Until the archeologist Hiram Bingham came across it on this day, July 24, in 1911, most of the world thought the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu was lost, as was their capital Vilcabamba. As TIME reported in 1948, when Bingham returned to Peru to celebrate the opening of a road to the site, which would bear his name, he began by studying old charts and texts, until he was sure that there was an Incan capital city somewhere in the Andes that had never been found by the Spanish invaders. Read More...
Getty Images It’s been estimated that movie theaters make an 85% profit at the concessions stand on overpriced soda, candy, nachos, hot dogs and, of course, popcorn. Movie-theater popcorn has been called one of America’s biggest rip-offs, with a retail price of nine times what it costs to make. Now, after a Michigan man sued a movie theater for overcharging customers on snacks, one theater owner is speaking up in defense of charging $8 for a Coke and a box of Goobers. Read More...
The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we call islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description. PHYSICALLY, the sprawling South I Pacific archipelagoes of Micronesia almost live up to the lotusland evoked by James Michener. But paradise has problems. The population of about 100,000—cut by 50% in the last century by war, emigration and disease—inhabits fewer than 100 of the 2,141 Marshall, Mariana and Caroline islands. Read More...
