Olaf Niess catches swans on the river Alster near the town hall in Hamburg, Germany, 17 November 2015. The Alster swans are moving to their ice-free winter quarters on the Eppendorf Muehlenteich millpond until spring. (Photo by Bodo Marks/EPA)

This is the moment a dog who had his legs cut off as a punishment, is able to walk again thanks to prosthetic limbs, and being rescued by John and Gill Dalley, a couple who moved to Phuket, Thailand, from Leeds to set up the Soi Dog Foundation, August 1, 2016. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SpaceX's Falcon 9 is moved to the launch pad prior to the rocket's Thales Alenia Space launch attempt on April 26, 2015 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

A small series by illustration Alex Solis remembering those things that used to rule the world.

A bully greenfinch (left) got its comeuppance when a small but fiery dunnock (right) defended itself with its talons in Suffolk, United Kingdom on April 18, 2022. The smaller bird was perched peacefully before the finch burst onto the scene and aggressively squared up to the dunnock. But as the finch tried to peck at the dunnock, the small brown bird expertly used its foot to slam its mouth shut. (Photo by Paul Sawer/Solent News & Photo Agency)

This photo provided by the McKinney Fire Department shows officials at the site of a crash involving a small plane and a vehicle near Aero Country Airport, Saturday, November 11, 2023, in McKinney, Texas. Authorities say a small plane overshot the runway while trying to land at a Texas airport and struck a car that was driving along a nearby road, injuring one person. (Photo by McKinney Fire Department via AP Photo)

Miniature spring-wound 35-mm film camera in a modified cigarette pack. The Tessina’s small size and quiet operation provided more options for concealment than most commercially available models. (Photo by Central Intelligence Agency)

The stone huts and streets of this Italian city look like a scene from a fairytale. The buildings you see before you are called trulli. The rise in popularity of such houses was in 19th century when they were constructed as storehouses and temporary field shelters or as permanent shelters by agricultural laborers and small proprietors. Wouldn’t it be amazing to own such a house? To become engulfed by the fairytale as you sip a cup of coffee, looking out of a small window onto a crowded street.