AMERICAN OBSERVANCES · FOOD & DRINK CULTURE Held annually on 27th March, National Joe Day is a quirky American holiday that doubles as a toast to coffee lovers and a salute to everyone who goes by the name Joe — a celebration as warm and wide-ranging as a freshly brewed pot. ☕ Feature · 27th…

Celebrating Wisdom, Learning, and the Seven Noahide Laws An Annual Presidential Proclamation of the United States of America Introduction Each year, on or around the birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the President of the United States issues a proclamation designating the day as National Education…

Who Are the Reindeer Herders? At the edge of the world, where the land is a vast expanse of frozen tundra and the sun barely skims the horizon in winter, the Nenets people have lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years, calling their homeland Yamal, which means “edge of the world” in their…

A Crown of Stone, Steel & Empire Mumbai, India | UNESCO World Heritage Site In the heart of Mumbai, where the monsoon air mingles with the clamour of a city perpetually in motion, stands one of the most extraordinary railway stations on earth. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, known by Mumbaikars simply as CSMT, and to…

The Grand Red Brick Heart of the Capital Tokyo, Japan • Kingo Tatsuno, Architect • Opened 1914 At the precise geographic and symbolic heart of the world’s largest metropolitan area stands a building that looks, at first glance, as though it has been quietly transported from the streets of Amsterdam or London. Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi…

Where Ancient Japan Meets the Future Kyoto, Japan • Hiroshi Hara, Architect • Opened 1997 Few railway stations in the world command the awe that Kyoto Station inspires. Rising from the heart of Japan’s ancient imperial capital, a city of 1,600 temples, meandering bamboo groves, and centuries of living tradition, stands a structure that is,…

ARCHITECTURE & HISTORY · LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA The Last Great Station: Mission Moderne and the Dream of Southern California There is a building in downtown Los Angeles that stops people in their tracks. Not the glass towers of Bunker Hill, not the Disney Concert Hall’s swooping titanium, but a low, cream-coloured structure on Alameda Street,…

ARCHITECTURE & HISTORY · WASHINGTON, D.C. The Grand Gateway: Beaux-Arts Splendour and a Century of American Life Few buildings in America announce a city with such authority. Rising at the foot of Capitol Hill, Washington Union Station presents itself not merely as a place to board a train, but as a monument, a declaration that…

ARCHITECTURE & LANDMARKS SERIES Terminal The Celestial Ceiling, the Iconic Landmark & the Living Heart of New York History, Architecture, Ceiling & Legacy · New York City, USA · 1903–1913 ★ ★ ★ Look up. Above the rush and roar of the world’s busiest commuter terminal, a turquoise sky studded with golden constellations arches over…

25th March — Observed Annually Introduction The transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans was one of the gravest crimes in history. Millions of men, women and children were violently taken from their homes, denied their humanity, and forced to endure generations of exploitation. The racist ideologies that justified this crime became embedded in institutions and societies,…