Ninja Turtles Manhole Cover and Marker

Dover, New Hampshire

In November 1983 artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, living in a house at 28 Union St. in Dover, stayed up one night and created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was a hand-drawn one-shot black-and-white project, closer to an underground comic than the later kid-friendly version of the teenage ninja crime-fighting sewer-dwelling brother turtles. Eastman and Laird liked the idea because it was so absurd.

The house was eventually torn down, but 40 years and millions of dollars later, the town marked the spot with a historical marker and a custom manhole cover, which does not cover a real manhole (It's set off the street to prevent vehicles from driving over it). The cover was designed by Eastman, who spoke at its unveiling.