Stories - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place
All Stories
story
travelnevada

Visit the Ghost Towns of Nevada

The abandoned treasures of the Silver State.
Sponsored by Travel Nevada
story
burning questions

Why Do Canadians Say 'Eh'?

The story behind Canada’s most distinctive verbal tic.
January 10, 2017
Gastro Obscura
story
world war i

The Meatless, Wheatless Meals of World War I America

Recipes got a lot more creative during the days of food rationing.
January 10, 2017
story
radio

Norway Will Start Shutting Down Its FM Radio Tomorrow

RIP, FM.
January 10, 2017
story
aviation

The Bird-Like Soviet Flying Machine That Never Quite Took Off

The Letatlin was ambitious, avant-garde, and very cool-looking.
January 10, 2017
Gastro Obscura
story
found

Found: Historic Ketchup, Buried Under a Music Venue for More Than a Century

Also, marmalade, pickle, and mustard jars.
January 10, 2017
story
chess

Space Chess Is Here, But No One Is Playing

The three-dimensional version of the game was around long before Star Trek.
January 10, 2017
story
snails

Watch a Snail Lay Pink Eggs

Bloop...bloop...bloop.
January 9, 2017
story
trees

A Massive Tunnel Tree in California Has Fallen

RIP, thought-provoking sequoia.
January 9, 2017
Gastro Obscura
story
tedium

The Long, Unusual History of the Pickled Cucumber

Pickles.
January 9, 2017
story
space exploration

Watch Two NASA Astronauts Replace Batteries In Space

The International Space Station needed some new juice.
January 9, 2017
story
vampires

Poor Nancy Young, the Suspected Teen Vampire of Rhode Island

A graphic history of an 1827 exhumation.
January 9, 2017
story
transportation

Found: A Snake on a Plane

The airline won't say what kind, but it did cancel the flight.
January 9, 2017
story
map monday

The 'Balloon Maps' That Aided Exploration, War, And Tourism

See the world from the basket of a hot air balloon.
January 9, 2017
story
wigs

The Elaborate Wig-Snatching Schemes of the 18th Century

Thieves employed monkeys to rob the wealthy of their coiffures.
January 9, 2017
story
tedium

The Quiet Failure of Sony’s Giant Cassette Tape

Meet the Elcaset.
January 7, 2017
story
victorian

How Cab Drivers Changed the London Landscape

Why are there little green huts all over London? To keep cabbies from being wet or drunk.
January 6, 2017
story
gnomes

Take a Virtual Tour of the Firefly Forest, a Kansas Park Turned Gnome Village

In 2013, tiny hollow-tree homes for fairies started popping up around Overland Park.
January 6, 2017