Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one underfoot in downtown Lincoln: 2005. All over America's towns and cities, especially since the new century began, drains have been customized to teach one simple lesson in environmental geography:  No Dumping, Drains to Stream. [2008]

San Francisco, California, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one on Kearny Street in San Francisco: 1961. A palate-pleasing history of 53 years isn't bad for a restaurant, but the name goes back much farther than that. 'Pharos' was the moniker affixed to the lighthouse at Alexandria by the Greeks more than two millennia ago. [2010]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one in downtown New Orleans: 1889. Not only is Zatarain's a New Orleans tradition, it is also the taste of Louisiana history. But, what is Zatarain's? Here, the answer is provided by equating it with another New Orleans tradition: Jazz. [2011]

Shrewsbury, New Jersey, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one at Christ Episcopal Church in Shrewsbury: 1702. Of course, when founded, it was an Anglican Church, with the King of England as its head. That wouldn't do for a neonate United States, so the Protestant Episcopal Church came into being: Anglican in theology, but American in governance. [2008]

Warwick, Rhode Island, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one in Conimicut Village in Warwick: 1643. The religious strictures of the Puritans sent free-thinkers scattering. Rhode Island was the beneficiary. Along with Pennsylvania, it pioneered a principle that is now ingrained in American culture: freedom of religion. Yes, Virginia, it preceded Thomas Jefferson. [2009]

St. Augustine, Florida, USA

Looking for a date? You can find one in St. Augustine, Florida: 1565. Yes, Jamestown, it's true. The oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States is not in Virginia. And, St. Augustine really has been continuously occupied since it was founded. [2007]

Phang Nga, Thailand

Every season is coconut season in the coastal tropics. That's one of the reasons the coco became the staff of life. You can eat it, drink it, ferment it; you can build your house from coconut palms and make your fishing nets from coconut fibers. And, that's just the beginning. [2011]