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Medina of Tétouan in Tétouan, Morocco
The city of Tétouan occupies a dramatic juncture in the landscape of northern Morocco. Cascading down the northern escarpment of the Rif Mountains, it stops just short of the Mediterranean’s soft,...
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America's First Medal at the Nazi Olympics Was For...Town Planning
Marine Park today. (Photo: Timothy Krause/CC SA: BY 2.0)The design to redevelop Marine Park, in Brooklyn, had been beautifully sketched in oil onto a large rectangular canvas. The map showed a thin...
View ArticleWatch This Beautiful, Chaotic Bat Ballet
As the summer sun sets in central Texas, you may see a dark, ominous cloud undulating in the sky. But this is no cloud of smoke. It’s a colony of Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats emerging from their...
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Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi, India
Gandhi Smriti, or "Gandhi Remembrance", is the house and gardens where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life before he was killed on January 30, 1948. The house, which was owned by the...
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Museo Atlántico in Lanzarote, Spain
Completely submerged under the Atlantic Ocean, Museo Atlántico is a striking reminder of humans’ ever-changing and often destructive impact on the natural world. And in a bit of irony, these manmade...
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The Arcane Rules That Would Kick In If Trump Drops Out
(Photo: Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 3.0)As the 1972 presidential campaign wore on, George McGovern, the Democratic candidate for president, began hearing some troubling rumors about his chosen running mate,...
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Opa-locka City Hall in Opa-locka, Florida
In a city where the town hall is a sheik's palace, the Chamber of Commerce is a Turkish harem, and the train station is a mosque, you would probably expect to be somewhere in the Mid East. But no, this...
View ArticleFound: A Prosthetic Leg Stuck in a Beaver Dam
"I hope that if I lost my leg that someone would return it to me, too," Jason Franklin said. https://t.co/3I5D2ek4nD— Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) August 8, 2016 Two men were canoeing in a creek...
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Tonopah Mining Park in Tonopah, Nevada
The story goes that in 1900, miner Jim Butler was angrily chasing a runaway donkey, picked up a rock to throw at the animal, found it surprisingly heavy, and realized he had stumbled upon a wealth of...
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Dueling Insects, a Murder Mystery, and Other Intriguing Rivalry-Themed Events
Belmont tunnel, LA.(Photo: Erin Johnson)For Rivals Week at Atlas Obscura, we’ve compiled a list of upcoming competition-themed events taking place around the country. From insect farms and murder...
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Weehawken Dueling Grounds in Weehawken, New Jersey
Anyone who remembers Michael Bay’s famous 1993 “Got Milk” commercial knows that sitting Vice-President Aaron Burr shot and killed former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton during an 1804...
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The Dove in London, England
"I must, before I die, create the type for 'Beautiful Book' and actualise it, writing, printing, ornament and binding. I will learn to write, to print and to decorate," wrote Thomas James...
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The John Brown Bell in Marlborough, Massachusetts
Often called “the second most important bell in America”, the John Brown Bell now stands in the town of Marlborough, Massachusetts.In 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the armory in the town...
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Veii in Rome, Italy
Only 17 km northwest of the Eternal City stand the ruins of the rival that almost snuffed out early Roman civilization, long before Caesar or Augustus were born.The great Etruscan city-state of Veii —...
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Chios Rocket War in Vrontados, Greece
Two rival parishes on the Greek island of Chios engage in a most unusual and dangerous Easter tradition that has been taking place quite possibly since the Ottoman era. The churches, which sit on...
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Alameda Spite House in Alameda, California
A spite fence is a fairly common occurrence, but a spite house? Now that takes dedication.Houses (and fences) of spite are built when a land owner has the time, money, and just the right amount of...
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10 Places Caught Up in Odd Border Disputes
House on the notoriously disputed Bangladesh–India border. (Photo: Moheen Reeyad/CC BY-SA 4.0)For something invisible and very often arbitrary, geographic borders have an enormous impact. In the...
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The Brazilian Soccer Rivalry That Spilled Over Into Architecture
Inter diehard Penny Razzolini (left) and Grêmio diehard Adriano Maffei meet beneath the highway overpass that's become yet another point of contention between the team's two fans. (Photo: Andrew...
View ArticleWatch a Keralan Dancer's Impressively Intricate Facial Twitches
Dressed in a long white tunic decorated with beads and glass, and gold headgear covered in a patchwork of brightly colored stones, the Ottamthullal dancer is almost ready to take the stage. Just time...
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The 1976 Great American Horse Race Was Won By A Mule Named Lord Fauntleroy
All-American mules, more than worthy of our pride. (Photo: Irving Rusinow/National Archive and Records Administration)On May 31st, 1976, about 200 well-muscled animals lined up in Frankfort, New York,...
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