Clik here to view.
The Bonkers Real-Life Plan to Drain the Mediterranean and Merge Africa and...
An artist's rendering of what Atlantropa—a plan to partially drain the Mediterranean—might have looked like. (Photo: lttiz/CC BY 3.0)Later this year, Amazon Studios will release the much-anticipated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nowa Huta in Krakow, Poland
As Soviet occupying forces rolled into Poland toward the end of World War II, they found a country devastated by the ferocious fighting on the Eastern Front. Rebuilding was in order and Moscow, in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The World's Oldest Snowshoe Sat in an Italian Cartographer's Office for 12 Years
A very old snowshoe. (Photo: Provincia di Bolzano)Thirteen years ago, Simone Bartolini was mapping Italy's border with Austria. High up in the mountains, at more than 10,000 feet, he found a wooden...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dolphins Have Human-Like Conversations Underwater, Says Science
Blah, blah, blah... (Photo: David B./CC BY-SA 2.0)We may be getting one step closer to figuring out what dolphins are always gossiping about. According to the Telegraph, for the first time ever,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The New York Cosmos Are American Soccer’s Past. Are They Its Future?
Pelé in a game against the Dallas Tornados. (Photo: Focus on Sport/Getty Images)Many fans on a warm June night at Belson Stadium in Jamaica, New York were clad in strangely dated gear for a soccer game...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pullman Historic District in Chicago, Illinois
Built in 1880 on 4,000 acres of land outside of the Chicago city limits, Pullman, Illinois, was the first industrial planned community in the United States.George Pullman, of the Pullman (railroad) Car...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Polar Bears Are Staking Out Some Russian Meteorologists
A pair of area polar bears. (Photo: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration/Public Domain)Meteorologists at a remote Russian weather station are having trouble with the neighbors. For two...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
In recognition of climate change being one of the most dangerous threats to humanity on Planet Earth, a company in the United Arab Emirates called “Masdar” (nicknamed the “Abu Dhabi Future Energy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Liberland in Croatia
Here is an odd result of the ongoing border dispute between Croatia and Serbia, two countries separated by the Danube River. Serbia believes the border should follow the river’s path, but Croatia...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Thousands of Catalytic Converters Are Stolen from Cars Each Year
(Photo: Public domain)Catalytic converters have been standard in most cars since 1975, when the Environmental Protection Agency mandated stricter emissions regulations for automobiles. They're a part...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brook Farm in Boston, Massachusetts
Located alongside an orphan's cemetery, the former site of Brook Farm commemorates the most famous utopian commune to ever have operated in the United States.Established in West Roxbury in April 1841...
View ArticleWatch Five Alarmingly Calm Men Stand Under an Exploding Atomic Bomb
In 1945, the first atomic bomb was set off during the Trinity Test in the New Mexican desert. This marked the birth of the Atomic Age, a period of nuclear experimentation that would alter the world on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lyford's Tower in Belvedere Tiburon, California
This odd little Norman-style stone tower overlooking Angel Island is all that remains of a Victorian-era plan for a health-obsessed utopian village in Tiburon. A stone arch once spanned the street...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida
Cyrus Reed Teed was an eclectic physician whose experiments in alchemy often involved dangerously high levels of electricity. In one such experiment in 1869, Teed was electrocuted so badly that he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
6 New Entries Added to Oxford English Dictionary in Honor of Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl in 1982. (Photo: Hans van Dijk/CC BY-SA 3.0)Entries for scrumdiddlyumptious, human bean, golden ticket, oompa loompa, the "witching hour," and Dahlesque have each been added to the Oxford...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen's Superkilen park has transformed a portion of the city into a multicultural celebration by mixing design elements from across the globe with futuristic high art touches including a massive...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rugby Colony in Robbins, Tennessee
Rugby, Tennessee was established in 1880 as an ideal community for British expats in the American South. It was to incorporate the best parts of America with the best parts of England—civilized,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ask Zardulu: How Do You Know If You Owe Someone a Soul?
(Illustrations by Matt Lubchansky)Welcome to the first installment of Atlas Obscura's new advice column, Ask Zardulu. If you have a life, love, money, family, spiritual, moral or myth-based dilemma,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cave of Kelpius in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tucked away in a remote section of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, you’ll find the “Kelpius Cave,” an enhanced cave built into the side of a hill, with a stone frame entrance marking what's believed to...
View ArticleThis Woman's Ongoing Fight for the Right to Live in a Treehouse
For 25 years, Shawnee Chasser has lived in a series of dream houses. They were not designed by fancy architects, and they've been small, but they had one very important feature. Since the early '90s,...
View Article