Vegetables San Marzano TomatoesAtlas Obscura - Reina Gattuso Grown in the volcanic soil around Mt. Vesuvius, these tomatoes are one of only a couple varieties used in authentic Neapolitan pizza. On March 17, …
Ottoman Empire Being an Ottoman Janissary Meant War, Mutiny, and BaklavaAtlas Obscura - by Anne Ewbank To overthrow the sultan, janissaries first threw over their cooking pots. In the spring of 1806, Istanbul was in uproar. Sultan Selim III wanted to …
Posters A Wisconsin Bar Had an Enormous 1885 Circus Poster Hidden Within Its WallsAtlas Obscura - by Evan Nicole Brown Durand, Wisconsin, is an old railroad town on the banks of the Chippewa River. In the early 19th century, when traveling circuses were emerging as a …
Laos Found: A New Plain of Massive Stone Jars in Laos, Used to Store the DeadAtlas Obscura - by Jonathan Carey According to local legend, the hundreds of gigantic stone vessels that stretch across the Xieng Khouang Plateau of Phonsavan, Laos, are simply …
Mecca These Adventurous Women Photographed the California Desert in the 1920sAtlas Obscura - by Winnie Lee One average day in 1988, during his lunch break, the archeologist and historian Ron May climbed into a Dumpster outside his office building. Earlier …
Asparagus DurukaAtlas Obscura - Anne Ewbank You probably wouldn’t go looking for asparagus in the swampy areas of Fiji, a nation comprised of hundreds of islands in the South Pacific. But it’s …
New Orleans, LA Hansen's Sno-Bliz SnowballsAtlas Obscura - Rohini Chaki The first patented shaved-ice machine heralded a snowy wonderland of iced treats at a favorite New Orleans summer shack. Lovers of flavored ice in the …
Namibia Germany Will Return a 15th-Century Cross to NamibiaAtlas Obscura - by Sabrina Imbler The 11-foot, 1.1-ton cross could once be glimpsed from the ocean. In 1486, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão erected an 11-foot stone cross on the …
Bhutanese Red RiceAtlas Obscura - rachelrummel At 8,000 feet above sea level, glacial irrigation produces a striking heirloom grain. A 1,000-year-old glacier supplies Bhutan’s valleys with water …
Iguana Solved: How the ‘Monstrous’ Iguanas of the Bahamas Got So Darn BigAtlas Obscura - by Erica Tennenhouse Among the most popular tourist attractions in the Exumas—a chain of more than 365 tiny islands, or cays, in the Bahamas—are the famous swimming pigs. …
Eating Found: The Earliest Evidence of Humans Cooking and Eating StarchAtlas Obscura - by Matthew Taub We were eating rhizomes and tubers as early as 120,000 years ago. Starches have been dietary staples for even longer than seemed possible. For the …
If You’re in England, Keep Your Eyes Peeled for This Iridescent BeetleAtlas Obscura - by Jessica Leigh Hester In grassy, sun-dappled orchards across England, where there are storied fruit trees with ample blossoms and yielding bark, there are bound to be …
Rajasthan To Save India’s Camel Culture, a New Dairy Is Selling Milk and Cream CheeseAtlas Obscura - by Morgan Randall You can see by the way they’ve been dressed that the camels at the Pushkar Fair are well-loved. Festooned in tassels, beads, and brightly colored …
Mangroves On Java’s Coast, A Natural Approach to Holding Back the WatersAtlas Obscura - by Fred Pearce Villagers are using natural wooden barriers to try to restore the mangrove forests and save their lands and homes. This story was originally published …
Brisbane Brisbane Customs House MushroomsAtlas Obscura - Reina Gattuso The basement of a 19th-century government building provides peak conditions for delicious fungi. Some restaurants cultivate relationships with local …
Culture For Sale: A Poisoner’s Lab Secreted in a Beautiful BookAtlas Obscura - by Jessica Leigh Hester If you need a place to hide a secret stash, you have a few options. There’s the standard subterranean vault, protected by stairs, bolts, and …
Pollen ‘Botanical Sexism’ Could Be Behind Your Seasonal AllergiesAtlas Obscura - by Sabrina Imbler One day this past April, the residents of Durham, North Carolina, saw the sky turn a peculiar but familiar shade of chartreuse. Enormous clouds of a …
Biological Species California’s Wildflower Hotline Provides the Latest Scoop on SuperbloomsAtlas Obscura - by Leslie Nemo It’s been updated every Friday in spring for nearly 40 years. If you call 818-768-1802, extension 7 in March, April or May, you can hear actor Joe …
Pigs The Livestock Living at the End of the WorldAtlas Obscura - by Abbey Perreault Things get hairy when you plop pigs on a subantarctic island In the spring of 1866, the American General Grant struck the western cliffside of Auckland …
Afrikaans MosbolletjiesAtlas Obscura - susarm These buns from South Africa's Cape Winelands are traditionally leavened with the must used to make wine. In 1688, around 175 French Huguenots, who …
South Australia Australia’s Growing Camel Meat Trade Reveals a Hidden History of Early Muslim MigrantsAtlas Obscura - by Reina Gattuso There is a camel in Hanifa Deen’s kitchen. He looks down at her as she cooks, eyes proud yet warm, delicately flared snout smelling dinner. While the …
Greenhouses A ‘Century Plant’ in Chicago Is Having an Epic Growth SpurtAtlas Obscura - by Evan Nicole Brown Agave americana, or the century plant, is native to Mexico and the deserts of the Southwest United States. Known for its broad, waxy leaves and …
Shipwrecks How to Explore a Shipwreck From the Comfort of Your CouchAtlas Obscura - by Jonathan Carey For many people, the idea of strapping on diving gear, dropping off the side of a boat, and descending to explore the secrets of the ocean first-hand …
Microplastics A Remote Australian Archipelago Is Home to Roughly 600 People and 414 Million Pieces of TrashAtlas Obscura - by Jessica Leigh Hester The Cocos (Keeling) Island chain is beautiful, but littered with plastic debris. Charles Darwin was utterly charmed by the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. …
Neanderthals These Tiny Teeth Suggest Neanderthals Evolved Earlier Than We ThoughtAtlas Obscura - by Sabrina Imbler Deep within the Atapuerca Mountains of northern Spain, a cave called the “Pit of Bones” became the final resting place for some very tiny ancient …
Japan Japan’s Only Mascot School Teaches the Art of Cuddly CutenessAtlas Obscura - by Kirsty Bouwers To my right is a grey, frizzy cat. Behind me, a chipmunk wearing a scarf and a lederhosen-esque suit with clovers stands besides a T-shirted gorilla. …
10 Must-Visit Spots for Mystery LoversAtlas Obscura - by Eric Grundhauser Atlas Obscura readers recommend their favorite enigmatic objects and locales. Put on your deerstalker cap and get out your magnifying glass (or your …
Butter Jersey Black ButterAtlas Obscura - Reina Gattuso Once a year, communities on the tiny island gather to preserve the art of making licorice-flavored apple butter. A tiny dot in the English Channel off …
Coffee The Coolest Coffee Maker of the 19th Century Was a Tabletop TrainAtlas Obscura - by Anne Ewbank In the early-19th century, the advent of the steam locomotive hurtled the world into the future. With crude trains tearing by at speeds breathless …
Chinese Academy of Sciences The Race to Cultivate China’s Beloved ‘Zombie Mushroom’Atlas Obscura - by Isobel Whitcomb Used in traditional medicine, caterpillar fungus is pricey, potent, and increasingly scarce. Growing up in rural Tibet in the early 2000s, Nlang Mao …
