Author: Ms. R.

Leuven is a university city, which always results in all kinds of shenanigans. But the nickname of people living in Leuven has nothing to do with this, but rather with the city’s 17th-century past. The story takes place in 1691, in the midst of the Nine Years’ War when France was trying to expand its territory. All neighboring countries were on edge for French invasions and surprise attacks, and most cities had posted guards on the lookout at all……

Read More

The Gainesville Solar Walk is a four-billion-to-one scale model of the solar system. The entire display spans one mile. Each pillar has info and artifacts about the celestial body it features. The installation was created in 2002 as a joint project of the City of Gainesville, the Alachua Astronomy Club, artist Elizabeth Indianos, as well as graphic artist Saydi Kaufman. The project cost around $30,000. Each pillar represents a different planet, Pluto is also included. The planet pillars also……

Read More

Isabella Kauakea Aiona Abbott’s education in seaweed began early. Through her childhood, she and her siblings combed the shores of Honolulu and Lahaina for edible varieties; Abbott’s Native Hawaiian mother could recognize and name nearly every one of the five dozen or so varieties of limu at their fingertips. At home, they pounded and added salt to seaweeds like the fuzzy, coppery limu kohu (Asparagopsis taxiformis) and the soft, tangled limu wawae’iole (Codium edule)…….

Read More

Borders change, sometimes leaving territories in new countries along with their inhabitants. On other occasions, a border can shift slightly to compensate for the flow of a river, or something related. But what happens when a land survey moves the border by just enough for a house to be accidentally relocated into another country? The twin cities of Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau are a unique geographical oddity that dates back to a land dispute from the 12th-century, resulting……

Read More

Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we bring you a classic: a visit to a 30-foot tall mural on the side of a house in West Oakland, California. The mural teaches an often left out part of the history of the Black Panther Party, focusing on the women who fueled the movement. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange……

Read More

For Women’s History Month, Atlas Obscura delves into the world of espionage, where being overlooked and underestimated has been an asset for centuries of women spies. Read about more of history’s hidden Secret Agent Women. Pedro Herrera awoke each morning before dawn in a military camp in northern Mexico to dress and shave a beard that was “just starting to grow out,” as Herrera reportedly told the other soldiers. The 20-something was a respected figure in the revolutionary unit,……

Read More

Set back from the main road heading north from India to Kapilvastu, Nepal, is a seemingly unremarkable pile of bricks adorning a nondescript field.  It would be easy to drive past this spot without further investigation, but that would be a regrettable decision since this is a site burgeoning with historical and religious significance. Now known as Kudan after the nearby village, the site is believed to be the Nigrodharam Bihar mentioned in Buddhist texts where Buddha met his……

Read More