Author: Ms. R.

If May 2020 was like any other spring, Daniel Bolnick, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut, would be wrapping up a semester of teaching and preparing to head into the field. He and as many as two-dozen collaborators would be fanning out to sites in Alaska and Canada’s Vancouver Island, where they would traverse lush forests with snow-capped mountains in the distance, and splosh into lakes and streams. By day, they would wade into the cold water to……

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A few weeks ago, we set out a challenge: Draw a picture of a place from Atlas Obscura using only a written description for reference. The results were beyond impressive. We received submissions from readers young and old, experienced artists and casual doodlers, each with a unique take on one of places in the challenge. We saw submissions that came pretty close to matching the real thing, and others that were something completely fanciful and new. They came in……

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Over its centuries of domination and expansion, the British Empire collected its fair—make that unfair—share of stuff, much of which now resides in the British Museum. Of course, like most other museums in countries heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the British Museum is presently shuttered. But that doesn’t mean you can’t examine its holdings. Last week the museum opened up about half of the objects in its collections—meaning an astonishing 1.9 million items—for public perusal online. While it’s……

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In Berlin‘s Prenzlauer Berg district, a grassy alleyway leads from Kollwitzplatz Square to the Schönhauser Allee Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground that was founded in 1827. Known as the Judengang, or “Path of the Jews,” the walkway has a storied history. During his reign as King of Prussia, from 1797-1840, Friedrich Wilhelm III would often travel between the royal residence in urban Berlin and Niederschöhausen Palace in the Pankow district. The king and his entourage would a spectacle as they strolled down Schönhauser……

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Brick walls are certainly a common sight in London, and you’d be forgiven for walking down Myddelton Passage without giving the one that runs along the side of the footpath a second glance. But if you take the time to look a little closer, the wall holds a peculiar relic. A series of numbers, letters, and dates have been carved into the brickwork, but they weren’t put there by any old vandal. These marks make up a unique historical……

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The forest of Yawata is infamous in Japan, so much that its full name—Yawata no Yabushirazu—has become synonymous with mazes, later evolving into an idiom meaning “to get lost.” Even today, entry into the forest is strictly forbidden and an eerie atmosphere surrounds it. Although the forest is often sited as a haunted spot, it’s not ghosts that make this place spooky, but something else. Since at least the early 19th century, it has been said that those who……

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