It’s History

At its peak, Ocean Falls was a self-sufficient community in British Columbia, featuring a 600-bed hotel, an Olympic-caliber indoor pool, and a pulp mill that powered everything. However, when the mill closed, the town emptied almost overnight, leaving fewer than sixty residents today, accessible only by seaplane or boat.

In 2017, an entrepreneur recognized the potential of the unused waterfall generating power at the site. This led to the establishment of a unique tech startup: a Bitcoin mining operation within the ruins of the former paper mill, located in one of the wettest places on earth. This video explores the history of Ocean Falls—how it was built, its abandonment, and the potential of cryptocurrency to succeed where pulp and paper could not.

#ItsHistory #AbandonedPlaces #Bitcoin
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Before the subway tunneled beneath Manhattan, New York’s transit network featured an extraordinary system of double-decker elevated railways. This episode explores the forgotten story of stacked stations, two-tier junctions, and sky-high platforms that once defined the city. These structures facilitated express trains over local services and connected ferry terminals to upper-level walkways, showcasing an impressive engineering feat.

As time passed, these elevated systems became costly and outdated, culminating in the removal of the last double-deck railway in 1973. Join us as we uncover the remarkable rise and dramatic fall of this second city in the sky.

#newyorkhistory #elevatedtrains #itshistory
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Running across Detroit’s northern edge, 8 Mile has a complex history linked to surveys, treaties, and housing maps that transformed it into a notorious dividing line. In 1941, developers erected a six-foot segregation wall to separate Black and white neighborhoods, solidifying its reputation. This episode explores how 8 Mile evolved into a symbol of division, the global attention it garnered through Eminem's rise, and the community's reclamation of the wall through murals and memory. Journey through its hidden history, from Native American trails to Motown, and the effects of redlining to rap battles.

#Detroit #Eminem #ItsHistory
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For decades, Toronto’s Pearson International Airport housed a 19th-century Catholic cemetery, the resting place of early settlers from the now-vanished village of Elmbank. This cemetery, fenced off and surrounded by active taxiways, remained untouched for over half a century amidst the roar of jets overhead. However, safety concerns eventually prompted the emotional and controversial decision to relocate it.

#canadahistory #itshistory #pearsonairport
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In the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, lies California City—a vast urban experiment designed for nearly half a million residents but now home to fewer than 15,000. This stark reality showcases the ambitious vision of Nathaniel Mendelsohn, a sociologist-turned-developer, who aimed to create a new metropolis from 82,000 acres of desert land. The story unfolds with themes of ambition, marketing failures, federal investigations, and a notable consumer refund.

#California #AbandonedPlaces #ItsHistory
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