TheIronSpike's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Maillardet's Automaton

The origin of this mechanical boy was a mystery until he revealed his maker by writing it in perfect cursive.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Foucault Pendulum at the Franklin Institute

A daily replay of the experiment that proved the rotation of the Earth.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Grip the Raven

The taxidermied remains of Charles Dickens' pet raven, which helped inspire one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Swann Memorial Fountain

A tour de force of a fountain, memorializing a man who loved fountains more than anything else.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Extinct Bird Hall

Venture into the past with an unlisted exhibit hall featuring extinct birds.
Los Angeles, California

LAX Theme Building

This quirky UFO-shaped curiosity is often mistaken for the airport’s control tower.
Los Angeles, California

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.
Los Angeles, California

Feral Cat Colonies of Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Dozens of feral felines rule a segment of Hollywood's only graveyard.
Angoulême, France

Murals of Angoulême

The vibrant buildings in the “capital of the comic strip” celebrate the art form that made it famous.
Culver City, California

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

A modern day curiosity cabinet.
London, England

Earl's Court Police Box

The Metropolitan Police refurbished the blue box (perhaps not coincidentally) the same year "Doctor Who" returned to TV screens.
London, England

Algerian Coffee Stores

Since 1887, this old-school shop has stacked its shelves with extraordinary coffees and teas.
London, England

'Great Dangaroo Flood'

On a wall in linear London, a plaque hangs at the high water mark of one of the worst floods in fictional Kcymaerxthaereal times.
London, England

The Buried Remains of Little Compton Street

The signs of a long buried road can still be found hidden beneath a London sewer grate.
London, England

Broad Street Cholera Pump

The John Snow Memorial marks the epicenter of London's 1854 cholera epidemic.
London, England

Mary Anning's Plesiosaur

This marine reptile was discovered by one of the 19th century's greatest fossil hunters.
London, England

Natural History Museum of London

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.
London, England

Charing Cross Mural

The medieval woodcut-style artwork chronicles life in medieval London.
London, England

Coade Stone Caryatids

A measuring mishap led to these artificial stone ladies losing their stomachs.
London, England

Whitefriars Crypt

Buried for centuries, this hidden cellar is all that remains of London's medieval Whitefriars Monastery.
London, England

London Underground Labyrinths

A labyrinth hides in plain sight at each of the city's 270 Tube stations.
London, England

Temple Bar Memorial Dragon

The fierce beast perches atop a pedestal marking where the historic City of London gates once stood.
London, England

World's Largest Potted Plant

The cedar tree in Highgate Cemetery earned its title by accident.
London, England

Temple Church

An unusual round church in London with a Templar past.