Stories - Atlas Obscura

Vienna's Vegetable Orchestra Is a Feast for Your Ears

Inside a group that's spent 25 years turning beets into beats.

January 30, 2024

'Terror Camp' Could Be a Glimpse of the Future of Fandom and Scholarship

“It’s academia that feels criminally fun!”

January 30, 2024

Podcast: Hello From the Otter Side

How a “Darth Vader” disguise helps rescue baby pups.

Have a Trophy? Mix This Victorian Drink in It

Long before the Stanley cup craze, people were showing off with trendy drinking vessels.

January 29, 2024

The Secrets of the Sea Hidden High in the Andes

Colombia's paleontologists uncover rich fossil deposits that could change what we know about ancient oceans.

January 29, 2024

As the Year of the Dragon Looms, We See Dragons Everywhere

This Lunar New Year welcomes the Wood Dragon, but these mythic animals never go out of style.

January 29, 2024

Podcast: The Guerrero

Searching for enslaved history once swept away with the tides.

January 29, 2024

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Getting There Is Half the Fun

Enjoy a challenge created by the students in Atlas Obscura's 'Creating Crossword Puzzles' course!

January 29, 2024

A Primer on Both Groundhogs and Hedgehogs

Just in time for their moment in the sun (or not).

January 26, 2024

we all talk weird

Why Do Nevadans Pronounce Their State's Name So Strangely?

How you say it certainly says something about who you are.

January 26, 2024

buried treasure

The WWII Treasure Map That Caused A Modern Day Hunt

The question remains: Where is the loot?

January 26, 2024

How a Medieval Murder Map Helped Solve a 700-Year-Old London Cold Case

It all started as a Cambridge criminologist’s macabre hobby.

January 25, 2024

Why NASA Is Watching Where Idaho’s Parachuting Beavers Landed

The mini-paratroopers have a new role to play today.

January 25, 2024

Podcast: A Giant Spectacle in Goffstown

Row, row, row your pumpkin quickly down the stream.

January 25, 2024

Ancient Gum Reveals Stone-Age Teens Chewed on Bones and Made Poison

And had some pretty bad oral health.

January 24, 2024

Podcast: Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

This 90-year-old underground reservoir once held 15 million gallons of drinking water for the people of Houston.

January 24, 2024

For Sale: A Mouse-Infested Roman Helmet That's Stumping Historians

Are the mysterious mice adorning this 1,800-year-old helmet part of an ancient joke?

January 31, 2024

A Longed-For Taste of Home in ‘The Exile’s Cookbook’

A 13th-century Arabic cookbook reveals the culinary life of al-Andalus.

January 23, 2024