10 Oldest Mosques in the World

01. Quba Mosque, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 622

The designation of the oldest mosque in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest mosque congregation. Even here, there is the distinction between old mosque buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques and those that were shuttered for many decades. In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist (wikipedia). 09 More after the break...

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Top 10 American Cities with Most Attractive People

01. Charleston

This South Carolina city bumped off perennial winner Miami this year; have the good-looking people really migrated north? Charlestonians also score high for friendliness, rank second for their classic sense of style, and even make the top 10 for intelligence. To see if it’s all true, just stroll the streets of this quaint city, which also ranks No. 1 for its noteworthy neighborhoods.

What makes the people of one city so good-looking and the folks elsewhere…well, not so much? Do some cities become magnets for the Greek god and goddess types, or does the mere act of living in a certain area actually have a transformative effect? Whatever the reasons, in this year’s America’s Favorite Cities survey, voters told us that good weather and great shopping go hand-in-hand with attractiveness. San Diego and Miami, for example, did well in all three categories, ending up among the top five cities to find America’s most attractive people. 09 More after the break...

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Rock garden in Chandigarh

The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a 40-acre park full of plazas, waterfalls and thousands of unique creatures made from recycled materials. It’s a truly impressive sight, but even more so is the story of how Nek Chand spent four decades creating it and how he kept it a secret, for years. More images after the break...

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