Sarah Laskow's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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sexism

Everything You've Heard About Chastity Belts Is a Lie

Including their very existence.
July 12, 2017
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sin week

Sloths: Cute or Disgusting?

There are strong arguments both ways.
July 12, 2017
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children's literature

Found: An Unpublished Manuscript by Maurice Sendak

The illustrations and text were hiding in his files.
July 11, 2017
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booze

Found: Three Cases of Madeira Bought for John Adams’ Presidency

The wine still tastes pretty decent.
July 10, 2017
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emperor norton

A New Map Tracks the Life of San Francisco's Emperor Norton

Walking tour, anyone?
July 10, 2017
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sin week

The Hidden Rules of the Puritan Fashion Police

Slashed sleeves, frizzed hair, or a gold hatband could land you in court.
July 10, 2017
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libraries

Found: A Purse Hidden in the Library Walls Since 1966

A dentist's reservation card was one of the best clues inside.
July 7, 2017
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time capsule

Found: A Buried Bomb That Was Actually a Hip ‘80s Time Capsule

It looks a lot like a bomb.
July 6, 2017
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secrets

These Hand-Drawn Maps Helped Create 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Books

Author Jay Leibold shares the branching maps he created while writing his first CYOA stories.
July 5, 2017
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skeletons

Found: 5,000-Year-Old Skeletons of Very Tall People in China

They were giants for their time.
July 5, 2017
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founding fathers

Found: The Remains of Sally Hemings' Small Room at Monticello

It was right near Thomas Jefferson's bedroom.
July 3, 2017
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time capsule

Found: Surprise Time Capsule Hiding in the Walls of a High School Gym

It was almost destroyed along with the building.
June 30, 2017
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ice

What Happens When the Growing Rift in an Antarctic Ice Shelf Finally Breaks?

A new, giant iceberg could be born any day now.
June 30, 2017
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ancient cults

Found: A Hidden Stone Square Inside the World’s Largest Megalithic Stone Circles

The monument at Avebury still has secrets to be uncovered.
June 29, 2017
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shipyards

Found: A Bottle of Whisky Hidden in a Ship’s Mast

It spent 35 years at sea.
June 28, 2017
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surveyors

Britain's Futile Attempt to Keep American Colonists From Taking Tribal Land

British surveyors and Native American leaders drew a border along the Appalachians. Then the Revolutionary War happened.
June 27, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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airports

Found: A Giant, 20-Pound Lobster on a Journey

The TSA screened this surprisingly large specimen.
June 27, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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bog bodies

I Can't Believe It's Butter That Was Buried in a Bog!

Following an ancient Irish practice, one man made his own bog butter.
June 27, 2017
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clubs

Even in the 1700s, Book Clubs Were Really About Drinking and Socializing

And "a considerable element of boisterous good humor."
June 26, 2017
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found

Found: A Remarkable Trove of Medieval Pottery

Thousands of pieces of pottery were hiding under one town's Memorial Hall.
June 26, 2017
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mass graves

How to Make Sense of a Mass Grave

A fascinating case study from the Thirty Years' War.
June 23, 2017
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bathrooms

Found: A Viking Toilet, the Oldest Bathroom in Denmark

This new discovery goes against previous ideas of Viking bathroom culture.
June 23, 2017
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solar power

Found: An Abandoned Air Raid Shelter Hidden Beneath the Brush

The site where it was found is said to be haunted, too.
June 22, 2017
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cold war

How a Soviet Circus Clown Tried to Prove That Dogs Can Be Psychic

In the 1920s, USSR scientists investigated “biological radio communications,” more popularly known as telepathy.
June 22, 2017