August 2019

Over 300 years ago, the clock tower seen in our June 2019 “mystery photo” was created to be part of the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, northern Serbia. On the tower, each of the four clock faces (measuring about 6½ feet in diameter) is unique in that the hour hand is long and the minute hand is short — the opposite of typical clocks. (Being able to see the hour from a distance came in handy for boatmen on the Danube River, which flows alongside the city.)

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Dear Globetrotter:

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I’m not a big planner. Many of my life experiences have been the result of my opening the door each time opportunity knocked.

British subjects, even those outside of the UK, who celebrate a 100th birthday or 60th wedding anniversary get a personalized card from the ruling monarch, a tradition dating to 1917.

During the 1940-1941 Blitz, much of the area called The City, London’s historic center as well as its central business district, was destroyed. Years after the end of World War II, bombed-out sites were still being excavated. In 1952-1954, one of these sites, located on Walbrook between Cannon Street and Queen Victoria Street in the heart of The City, yielded a remarkable discovery buried 23 feet below the surface: the remains of a Roman temple.