Egg Vending Machine at Glaum Ranch

At this California chicken ranch four bucks will get you 22 eggs and a chorus of dancing animatronic poultry. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Children’s Stories That Still Give Us the Creeps

Atlas Obscura readers wrote in about the classic tales that taught them one thing—unease. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Fascinating '80s Public Access Films Produced by a California UFO Cult

This love-filled collective and its compelling leader had quite the creative output. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Time Is Running Out for Beloved Mechanical Horse-Race Game in Vegas

There's only one Sigma Derby machine left. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

In England, the Right to Daylight Can Be a Legal Matter

And they have the "Ancient Lights" signs to prove it. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Perils and Pleasures of Bartending in Antarctica

At the South Pole, the freezer is just a hole in the wall to the ice outside. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A CIA-Issued Rectal Tool Kit for Spies

This imaginative gadget was designed to get operatives out of difficult situations. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Introducing the Atlas Obscura Community Forums

A new way to experience Atlas Obscura with fellow explorers like you. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Kaffeost

In northern Scandinavia, cups of coffee get enhanced with cheese. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Rise and Suspiciously Rapid Fall of Freedomland U.S.A. (2015)

Freedomland U.S.A., an American history-themed amusement park in the East Bronx, was demolished 50 years ago this summer. But fond memories live on among... | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Japan's Rail Workers Can't Stop Pointing at Things

A seemingly silly gesture is done for the sake of safety. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Chopin's Heart

Chopin's heart was taken from his body when he died and buried in a church where it was recently exhumed for a secret check up. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

In 1919, a 40-foot molasses wave slammed into city’s North End, killing 21

In 1919, a viscous 40-foot wave slammed into the city's North End, killing 21 people. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Using CRISPR to Make Spicy Tomatoes

The fruit could soon look and taste more like chili peppers. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

How Capicola Became Gabagool: The Italian New Jersey Accent, Explained

A linguistic exploration. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Humanity Has Managed to Change Places We’ve Barely Even Visited

From the Mariana Trench to the Moon, we have have changed places we've barely even visited. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Step Inside Brazil’s Museu Nacional, Before the Devastating Blaze

A new digital tour helps visitors jump back in time. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

In Its First Decades, the United States Nurtured Schoolgirl Mapmakers (2018)

Education for women and emerging nationhood, illustrated with care and charm. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

What Does This Alien Minor Planet Look Like?

A peanut? Or maybe a bowling pin? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A Giant Speaker in Taiwan Is About to Switch on Again (2018)

Beishan Broadcast Station, which once blasted propaganda across the ocean, has found another purpose. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Why Foley Artists Use Cabbage, Celery to Create Hollywood’s Distinctive Sounds

Adding sound flourishes to films in post-production remains low-tech. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Skyspace: The Color Inside – Austin, Texas – Atlas Obscura

A view-altering observatory. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

15 Glorious Hangover ‘Cures’ from Around the World

Atlas Obscura readers share their tried-and-true favorites. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Real Boundaries of American Metropolises, Decided by an Algorithm

How is the U.S. actually split geographically? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Why We Will Not Have Been Able to Attend Stephen Hawking's Time Traveler Party

At least, not in this universe. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Pop Culture Gargoyles Hidden in Gothic Architecture

Bring binoculars. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Mysterious Tradition of Hiding a Pickle on Christmas Trees

Can you spot one in this picture? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

How It Came to Be That a Shark Dined on a Pterosaur

It's fun to imagine it leapt out of the water like a torpedo—but unlikely. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A Chinese Artist’s Humanizing 19th-Century Portraits of Disfigured Patients

Lam Qua's paintings depicting people with huge, bulbous tumors remain mesmerizing. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

52 of the World’s Most Out-There Myths About Food

Beware the persimmon. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

A Country’s Identity Is Hidden in Its Camouflage

A unique online resource shows how camo can make a soldier stand out. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

How Myst Taught a Generation of Gamers to Explore New Worlds

The creators revisit their hit game 25 years later. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Bannerman's Castle

Collapsing castle on the Hudson river was once the storage site of military surplus business. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Humble Brilliance of Italy’s Moka Coffee Pot

In the era of pods, the iconic item has become an endangered species. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Seals keep getting eels stuck up their noses

The Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program found yet another pinniped with an unusual nasal inhabitant. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

For Sale: Pre-Prohibition Whiskey, Once Hidden in a Vault Behind a Bookcase

Naturally! | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Americans Have Planted So Much Corn That It’s Changing the Weather

The Corn Belt is making it rain. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Stitching a Future for an Age-Old Palestinian Embroidery Tradition

Wafa Ghnaim is introducing people to "tatreez" through her workshops. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

See a Collection of Sickening Objects at Portland’s Outbreak Museum

From canned beets to milk jugs, each exhibit relates to a wave of deadly disease. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Interactive Sandbox Allows Users to Make Topographical Maps in Real-Time

You can move mountains and make it rain. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

This 4,000-Year-Old Pot Spent Years as a Toothbrush Holder

It was purely acci-dental. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Venus of Brassempouy – Oldest known realistic depiction of a human face

This prehistoric figurine is the oldest known realistic depiction of a human face. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

For Sale: A Tricky Cipher from WWII

Attention, tinkerers: It's still solvable. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The WW2 Flak Towers Still Standing in Vienna

Giant WWII fortresses that fired 8,000 rounds a minute, now home to thousands of pigeons. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

At a Death Cafe, Tea and Couscous Make Mortality Easier to Swallow

Let's talk about death, baby. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

The Massive Pizza Funeral That Never Had to Happen

In 1973, a Michigan entrepreneur buried 30,000 mushroom pizzas—all for nothing. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Smoking Banana Peels Is the Greatest Drug Hoax of All Time

They called it mellow yellow. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago

Birds Rub Ants on Themselves, and No One Knows Exactly Why

Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 5 years ago