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cemeteries

Podcast: Beechey Island Graves Part 2

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team June 24, 2021
cemeteries

Podcast: Beechey Island Graves Part 1

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team June 23, 2021
Coorada, Australia

1972 Taroom Truck Explosion Memorial

One of the biggest mysteries of Central Queensland: How did this truck spontaneously combust with the force of a massive bomb?
Singer Castle
Chippewa Bay, New York

Singer Castle

This island castle contains enough secret passageways to support a season of Scooby-Doo episodes.
The newer memorial for the unknown man
Hardingstone, England

Grave of the Unknown Man

In the 1930s, a mysterious murder shook this Northamptonshire village–the identity of the victim remains a mystery to this day.
During examination of Peder Winstrup and his coffin a few years ago, researchers discovered the remains of a stillborn fetus, wrapped in linen and placed between the Swedish bishop's lower legs.
mummies

The Mystery of the Mummified Bishop and the Fetus in His Coffin

Remains hidden with this Swedish “founding father” likely belonged to his grandson, but questions linger.
Gemma Tarlach April 16, 2021
The partial skull found in Marcel Loubens Cave is more than 5,000 years old
skulls

Solved: The Mystery of a Lonely Human Skull in an Italian Cave

Scientists found answers in a single piece of evidence.
Gemma Tarlach March 5, 2021
San Jose, California

The San José Semaphore

It took years to decode its mysterious messages.
A salvaged anchor frames the Warrnambool lighthouse.
shipwrecks

An Australian Town's Identity Rests on a Ship That May Not Exist

Did a 16th-century Portuguese vessel run aground here? Doubtful, but why not celebrate it anyhow?
Bonnie Nicol January 4, 2021
The black material found on the final page of Brønlund's diary.
exploration

A Mysterious Black Spot Offers Clues to a Doomed Explorer's Last Moments

Jørgen Brønlund's diary contained information that wasn't written on the page.
Luna Shyr December 18, 2020
One of the subsequent 2020 monoliths, in Atascadero, California.
film

Trying to Make Sense of the Mystery Monolith Craze of 2020

An expert on Kubrick finds them "fascinating," if "derivative," but they may be this strange year's physical embodiment.
Matthew Taub December 16, 2020
The Wooden Man appears as if sleeping.
Kværndrup, Denmark

The Wooden Man

Generations have refused to move this doll from its dusty resting place to preserve a castle from a watery fate.
The well-preserved wreck lies nearly 300 feet below the surface.
nazis

Found: A Shipwrecked Nazi Steamer, Still Filled With Cargo

It carried soldiers, military vehicles, and sealed crates that divers can't wait to open.
Isaac Schultz October 21, 2020
The Holestone overlooking surrounding countryside.
Doagh, Northern Ireland

The Holestone

This mysterious Bronze Age standing stone has become a place where couples profess their love.
Obelisk of Odzun.
Odzun, Armenia

Obelisk of Odzun

An unusual double-stelae obelisk with ancient and mysterious origins.
An elephant sits in the waters of the Okavango Delta in September 2019.
lakes

Botswana Says It's Solved the Mystery of a Mass Elephant Die-Off

Conservationists were baffled when hundreds of elephants died in the Okavango Delta this summer.
Atlas Obscura September 21, 2020
"Portrait of a Mathematician" by Mary Beale (left); a 1702 portrait of Isaac Newton by Godfrey Kneller (right).
paintings

The Mystery of the Missing Portrait of Robert Hooke

He was a famed 17th-century scientist. Isaac Newton was one of his rivals.
Atlas Obscura September 4, 2020
Sarsen makes up the bulk of Stonehenge's rocky profile.
geology

We Now Know Where Almost All of Stonehenge's Stones Came From

The main source for its largest megaliths is just a stone’s throw from the iconic site.
Isaac Schultz July 31, 2020