Frank Jacobs's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
story
america

Your Personality Depends on Which U.S. State You Live In

A map of confidence and kindness from California to New York.
November 10, 2023
story
earth

The Mystery of the World’s Largest and Deepest Gravity Hole

The sea level here is hundreds of feet lower than the rest of the ocean.
November 3, 2023
story
strange maps

The Fight Between Cataphiles and Underground Police in the Paris Catacombs

Will the tunnels, host to many illegal parties, get filled with concrete?
October 27, 2023
story
crypts

Which States Have the Most Dead Presidents?

The answer reveals grave robbing problems for America’s deceased leaders.
October 20, 2023
story
strange maps

Where Humans Think Aliens Are Most Likely to Land

Will extraterrestrials try to see the city or the countryside?
October 13, 2023
story
strange maps

The Loneliest Road in Every State in America

Find your state's quietest route.
October 6, 2023
story
alternate history

This Map Shows a Divided and Conquered USA If America Had Lost WWII

Which parts of the East Coast and California might Germany and Japan have claimed?
September 29, 2023
story
earth

Uneven Gravity Makes You Weigh More in Illinois Than in Indiana

A number of factors cause you to be lighter or heavier in different parts of the world.
September 22, 2023
story
tolkien

Is Mordor Based on the Himalayas?

Much of Asia seems to be riddled onto the Lord of the Rings map of Middle Earth.
September 15, 2023
story
buoys

The Center of the Earth Has an Imaginary Island and One Floating Soul

Fact and fiction blend together at zero latitude and zero longitude.
September 8, 2023
story
mistakes

The Father of Medieval Geography Is Unfairly Blamed for One Very, Very Bad Map

He also made the most accurate world map of that time—and left out the sea monsters.
September 1, 2023
story
scandal

The Little-Known Land Fraud That Changed American History

Without this now-obscure land investment scheme, the Yazoo Land Affair, Georgia might have been a "super state."
August 25, 2023
story
the soviet imprint

The Anti-Monopoly Board Game That Promoted a 'Soviet America'

In 1934, American Communists translated a Stalinist book about revolution into a children’s game. Curiously, it didn't catch on.
August 18, 2023
story
empire

What Do King Charles III, the Pope, and the Canadian Inuit Have in Common?

Meet the world's largest landowners.
August 11, 2023
story
alternate history

A Map of the 'Disunited States' Shows the Fears of Civil War–Era America

A nation divided into not two—but four—took the idea of secession to an extreme.
August 4, 2023
story
strange maps

Mongolia’s 'Forbidden Zone' Is Guarding an 800-Year-Old Secret

Is the vast Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area the final resting place of Genghis Khan?
July 28, 2023
story
mental health

There Are at Least 10 Cities With Their Own Psychological Disorders

Stockholm Syndrome is the most famous, and most relate to tourism or hostage-taking.
July 21, 2023
story
solar system models

There’s an Entire Solar System Hiding In Sweden

Get ready for the most peculiar road trip that will help you understand the vastness and emptiness of the solar system—and Sweden.
July 14, 2023
story
invertebrates

Sea Cucumber Crime Is a Thing, and This Is Where It’s Happening

A "seafood mafia" is plying the waters between India and Sri Lanka to satisfy China's appetite for an increasingly rare delicacy.
July 7, 2023
story
geometry

What Are the World’s Roundest and Most Rectangular Countries?

Mind-boggling as it is, they're often one and the same.
June 30, 2023
story
time-capsule

Explore the View From Humanity’s Most Distant Spacecraft

Launched in 1977 and now nearly 15 billion miles from the Sun, Voyager 1 continues its journey at 38,000 miles per hour.
June 23, 2023
story
road trip

The Most Popular Person in European Street Names Is a Woman

Can you guess who it is?
June 16, 2023
story
octopus

Octopuses (and Their DNA) Suggest Antarctica Will Melt Again

Two geographically separate populations of cute cephalopods once mated a very long time ago.
June 9, 2023
story
stargazing

A 19th-Century Family Portrait of Comets

The thrills and horrors of strange heavenly bodies, condensed into one attractive snapshot.
June 2, 2023