Natalie Zarrelli's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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songs

'Total Eclipse of the Heart' Was Almost a Meat Loaf Song

Bonnie Tyler’s classic rock epic nearly got the ‘Bat Out of Hell’ treatment.
March 11, 2024
Gastro Obscura
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fascinating fungi

How to Cook a Delicious Meal With Zombie Fungus

Conquer your "Last of Us" fears by consuming Cordyceps.
March 10, 2023
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knitting

The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool

Grandma was just making a sweater. Or was she?
March 16, 2022
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crime and punishment

How Knot Analysis Can Reveal the Perpetrator of a Crime

In the field of knot forensics, half-hitches can result in convictions.
March 1, 2018
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31 days of halloween

European 'Corpse Medicine' Promised Better Health Through Cannibalism

“Take the fresh, unspotted cadaver of a redheaded man..."
October 31, 2017
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activism

The Radical Reference Librarians Who Use Info to Challenge Authority

An unshushable social movement is afoot.
October 3, 2017
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victorian

The 19th-Century Freakout Over Steam-Powered Buses

A new vehicle on the streets of London caused quite the commotion—and some light sabotage.
August 30, 2017
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satanic worship

The Devilish Sexploitation Films That Combined Satan and Sensuality

Who needs a coherent plot when you have nudity and pitchforks?
July 28, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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sin week

The Worst Freelance Gig in History Was Being the Village Sin Eater

Sin eaters risked their souls to soak up the misdeeds of the dead.
July 14, 2017
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linguistics

How a Secret Criminal Language Emerged From the Underworld

Dictionaries made Thieves' Cant accessible for the masses in the 16th through 19th centuries.
June 28, 2017
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children's literature week

Some Versions of 'The Tortoise and the Hare' Messed With the Moral

Slow and steady doesn't always win the race.
June 15, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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nuclear

Growing Mutant Peanuts With the Radioactive Gardening Society

In the 1960s, some experimental horticulturalists went nuclear.
June 8, 2017
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motorcycles

Bessie Stringfield, the Black Motorcycle Queen of the 1930s

She owned 27 Harleys and rode them all over the United States, before settling in Miami.
May 18, 2017
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space exploration

The 17​th​-Century Moon Mission That Never Got Off the Ground

Dr. John Wilkins' lunar ambitions were a little too lofty.
May 3, 2017
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squirrel

When Squirrels Were One of America's Most Popular Pets

Benjamin Franklin even wrote an ode to a fallen one.
April 28, 2017
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newspapers

A Painting of a Crying Boy Was Blamed for a Series of Fires in the '80s

The artwork, said UK tabloids at the time, was haunted.
April 21, 2017
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luck week

Argentina's Ex-President Appears to Be Cursed

By his own acknowledgment, Carlos Menem brings bad luck.
April 19, 2017
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bathrooms

It Was Once Someone's Job to Chat With the King While He Used the Toilet

"Groom of the Stool" could be a crappy role, but it came with great benefits.
April 6, 2017
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scandal week

The Forged 'Ancient' Statues That Fooled the Met's Art Experts for Decades

The fakes were on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 28 years.
March 16, 2017
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aviation

Meet Bessie Coleman, the First Black Woman to Get a Pilot's License

The fearless aviator was determined to fly.
March 1, 2017
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valentine's day

The Rude, Cruel, and Insulting 'Vinegar Valentines' of the Victorian Era

Nothing like getting surprise hate mail from a would-be lover on February 14.
February 6, 2023
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love

The Awkward 17th-Century Dating Practice That Saw Teens Get Bundled Into Bags

And a wooden board separating the lovers in bed.
January 26, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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features

The Best Kitchen Gadget of the 1600s Was a Small, Short-Legged Dog

Turnspit dogs ran in a wheel to keep the spit meat spinning.
January 11, 2017
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rituals week

The Totally Jinxed Map of Global Superstitions

We mapped 150 superstitions around the world.
December 15, 2016