Solved: The Mystery of an Ancient Maya Massacre

Clues about the victims’ diet cracked the case. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Sea Lily Fossil in Utah Just Solved an Evolutionary Mystery

“This tears off one branch in the tree of life and rearranges it another way.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A White Lie Gave Japan KFC for Christmas

One cunning business maneuver created a tradition and saved a franchise. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Scientists Safeguard Almost a Million Vials of Frozen Animal Semen

It involves tiny straws and a whole lot of liquid nitrogen. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Antarctica Is Stark, Beautiful, and Will Shrink Your Brain

The impact of 14 months at the edge of the world. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Adventurous Seafaring Women of the Age of Sail, in Their Own Words

Answering the call of the sea. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

In England, Coroners Decide What Is Treasure and What Is Not

“It’s a bizarre holdover from a previous age.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Library of Congress Unrolled a 2000-Year-Old Buddhist Scroll

“It was the most fragile object we have ever encountered.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Aspendos Theater – “The best-preserved ancient theater in the world”

The best-preserved ancient theater in the world. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

You could own the busiest watering hole for miles. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Chinese City Famous for Eggs with Two Yolks

Gaoyou ducks are bred to produce tasty double-yolkers. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Day Without News

On April 18, 1930, the BBC made a surprising announcement. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Tuned Mass Damper of Taipei 101

Enormous pendulum helps keep Taiwan's tallest building from swaying. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Slovenia’s Horse-Based Burger Chain

Hot Horse's main dish is very popular with the late-night crowd. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Acorn Woodpeckers Hoard Thousands of Acorns in a Single Tree

That’s not even the weirdest thing about them. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Saga of the Cannibal Ants in a Soviet Nuclear Bunker

And how scientists tried to free this formic Donner Party. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

1883’s most absurd language guide. (2016)

Meet 1883's most absurd language guide. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Strange Emptiness of Egypt in 19th-Century European Photographs

John Beasley Greene photographed early European archaeology in Egypt—but he paid little attention to those who lived there. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Rise and Fall of the Cash Railway

During the late 19th century retail boom, shop owners were plagued by robberies at sales counters and rampant employee pilfering. As the average person... | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Uncertain Future of the World’s Largest Secondhand Book Market

At the College Street market in Kolkata, India, independent booksellers fear the arrival of a massive mall. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Picturing Manhattan’s Shortest Buildings from the Ground Floor

A photographer set out to document single-story buildings—the anti-skyscrapers. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Cheese Makers Keeping Monterey Jack’s Local Legend Alive

Only one farmstead in Monterey County still makes the famed cheese. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Found: 17th-Century Warships at the Bottom of a Swedish Channel

They could be related to the famous, ill-fated "Vasa." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Some Ships Keep Sailing Even After They’re Wrecked

A century-old iron scow is inching closer to the brink of Niagara Falls. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Japanese Ghost Town Buried Deep in a Canadian Forest

Archaeologists have dug up sake bottles and delicate rice bowls. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Liverpool’s Crosby Beach Is a Mile of World War II Blitz Rubble

An undergraduate archaeologist is trying to make sure the prewar city isn't forgotten. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How Stalin and the Soviet Union Created a Champagne for the Working Class

In 1936, the Party suddenly switched from denouncing bubbly to mass producing it. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

America's First Banned Book

The author, known as the "Lord of Misrule," had the audacity to erect a maypole in Massachusetts. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Ghostly Japanese Fireball Spirits That Live on in Pokémon

The digital descendants of 'yōkai' can be spotted in many Japanese games. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Dark Side of the Bourbon ‘Angel’s Share’

It's the dark side of the "angel's share." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Many Lives of Demogorgon, from Scribal Error to ‘Stranger Things’

How vague and various descriptions made a medieval mistake into a lasting horror. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Valley of the Cheese of the Dead

In this remote Swiss town, residents spent a lifetime aging a wheel for their own funeral. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The World’s Most Famous Ghost Ship Is an Enduring Symbol of Empire

The Flying Dutchman's long afterlife began with a British power trip. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Vodka Became a Currency in Russia

Since the 16th century, the spirit has been the country's gold standard. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Can We Make a 3-D Map of the Whole World?

A lidar project wants to document the entire planet, before everything changes. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Photographing the Afterlives and Second Acts of America’s Movie Palaces

Matt Lambros is inspired by abandoned theaters—and their potential for revival. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The 19th-Century French Frenzy for Species Swapping

Quaggas, ibises, and tapirs, oh my! | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Third Largest Whirlpool

Legend says a witch conjured the Corryvreckan Whirlpool to protect Scotland from a nasty pirate. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A Nun’s 450-Year-Old ‘Last Supper’ Makes Its Museum Debut in Florence

Plautilla Nelli was likely the first woman in history to paint the iconic biblical scene. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Pirate Who Penned the First English-Language Guacamole Recipe

William Dampier's food-writing firsts included the use of the words "barbecue" and "chopsticks." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

America’s Oldest Boat Shop Has Been Making Hunky Dories for 226 Years

Lowell’s preserves tradition—and maintains relevance—by adapting to the times. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Site of a Japanese Balloon Bomb Explosion

These experimental weapons brought World War II to Nebraska as well as 26 other U.S. states. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Why Renaissance Paintings Aren't as Green as They Used to Be

Once a brilliant hue, the pigment verdigris is now mostly brown. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Chicken of the Woods: This mushroom tastes just like chicken

Meat-craving vegetarians enjoy the bright orange fungus. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Scientists Are Recreating Dinosaur Breath

At the Field Museum, visitors can now get a whiff of the Cretaceous. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

What a 12-year-old photographer did on her summer vacation in 1929

Two 90-year-old albums document what a 12-year-old photographer did on her summer vacation. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A Man at the Controls of the World’s Largest Steam Locomotive

After restoring the monster locomotive, Ed Dickens is hitting the rails. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Russia’s Retro Lenin Museum Still Runs on Decades-Old Apple II Computers

The same machine that popularized "The Oregon Trail" was secretly imported just a few years before the USSR collapsed. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago