Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, historian and author Edda L. Fields-Black tells us the fascinating and action-packed story of one of the most daring spy operations and raids of th … | Continue reading
This long-serving postbox sits outside the ticket turnstiles of Kent Station along the station's western wall, no ticket is required. It changed in color from red to green over the decades. Cork recently added a banner recognizing its record tenure in Gaelic and English. | Continue reading
Columbus, Indiana, is a city of just over 50,000 people located in the southern part of the state about 45 miles (75 km) from Indianapolis. At first, Columbus may seem like an average city, but Columbus is a haven for modern architecture filled with innovative and unusual buildin … | Continue reading
Banoffee, or Bannofi, Pie was supposedly first created by Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding at the Hungry Monk Restaurant in Jevington, where there is a blue plaque commemorating the invention. Beginning with an American recipe for "Coffee Toffee Pie", Mackenzie and Dowding, owner … | Continue reading
In 2016, a Lexington, Kentucky, gift shop unveiled a taxidermied black bear that had been recovered by the store's co-owners, Whitt Hyler and Griffin VanMeter. It wasn't just any taxidermy bear—this is Cocaine Bear. In 1985, this bear overdosed on cocaine dropped by a drug smuggl … | Continue reading
Sven Persson (1861-1928), a self-assured goat farmer known as "Bagga-Sven" or "Baggen" ("The Ram"), left behind a legacy that defies convention. In 1906, he inscribed a tribute to himself on a naturally flat upright stone near his cottage in the forest outside Ballingslöv in sout … | Continue reading
The 1986 novel It by Stephen King is not only a classic, but a cultural phenomenon. As many people know, Bangor, Maine was the inspiration for the fictional town of Derry where the novel takes place. The prolific writer famously lived in a Victorian house in the town for years. H … | Continue reading
A favored sight in the waiting rooms of doctor’s offices and lobbies of laundromats, the coin-operated gumball machine has fallen on hard times of late. In Wilmington, Delaware, however, there’s still one place to get your nostalgic gumball fix–a utility box in the hip Trolley Sq … | Continue reading
In the small town of Palmyra, Missouri, northwest of Hannibal (the hometown of Mark Twain), a historical property has taken on new life as Cole’s Hearth Room. Now an elevated American restaurant, the Hearth Room was a farmstead whose original barns and silo were built in 1846. Du … | Continue reading
This story is excerpted and adapted from Bob Eckstein’s Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums: Stories and Memorable Moments from People Who Love Museums, published in May 2024 by Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved. Museums are reflections of everything we’v … | Continue reading
Located southeast of Taiwan's mainland is Green Island, a small island about a fourth the size of Manhattan. The island's natural beauty has long made it a famous destination for Taiwanese vacationers. History buffs are also attracted by the Green Island Human Rights Culture Park … | Continue reading
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we catch up with Amir Siraj—friend of the show, scientist, and world wanderer—who visited a new observatory in a Chilean desert that could help his … | Continue reading
Reprinted with permission from Populus: Living and Dying in Ancient Rome by Guy de la Bédoyère, published by the University of Chicago Press. © 2024 by Guy de la Bédoyère. All rights reserved. Certain Roman emperors led the field when it came to dining. Colorful anecdotes abo … | Continue reading
For the curious, intrepid explorer looking for a brief getaway from bustling George Town, head northwest, where a sprawling fruit paradise awaits you. Located in northwest Teluk Bahang, the Penang Tropical Fruit Farm is Southeast Asia’s largest collection of fruits. The farm sits … | Continue reading
In the bylanes of Sadashiv Peth, an area in the historic part of Pune, lies this iconic ice cream parlor. First opened in 1947 by Manohar Waman Limaye, a former ammunition engineer, the shop specializes in hand-made pot ice cream. Limaye supposedly turned to his engineering skill … | Continue reading
Last summer, Sabra, one of America’s leading producers of hummus, announced three new flavors: Barbecue, Buffalo (as in wings), and Southwest. Not to be outdone, Fresh Cravings, a contender for dominance in the retail hummus market, debuted two new flavors of its own later that y … | Continue reading
This dominant and unusual rocky formation of sandstone and siltstone was exposed during white clay mining for brickmaking at the nearby Yarralumla Brickworks for the building of Canberra in the 1940s and 1950s. It consists of two anticlines (upwards folds) with a syncline (downwa … | Continue reading
Find a summer evening adventure by visiting the Campbell Ave bridge over the Rillito river. Thousands of Mexican Free-Tailed bats take flight at sunset, filling the sky. You can stand above and watch them take flight or go on the Loop path and listen to them under the bridge. Tuc … | Continue reading
Amidst the high-end Miami Design District, visitors can find an incongruous sight tucked away on a side street. A gas station billboard painted a dull gold lies tilted on its side, still flashing its advertisement for Sunoco gas. This structure isn't a discarded product of the pa … | Continue reading
It's unclear precisely how the head of a Paul Bunyan statue got to the top of a tree near the York river in York, Maine. "He's always been there" is what locals have said. That's just where he lives. When Seacoastonline looked into the mysterious head in 2021, they found that the … | Continue reading
Roman emperor Diocletian is perhaps the most notable resident of Split, Croatia's second most-populated city. What used to be his palace now constitutes almost the entirety of the modern city's UNESCO-protected historic center. His life story in some ways reflects the twin cities … | Continue reading
Spanning an impressive 4,313 feet across Lake Weatherford, a small city located outside of Dallas, the floating boardwalk winds its way through the lake's ecosystem. Guests can walk among lily pads in the middle of the lake, wander between trees in the salt marsh, or even cross t … | Continue reading
Bern, Switzerland, is a city of springs with beautifully decorated fountains offering free spring water all around town. Most of these are decorated with various statues, such as the famous Child Eater of Bern. However, this spring in Bern, known as the Mosesbrunnen (or Moses Fou … | Continue reading
Nestled deep within the wilds of Stanley Park stands the Two Spirits carving. The mysterious statue follows the guerrilla art movement championed by artists like Banksy. In this vein, no artist has claimed to have created it and Stanley Park government officials refuse to recogni … | Continue reading
Though most people associate American celebrations of Mardi Gras with New Orleans, the pre-Lenten festival was actually first observed in the New World by French settlers at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff, which eventually grew into the city of Mobile, Alabama. This museum, which opened … | Continue reading
Situated in Tainan's massive Taijiang National Park, between Sicao Green Tunnel, one of the city's most popular tourist destinations, and the imposing, 300-year-old Dazhong Temple, a small, unassuming building contains two complete sperm whale skeletons—a beached mother and child … | Continue reading
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. Earlier this spring we shared the story of the city of Melbourne’s program to track trees, which morphed into a love fest. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we hear from you, with y … | Continue reading
THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE MAY 18, 2024, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. Music is all about context. The same high-energy track that keeps you moving at a concert might feel disruptive and annoying if blasted at a restaurant. A … | Continue reading
The Ostrich is a quaint coaching inn in the quiet Berkshire village of Colnbrook, Slough. Many sources claim the establishment is England’s third-oldest inn, dating it back to 1106, though others say it may only be as old as the 16th century. Beyond being one of England's oldest, … | Continue reading
In Siberia’s Yana Highlands, a chunk of land roughly the shape of a giant stingray has been sinking down into a very large pit. Called the Doorway to the Underworld, the Batagay Megaslump (also known as the Batagaika Crater) is 200 acres and continues to widen. Scientists have kn … | Continue reading
Opening its doors in 2019, the Miyoshi Mononoke Museum, also known as the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum, is Japan’s first public museum dedicated to yokai, traditional Japanese spirits. Located in the city of Miyoshi in the Hiroshima Prefecture, the museum is a bit of … | Continue reading
Come stand under Maine's only authentic torii gate, standing nine feet tall and made entirely of wood. In Japan, torii gates often welcome people into Shinto shrines. They are a sacred part of Japanese culture, representing a gateway between the physical and spiritual worlds. Thi … | Continue reading
Penang is well-known for its vibrant Straits Chinese Peranakan culture, but if you know where to look, there’s another chapter to its history. While the focus is often on the marriage between overseas Chinese traders marrying local Malay women, the truth is, the Chinese were not … | Continue reading
The Sol building was designed by Juan Ripollés and opened in June 2008. The building is located in the Grao, the maritime neighborhood of the city. The sculpture, which covers the building like a skin, is made of cut Murano glass fired at 1,300 degrees and is considered the large … | Continue reading
"You don’t choose art, art chooses you," artist Herb Mignery told Nebraska Stories in 2020. “You may try to redirect it… but it’s just something that has to be done. It’s just an itch that you have to scratch.” Growing up in the small town of Barlett, Nebraska, Mignery’s connecti … | Continue reading
We’ve all heard the bumps in the night. Strange sounds that have us questioning our senses. Was that the wind? A creaky floorboard? An animal outside? Usually, a quick flick of a light switch reveals that those shadows in the dark were just everyday objects. But sometimes those s … | Continue reading
When the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum hosted an opening day ceremony on a windy March day in 1967, no one expected that the event would be just as full of aviation excitement as the museum’s exhibits. To celebrate the opening of the museum, which at the time touted di … | Continue reading
The late 1800s brought a lot of change to central Nebraska’s North Loup Valley. This was the era that the first non-Indigenous residents began making their way to the region, trying to make new lives in an unfamiliar land, and in 1872, a group from Wisconsin established their fir … | Continue reading
There is a quiet wonder that happens when you see a dark sky—a really dark sky. Free from the light sources that are a regular part of modern life, the sky reveals itself. Stars seem to be layered, a shining blanket of light. Planets come into view. Galaxies leave a stardust stre … | Continue reading
When you’re as small as Potter, Nebraska (population: 300), you sometimes have to do some work to be noticed. Maybe it’s by having just one resident who keeps it all together. Or maybe you arrange cars in an homage to Stonehenge. But for Potter, getting put on the map came in the … | Continue reading
This story was originally published on The Conversation. It appears here under a Creative Commons license. Some people fear that breaking a mirror can lead to seven years of misfortune. The history of this superstition may go back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who ascribed my … | Continue reading
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we learn about the Ludlow colony in southern Colorado—a place that was once a bustling tent city and haven for miners and their families. But it wa … | Continue reading
This themed crossword comes from Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel, who grew up in Xi’an, China, before moving to the United States in 2001. She's the author of Sip & Solve Easy Mini Crosswords. You can solve the puzzle below, or download it in .pdf or .puz. Note that the links in the clue … | Continue reading
“The twin gods of Smooth Traffic and Ample Parking have turned our downtowns into places that are easy to get to, but not worth arriving at.” The quote is from urban designer Jeff Speck. It’s hard to think of a pithier one to describe the parking pandemic blighting America’s city … | Continue reading
The story of Dirce's punishment goes something like this: Dirce was a powerful demigoddess, who married Lycus, king of Thebes. Her niece Antiope was impregnated by Zeus, and she gave birth to twin sons Zethus and Amphion. Dirce was not fond of Antiope, so despite fleeing due to h … | Continue reading
Construction of the New York & Erie Railroad had been underway, off and on, for 14 years when it faced a compound problem in 1846. The railroad's charter from New York State required the road to be built as far as Binghamton by December 31, 1848. To get there, the track needed to … | Continue reading
These sand dunes are a spectacular site across the coast of St. Anne's in northwest England. A lush wildlife habitat, it is an important natural sea defense along the Fylde Coast and because the stretch of St. Anne's beach is so vast when the tide is out, it makes the landscape l … | Continue reading
The first floor of C-Boys Heart & Soul is awash in red velvet upholstery and vintage furnishings. A heart-shaped neon light glows behind the bar, and live music fills the venue seven days a week. In name and spirit, the venue is an homage to Louis Charles “C-Boy” Parks, the manag … | Continue reading