When bookmobiles brought literature to your doorstep

When bookmobiles brought literature to your doorstep. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Lookout Mountain Airforce Station

Secret US military film studio in the Hollywood Hills. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A 1950s proposal to nuke Alaska (2015)

In 1958, the government wanted to nuke Alaska. Called Project Chariot and proposed by physicist Edward Teller, the intent was to use six hydrogen bombs to... | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Italian ski resort fights glacial melting with giant tarps

Climate change is shrinking Alpine glaciers. The tourism industry has a stake in keeping them around. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Students Built a 16th-Century Engineer’s Book-Reading Machine

The bookwheel helps readers browse eight texts at once. The only problem? It weighs 600 pounds. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Meet the Caretakers of Sealand, the World’s Most Stubborn Micronation

Maintaining an aging offshore platform is no easy task. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

New York City’s Mail Chutes (2015)

If you have ever worked in an old building, the chances are you will have at some point walked past a small mysterious brass box . Located about halfway up... | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The astonishing variety of street trees in Hackney, London

Hackney has a more diverse population of trees than any borough in London. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

An Agoraphobic Traveler Wanders the Earth

When anxiety set boundaries on her life, this adventurer found solace and excitement in Google Street View. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Why Are NYPD Cruisers Playing the Ice Cream Truck Jingle?

The melody occupies a niche space at the intersection of ice cream, entertainment, and Black history. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Sold: Isaac Newton’s Notes About the Bubonic Plague

His scribbles—which mention the curative power of toad vomit—sold for $81,000. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

With Musical Cryptography, Composers Can Hide Messages in Their Melodies

By mapping notes to letters, some musicians sneak secret words into tunes. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What a Buried Crater in Mexico Says About the Asteroid That Doomed the Dinosaurs

And why the scars left by meteoritic impacts tell us about life, the universe, and everything. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Utilitarian Pleasures of Playing Board Games by Yourself

It's a movement made for the moment. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Moniac (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) Machine – Atlas Obscura

A strange machine made to evaluate the world economy using water and lots of tubes. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How the ‘Sunset Route’ Railroad Helped Diversify California

The connection between New Orleans to Los Angeles can still be felt today. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The 1700s Quaker Dwarf Who Challenged Slavery, Meat-Eating, & Racism (2017)

Benjamin Lay is not to be overlooked. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What It’s Like to Build a Traditional Japanese Automaton from Scratch

All you need is a good imagination. And a whole lot of patience. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Westinghouse Atom Smasher: Icon of the Atomic Age Lays Dormant

This icon of the Atomic Age now lays dormant. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Ice Wine

Pressed from frozen grapes, this prized wine was a sweet accident. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Tips for Responsible Drinking, from 16th-Century Germany

The writer was concerned about the rise of binge-drinking bros. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What Is It Like to Be a Bee?

A philosophical and neurobiological look into the apian mind. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Cartographic Puzzles Are Poised for a Comeback

When nothing in the world seems to fit together, “dissected maps” offer a cognitive balm. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Vast Photo Archive Is Hidden Inside a Cold, Heavily Guarded Limestone Mine

Over 11 million Getty images are on ice near Pittsburgh. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Photographer Recreated Outdoor Adventures with Household Stuff

Think of it as the Great Indoors. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Close-Up Glamour Shots Are Generating Buzz for Bees (2018)

The pictures were taken for science, but found a wider audience because they're gorgeous and a little trippy. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Discovery Island – Orlando, Florida – Atlas Obscura

Disney's abandoned animal island is now an overgrown ruin that was almost the coolest attraction ever. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How Coronavirus Put an Ancient Flour Mill Back to Work

“You can hear the creaks, smell the grain—you really feel the age of it.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Libraries You Can Explore from Your Living Room

You can almost smell the old books. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Famous Drag Queen, a Mummy in the Closet, and a Baffling Mystery

Sequined gowns weren't the only thing stashed in Dorian Corey's wardrobe. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Ghost Airline That Has Linked Cairo and Tel Aviv for Decades

Air Sinai is shrouded in mystery. But why? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

America’s Botanic Gardens Are Growing Without Visitors

Watering and weeding can't wait until the pandemic has passed. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Mystery of a Medieval Blue Ink Has Been Solved

Turns out it was hiding in plain sight by the side of a Portuguese road. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The U.S.S.R.’s Hottest Collectibles Are All over eBay and Instagram

“Here was a piece of history that you could pin to your lapel." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Did the Utopian Pirate Nation of Libertatia Ever Exist? (2015)

For twenty-odd years during the 17th century, on the coast of Madagascar, there was a democratic colony comprised of surprisingly noble pirates who lived... | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Social Distancing Is Bringing Drive-In Theaters Back to Life

You can't Netflix and chill ALL the time. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Even More Ways to Help Librarians and Archivists from Home

As long as we're all cooped-up, here are six digital projects that could use your curiosity. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Globemaker Navigates a Digital World

“It’s kind of a joke, but in some sense, I almost feel like I could start a war.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Historic Dishes Born from Tough Times That You Can Make at Home

Use every last crumb with these feats of culinary creativity. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Blenheim Ginger Ale

This South Carolina soda packs serious heat. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

An Ancient Ballcourt in Oaxaca Expands a Sport’s Footprint

3,000 years before the Aztecs, Mesoamericans were already playing ball. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Intrepid Mother and Son Who Unraveled a Geographic Hoax

Atlas Obscura had a page for something called Moose Boulder, until fan Roger Dickey called us on it. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How to Help Librarians and Archivists from Your Living Room

If you're cooped-up and curious, use your free time to decipher handwriting, tag images, and more. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Oregon Creamery Making Vodka from Milk

“It's a tribute to the cows.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Most Toxic Plant in North America

"Those who eat it will die in two hours." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Overlooked Wonders of Soviet-Era Industrial Design

Space-themed vacuum cleaners, and more. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Soviet Science Magazines Fantasized About Life in Outer Space

The Iron Curtain went to infinity and beyond. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Republic of Venice Died in 1797. Now You Can Visit It

Meet Giovanni Vale, your travel guide to countries that no longer exist. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago