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Church of Two Worlds in Washington, D.C.
Followers of the Spiritualist faith believe that the soul continues to exist after the death of the body, and that believers can communicate with the dead. Spiritualists believe that the deceased can...
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Dargavs Village: City of the Dead in Dargavs, Russia
Reaching this mystifying destination requires a three-hour drive, taking you down a dangerous and hidden road befitting a journey to the City of the Dead.The village of Dargavs, or the City of the...
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Chauchilla Cemetery in Nazca culture, Peru
Since 1997, Peruvian law has protected the haunting Chauchilla Cemetery, a Nazca burial ground where mummified corpses were laid to rest until the ninth century. Prior to 1997, it was ravaged...
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Castle Frankenstein in Mühltal, Germany
Johann Konrad Dippel was rumored to create potions, perform electrical therapies, and partake in gruesome experiments involving stolen body parts from the graveyard. Born in the Castle Frankenstein in...
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A Brief History of the Evolution of Locker Room Talk
A Navy ball team in 1943. (Photo: U.S. Navy/Library of Congress/LC-USE6-D-008506)Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has characterized his comments about grabbing women by genitals, caught on...
View ArticleWhat 'Locker Room Vulgarity' Meant in the 1984 Presidential Campaign
After a tape surfaced last week of Donald J. Trump, the 70-year-old Republican nominee who has long been accused as having very short fingers, bragging in 2005 about grabbing a woman's "pussy," he...
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The Worst-Tasting Flavor in the World Was Accidentally Discovered in a Lab
A pool of anti freeze, which contains the chemical bitrex. (Photo: ms.akr/CC BY 2.0)A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long...
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How to Incorporate Human Remains Into Your Dinner Party
Your bones can be repurposed into this ceramic bowl. (All Photos: Morgan Capps and Ash Haywood)Every day, Justin Crowe pours himself a cup of coffee in the same mug. While the wide-brimmed cup’s...
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An American Boat Sailed to Vietnam During the War. Then It Disappeared
Al Hugon was lying on the carpet of his vacation home in Santa Cruz, California, staring up at a bookshelf. It was late summer, 1997, and news coverage of Princess Diana’s death was the only thing on...
View ArticleWatch People Paddle a Pumpkin in These Unusual Boat Races
Pumpkins can grow into gargantuan behemoths, some easily fitting one or two full-grown adults. And all around the world, pumpkins are carved and pitted not to make jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin pies, but...
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The Drowned Convent and Village of Berich in Waldeck, Germany
In 1905, Berich was just a sleepy village along the River Eder in central Germany. The small farming community grew up around a former 12th century Benedictine convent that had been dissolved in the...
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Ask Zardulu: Why Can't I Stop Shoplifting?
(All illustrations by Matt Lubchansky.)Welcome to the third installment of Atlas Obscura's new advice column, Ask Zardulu—read the first two here and here. Zardulu is an expert in all things mythic and...
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The Girl in Blue in Willoughby, Ohio
It was Christmas Eve in 1933 in Willoughby, Ohio, a small city just off Lake Erie. It would have been a blustery night to be wandering the streets, but a young woman in bright blue—her dress, coat,...
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The Ballad of Ol' Rip, the Horny Toad That Wouldn't Die
The Texas horny toad. Adorably tough. (Photo: Joe Farah/Shutterstock.com)Gather round to hear the tale of Ol’ Rip, the lizard who beat death! Well, at least once. After being entombed in stone for 31...
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Can Asgardia Become The First Space Nation?
Could a space station like this be our newest nation state? (Photo: iurii/Shutterstock.com)This morning marked the announcement of the wildly ambitious Asgardia (no relation to the Marvel Comics...
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The Great Scandinavian Musk Ox War
Two musk oxen in Norway's Dovre mountains. (Photo: Norway University of Science and Technology/CC BY 2.0)Last month, a lonely musk ox named Brutus wandered far from his herd in Sweden and stole the...
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The Society Lady Who Brought Ancient Greek Fashion to 18th Century Europe
Lady Hamilton as Circe by George Romney. (Photo: Tate Online/PD 1923.)Known all over Europe for her astonishing beauty, Lady Hamilton accomplished many things in her lifetime. She was considered a key...
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Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan, Alaska
Many museums display pieces of Native American culture as things to be seen and pondered over, but the Totem Bight State Historical Park presents Native Alaskan culture as something to be lived and...
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Can Evolution Be Photographed?
Visualizing change over time can be incredibly difficult. Which is why in a new Phaidon book entitled Evolution: A Visual Record, Robert Clark’s vivid and compelling photographs serve as an ode to...
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USS Niagara in Erie, Pennsylvania
The USS Niagara dates back to the War of 1812, one of only two still surviving ships from the battle, and she still sails on Lake Erie. However in a classic example of the Theseus paradox, some may...
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