A map of London's most toxic breathing spots

Air pollution is up to five times over the EU limit in these Central London hotspots.

  • Dirty air is an invisible killer, but an effective one.
  • More than 9,000 people die prematurely in London each year due to air pollution, a recent study estimates.
  • This map visualizes the worst places to breathe in Central London.
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A world map of Virgin Mary apparitions

She met mere mortals with and without the Vatican's approval.

  • For centuries, the Virgin Mary has appeared to the faithful, requesting devotion and promising comfort.
  • These maps show the geography of Marian apparitions – the handful approved by the Vatican, and many others.
  • Historically, Europe is where most apparitions have been reported, but the U.S. is pretty fertile ground too.
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These are the world’s longest straight lines

Researchers use algorithms to find the longest straight-line distances on land and at sea

  • What links a small town in Portugal and a huge port city in China?
  • The answer may surprise even inhabitants of both places: the world's longest straight line over land
  • That line and its maritime equivalent were determined not by exploration but by calculation
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You can now drag and drop whole countries to compare their size

TheTrueSize.com offers hours of fun while you stretch and shrink countries and states all over the globe.

Strange Maps
  • Our world maps lie to us: North America and Europe aren't really that big and Africa really is much bigger.
  • It's all the fault of Mercator: even if the man himself wasn't necessarily Eurocentric, his projection is.
  • This interactive map tool reveals countries' true sizes without having to resort to the Peters projection.
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Even these Terrible Maps can teach us something

Despite itself, this collection of awful cartography may just make a few useful observations.

Strange Maps
  • Since 2016, Terrible Maps has been collecting, well… terrible maps.
  • They're awful, pointless and stupid, but also funny (and sometimes even instructive).
  • Here are 10 examples. Dive into the Twitter account for hundreds more.
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Map shows homicide hotspots in medieval London

Interactive map reveals the horror — and the patterns — of murder in 14th-century London.

Strange Maps
  • This map shows the 142 murders that were committed in London from 1300 to 1340.
  • Each clickable pin reveals the grisly details as recorded in contemporary coroner's reports.
  • Then as now, stabbing was the main method of killing in London — but the murder rate was three times higher.
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