Stories - Atlas Obscura

the exit interview

Exit Interview: I Was a Black, Female Thru-Hiker on the Appalachian Trail

On joining an exclusive group that's 75 percent male and overwhelmingly white.

February 1, 2017

Watch Two Guys in China Duel With Fireworks

Welcome to the Year of the Fire Rooster.

February 1, 2017

Feral Bunnies Are Taking Over Las Vegas

They've overrun yards, state parks, and even a mental health care facility—and no one knows what to do with them.

February 1, 2017

Found: Tiny Grains of Rock That Reveal a Lost Continent

It's hiding under Mauritius.

February 1, 2017

A Lot of Money Has Been Raised to Build a Statue for a Supermarket Cat in Britain

Brutus was beloved.

January 31, 2017

You Can Apply Now to Be an Apprentice Globe Maker in London

Hand-paint the world at Bellerby and Co.

January 31, 2017

Five Landmarks of Atomic Nevada

Echoes of the hundreds of nuclear tests conducted in Nevada during the atomic age.

When Giant Sequoias Were Sacrificed for Traveling Sideshows

In the beginning, Western settlers weren't very kind.

January 31, 2017

marie antoinette

Watch a Strange Miniature Automaton of Marie Antoinette Play a Dulcimer Music Box

Beautiful and creepy.

January 31, 2017

The Unlikely Comeback of New Zealand's Weirdest 'Living Fossil'

Meet the tuatara, a three-eyed reptile with a 200-million-year-old lineage.

January 31, 2017

Couple Accused of Using a Massive Manure Pile to Annoy Their Neighbors

A judge awarded the victims $15,000.

January 31, 2017

What Happens When 80 Falcons Fly Coach

They were probably on their way to a hunting trip.

January 31, 2017

Found: Melted Uranium Rods, Lost at Fukushima

Six years after the disaster, Tepco may have found its lost nuclear debris.

January 31, 2017

The Singer Who Topped Charts by Embracing His Stutter

Scatman John was more than a one-hit wonder.

January 31, 2017

The Stunning Early Infographics and Maps of the 1800s

Educational diagrams of scientific discoveries, from the moon's surface to the longest rivers.

January 30, 2017

Found: A Moose in This Random Person's Basement

It fell into the window well.

January 30, 2017

Watch the Walls Shimmer at Iran's Emerald Mosque

Shah Cheragh is one dazzling funerary monument.

January 30, 2017

The Lovable Syrian Brown Bear Who Fought For His (Adoptive) Country

January 30, 2017