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Calendars

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Bonfires and revelry dominate modern Beltane celebrations, but the origins of the event are more mundane.
astronomy

Beltane Is About More Than Fire and Fertility

The ancient “Celtic” start of summer is rooted in animal husbandry—and it’s not on May 1.
Gemma Tarlach April 28, 2023
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
food

Puzzle Monday: Unofficial Japanese Food Holidays Crossword

AO Puzzles November 14, 2022
vikings

Meet the Woman on a Quest to Attend Every Wondrous British Festival

The historian behind an online database of eccentric traditions has already visited more than 550 events.
Bonnie Nicol December 9, 2021
Alamo, Nevada

RyanHenge

This Stonehenge-inspired solar calendar stands alongside a landfill, in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Barryland.
List

15 Places That Put the Dog Back in the 'Dog Days'

Celebrate the amazing feats of some four-legged friends—all year long.
Gemma Tarlach August 11, 2021
The Fasti Verolani.
Veroli, Italy

Fasti Verolani

A Roman calendar dating to the first century is tucked away in a small town alley.
We've all gotten used to the strangeness of calendars, but some argue they don't have to be quite so strange.
holidays

Why Calendars Are So Weird, and What Might Be Done About It

Imagine a calendar that is the same every year—sort of.
Dan Nosowitz December 31, 2019
Pin-up girls.
Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

Museo del Calendario (Calendar Museum)

The world's first museum of its kind is packed with nostalgic relics of the past.
Uppsala, Sweden

Rune Staff Collection

The second-largest collection of runic calendar staffs in Sweden.
Bangkok, Thailand

Sahachat Memorial

This ambiguous pig shrine is actually a monument to a beloved queen.
This almanac was produced in Paris in the mid-1780s.
objects of intrigue

For Centuries, Know-It-Alls Carried Beautiful Miniature Almanacs Wherever They Went

The small, ornate tomes were big status symbols.
Jessica Leigh Hester March 29, 2019
Plana's Perpetual Calendar.
Turin, Italy

Plana's Perpetual Calendar

A landmark in the history of technology and computing is hidden in a tiny Baroque chapel.
The Perpetual Calendar tracks 4,000 years with nine rolls and a hand-operated crank.
churches

This Perpetual Calendar Hidden in an Italian Chapel Is a Mathematical Marvel

The 19th-century device accurately tracks 4,000 years with nine cylinders and a crank.
A. J. Oliveira February 22, 2019
Pirámide de los Nichos
Papantla, Mexico

Pirámide de los Nichos (Pyramid of the Niches)

The singular ruins of a mysterious lost city.
The charcoal scribbles survived.
disasters

When, Exactly, Did Vesuvius Destroy Pompeii?

And does it matter if we had the date a little wrong for thousands of years?
Jessica Leigh Hester October 18, 2018
The "tomb of the years" at Museo Xólotl.
Tlalnepantla, Mexico

'Tomb of the Years' at Tenayuca Pyramid

An archaeological museum at the Aztec pyramid displays signs of the New Fire ritual performed every 52 years.
The bottom calendar wheel of the astronomical clock.
Lübeck, Germany

Astronomical Clock at St. Mary's Church

A stunning two-story timepiece within a medieval Brick Gothic church.
Detail of one of the stelae.
Guatemala

Mayan Stelae at Quirigua

Mesoamerican monoliths and zoomorphic stones covered in royal visages, ancient mythology, and grand celestial events.