Questions abound when it comes to Stonehenge, but not everything about the monument is shrouded in mystery. We know, for instance, that around 100 stones make up the site — and that some of them came from nearly 150 miles away. Given that Stonehenge is 5,000 years old, that’s quite the feat. This raises two crucial questions: Who transported said stones, and how? That’s where the mystery begins. For one thing, no one’s sure who built England’s world-famous monument, with everyone from Merlin to aliens receiving credit from various factions; more plausible culprits include Danes, Celts, and Druids. 

Stonehenge was built in less than 10 years.

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It actually took closer to 1,500, with Neolithic builders completing different portions of it at different times. There were several centuries-long gaps in this process, which is thought to have taken place in three main phases.

The stones at Stonehenge are grouped into two types: larger blocks known as “sarsen stones,” and smaller stones in the central area known as “bluestones.” Over the last decade or so, researchers have confirmed that the bluestones came from the Preseli Hills of western Wales, about 150 miles from Stonehenge. (The sarsen stones, meanwhile, were likely found 20 to 30 miles away from the monument.) As for how the bluestones made that long journey, we only have theories: Some scholars believe they were dragged on wooden rafts, although others have suggested that a glacier carried the stones at least part of the way. Most archaeologists scoff at the glacier theory, however, and research in 2019 at outcroppings in the Preseli Hills both conclusively linked them to Stonehenge and confirmed evidence of quarrying work around 3000 BCE — the same era when Neolithic builders were first constructing the mysterious stone circles. That means human hands took the rock from the locations in Wales, but as for exactly how, we simply don’t know — and possibly never will.

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The world’s largest fast-food chain has an estimated 45,000 locations, none of which are located in the United States. It’s called Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, and the popular chain more than doubled its total number of stores in just three years (between 2022 and 2025). Around 90% of Mixue locations are in China, with the rest scattered across 11 other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, including Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

Mixue was founded in 1997 by a student named Zhang Hongchao. It started off as a tiny, lone stall selling frozen treats in China’s Henan province before its formal establishment as a company in 1999. The number of Mixue franchises snowballed after that — a fitting trajectory, given the mascot is a snowman named Snow King. Today, Mixue sells ice cream, bubble tea, and iced beverages at an affordable cost.

The ancient Romans had a version of fast-food restaurants.

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The Roman equivalent of a fast-food restaurant, called a thermopolium, offered low-cost, ready-to-eat meats, cheeses, fish, bread, and legumes, which were served buffet-style in big terracotta pots called dolia. Some had seating areas, but the food was largely meant to be eaten on the go.

The company’s 45,000 locations (as of March 2025) surpass all other global fast-food brands, even including giants such as McDonald’s, which has 43,477 locations worldwide. Mixue’s rapid expansion is partially due to a strategy that prioritizes smaller stores in well-trafficked areas, which ensures low overhead costs and plenty of foot traffic. While analysts believe Mixue may one day expand into the U.S. and Europe, the company is focused on Asian and Oceanic markets for the time being.

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The United States has more lighthouses than any other country — around 700 of them — but only one of them is still regularly staffed instead of being automated. That would be Boston Light, which can be found on Little Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Before the advent of electric lights, “keeping a good light” required lighthouse keepers to tend to the actual lamp (which generally burned oil or kerosene), watch out for fog and sound fog signals, and perform housekeeping duties that included cleaning the lens. Today, lights are automatic, monitored by a remote control center and built with backup components that come online automatically if any portion of the system fails.

The world’s tallest lighthouse is in America.

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At 210 feet tall, North Carolina's Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in America — but not the world. That would be Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Light, which stands an imposing 436 feet tall.

Built in 1716 and standing some 60 feet high, Boston Light has undergone significant changes throughout its 306-year tenure, but thanks to a law passed by the Senate at the behest of Massachusetts’ own Senator Ted Kennedy in 1989, it will remain staffed by a human in perpetuity. The law followed Boston Light being named a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Such protections and distinctions are warranted: Boston Light is actually the first lighthouse built in the United States. It saw significant damage during the Revolutionary War, with the British occupying it (as well as Boston itself) from July 1775 until June 1776 — a siege that included several fires lit by patriots to undermine the British position, and culminated in the British blowing it up. Massachusetts rebuilt the structure in 1783, and it has stood ever since.

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Since 1960, the National Historic Landmark program has marked around 2,600 locations of special significance to the foundation and development of the United States. The sites range from Independence Hall in Philadelphia to the Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill in California, and almost all locations are found within the U.S., its territories, or areas the U.S. used to control, such as the Federated States of Micronesia. Only one site lies in a completely sovereign nation that has never experienced any sort of U.S. administration — the north African country of Morocco. 

The world’s oldest continually operating university is in Morocco.

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Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a rich merchant, founded the mosque that became the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fès, Morocco, in 859 CE. Today, it’s sometimes considered the oldest continually operating university in the world.

Morocco was one of the first countries to recognize the U.S. as a sovereign nation, by order of Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah on December 20, 1777. Due in part to the treaty of peace and friendship the two nations signed in 1786 (which created the longest unbroken diplomatic relationship in U.S. history), Morocco bestowed a sprawling mansion (now called the Tangier American Legation) upon the young nation in 1821. The mansion is situated in the medina, or walled city, in Tangier, which was once Morocco’s diplomatic capital. The building has served many purposes throughout the years, including acting as a consulate, espionage headquarters, and Peace Corps training facility. It became a historic landmark in 1982, and is still officially owned by the U.S., but is leased to the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies — which continues the nearly 250-year friendship between the two countries.

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