Today is Easter Sunday, and it is the earliest Easter we’ve had since 1913.

In fact, it’s almost the earliest possible date for Easter, which via a very complex calculation falls between March 22nd and April 25th (inclusive). The last time Easter fell on March 22nd was 1818, and it will not do it again until 2285, so unless you’re still around in 2160 for the next March 23rd Easter, today is the earliest Easter of your lifetime.

So to celebrate, we’re found some giant Easter eggs.

Mainau is a private island on the German side of Lake Constance. The island is run as a garden visitor attraction which often features seasonal flower arrangements, and last April they had these large easter eggs in the courtyard.

There’s a ground level picture on Flickr. You can also bore your family to tears with the details on how to calculate Easter and even a date distribution graph over at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Nick.

Alan Turnbull (no relation) contacted us to tell us about his bizarre find at RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, England, which at first glance looks like it might be the world’s most complicated sports pitch.

But what is it really? RAF Feltwell is currently used by the United States Air Forces Europe, and Alan suggests that this could be some sort of satellite calibration test card for the US ‘Son of Star Wars’ missile defence programme!

Naturally a MoD spokesperson quoted in The Metro newspaper suggested that this is simply a “motorcycle range”¹, but interestingly there are another two of them side by side at the absolutely massive US Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia².

Alan’s website has more details on various crazy conspiracy theories, and the Metro went with the “proof of aliens” headline - so we’re left without a definitive answer so far. What do you think these things are for?

The worldwide celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, St Patrick, has almost always been held on the 17th of March. This year, due to Easter arriving unusually early, the Catholic Church decided to move St Patrick’s day so that it didn’t take place during “holy week”.

This year’s celebrations were moved to the 15th of March, meaning that in time-honoured Google Sightseeing tradition (even when taking into account our unique time-zone arrangements), we’ve totally missed it¹.

Regardless, here is the shamrock-shaped maze near Dublin airport which we had lined up for today.

However for once we’re not alone - although many cities did spend Saturday celebrating with parades, green river dye and large quantities of Guinness - New York and Dublin steadfastly refused to budge, and their celebrations will also take place today!

Luckily March the 17th doesn’t again fall in holy week until 2160, so none of us will have to worry about it ever again.

Thanks to Fergal ohagan.

A man and a woman, right? Which one’s which though? And the most important question of all… are they really naked?

Thanks to Christian Stüben.

Parked in this rather unassuming car park at a very boring-looking business park near Leicester, England, we find a surprisingly impressive vehicle - an Ultima GTR, which is capable of 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds, and which the manufacturers claim is the fastest supercar in the world.

Of course it isn’t really that surprising that there’s an Ultima here, as this is actually the headquarters of Ultima Sports Ltd. Which explains how I was able to find a ground-level picture of what is very likely exactly the same car, parked in what is clearly the same carpark.

Despite a little confusion over the numbers¹, at around £30,000 this is definitely the cheapest way to become the owner of one of the world’s fastest cars. Provided you’re willing to build it yourself of course - these cars are usually supplied in component form for home assembly. However a few - presumably like this one - are factory built as “turnkey” models.

More info at Wikipedia, and at the SAE page about the car.

Thanks to Jesus Carrillo.

It’s hard not to see the rear of a naked woman in the shapes made by this field in Sicily, Italy.

As you can see though, the title of this post refers not to the fact that she’s half naked (as she clearly has no clothes on at all), but rather that she’s only half a woman - as she seems to be missing all her limbs. And her head.¹

Thanks to Santi.

The Beacon Ring hillfort in the region of Welshpool has seen numerous uses in its 3000 year history.

The central burial hill, or round barrow, would have been formed around the Bronze age. Then, in the Iron age, a fort was built around the hill, probably due to it being the highest point on Long Mountain.

The hill was likely used for beacon fires throughout the ages (hence the name) and by the 1860s was a popular haunt for witchcraft fans to dance about naked, or whatever it is they do.

When Queen Elizabeth II (the current Queen) was crowned in 1953 it was, for some unknown reason, decided that this hill would be a fitting tribute for the new monarch, and trees were planted to spell out “E II R”.

“E II R” isn’t a typo, it stands for “Elizabeth Regina II”: Latin for Queen Elizabeth the second. If you’re wondering where you’ve seen that before it’s probably from post boxes throughout the UK.

Thanks: colin70

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the turning points of the war in Europe and with casualties above 1.5 million, arguably the bloodiest battle in all of human history.

One of the most heavily contested sites within Stalingrad was Mamayev Kurgan, a hill overlooking the city. It is here where the USSR dedicated a memorial to the Soviet victory, the centrepiece of which is an absolutely enormous statue - “The Motherland Calls!” (”Rodina Mat’ Zovyot!”), which at the time of its dedication in 1967 was the largest sculpture in the world.

Since then Stalingrad, USSR, has become Volgograd, Russia, but this monumental memorial still dominates the skyline. The 52 metre figure is made of concrete, and her 33 metre sword is stainless-steel, making the sculpture 85 metres from tip to toe (not including the plinth, which adds another 16 metres). Here’s a ground-level shot which you absolutely have to see to believe!

The Motherland Calls! was designed by Yevgeny Vuchetich (who also designed Berlin’s Soviet War Memorial) and she was erected as part of a series of sculptures commemorating the Soviet victory in the Eastern Front of World War II (another of which, Kiev’s Mother Motherland, we’ve previously featured¹).

This massive engineering task was orchestrated by Nikolai Nikitin who was also responsible for the previously featured Moscow State University, Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science and Ostankino Tower - which are all ridiculously enormous too!

More info about the Battle of Stalingrad, Volgograd, Mamayev Kurgan and The Motherland Calls!, as always, at Wikipedia. Or check out a tour of Mamayev Kurgan at the official site (in English).