA, PA (POP: >12)

Although a dozen people refused to take government buyouts to evacuate Centralia in 1992, there’s a good reason everyone else did: the town has been on fire for over 50 years. It’s believed coal mining precipitated a large-scale blaze that’s been fed for decades thanks to the mining shafts. Streets are prone to cracking open, creating sinkholes and releasing an eerie smoke. Officials believe the fires could rage another 250 years; the properties of residents who pass away will be subject to eminent domain.

11. LOST SPRINGS, WY (POP: 4)

While the sign says “Pop: 1,” the four residents of Lost Springs say that’s a Census error. The town was once home to 280 in the mining days of the 1920s. As work dissolved, so did the community. Currently, there’s a town hall, a post office, a park, a general store, and a few public bathrooms.

12. BONANZA, CO (POP: 3)

Mark Perkovich retired to Bonanza in 1994 to find solitude. He got it: Bonanza, a former mining town in the Rockies, is completely desolate with the exception of its lone resident. Aside from chatting with the mailman, Perkovich occupies his time by clearing snow and tending to his property. In 2014, Colorado considered dissolving Bonanza due to its lack of a pulse: Perkovich opposed the change, but disliked the fact that his property taxes to the county didn’t actually buy him anything. In 2015, a couple was rumored to have moved in, tripling the population.

13. WEEKI WACHEE, FL (POP: 4)

Beautiful, sun-kissed, and largely absent of any humans, Weeki Wachee has just three citizens but plenty of mermaids. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is home to a submerged theater carved into the limestone of a spring where tourists can watch ocean sirens swim around. The attraction has been around since 1947, when ex-Navy officer Newton Perry opened for business. In 2001, mayor Robyn Anderson declared herself a “mer-mayor” due to her past as a performer.

14. SWETT, SD (POP: 2)

Originally stuffed to the brim with a population of 40 in the 1940s, Swett’s lack of economic impact—it has one tavern—has whittled the population down to just two: Lance Benson and his wife. A traveling concessions salesman, Benson bought Swett in 1998 to oversee the bar and catch customers from nearby towns. (He lived in the lone house.) In 2014, he decided he wanted to move on and put the town up for sale. It was recently listed at $199,000: the cheery description from Exit Realty noted that “locals believe the residence to be haunted.”

15. NOTHING, AZ (POP: O)

You won’t find much more than a general store and part of a gas station in Nothing, a desert villa 120 miles from Phoenix. Nothing was incorporated in 1977 as a way of injecting some humanity into a stretch of US 93, but its residents didn’t find it too hospitable: the last of them moved out after a pizza parlor failed to attract passing truckers. The name became prescient, and there are currently no known occupants. In June 2016, Nothing was subject to a Century 21 publicity stunt in which free patches of land could be given out to dads on Father’s Day. Approximate value? Nothing.

What’s in nail polish? And can you make it in your kitchen? Chemist George Zaidan answers both questions in this delightful Ingredients video posted by National Geographic.

Nail polish is an inherently complex substance, full of contradictions. The liquid has to be thin enough to make an even coat, but it can’t be drippy (or it’ll fall off the applicator brush). It needs to be resistant to washing off…but also easily removable with nail polish remover. Oh, and it (usually) needs to be colorful—uniformly, earnestly, brilliantly colorful. So how do chemists make nail polish meet all these requirements? Zaidan digs in, and even tries making it from scratch. Enjoy:

If you’re curious about the citations, check the YouTube description for more.

Many regular travelers seek out their favorite series of landmarks to visit—every national park, every art museum, or every state. For the more macabre among you, here’s a guide to 15 most interesting mummies you can see around the world.

1. LADY DAI (XIN ZHUI)—HUNAN PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, CHANGSHA, CHINA

 
Lady Dai was the wife of a marquis in the Han Dynasty. When she died in the middle of the 2nd century BCE, she was overweight, with a bad back and gallstones. Her tomb was airtight and sealed with clay and charcoal, which may be responsible for her remarkable preservation. She was also surrounded by a reddish liquid that may have played a role as well.

2. VLADIMIR LENIN—RED SQUARE, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

 
After the infamous communist leader died in 1924, his body was embalmed and put on display in a mausoleum in Red Square. He is re-embalmed every other year in a special solution, and care is taken to deal with mold, wrinkles, and even lost eyelashes. Annual cost of maintenance runs to about $200,000.

3. TOLLUND MAN—SILKEBORG MUSEUM, DENMARK

 
Tollund Man died in the 4th century BCE and was preserved naturally by peat, making him one of the most famous of all the bog bodies. While his face looks like that of a sleeping man, there was a noose around his neck, suggesting a far more sinister end by hanging. Bog bodies tend to be so well preserved that they are often mistaken for recent murder victims. Other bog bodies are on display throughout Europe.

4. GEBELEIN MAN—BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON, ENGLAND

 
Six naturally mummified bodies from 4th millennium BCE Egypt are in the collection of the British Museum. All are from the same grave, and they are the earliest natural mummies known from Egypt, predating the Great Pyramid by about a thousand years. The most famous of these, nicknamed “Ginger” for his red hair, has been on display almost continuously since 1901. He was 18 to 20 years old when he died of a stab wound to his left shoulder, which pierced his lung.

5. ÖTZI—SOUTH TYROL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY, BOLZANO, ITALY

 
The most well-researched mummy in the world, Ötzi died around 3300 BCE high in the Ötztal Alps. About 45 at his death, the Iceman was killed by sharp trauma to his shoulder (and possibly a blow to the head), and his body was naturally preserved by the cold and ice. He has some of the oldest preserved tattoos in the world, and he carried a variety of weapons and tools, including a proto first aid kit.

6. LA DONCELLA—MUSEUM OF HIGH ALTITUDE ARCHAEOLOGY, SALTA, ARGENTINA

 
“The Maiden” is one of the Children of Llullaillaco, three Inca kids who died on the volcano five centuries ago. La Doncella was around 15 when she died in her sleep after being drugged by coca leaves and chicha beer. She may have been an aclla or “sun virgin,” chosen as a child to eventually become a sacrifice to the gods. The cold, dry environment preserved La Doncella perfectly, making her look as if she just recently fell asleep.

7. ITIGILOV—IVOKGINSKY DATSAN, BURYATIA

 
Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was a Buddhist lama, or teacher, who died in 1927 while meditating in the lotus position. Itigilov had left instructions to be buried as he died, interred in a pine box, and exhumed several years later. Monks checked on his body over the years, but in 2002, he was officially exhumed and transferred to the Buddhist temple of Ivolginsky Datsan. It is unclear how the body was preserved for so long, but it is thought that monks applied salt to it over the years to dehydrate it.

8. EVEREST CLIMBERS—”RAINBOW VALLEY,” MT. EVEREST, NEPAL/CHINA

 
The first recorded deaths on the tallest mountain in the world date back nearly a century. An estimated 200 or more bodies dot Everest today, many in the area nicknamed “Rainbow Valley,” just before the summit on the northeast ridge. It’s the multicolored hiking gear of people who perished in their ascent that gives the valley its macabre name. Recovery of the bodies is difficult due to the terrain and can cost upwards of $30,000. Most bodies therefore stay and become landmarks on Everest, making it the highest “graveyard” in the world.

9. CAPUCHIN MUMMIES—PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY

 
The Catacombe dei Cappuccini are burial chambers that were in use from 1599 to the 1920s. Originally intended only for monks, the catacombs quickly filled with status-seeking locals. Bodies were dehydrated on ceramic pipes and then washed with vinegar. By the latest census, there are 1,252 mummies in these catacombs, and close to 7,000 additional skeletons. Some of the mummies are posed, some are wearing clothing, while others are partially covered with a simple sheet. The most famous resident is little Rosalia Lombardo, who died at age 2 in 1920 and whose body is remarkably well preserved, thanks to a special Sicilian embalming technique.

10. SALT MAN 1—NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRAN, TEHRAN, IRAN

 
Since 1993, remains of at least six men have been found in the Chehrabad salt mines in Zanjan, Iran. The corpses, likely people who were killed by mine collapses, are between 1,700 and 2,200 years old, dating to the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. The bodies were likely naturally desiccated by the salt. While Salt Man 1 is on display at the National Museum, four additional mummies can be seen at the Zanjan Archaeology Museum, and the sixth and most recently discovered mummy was left in place in the mine.

11. MUMMY OF SAN ANDRES—MUSEUM OF NATURE AND MAN, TENERIFE, SPAIN

 
Prior to Spanish settlement of the Canary Islands, the indigenous Guanche people intentionally eviscerated and desiccated the bodies of members of the social elite. Hundreds of mummies filled numerous caves on the islands, at least until the Spanish settled the area in the 15th century. Most of the mummies are assumed to have been sold, traded, and made into mummia, a powdered “medicine” that was used until the early 20th century. The mummy of San Andrés was a man in his late 20s and is exhibited in the Canary Islands, while some Guanche mummies can be found in Madrid at the National Archaeological Museum.

12. SIBERIAN ICE MAIDEN—REPUBLICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM, GORNO-ALTAYSK, ALTAI, RUSSIA

 
Deep below the ground in the Russian steppes, a burial chamber was uncovered in 1993. Within a log cabin-style coffin, surrounded by grave goods and horses, was a woman in her 20s who died in the 5th century BCE. The Ice Maiden’s impressive clothing—including a tall, gilded headdress—and intricate tattoos mark her as someone of high status, perhaps a priestess, in the ancient culture. A recent MRI revealed that she probably died of breast cancer.

13. MUMMIES OF GUANAJUATO—EL MUSEO DE LAS MOMIAS, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

 
For about a hundred years starting in the 19th century, a local tax in Guanajuato was levied on burials. If the family couldn’t pay the tax three years in a row, the corpse would be dug up. The climate of the area naturally mummified many of the bodies, and the unclaimed ones were stored in a nearby building. Pretty quickly, graveyard caretakers started charging for admission to see the mummies, which range in age from infants to the elderly. Today, the collection holds 111 mummies.

14. HATSHEPSHUT AND RAMESS II—MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES, CAIRO, EGYPT

 
Some of the most famous mummies in the world reside in Egypt, having been excavated from the Valley of the Kings. Hatshepsut was the second incontrovertibly female pharaoh, dying in 1458 BCE in her 50s from bone cancer, possibly as a result of carcinogenic skin lotion, according to recent forensic analysis. She also suffered from diabetes, arthritis, and bad teeth. A later pharaoh, Ramesses II, died around age 90 in 1213 BCE. Because of his campaigns and numerous monuments, he is one of the most well-known Egyptian pharaohs. Thanks to numerous battles, Ramesses’ body showed evidence of healed injuries and arthritis; his arteries were hardened; and he had a massive dental infection that might very well have killed him. These and many other ancient Egyptian ruler mummies are on display at the Cairo Museum, along with their gold grave masks and sarcophagi.

15. DAIJUKU BOSATSU SHINNYOKAI-SHONIN—RYUSUI-JI DAINICHIBO TEMPLE, TSURUOKA CITY, JAPAN

 
Sokushinbutsu is self-mummification that was practiced by Buddhist monks in the Yamagata prefecture in the 11th–19th centuries. This involved eating primarily pine needles, seeds, and resins to lose fat stores, and over the course of several years reducing intake of liquids to dehydrate the body. Monks would die while meditating, having naturally mummified themselves. Although hundreds of monks reportedly tried this over the centuries, only about two dozen are known to have succeeded. Perhaps the most famous monk who achieved sokushinbutsu is Daijuku Bosatsu Shinnyokai-Shonin, who died in 1783 and whose body is on display in a Buddhist temple.

Turns out seeing yourself projected on a 40-foot-tall screen can be kind of awkward. Or at least that’s the case for these 15 actors, all of whom prefer to stay far, far away from their own work.

1. MERYL STREEP

She may be one of the most celebrated actors of her time (she currently holds the record for most Oscar nominations, with 19 and counting), but Meryl Streep doesn’t like to dwell on her past roles. In fact, she’s never seen any of her films more than once. “I don’t do that,” she said. “I just look ahead.

2. JOHNNY DEPP

Throughout a decades-long career, Johnny Depp has racked up a list of iconic performances that any actor should be proud of … but, as he explained to David Letterman in a 2009 interview, his children have seen more of his movies than he has. “In a way, once my job is done on a film, it’s really none of my business,” Depp said. “I stay far away as I possibly can … I don’t like watching myself.”

In a 2013 interview with The Independent, Depp reiterated his ambivalence about watching himself onscreen, noting that “I made a choice a long time ago, that I was better off not watching my films, which is a drag because you miss out on a lot of your friends’ incredible work. But I feel like it would just harm me.”

3. JAVIER BARDEM

Javier Bardem may be a sex symbol, but sit him down in front of one of his performances and he doesn’t get the appeal. “The fact that I like to make characters doesn’t mean I like to watch my characters being made, my performance,” he told GQ in a 2012 interview. “I can’t even watch that f*cking nose, that f*cking voice, those ridiculous eyes. I can’t handle that. But when I’m doing it, I don’t see my nose or hear my voice; it’s like there’s something stronger, bigger than that. And I need to express it.”

4. JARED LETO

Like Johnny Depp, Jared Leto has no interest in watching his own movies, noting that “the experience for me making a film is the most profound one. I really don’t have any business watching the movie so much. Maybe I could watch it for entertainment purposes, but you have so little input and control of the final product once you’re done that I feel like I just would rather leave it alone.”

The actor admitted that, months after winning an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club, he still hadn’t seen the film: “I can’t hear that voice! I’ve never really heard very much of it and I’ve never watched the film. I will at some point, I’m sure. But too soon! It can never live up to the expectations I would have of it now because it was such a beautiful experience and the response that it got was really wonderful.”

5. REESE WITHERSPOON

Reese Witherspoon has a pretty good reason for not watching her movies: Doing so, she says, would make her “spiral into a state of self-hate.”

“I don’t know who feels good looking at themselves. Nobody, right?” Witherspoon mused on Chelsea Lately. “It’s torture. Why would you want to watch yourself being stupid and pretending to be somebody else?”

6. ADAM DRIVER

After watching his work in the pilot episode of HBO’s Girls, Adam Driver made the decision not to watch his own work in the future. “Because I saw all the mistakes. The things that I wished I could change, but couldn’t because it’s permanent,” he explained on The Howard Stern Show. “Plus, I came from a theater background where you don’t get to see it … I’d want to make it better looking or perfect, and that’s a trap.”

Before you ask: Yes, Driver did make an exception for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, even though doing so was an awkward experience. “Because we did so much work on it … It seemed like I should try getting over it,” Driver explained. “And it’s Star Wars. I literally can’t believe that I was in it.”

7. JESSE EISENBERG

Jesse Eisenberg has been open about the fact that watching his own movies makes him feel extremely self-conscious, so he avoids it whenever possible. (As of mid-April, he still had not watched Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.) In an interview with Business Insider, the actor compared the experience to looking at vacation photos: “You’ve taken a hundred pictures and you only like two of the pictures and you send them to all of your friends and the rest you’re totally mortified by how you look. The side of your face, that Speedo you decided to wear—that’s the experience for me. Two percent of a project I feel so comfortable with and proud of, and the rest of it I feel very self-critical of. I’m doing this willingly, of course, but if you can project that kind of feeling about those 98 pictures of yourself on to a massive scale of a movie that a lot of people are not just going to see but scrutinize, you can understand.”

8. ANDREW GARFIELD

Jesse Eisenberg’s The Social Network co-star Andrew Garfield is similarly gun-shy about watching his own performances—though he admits that The Social Network is one “they made me watch,” per The Hollywood Reporter. For Garfield, the issue is not wanting to over-analyze: “I don’t want to be aware of what I’m doing. As soon as I am, I’m less open … I just want to be fully open to the story and what that subjective moment is.”

9. JULIANNE MOORE

Julianne Moore may be one today’s most critically acclaimed actresses, but there’s one person who hasn’t seen her in anything, and that’s Julianne Moore. “I haven’t seen any of my movies,” the Oscar-winning actress admitted. “I can’t sit there for a premiere or anything. I like being in the movie more than I like watching them. That’s my big thrill, rather than seeing the finished product.”

10. JOAQUIN PHOENIX

Joaquin Phoenix has only watched two of his own movies: The Master and Her. (What, no Space Camp?) He hates seeing himself on the silver screen, telling Hollywood Outbreak that “I don’t ever really want to see myself as the camera sees me … I don’t want to watch myself. Of course, there’s a part of you that’s curious for a second, and I have to constantly tell myself, ‘No.’ Because I know it’s not going to be of any value to me, and in fact it stands a greater chance of having a negative effect on future work.”

11. MEGAN FOX

“I think most actors are pretty insecure,” says Megan Fox—though for Fox in particular, the desire not to watch herself onscreen goes beyond “this is slightly uncomfortable” to out-and-out mental stress. “I never [look at myself], even in still photographs. I don’t look at anything,” Fox says. “I panic if there is a monitor in the room. I immediately go into, like, an anxiety attack.” She was able to make herself watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but doing so involved copious amounts of champagne.

12. ZAC EFRON

He’s garnered a sizable and devoted fan base since his turn in the High School Musical movies, but Zac Efron isn’t one for revisiting his past projects. He describes himself as “more of a cringer” at first, though after several years he’s able to revisit his older work. “I tend to, especially the first time around, pick out every single flaw, or things I could have and should have done better,” he says. “I don’t know why, but I tend to dwell on those things.”

13. BEN FOSTER

Though he did watch this year’s Hell or High Water, Ben Foster admitted that that’s a rarity for him, and that it was the first one of his own movies he had watched in years. “I don’t enjoy watching what I do most of the time,” he told Metro. “I’m usually pretty disappointed with how it was handled. That’s the hard truth about it. Filmmakers and financiers come under pressure to serve a certain result, and that’s not necessarily the one we started with. I come in and I build, and sometimes they handle it well, and sometimes they don’t. I try not to worry about it and move onto the next one.”

14. BILLIE PIPER

Not only can British actress Billie Piper not stand to watch herself onscreen, in a 2008 interview, she explained that she also barred her then-husband Laurence Fox, an actor himself, from watching her. “He has never seen an episode of Doctor Who with me in it because I won’t let him,” Piper explained. “I get really edgy watching myself, and I get even more edgy with my loved ones because they know me and I feel they’re going to take the mickey. Sitting down to watch my performances makes me cry. It’s even worse watching it with another actor, because he can dissect your performance.”

15. MATTHEW FOX

Confused by the ending of Lost? Don’t ask star Matthew Fox, who’s never sat down to watch the biggest thing he’s ever been involved in. “I don’t ever really watch myself,” Fox said in a 2010 roundtable discussion. “I never watched an episode of Lost.” (Bryan Cranston’s response: “It’s a good show. You should see it sometime.”) And Fox isn’t alone among Lost alumni: Naveen Andrews has only seen bits and pieces, though he’s watched some of his other work.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Though it’s been 400 years since the Bard stopped writing plays, inventing words, and punning up a storm, the Bard of Avon’s legacy is still as strong as ever. Shakespeare fans have no shortage of places from his life and work to make a pilgrimage to; if you need a starting place for your travels, here are 15 suggestions.

1. SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE

Shakespeare was born and grew up in this house on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in addition to spending the first five years of his marriage to Anne Hathaway (no, not that one) there. Actors perform Shakespeare live here, and costumed guides tell stories from his family life.

2. SHAKESPEARE’S SCHOOLROOM AND GUILDHALL

Shakespeare attended the King Edward VI School, aka K.E.S., from approximately 1571 to 1578, from the ages of 7 to 14. The school is still in operation, with the Guildhall open to the public since 2016. Visitors can explore the classroom where Shakespeare studied and take part in a Tudor-era lesson.

3. SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE

The actual Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays were performed during his lifetime has been out of commission since, oh, the 1600s. In 1997, a recreation of the Globe—called Shakespeare’s Globe—opened in London, just a few hundred yards from the original site. Theatre is performed here, Shakespeare and otherwise, and there are educational events for “families, individuals, schoolchildren, scholars, Shakespeare lovers and Shakespeare skeptics.”

4. HAMPTON COURT PALACE

Whereas the original Globe is dead and gone, another venue where Shakespeare’s plays were performed during his lifetime is still standing: the Great Hall in Hampton Court Palace, where Shakespeare’s company, the King’s Men, set up shop for a stretch of time in the early 1600s. Aside from the Great Hall, visitors to Hampton Court Palace can see the Cumberland Art Gallery, the famous Hampton Court Maze, and the 450-year-old Chapel Royal.

5. JULIET’S BALCONY

Legend has it that a particular balcony in Verona is the very place where Romeo and Juliet had their famous tête-à-tête in Shakespeare’s most enduring romance. The house where the balcony is located used to be owned by the “Capello” family, and it’s the similarity of that name to “Capulet” that has made the balcony one of Verona’s most popular tourist attractions. There’s a bronze statue of Juliet in the courtyard outside, and people rub her right breast for luck, in addition to leaving love notes in the surrounding walls and doorways.

6. ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Since 1875, the Royal Shakespeare Company—then begun as the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Ltd.—has been helping to keep the legacy of Willy S. alive. The company performs Shakespeare and non-Shakespeare plays alike year-round in the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres, both in Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.

7. FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY

If you want to get your Shakespeare on without venturing to the UK, another option is Washington, D.C.’s Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection. Visitors can take advantage of multiple tours, including tours of the library’s famous reading rooms every Saturday.

8. KRONBORG CASTLE

Situated an hour north of Copenhagen is Kronborg Castle, which you may know by another name: Elsinore, a.k.a. the royal castle that was home to Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, and all their dead Danish friends. There’s some dispute as to whether Shakespeare ever visited Kronborg Castle, but we do know he set Hamlet there. A Shakespeare festival takes place there every summer, and there’s a daily tour titled “In Hamlet’s Footsteps.”

9. CHARLECOTE PARK

Charlecote Park, on the banks of the River Avon, is said to be the site of one of Shakespeare’s youthful indiscretions: poaching deer. He was caught, legend has it, and brought before local magistrate Sir Thomas Lucy. Lucy is said to have been satirized in The Merry Wives of Windsor as the vain Justice Shallow, though academics by no means agree on that point. Deer still roam in Charlecote Park, which is a favored spot for picnics and birdwatching.

10. SMALLHYTHE PLACE

Smallhythe Place in Kent is of interest not just to Shakespeare fans, but to those interested in costumery as well. The house was once inhabited by Dame Alice Ellen Terry (1847-1928), one of the leading Shakespearean actresses of her time. Smallhythe Place is now host to 250 costumes worn by Tracy, which have been subject to meticulous conservation efforts.

11. THE PAINTED ROOM

Though “easy to miss, or dismiss,” Oxford’s Painted Room hides a little slice of Shakespearean history behind an unassuming facade. The Painted Room, so called for its Elizabethan wall paintings, is part of what used to be the Crown Tavern, owned by one John Davenant. A friend of Davenant’s, Shakespeare would stay in the Crown when traveling between London and Stratford-upon-Avon. He was also friendly with Davenant’s wife, Jane; one of the many rumors surrounding Shakespeare is that he was the father of one of Jane’s sons. The Painted Room is a part of local Shakespeare celebrations and can be visited year-round.

12. MACBETH TRAIL

The so-called “Macbeth Trail” (less a “trail” than a variety of locations spread throughout Scotland, so don’t try to walk it) gives Shakespeare enthusiasts a chance to visit some of the places critical to the life of the ambitious, murderous Macbeth—both the Shakespeare character and the actual historical figure on which he’s based. (There are some differences.) Among the locations are the grounds of Inverness Castle, where Macbeth lived; the heath surrounding the town of Forres, where Macbeth had his encounter with the three witches; and Macbeth’s Stone, which is said to mark the spot where the real Macbeth was executed by Malcolm Canmore in 1057.

13. SHAKESPEARE CLIFF

King Lear fans can visit Dover’s so-called “Shakespeare Cliff,” which is said to have inspired the scene in which the blind Earl of Gloucester is tricked into thinking he survived jumping from a miraculous height. Shakespeare’s description of the cliff matches the real-life version, and Shakespeare and his company visited Dover around the time he was probably writing Lear. Less touristy than other Shakespeare attractions, Shakespeare Cliff is a good spot for fishing or taking a stroll.

14. THE WILLOW GLOBE

If a trip to London to see Shakespeare’s Globe isn’t your speed, just outside of Llandrindod Wells, Wales is the Willow Globe, a scaled-down outdoor version of the Globe made of trees. Per its website, “The Willow has been carefully woven into an organic and spiritual theater, starkly sculptural in spring, which is almost completely absorbed by its lush, green surroundings in summer months.” A variety of events take place there from April through September, among them educational events and community and professional productions of Shakespeare plays.

15. THE LONDON STONE

The London Stone is one of England’s odder tourist attractions, due to the fact that no one really knows why it’s supposed to be a big deal. There are many theories about the stone’s importance, one laid out by Shakespeare himself, who included it in Henry VI, Part 2 as a sort of prop that rebel leader Jack Cade used to declare himself Lord of the City. Nowadays, you can visit the Stone at the Museum of London, where it’s taking a long-term vacation during renovations to its usual home on Cannon Street, where it typically sits behind a metal grille looking like nothing so much as … a moderately-sized stone. In London.

French physicist Léon Foucault (1819–1868) is best known for developing the Foucault pendulum, a device that demonstrated once and for all that the Earth rotates. But he was also a master inventor, and he contributed to many different branches of science. Here are 15 things that you might not have known about the man behind the pendulum.

1. FOUCAULT SHOWED LITTLE PROMISE AS A YOUNGSTER.

From the beginning, he seemed ill-suited to schooling and studying; his attention often wandered. A childhood friend would later recall: “Nothing about the boy announced that he would be illustrious some day; his health was delicate, his character mild, timid and not expansive. The frailty of his constitution and the slow way he worked made it impossible for him to study at college. He was only able to study successfully thanks to the help of dedicated tutors watched over by his mother.” 

2. HE ABANDONED THE STUDY OF MEDICINE BECAUSE HE COULDN’T STAND THE SIGHT OF BLOOD.

In fact, he’s said to have fainted on seeing blood for the first time. Not surprisingly, he dropped out of medical school. Fortunately, he had other talents, and his aptitude for mechanics and invention was soon recognized. With almost no formal training, he succeeded in building a boat, a mechanical telegraph, and a steam engine.

3. FOUCAULT MEASURED THE SPEED OF LIGHT—AND GOT A PRETTY ACCURATE RESULT.

The technique involved sending a beam of light to a rapidly rotating mirror, where it would be reflected at a stationary mirror, then back to the rotating mirror. By measuring the amount that the mirror rotated while the beam traveled between the mirrors, the speed could be calculated. (The method had been developed by his countryman François Arago; Foucault took over after Arago’s eyesight began to fail.) Foucault’s eventual result was within 1 percent of the modern figure (299,792,458 km/sec).

4. HE DID PIONEERING WORK IN PHOTOGRAPHY, TOO.

Foucault worked with physicist Armand Fizeau to improve on the photographic techniques developed earlier by Louis Daguerre. Combining his photographic and astronomical talents, Foucault obtained the first detailed photographs of the surface of the Sun.

5. HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF TELESCOPE MIRRORS.

Since the time of Newton, astronomers knew that when building a telescope, a concave mirror (spherical or, even better, parabolic) could be used as part of an optical system to gather more light. But how do you know if your mirror is the right shape? Foucault developed a simple technique, known as the knife-edge test (shown above). The relatively simple—and cheap—test is used by amateur telescope makers to this day.

6. HE WAS JUST AS GOOD WITH MICROSCOPES AS WITH TELESCOPES.

Together with his professor, physician Alfred Donné, Foucault was a pioneer in “photomicrography”—taking photographs through a microscope. (It required, among other things, a powerful electric light source to illuminate the objects being photographed.) In 1845 Foucault and Donné published the first medical textbook that made extensive use of photomicrographs.

7. HE WAS CHUMMY WITH NAPOLEON III.

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte—a nephew of Napoleon I, who had served as France’s president—seized absolute power following a coup in 1851, calling himself Napoleon III. And, as it happened, he was an amateur scientist. He supported Foucault, creating a post specifically for him—the scientist’s title would be “Physicist Attached to the Imperial Observatory.” This was lucky for Foucault, who at the time had no reliable source of income, other than serving as an editor of a scientific journal.

8. HIS FAMOUS PENDULUM DEMONSTRATES THE EARTH’S MOTION, WHICH HAD TROUBLED SCIENTISTS EVEN BEFORE SCIENCE WAS A THING.

Ancient thinkers had wondered if the Earth rotated, but there were obvious objections. For example, a non-spinning object dropped from a tower lands near the base of the tower; if the Earth rotated, shouldn’t it be swept away some distance? The full solution to this conundrum would come only with the work of Galileo and, later, Newton, who developed the modern idea of inertia.

9. THE HAND-WRINGING CONTINUED THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGES AND INTO THE RENAISSANCE.

The 14th-century thinker Nicole Oresme declared that there was no way to be sure if the stars revolved around the Earth or if the stars stayed put and the Earth spun, but he concluded that a stationary Earth was the more probable situation. When Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) wrote his groundbreaking book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543), he took it as a given that the Earth rotated on its axis once per day—though there was still no proof.

10. THEY ALSO WONDERED WHY THE EARTH SPINS.

Active at the turn of the 17th century, the English scientist William Gilbert—who was also Queen Elizabeth I’s physician—was a devout Copernican. But he still wondered why the Earth turned. He conjectured—mostly correctly—that the Earth was a giant magnet and wondered if that was somehow responsible for the Earth’s rotation. It turns out, it is not. (Gilbert thought that the Earth’s magnetic axis and spin axis were one and the same; we now know they’re “off,” currently by about 10 degrees.) Gilbert thought that the Earth had a “magnetic soul,” and that this caused the planet to rotate, while at the same time causing a compass needle to point north.

11. THAT’S WHY FOUCAULT’S PENDULUM WASN’T AN ENTIRELY NEW IDEA.

Two centuries before Foucault, Galileo had understood the physics of the simple pendulum, and a few decades later, the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens would develop the pendulum clock, based on Galileo’s research. But it was Foucault who had the idea to use a pendulum to show that the Earth rotates. As the pendulum swings, the weight moves back and forth in a constant vertical plane while the Earth rotates beneath it.

12. THE PENDULUM DEMONSTRATES THE EARTH’S ROTATION, BUT IT’S NOT A 24-HOUR AFFAIR.

The plane of the pendulum’s swing rotates very slowly, eventually coming back to its original orientation. For example, if you start the pendulum swinging perfectly north–south, it eventually comes back to that orientation. But the period for this movement—its rate of “precession,” as physicists call it—depends on the latitude of the apparatus. At the north or south pole, the period is approximately 24 hours; at the latitude of Paris (about 49 degrees north), the period of precession is just under 32 hours.

13. FOUCAULT PENDULUMS ARE NOW SET UP ALL OVER THE WORLD.

This simple demonstration of the Earth’s rotation, first performed in Paris in 1851, caught the public’s imagination, and “Foucault pendulums” were set up in major American and European cities. The largest Foucault pendulum in the world, named the Principia, is housed at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The pendulum bob measures three feet across, weighs 900 pounds, and hangs from a 70-foot cable; each swing carries it 15 feet, taking about 10 seconds for a complete swing.

14. THE MOST FAMOUS FOUCAULT PENDULUM WAS STILL FOR A WHILE, BUT IT’S SWINGING AGAIN.

Foucault’s most famous demonstration took place in the Pantheon, in central Paris. Various versions of the pendulum have been mesmerizing visitors, more or less continuously, since 1851. However, the pendulum was removed when repair work on the building began in 2014. It was back to swinging in 2015, several years ahead of schedule. The rest of the Pantheon is still being restored.

15. HIS NAME IS INSCRIBED ON THE EIFFEL TOWER.

Foucault is one of the 72 scientists, mathematicians, and engineers whose names are inscribed in 60-cm-high letters on the side of the Eiffel Tower.

Democracy is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor—and neither is its essential mechanism, the election. Read on to learn more about how people around the world—and how some people who are currently out of this world—perform their essential civic duty when Election Day rolls around.

1. IN MOST PLACES, ELECTIONS ARE HELD ON SUNDAYS.

Voters in the U.S. may head to the polls on Tuesdays, but the rest of the world prefers to save its votes for Sunday. Interestingly, countries in which English is the primary language tend to be the exception to this rule; in Canada, citizens vote on Mondays, while Brits vote on Thursdays, and Australians and New Zealanders on Saturdays.

The American vote wasn’t always limited to Tuesdays by law; instead, it’s a holdover from the 19th century, when farmers were often forced to travel long distances to their polling stations, and needed enough time to make it back home in time for market day on Wednesday.

2. INDIA IS SO HUGE, ITS ELECTIONS CAN TAKE WEEKS.

India is home to more than 800 million eligible voters, which makes it the world’s largest democracy. In order to accommodate an electorate of that size, the government holds elections over the course of weeks, or even months. The last major general election in 2014, in which Indians voted for the 543 members of parliament, took place on nine separate days over five weeks.

3. SWEDISH AND FRENCH VOTERS ARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERED.

People in France and Sweden don’t need to worry about making time to register ahead of Election Day. The government automatically registers voters when they’re eligible—in France, that’s as soon as people turn 18. Sweden relies on tax registries to create lists of eligible citizens.

4. VOTING IS COMPULSORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Every Australian over 18 is required by law to register to vote and to participate in federal elections. Anyone who doesn’t show up on Election Day is fined AU$20 (around $15). Failure to pay that fine results in even steeper penalties—up to AU$180—and can result in a criminal charge.

5. KIDS AS YOUNG AS 16 CAN ROCK THE VOTE IN BRAZIL.

Since 1988, Brazilian citizens have had the right to vote at age 16. (Voting is required for almost everyone between the ages of 18 and 69, and anyone who doesn’t vote is subject to a fine.) Sixteen and 17-year-olds are also eligible to vote in Austria, Nicaragua, and Argentina, and 17-year-olds can cast votes in Indonesia and Sudan. Select states in Germany have given 16-year-olds the vote in local elections, and in 2014, for the first time ever, Scottish teens aged 16 and 17 were allowed to vote on a referendum.

Studies of elections in which 16- and 17-year-olds can participate have shown that giving young people the ability to vote may translate into a more engaged citizenry as those voters grow older. What’s more, teens who choose to participate in elections are often as well informed about the candidates and the issues as their older counterparts.

6. IN ESTONIA, YOU CAN CAST YOUR VOTE ONLINE.

Since 2005, Estonians have had the ability to vote online instead of waiting in line at their local polling stations. Although in-person voting is still more popular, in 2015, more than 30 percent of Estonian voters took advantage of the online voting system. The Estonian system is workable because every citizen receives a scannable ID card and PIN, which he or she can use to fulfill a number of civic responsibilities, from filing taxes to paying library fines. (Although an Estonian’s ID card and PIN are used to confirm his or her identity on Election Day, the vote itself is encrypted, rendering it anonymous.)

7. VOTER TURNOUT IN THE U.S. IS EXTREMELY LOW COMPARED TO OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

According to a 2016 report about voter turnout in developed countries, just 53.6 percent of Americans performed their civic duty during the 2012 election cycle, which places the U.S. 31st out of 35 OECD nations. By contrast, Belgium saw the highest percentage of eligible voters turn out for its 2014 election; approximately 87.2 percent of Belgian citizens cast their votes.

8. IN CHILE, MEN AND WOMEN VOTED SEPARATELY UNTIL 2012.

Beginning in 1930—when women were first given the right to vote in local elections in Chile—men and women headed to separate polling locations. That year, a separate registry was created to accommodate newly-registered female voters, who were still prohibited from voting in national elections. The custom of separating men and women on election day persisted even after suffrage was granted in nationwide elections (and the country’s voting registries were combined) in 1949. Sixty-three years later, the government decided that voting doesn’t have to be segregated by gender; however, separate voting is still widely practiced.

9. YES, NORTH KOREA HOLDS ELECTIONS.

But they’re far from democratic. Although a whopping 99.7 percent of the electorate participated in the 2015 local elections, citizens didn’t have much of a choice when it came to choosing who they wanted to endorse. Everyone on the ballot was selected ahead of time by North Korea’s ruling party; to vote, North Koreans simply had to drop a printout of the names in a box to indicate their support. A separate box was present at polling locations, which voters could use to register their rejection of the given candidates. However, all of the candidates chosen received 100 percent of the vote—which means either no one opted to dissent, or if they did, their votes weren’t counted.

10. THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE.

There’s no law in the United Kingdom barring Queen Elizabeth II from participating in elections. But in order to appear as objective as possible, she generally does not. Ahead of Britain’s June referendum regarding its E.U. membership, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told reporters that, “It’s very clearly the convention here, that the queen is above politics … it’s a convention that the royal family do not vote in general elections, and this is very much an extension of that convention.”

11. GOVERNMENTS GET CREATIVE IN PLACES WHERE LITERACY IS AN ISSUE.

In Gambia, citizens cast their votes by dropping marbles into color-coded metal drums with pictures of the candidates. Each drum is rigged with a bell, which the marble, after it’s dropped in, dings. (If the bell rings more than once, poll workers know someone has broken the rules.)

12. PUNDITS IN NEW ZEALAND KEEP MUM ON ELECTION DAY.

That’s because media (or social media) coverage of anything that could influence the outcome is illegal before 7 p.m. on Election Day. According to one report, “Talking heads on television can’t mention something as mundane as a candidate’s attire, much less who might win. Political parties are even directed by authorities to ‘unpublish their [social media] pages.’” Anyone in violation of the restriction on Election Day chatter faces a fine of up to NZ$20,000 (around $14,000).

13. ASTRONAUTS CAN VOTE.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have had the ability to vote since 1997, when Texas lawmakers passed a measure that allowed secure ballots to be sent to space by Mission Control in Houston, Texas. Once astronauts make their selections, their ballots—PDFs of the paper ballots they’d receive in the mail—are beamed back down to Earth, where clerks open the encoded documents and submit a hard copy of the astronaut’s ballot to be counted.

14. LIECHTENSTEIN VOTERS WEIGH IN ON CITIZENSHIP.

In the tiny European country of Liechtenstein (population: 37,000) citizens vote for politicians, referendums—and whether or not to grant citizenship to those who have applied after residing in the principality for 10 years or more.

15. ONE ECUADORIAN ELECTION GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT.

The victor in a 1967 mayoral election in Ecuador: a popular brand of foot powder. In the days leading up to the election, the company ran election-themed ads, suggesting consumers vote for the powder “if they want well-being and hygiene.” Spoiler alert: The foot powder won, thanks to the large volume of write-in votes it received.

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If you’re someone who loves ghouls and goblins, but prefer to keep the fun a little more Hocus Pocus (1993) and a little less Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), we’ve got just the thing: The Scholastic FunFact Book of Ghosts: Demons and spirits from the world beyond.  

The 1977 book, which you can see in all its glory on the blog Euclid Boo, is a 32-page manual on all things phantom. It covers everything from “What is a ghost?” to types of ghosts, ghost duties, how to spot one, historical ghosts, “Unlikely ghosts,” “Ghosts around the world,” and of course, haunted houses. Perhaps most useful for the amateur paranormal enthusiast is a spread on ghost hunting, which includes a rundown of necessary equipment (a camera, graph paper, and thermometer to detect a ghost-revealing temperature drop) and info on how animals can help sniff out a spectre. There’s also a section on famous ghost faking techniques employed by mortals, and a “dictionary of ghostlore” to ensure that young readers are well-versed in the language of the supernatural. (There’s even a definition for soul if you want to get really deep.)

Head on over to Euclid Boo to see the amazing illustrations that accompany the guide, and if you’re interested in procuring the book for your own personal collection, copies of the throwback are available on Amazon starting at $60.

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

Chocolate-chip cookies are all fine and good, and sure, sometimes you just need a sugar cookie. But there’s a world of exciting biscuits, bars, cakes, and other cookies out there just waiting for you. Read on to find your new favorite. 

1. ALFAJORES // ARGENTINA

Shake up your sandwich cookie game with Latin American alfajores. This buttery, melt-in-your-mouth variety marries crumbly shortbread biscuits with a creamy dulce de leche filling—and the combination is unbeatable. Alfajores are an especially versatile choice, regularly enjoyed with coffee or tea, as dessert, snack, or even breakfast. And who doesn’t love cookies for breakfast? 

2. ANZAC BISCUITS // AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

There’s some debate about the origin of these rolled-oat cookies. Regional cookie lore says they were first baked and sent to the front by the wives of soldiers in the Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during World War I. Others say the biscuits were invented in a cookbook designed to raise funds for the soldiers. One way or another, these mild, sweet cookies have become a mainstay in kitchens and lunchboxes, especially on April 25, Anzac Day.

3. VANILLEKIPFERL // AUSTRIA

The word kipferl has two meanings: first, any of the crescent-shaped pastries for which Austria is known; and two, as a pet name for a particularly foolish loved one. Sweeten your week with vanillekipferl—crumbly crescents made with ground walnuts and dusted with vanilla sugar. 

4. NANAIMO BARS // CANADA           

Quibble with the definition of “cookie” if you will, but once you try a nanaimo bar you’ll be glad we mentioned it. These no-bake treats first originated in the city of Nanaimo, Canada in the 1950s, and feature layers of crumbly wafer cookie, custard, and chocolate. 

5. PAPRENJAK // CROATIA

If you like your snacks to bite back, paprenjak are the cookies for you. These traditional stamped biscuits are crispy and flavored with a heat-inducing blend of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, honey, and, most importantly, black pepper. 

6. KOURABIEDES // GREECE

These marvelous little cookies are bite-sized for a reason—to keep over-eager eaters from accidentally inhaling and choking on their powdered-sugar coating. Kourabiedes are similar in texture to Austrian vanillekipferl and Latin American polvorosa (see below) with one big difference: unusual butter. The best-known kourabiedes in Greece are made with buffalo-milk butter, and many home chefs swear by goat butter, which lends the cookies a light, rich flavor. 

7. POLVOROSA // GUATEMALA, COLOMBIA, AND VENEZUELA

Known variously as polvorosa, Mexican wedding cookies, or Russian tea cakes, these lovely treats are a perfect accompaniment for a cup of coffee or spiced wine. Just keep the napkins handy—the word “polvorosa” means “dust” or “powder,” which is exactly what you’ll get after your first bite. 

8. NANKHATAI // INDIA           

Stop into any bakery in India and you’ll find little mounds of the spiced shortbread cookies called nankhatai. The crispy little cookies get their creamy flavor from ghee, or clarified butter, and appear in kitchens across the country during Diwali. 

9. RESHTEH KHOSHKAR // IRAN

Looking for something a little more indulgent? Look no further than the Persian delight called reshteh khoshkar. Chefs mix rice flour, sugar, cardamom, walnut, ginger, and cinnamon, then cut the dough into thick strips—which are then deep-fried and drenched in cinnamon syrup. Drooling yet?

10. KLEICHA // IRAQ

If this list has taught us anything, it’s that the holidays are cookie time no matter where you go. The month of Ramadan is a time of fasting from dawn to sunset. When the marathon observance ends, Iraqis celebrate and break their fast, often with kleicha, rolled cookies stuffed with sweet and spicy date paste. Kleicha are so well-loved that many consider them Iraq’s national cookie.

11. AMARETTI // ITALY

Cannolis and biscotti get all the attention, but Italy has plenty of other glorious sweet options to offer. Crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, the petite almond-paste cookies called amaretti are a delight all their own. Enjoy them with dessert wine, crumble them on top of your gelato, or dunk them in your morning espresso. We won’t judge.

12. CRUNCHY PEANUT COOKIES // KOREA

Invented by a snack manufacturer in the 1970s, these satisfying little bites have become a mainstay on store shelves across Korea. The concept is simple—little ropes of dough, fried until crunchy and then coated in syrup and crushed peanuts—but the execution is awesome. 

13. MBATATA // MALAWI & ZIMBABWE

Take your tastebuds to Africa with soft, mildly sweet mbatata. The secret to the cookies’ uniquely dense texture and delicate flavor? Mashed sweet potatoes. We’re not going to call these cookies healthy, but they would make an excellent vehicle for sneaking more produce into your kids’ diets.

14. BOORTSOG // MONGOLIA

Enough talk about health; let’s head back to the deep-fryer. Mongolian boortsog are kind of like a cross between a donut and a cookie. The dough can be shaped into little balls, flowers, or animal shapes, and is often made with ghee or sweetened condensed milk. Unsurprisingly, kids love them.

15. STROOPWAFEL // THE NETHERLANDS

There’s a trick to eating stroopwafels. At room temperature, these thin waffle sandwich cookies are pretty darn good. But if you want the real deal, lay your stroopwafel across the top of a steaming mug of coffee. The heat and moisture will soften the waffles and melt the caramel filling, making it a beyond-perfect option for dunking. 

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We’ve all collected something at one time or another, although it’s usually more for novelty’s sake than to ameliorate large-scale humanitarian disasters or to control the market price of, say, souvenir spoons. Other than doomsday preppers, that’s usually the purview of national governments. But while many countries keep stockpiles of the obvious things, like petroleum or gold, you might be surprised to hear what others have been collecting in their federal reserves—and why.

1. THE GLOBAL STRATEGIC MAPLE SYRUP RESERVE

Non-Canadians might think of maple syrup production as a cottage industry, but it’s responsible for thousands of jobs in the Great White North—and whole lot of the nation’s revenue. The Canadian province of Quebec is responsible for 71 percent of the world’s maple syrup, and the stuff’s not cheap—a 600-pound barrel of grade-A syrup trades at $1650 USD, more than 10 times the price of crude oil. Add to this the fact that maple trees are notoriously fickle about the weather—they require both cold nights and mildly warm days to cause sap to flow, which means that a sudden change in the weather can cause disaster—and it’s a situation that could potentially cost Canada beaucoup bucks. So, since 2000, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers has been building entire warehouses of extra maple syrup near Quebec City, to brace the country for a sudden syrup dearth. The Federation also seeks to push the alleged health benefits of maple syrup to its foreign consumers, arguing on the platform that it’s better for you than white sugar.

The stockpile that was created to protect the province’s revenue was robbed in 2012, following a great syrup surplus the previous year. Thieves who weren’t part of the Federation but had access to the warehouse siphoned syrup from barrels, making off with 60 percent of the stockpile—6 million pounds—which worked out to over $18 million CDN in syrup. The thieves were later arrested, but only a quarter of the syrup was recovered.

2. THE SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED TRUST

A frozen, far-flung possession of Norway with a mere 2600 residents, the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard doesn’t have a whole lot going on—but its low population density (just 0.10 of a person per square mile) and its location, inside the Arctic Circle just north of the Scandinavian peninsula, make it the perfect place to hide your stash.

Starting in 1984, the Nordic Gene Bank has been squirreling away frozen seeds inside an old coal mine, and in 2006, Norway began construction of a new facility 400 feet inside a sandstone mountain to protect against the loss of certain plant life in the event of a global catastrophe. The island’s permafrost will keep the seeds frozen in the event of an electrical failure, its high elevation is expected to keep the seeds safe and dry if the polar ice caps should melt, and there’s a lack of tectonic activity. After many years of duplicating seeds from the Southern African Development Community, which also keeps a vast seed collection, the NGB merged its seeds with the SADCs, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened in 2008. The vault contains approximately 865,000 different agricultural seed samples, with the capacity to hold 4.5 million.

3. THE PROTECTING ICE MEMORY PROJECT

Did you know that glaciers contain data? Scientists do, which is why, deep within a snow cave in Antarctica, a group of them are slowly building a library of ice in an effort to head off global warming before the glaciers melt completely. The Protecting Ice Memory project was launched in August 2016 by a team of glaciologists and engineers from France, Italy, Russia, and the U.S. The idea is to get as many samples from as many mountain glaciers as possible worldwide, catalogue the info found within, and ship the samples to their icy database at the bottom of the world.

The information contained within the 426-foot-long ice cores includes historical data points on gaseous concentration, pollution, and long-term temperature changes, among other things. This project has only just begun, and it sounds like it could be slow-going—the three ice cores extracted from Col du Dôme in France aren’t even in Antarctica yet, and the first one won’t be analyzed until 2019, with the other two slated for sometime in 2020.

4. THE NATIONAL RAISIN RESERVE

Most stockpiles are created to protect against a shortage of the thing that’s being stockpiled, but the National Raisin Reserve came about as a solution to the opposite problem: America just had too many raisins. During World War II, both the government and civilians bought raisins in large quantities to send to soldiers overseas; by a few years after the war’s end, in 1949, the raisin market was flooded. In response, the raisin growers joined together and under the auspices of a New Deal-era Act created Marketing Order 989, supervised by the USDA, which allowed them to take a varying percentage of American raisin farmers’ produce—sometimes almost half and often without paying for them—in an effort to create a raisin shortage and artificially drive up the market price. The confiscated crops were then put into storage in California, whereupon some of them would eventually be used in school lunches, fed to livestock, or sold to other countries.

This went on until 2002, when farmer Marvin Horne decided that he actually was not going to hand over his raisins and, instead, preferred to sell all of them. The government responded by sending the raisin police (actually a local private detective firm) to surveil his farm and then sending him a bill for about $680,000. Horne sued, and the case bounced around several courts for many years, ultimately landing at the U.S. Supreme Court—twice: the first time due to a question on jurisdiction (where one justice referred to the law that created the Marketing Order as “the world’s most outdated law”) and the second time to determine if the raisin seizures violated the Fifth Amendment prohibition against taking personal property without just compensation. Ultimately, in 2015, the court ruled in favor of Horne: For seizures to continue, compensation would have to be paid. Many pundits saw this as the end of the raisin stockpile, but it may soon return—the USDA just says that “Due to a recent United States Supreme Court decision, [the Volume Control] provisions are currently suspended, being reviewed, and will be amended.”

5. THE CHINESE PORK STOCKPILE

Meanwhile, in China, they’re finding out what happens when you confiscate too much of a staple: in this case, a 200,000-metric ton stash of pork. The Chinese pork reserve is nothing new; the stockpile of frozen meat has existed for almost a decade in an effort to control the wildly fluctuating price of pork. The meat has been at the center of the country’s cuisine and culture for thousands of years. (Rou, the Mandarin word for “meat,” is the same as the word for “pork.”) The idea was cooked up in 2007, when porcine blue ear disease wiped out a large number of Chinese pigs and the price of pork soared by 87 percent, leading to civil unrest. In May 2016, the stockpile came in handy when 6.1 million pounds of frozen pork were released in response to a price surge of more than 50 percent—which was a result of the government keeping the price so low that Chinese farmers were giving up on raising pigs for such low profits, creating a dire pork shortage. Although economists doubt how effective the pork reserve is, the price of pork did fall in the ensuing months. Sounds like it’s an effective tactic, as long as you don’t go hog wild with it.

6. THE COTTON RESERVE IN INDIA

Dating back several millennia, textiles manufacturing is one of the oldest industries in India’s economy, and the country is hugely dependent on it too—garments and fabrics make up 11 percent of India’s total exports, and 60 percent of those exports are cotton-based. Which is why the state-run Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has amassed about 2.5 million bales of cotton, which it sits on in case it needs to back up the mills in the event of a shortage.

India isn’t the only country in the world to hoard cotton—China used to do this as well, and at one point, it owned up to 40 percent of the entire world’s supply. But now that the Chinese government stopped buying cotton in 2013, due to the fiber’s high storage costs, India may one day take the all-time cotton high score.

7. FEDERAL HELIUM RESERVE

In 1925, the U.S. government began reserving helium for use in dirigibles, in hopes of catching up to the massive fleet of airships that Germany had used during World War I. But by the end of World War II, airplanes had replaced airships as the military’s de rigueur aircraft, so you’d think the helium stockpile would have been sold off.

Not so. Turns out, this helium is valuable for a bunch of perhaps-unexpected reasons. Not only is it useful since it’s a “superfluid” at temperatures very near to absolute zero, it’s ideal as a protective atmosphere for shielded arc welding. The scientific research industry also has a demand for the gas—the helium atom is one of the simplest that can be used to study atomic physics in quantum mechanics. Today, it’s utilized in the production of fiber optic cables and computer chips. NASA uses helium in its Delta IV rockets and to maintain pressure in liquid oxygen fuel tanks, and the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, needs about 130 tons of helium to operate.

By the mid-1990s, the U.S. government decided to get rid of the reserve, passing the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 and gradually selling the helium stockpile off to private buyers. But as helium was being used more and more, the prices were being kept artificially low, which led to massive waste—so the House of Representatives stepped in with the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 and voted to extend the life of the Federal Helium Reserve. These days, the U.S. is reducing its helium stores to 3 billion, hidden about 3000 feet underground in Amarillo, Texas—conveniently located near two natural gas fields in the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas that contain unusually high percentages of helium and are the country’s greatest helium resources. New mining endeavors are expected to create a helium surplus by 2018, so it sounds like we’re in good shape (for now).

8. THE FROZEN ARK

It’s not news that animal species are disappearing at an increasing rate, with a quarter of all known mammals and 10 percent of all birds facing possible extinction within the next couple of decades. In 2004, three British organizations decided to join forces and combat the issue. The Natural History Museum, the Zoological Society of London, and Nottingham University established a “frozen zoo” they called The Frozen Ark Project.

To do this, DNA and living tissue samples are taken from all endangered species that can be accessed and then preserved, so that future generations can study the genetic material far into the future (they generally discount a Jurassic Park scenario, but say it might be possible in a few instances). So far, the Frozen Ark has over 700 samples stored at the University of Nottingham in England—and participating consortium members in the UK, the U.S., Germany, Australia, NZ, India, South Africa, Norway, and Ireland. DNA donations come from museums, university laboratories, and sometimes the animals themselves, via zoos.

9. CHINA’S GIGANTIC URANIUM STOCK

China’s population continues to grow, and the country’s power needs continue to rise—so the government is always on the hunt for sources of power. One of the major sources, these days, is nuclear, and in order to ensure nuclear power for a long time, the Chinese government has been stockpiling lots of uranium. The Chinese are already estimated to have nine years worth of uranium, although they don’t disclose any details.

After the Fukushima disaster in Japan and other longstanding concerns about nuclear power, the price of uranium plummeted to less than a quarter of what it was in 2007. The cheap pricetag has been great for China, which has been able to buy large portions of the world market for virtually nothing; when the price of uranium increases again in the future (either due to increased demand or decreased supply), China’s nuclear power plants will continue to operate.

10. THE EU’s BUTTER SURPLUS

Like the raisin and helium stockpiles, World War II was the impetus for Europe’s infamous “butter mountain.” Food shortages and economic collapse were fresh in the minds of Europeans, and so the European Economic Community—a precursor to the European Union—began subsidizing farmers. In 1962, the Common Agricultural Policy was created to pay guaranteed, artificially high prices to dairy farmers for surplus products, which were sold to the European public for higher prices, causing a drop in sales. Attempts to compete by non-EU dairies were squelched at the borders by heavy taxes. Then they stockpiled the rest for a rainy day (or world war). In 1986 alone, the EU bought 1.23 million tons of leftover butter.

In the 1970s, word made it to the street of the “butter mountain” that the EU had been tucking away, which was costing taxpayers an enormous amount of money—almost 90 percent of the EEC’s budget in 1970—and outrage ensued. It still took until the ‘90s for something to be done about it, however. Instead of paying farmers for their unwanted butter, the EEC switched to paying them to not produce it. The so-called butter mountain was finally dissolved (or melted?) in 2007.

(It wasn’t an actual mountain of butter, of course, nor was it even kept in the same place—the surplus butter was distributed and placed in cold storage in various silos across the continent. Despite this, though, once the name “butter mountain” been coined by the press, the name stuck.)

In 2009, just two years after the butter was liquidated, the global recession and relative strength of the euro had made it more difficult for dairy farmers to sell their goods. The EU came to the rescue, and the butter mountain was back. The European Commission pledged to buy up to 300,000 tons of butter, at a guaranteed price of €2299 a ton, so its dairy farmers wouldn’t go out of business. Although it was considered more of a “butter molehill” this time around, the butter and other agricultural goods the EU bought cost taxpayers a whopping €280,000,000, and the pressure was on to get rid of it ASAP. As of 2011, a portion of the butter had been donated to the worldwide Food Aid for the Needy program.

11. THE STRATEGIC NATIONAL STOCKPILE

This one’s kind of a no-brainer. Managed by the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Government stocks millions of doses of vaccines, antidotes, antitoxins, antibiotics, and sundry other medications in warehouses scattered across the nation to prep for natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and biological terrorist attacks. The warehouses are distributed such that supplies should be made available to the site of the emergency within 12 hours, whether it strikes in Alaska or Arkansas (and, if needed, the full force of resources can arrive in 24 to 36 hours). The details on locations of the warehouses and their exact contents aren’t publicly available.

Some examples of the known goodies the SNS stocks are smallpox vaccines, Cipro to combat anthrax, and diabetes and blood pressure meds for folks who might be stranded from their homes long-term. These all came in handy during the September 11th attacks in 2001 and in the catastrophic effects wreaked upon southern Louisiana after it was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2009, the SNS responded to the H1N1 swine flu pandemic by releasing a quarter of its influenza-specific supplies—including antiviral drugs, gloves, and face masks—to the American public.

Not sure what kind of disaster you’re dealing with quite yet? The SNS has you covered there, too. If you’ve got a lot of people suffering from an unspecified malady, they’ll send out “push packages”—a grab bag of different medications and supplies—for health care workers to disperse, free of charge.

12. RUSSIA’S TOP-SECRET UNDERGROUND FOOD RESERVE

In a series of former mine tunnels deep below the surface of Central Russia sits a top-secret cache of cereals, sugar, canned meat, and other food staples, all managed by an agency called Rosreserve. The agency—which manages all of Russia’s federally-mandated reserves—classifies the food depot a state secret, and so there’s not a lot of information on it, including its location. Nor does anyone outside of Rosreserve seem to know how much food they’ve got packed away down there. But we know that the complex is vast, it’s 400 feet underground, it’s airtight and nuke-proof, and it’s kept at 65 percent humidity and 7 to 8 degrees Celsius—without refrigeration, relying only on the frozen ground to keep things cool. The facility also includes a laboratory, so that the food can be tested against the government’s nutritional standards, and the inventory is rotated on the regular, to ensure that none of it goes bad. About-to-expire food is delivered to consumers, primarily food security agencies.

13. SCOTLAND YARD’S RUBBER BULLET COLLECTION

Just months after riots erupted throughout England in August 2011—which saw looting, arson, and the deaths of five people in response to the killing of Mark Duggan by a police officer—London’s Metropolitan Police thought it might want to be a little more prepared in case it happened again. The Met responded by purchasing 10,000 baton rounds, also known as plastic bullets, to add to its comparably small existing collection of only 700. The new shipment put the Met’s rubber bullet inventory at an all-time high, with a previous record of 6424. It was reported that the rounds are not the police’s preferred method of dealing with conflict, but only that they want to have them available.

The idea behind baton rounds, of course, is to cause pain but not grievous injury or death. But that depends on how far away from a target you fire them from. In 1982, a soldier at a protest rally shot an 11-year-old Northern Irish boy in the head with a baton round from several feet away, killing him. Rubber bullets were used widely by the police in Northern Ireland, in fact, during the ethno-nationalist conflict known as The Troubles, wherein misuse regularly led to serious human injury.

With its new plethora of rubber bullets, the Met also elected to train more of its officers to deploy them correctly, but it wasn’t because of the history of misuse in Northern Ireland. The reason cited was because the police had received criticism during the UK riots for not having enough specialists to make the tactic easily available.

14. THE NORTHEAST HOME HEATING OIL RESERVE

If there’s an area of the U.S. that most needs a stockpile of heating oil, it’s the Northeast. Between its brutal winters and the general dependence of its households on oil as a heating method, a disruption in access to supplies could be a serious problem. That’s why, in 2000, President Bill Clinton directed the creation of the reserve as a component of the existing Strategic Petroleum Reserve, via the Department of Energy.

NEHHOR, as it’s called, isn’t a giant reservoir of oil, though, like one might imagine—instead, a million barrels of ultra-low-sulfur distillate (a.k.a. diesel) are housed in three separate terminals in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Oil is sometimes auctioned off from this stockpile—the U.S. Department of Energy has developed an online bidding system for the purpose of running occasional one-day emergency sales, open to any interested party.

Although NEHHOR was originally intended to be temporary, it’s still around today, and it’s a good thing. It took 12 years, but the reserve was finally opened up in November 2012, when Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc throughout much of the Northeast and 2 million gallons of heating oil were delivered to local and federal relief efforts.

15. FOOD SECURITY COMMODITY RESERVE

Among this list of strategic reserves, this is perhaps the most generous one. Called the Food Security Commodity Reserve since 1996, it was originally Title III of the Agriculture Act of 1980 that established a reserve of up to 4 million metric tons of wheat, which would be earmarked for combating famine in developing nations. Although the first incarnation of this reserve was strictly wheat-based, the 1996 farm bill opened the doors to other foodstuffs to be included in the reserve, such as rice, corn, and sorghum.

Subsequently, the Africa: Seeds of Hope Act of 1998 established the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, which added a stockpile of hard cash in order to expand the reach of the Food Security Commodity Reserve, and in 2008, it became an exclusively cash reserve. The cash in the BEHT helps the Office of Food for Peace to supply areas of hunger with provisions without depleting the stores of grain. Recent withdrawals from this cash stash include a donation of $50 million toward provisions for South Sudan during its dire food crisis of 2014.

All images courtesy of iStock unless otherwise noted.