Moscow, ID and Berlin, WI...

Many American cities are named after after famous places in the old world, but they're often pronounced very differently. I've been ...

Annex Mexico? We're one step closer

Did you notice how easy it was to begin American military action in Libya? Sure, the president made a sober explanation—best summarized as: ...

Remembering the world's 1st reactor meltdown... in Idaho

With all the attention on Japan's reactor troubles, let's remember the very first nuclear power plant meltdown. It happened in Idaho...

When Libya was Italian

In 1940, half the people living in the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi were Italian. Half. That's because Libya had been "inc...

Guess the State

Here is a portion of perhaps the most-famous statehood-day photo of all time. Which state is it? The paperboy holding the newspaper in this ...

Nearest foreign country to Fukushima?

What foreign country is nearest to Japan's nuclear reactors at Fukushima? Most people might guess China or South Korea, but neither is c...

A potential president... who can't legally vote for himself

SUPER PUZZLER--see if you can figure it out. The man in the picture is being seriously considered for the Republican ticket as a vice-presid...

America's botched invasion of Libya—in 1802

Yesterday, we looked at Thomas Jefferson's invasion of Libya (then called Tripoli). Sick and tired of pirate attacks on U.S. merchants,...

When the Libyans held Americans for ransom

Today, the United States has the upper hand with Gaddafi in Libya—but there was a time when the U.S. president felt powerless to fight in th...

51st State - Texmexona

Disaffected Democrats in the Tucson area  launched a web site today for their group "Start Our State"—to rally support for the cr...

Idaho teachers rip page from Wisconsin playbook

There's a lot going on in the world, so you may have missed an interesting national story coming out of Idaho. Teachers there—emboldened...

Radiation map smackdown: NY Times vs MIT

MIT is mad. After the New York Times published an amazingly irresponsible map, MIT called them on it. The map makes it seem like America ...

Atlantis coordinates revealed... for the first time anywhere

This article will reveal the latitude and longitude of the long lost civilization of Atlantis. Here' the backstory: Spanish anthropologi...

Nuclear fallout—in Chicago. And the atom bomb gun.

What's happening in Japan is a reminder of the challenge of keeping the nuclear genie in the bottle. And America's early nuclear his...

Mapping a "China Syndrome" meltdown... in theory

Our hearts go out to the brave Japanese people dealing with the nuclear crisis in Fukushima. Occasionally pundits will mention the possibili...

US worries about Japanese tsunami... in 1947!

This story borders on the creepy... like something out of a time-travel movie. It seems the U.S. government had concerns about an earthquake...

Atlantis is in Spain?

The map above is the long lost land of Atlantis, according to a National Geographic special on tonight (Sunday). Actually, the advance cover...

Soda vs. pop vs. coke

So what term do you use for fizzy soft drinks? It depends on where you fall on the map. People in the northeast tend to call it "soda....

Indiana = mc2

With the time change coming up this weekend, I thought I'd write a piece about Indiana's split personality regarding Daylight Saving...

Simpsons mall map

We're big fans of the Simpsons here at Lost States, having previously spent way too much time trying to crack the Simpson's 5-state...

Border meeting location found!

View Democrat-Republican meeting spot in a larger map Those rogue Wisconsin Democrats want to meet Republican Scott Walker "on the bo...

Where NOT to go boating

So you're out on the family sailboat, and—darn it—you're boarded by Somali pirates again... ruining your whole weekend. You want to ...

Wisconsin Senator hideout map

View Wisconsin Senators Hideout Map in a larger map Much ado has been made about those wacky Wisconsin senators hiding out in Illinois. I a...

Baja Arizona's prequel

Southern Arizona's bid for statehood is getting more attention than any other 51st-state effort has in recent years. The "Save our ...

Texas governor wants to annex part of Mexico

I can't make this stuff up. Governor Rick Perry just said that Juarez is "...the most dangerous city in America." Of course, ...

Colbert's new country

Last night, Stephen Colbert suggested that the growing divide between rich and poor in America had a simple solution: the rich should just c...