February 5, 1999

License plates – you can't leave home without them, but who ever gives them a second thought? Try the author of the "License Plates of the World" site. From Abu Dhabi to Zimbabwe, they're all described and illustrated, along with all the states' plates. But that's just the beginning – there's also a list of U.S. military plates, such as the gazelle's head-motif that U.S. vehicles in Ethiopia carried from 1959 to 1963. Other domestic examples include American Indian plates issued by 17 states and U.S. government motor pool plates. Locally, the table of diplomatic plates' country codes may be most useful, revealing which nation's limo has blocked your driveway for the last three weeks.
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Gabriel Goldberg gabe@acm.org