Atlas Obscura
6 Magazines | 12,596 Followers | @AtlasObscura | The definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders.
Tell Us About the Most Amazing Parts of Tulsa, Oklahoma
We need your stories about the city’s hidden corners and unusual places.<p>At <i>Atlas Obscura</i>, we’re always trying to fill our growing database of hidden …
TulsaHow a Vibrant, Factory-Made Sweet Usurped the Original Maraschino Cherry
The same term describes two wildly different cherries.<p>The mention of a maraschino cherry usually conjures up one of two images: Either a bright red …
CherriesMapping the Lost Countercultural Hotspots of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Local librarian Tim Devin has found hundreds of buildings that once housed utopian groups.<p>The building at 16 Lexington Ave looks like a lot of other …
Vietnam War‘À La Mode’ Is a Lonely Survivor of a French Culinary Code
In America, à la Nesselrode and à la Maryland are à la gone.<p>You don’t have to be French to know what <i>à la mode</i> means. Even at the humble American …
Every Library Has a Story to Tell
Three new books for bibliophiles dig into the hidden human side of book collections.<p>A library is, at its most essential, a space that holds a …
BooksPoire Williams
Before they're filled with brandy, these bottles get attached to trees so pears can grow inside.<p>How do brandy purveyors fit a whole pear inside a …
BrandyTarkhuna
Tarragon provides the herbal kick to this neon-green Georgian soda.<p>You’ll know <i>tarkhuna</i> when you see it, even if you can’t make out the Georgian or …
MenstruationWhen the U.S. Kept Losing Nuclear Bombs
In the 1950s, military accidents meant that nuclear warheads went missing.<p><i>Since the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the world has</i> …
MilitaryTúró Rudi
Hungary's favorite chocolate bar is filled with cheese curd.<p>If you’re roaming the aisles of a Hungarian grocery store in search of one of the …
FlavorsWhen Family-Owned Gelato Shops in Italy Almost Went Extinct
Did Big Gelato try to wipe out artisanal shops in the 1950s?<p>The signature chocolate sour cherry gelato at Vivoli, the oldest gelato shop in Florence, …
ItalyHeather Honey
A fragrant, difficult-to-harvest delicacy from the Scottish moorlands.<p>Heather grows in abundance on the Scottish moorlands. And each year in early …
HoneyThe Heart-Racing Drama of Dissecting a Beached Whale
While on the job, anatomist Dr. Joy Reidenberg has been escorted by police and scrutinized by nude sunbathers.<p>About 31 years ago, when Dr. Joy …
New JerseyThe Nuclear ‘Demon Core’ That Killed Two Scientists
After World War II ended, physicists kept pushing a plutonium core to its edge.<p><i>Since the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the world</i> …
Nuclear EnergyThe Sistine Chapel Streamed a Concert Online for the First Time Ever
Don’t worry if you missed it—the entire performance is available on Facebook.<p>On April 22, 2018, the Sistine Chapel streamed a concert online for the …
Sistine ChapelGematogen
A bloody good candy bar.<p>In Soviet-era Russia, candy wasn’t made for pleasure; it was a functional food. <i>Gematogen</i> was one such candy bar. The sweet …
CandybarWhat Is a Snow Tunnel?
Up in the Scottish Highlands, you can stand inside two seasons at once.<p>When Iain Cameron, a snow-obsessed Scot, picks his way across the Highlands in …
NatureTarantula Samosa
Tucked inside a flaky crust are layers of feta, spinach, and black, hairy legs.<p>When you receive your samosa at the Bugs Cafe in Siem Reap, it looks …
ChaatUnicum
A bitter liqueur that traces the history of a Hungarian-Jewish family.<p>In Hungary, you’ll find the orb-shaped bottle in every bar, but abroad, Unicum …
World War IIFinding a Muse in the Supernatural
Francesca Berrini and Lindsey Rickert were inspired by Nevada’s “unknown” on days three and four of “The Fellowship of Highway 95.”<p>You’d be …
ArtCutting, Pasting, and Rearranging Reality in Las Vegas
The Fellowship of Highway 95 sent two artists up Nevada’s eclectic “Free-Range Art Highway.”<p>Sprouting from the desert brush, dinosaurs nudge …
Las VegasCreating Art to Capture Memories Before They Fade
On the final days of “The Fellowship of Highway 95,” Lindsey Rickert and Francesca Berrini process what they experienced in Nevada.<p>Time was top of …
U.S. ArmyMaking Friends in a Nevada Ghost Town
On day two of “The Fellowship of Highway 95,” Lindsey Rickert and Francesca Berrini hit their stride as collaborators.<p>Inside jokes can be like …
CampervansLooking Like a Flapper Meant a Diet of Celery and Cigarettes
A new standard of beauty led to today’s weight-loss regimens.<p>In the early 20th century, Americans endlessly discussed and debated flappers. <i>The</i> …
NutritionSolved: A Decades-Old Ansel Adams Mystery
The answer was hidden in the shadows.<p>When you look at the image above, what do you think of? Most will probably take in the beauty of its subjects, …
National ParksThe Modern Lives of Cuba’s Old Movie Theaters
One photographer’s four-year project to document the country’s aging cinemas.<p>The photographer Carolina Sandretto spent the past four years tackling …
FramingTerva Leijona
For those craving intensity beyond black licorice, how about tar?<p>An old Finnish proverb says, “If a sauna, vodka, and tar don’t help, the illness is …
Stone AgeBehold the Stormy Beauty of Stars Forming
New images from the Hubble Space Telescope capture majestic billows of gas and dust.<p>As a young priest and astronomer in 17th-century Sicily, Giovanni …
UniverseRemembering When Americans Picnicked in Cemeteries
For a time, eating and relaxing among the dead was a national pastime.<p>Within the iron-wrought walls of American cemeteries—beneath the shade of oak …
HistoryLost Footage Filmed After the 1906 San Francisco Quake Finally Gets a Premiere
The scenes, shown in a silent-film museum, provide a new glimpse of the earthquake’s aftermath.<p>Flea markets are wonderful places to find little …
San FranciscoA Researcher’s Quest to Decode the Specimens on a Museum’s Mystery Shelf
Sifting through the old, unlabeled, puzzling jars that fill a collection’s junk drawer.<p>By the time a natural history museum puts an articulated …
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