In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

Spanking machines, fake goats, and more devices of humiliation are on display in this museum of fraternal initiation devices.

One of the largest pieces of scientific equipment ever carried on a NASA space shuttle sits in a Chicago alley.

This botanical garden outside Chicago boasts an array of more than 300 varieties of lilacs.

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.

Cold War missile launch site which has been converted to a public park.

Quirky water tower advertises the long-gone Brooks Tomato Products Co.

The 40-year-old machine serves soda quicker than you can catch it for a mere 75 cents a pop.

Half-sized replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa built to honor Galileo.

The multinational Burger King chain is banned from operating within 20 miles of a family restaurant filed under the same name.

Tour the luxe "glass cage" that inspired and unnerved the architecture world upon its debut.

The legacy of an unsolved, gruesome murder rests beneath the spans of this historic bridge.

The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

A notorious Route 66 eatery once frequented by Al Capone.

Even with only two residents and one building, this tiny Illinois town is famous for its burgers.

World's second largest particle accelerator, where nature reveals its secrets.

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

The unluckiest U-boat in the entire German fleet is now on display in a Chicago museum.

A six-story-tall golden pyramid, surrounded by a moat.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

Taxidermy, Cigar Store Indians, A Model of a New York Tenement and Delicious Draft Root Beer.

A strange and haunting monument of unknown origin in the historic Graceland Cemetery.

What was once the second largest steel mill in the US is now a sprawling complex of modern ruins.

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.